@Anonymous wrote:
@K-in-Boston wrote:<snip>
Sure there are some grey areas, but to me it's black and white that you're probably gaming the system if you apply for a Platinum card in late December, get 60k MR points, take a $200 airline credit on December 30th and another $200 airline credit on January 2nd, then call to downgrade your Platinum to a $95 AF Green card before the $550 AF hits.
<snip>I don't even see the point of churning the Platinum at 60k points. As you have to pay the 550 dollar fee up front. So you get 60k points + 400 travel credit -550 dollars. The PRG you get 50k points + 200 dollars but you save 550 dollars. At 100,000 points it makeks more sense to churn. If you value all the stuff like UBER , Global /TSA and Lounge access you arene't going to cancel it soon as you get your points.
I recall reading of people taking it to the extreme as with my dates above. The AF doesn't post on day 1 and since they were so lenient with PCs it was possible to get the airline statement credits for 2 calendar years ($400), still get the sign-up bonus and get at least $500 in redemption value on the MRs (+ MRs for the spend itself which could be substantial if airfare or Amex Offers were purchased), optionally get $100 in Global Entry credit (posts 24-48 hours after paying at the time of application), and still get status with hotels and car rental places for a period of time until they caught on - all without paying the big AF if they did it quickly enough. Those people are why we can't can't have nice things, but again part of it can be blamed on Amex for allowing it to happen.
Some people need to read up on game theory. In a free market, people will naturally find ways to exploit a system to their advantage if you give it to them. Travel hacking exists because the banks have created the environment for it by providing these lavish bonuses for new signups. Of course, people are going to take maximum advantage of that. The banks certainly take maximum advantage of their ability to slap AA's on customers, end relationships without cause, etc. Banks also gain from merchant fees on churned cards and interest/late fees/etc. from customers who screw up. The only way they're losing out is through the incentives they themselves created.
If they don't like the results of their game, then they're in a position to change the rules as they see fit. But don't sit there and try to demonize people for trying to gain maximum advantage from it. That's just how markets work.
TL;DR: Don't hate the player, hate the game.
As for Amex in particular, they've pretty much killed churning on their cards anyway with their lifetime bonus restriction and by cracking down hard on people trying to abuse the system. This is essentially just putting wording into their contract for what the RAT team has already been doing. The DoC article actually lists some common sense tips for staying on the right side of their policies...
- Use a public page to app. Use a targeted link if the target is you (don't steal someone else's credentials). Incognito is still fair game as those are public pages.
- Meet the spend requirement through legit purchases. Avoid returns and excessive gift cards.
- Keep the card for 12 months before you cancel or downgrade. You can still get an AF refund 30 days after the anniversary date.
Still plenty of fun to be had out there!