The Archive
Tips, strategies, and insights on credit card churning, card retention, and protecting your credit score.
Chase's 5/24 rule is the single most important application restriction in churning. Learn exactly how it works, which cards it applies to, and how to sequence your applications to stay eligible.
Ten cards? Twenty? There is no magic number. What matters is utilization, payment history, and keeping every account healthy. Here is how to think about portfolio size — and how to manage a big one safely.
Annual fee coming due on a card you no longer use? Don't cancel it. A product change preserves your credit line and account age while eliminating the fee. Here's how downgrades work at every major issuer.
An issuer closed your card without warning. Can you get it reopened? How bad is the damage? A practical recovery guide: what to do in the first week, and how to make sure it never happens again.
Credit card churning is the practice of repeatedly opening credit cards to earn sign-up bonuses and rewards. Learn how it works, the potential benefits, and what to watch out for.
Credit card companies regularly shut down accounts that show no activity. Understand why issuers close inactive cards, the warning signs to watch for, and proven strategies to keep your accounts open.
Closing a credit card — or letting one be closed — can hurt your credit score in ways you might not expect. Learn how open credit lines protect your score through utilization, credit age, and credit mix.
When a credit card is closed — whether by you or the issuer — the financial consequences go far beyond losing one account. Discover the true cost of card closures and how to avoid them.
Manual card retention is tedious and error-prone. Learn how automated micro-charges work, why $1 is all it takes, and how to set up a hands-free system to protect every card in your wallet.
Level up your churning game with five proven strategies for maximizing credit card rewards. From staggered applications to portfolio retention, these tactics help you earn more while protecting your credit.