Credit Card Churning & Travel Hacking Glossary

1x = 1% back, 5x = 5% back etc. The base or category earning rate for rewards. Rewards can be points, miles, or cashback.

Annual Fee - The yearly fee associated with premium credit cards.

Cash Back - A cash reward given for credit card spending.

Cents Per Point - Refers to monetary value out of reward redemptions. The absolute minimum should be 1cpp as cash back with ideal travel redemptions being 2cpp or more.

Minimum Spending Requirement - The minimum amount that must be spent on a credit card in order to qualify for a sign up bonus.

Sign Up Bonus

Refers to any high annual fee card requiring a high credit score. Usually reserved for clients with a high income that will spend a lot on travel or dining. Examples are the Amex Platinum charge card and Chase Sapphire Reserve.

# of cards opened within the last 24 months - A common measurement for churning activity. Originated after Chase implemented the 5/24 Rule.

Authorized User - A secondary user of a credit card account. Typically this account will appear on the AU's personal credit report, but the AU has no financial obligation for the AU card.

Modified Double Dip - A modification of the standard "double dip" strategy of applying for two cards in one day, used when 4/24. Typically talked about in the context of Chase Sapphire cards.

No Lifetime Language - Users are usually ineligible for the signup bonus on American Express cards that they've held in the past. However some offers occasionally contain no "lifetime language" allowing someone to get the bonus for a card they've had before.

Player 1, 2, etc - Referring to spouses and other family members, usually in the same household, for whom the churner (Player 1) manages all credit cards and rewards. Points are usually pooled together when possible.

Product Change/Conversion - Banks will generally allow you to upgrade to annual fee cards or downgrade to lower/no fee cards although in most cases you will forego any sign up bonus offered. It's common for people to pick the Premium card e.g. Chase Sapphire Preferred and downgrade within a year to avoid the annual fee.

Reconsideration Line/Dept. - The phone line for the CC company to request reconsideration of a pending or denied application.

Automated Clearing House - A bank to bank transfer of funds.

Credit Limit/Line - The maximum amount of credit that a financial institution or other lender will extend to a debtor for a particular line of credit (sometimes called a credit line, line of credit, or a tradeline).

Direct Deposit - Electronic funds that are deposited directly into your bank account rather than through a paper check. Common uses of a direct deposit include income tax refunds and pay checks.

Employer Identification Number - An EIN can be useful for obtaining certain business credit cards more than once.

Financial Review - A risk management policy most commonly associated with American Express. They will temporarily freeze a customer's account (or pending applications), and require them to submit documents including and not limited to simple things such as address and employment verification all the way to IRS transcripts

Hard Pull/Inquiry - Refers to a check that the bank will perform on your credit profile. This will result in a temporary hit to your credit score. Excessive amounts of hard pulls is detrimental to your churning profile as this appears to the bank that you are a "credit risk" seeking to incur a large debt without hope of repayment.

Secure Message - A messaging system within an online banking portal used for communicating with a bank. Not all banks have a secure messaging system.

A credit check that does not show up on your credit score. Usually performed by banks for checking accounts or by free credit score estimate services like Quizzle, Credit Karma, or Creditsesame.

American Express

Bank of America

Capital One

Wells Fargo (or Whole Foods)

AmEx Blue Business Plus - American Express Blue Business Plus Credit Card

AmEx Business Gold card

AmEx Business Green card

AmEx Business Platinum card

Membership Rewards - American Express Membership Rewards Program

Business Relationship Manager - A JPMorgan Chase banking employee, generally responsible cultivating small business relationships in a geographical region. Currently, the sole source of increased Chase Ink credit card offers.

Chase Freedom - Legacy Chase Freedom card which is no longer eligible for new applications

Chase Freedom Flex - Chase Freedom Flex Credit Card

Chase Freedom Unlimited - Chase Freedom Unlimited Credit Card

Chase Ink Cash - Chase Ink Business Cash Credit Card

Chase Ink Preferred - Chase Ink Business Preferred Credit Card

Chase Ink Unlimited - Chase Ink Business Unlimited Credit Card

Chase Private Client - To become a Chase Private Client, you must have a total of $250,000 or more in any combination of qualifying linked deposits and investments with JPMorgan Chase.

Chase Sapphire Preferred - Chase Sapphire Preferred Credit Card

Chase Sapphire Reserve - Chase Sapphire Reserve Credit Card

Pay Yourself Back - A feature Chase introduced in 2020 that allows you to redeem UR at 1.5cpp to negate the cost of grocery and home improvement costs

Ultimate Rewards - Chase Ultimate Reward Program

Double Cash - Citi Double Cash credit card

ThankYou Points - Citi Thank You Rewards Program

American Airlines

Alaska Airlines

Delta Airlines

Southwest Airlines

United Airlines

Southwest - The proper IATA code for Southwest Airlines, but "SW" is more commonly used.

Frequent Flyer Program - A loyalty program offered by an airline. Many airlines have frequent-flyer programs designed to encourage airline customers enrolled in the program to accumulate miles (and/or segments) which may then be redeemed for air travel or other rewards.

First Class fare code

Business Class fare code

Premium Economy Class fare code

Economy Class fare code

Europay, MasterCard, and Visa - Payment cards that comply with the EMV standard are often called Chip+PIN or Chip+Signature cards, depending on the authentication methods employed by the card issuer. Europe and Aus/NZ often use a smartchip instead of a magnetic strip swipe card to process payments.

Foreign Transaction Fee(s) - Foreign transaction fees usually apply to credit card purchases made in foreign countries while traveling internationally. The fee ranges from 1-3% depending on the bank. If you travel out of the country, it's highly recommended to have at least one card that has no FTFs.

Global Entry - A U.S. Customs and Border Protection program that allows expedited clearance for pre-approved, low-risk travelers upon arrival in the United States. It also includes TSA PreCheck.

Hub Captive - Term designating that you're a flyer that's locked into to a certain airline. Most of your travel is through this airline's hub and thus they control the majority of your travel destinations.

Priority Pass Lounges

Round Trip - An outbound and return flight from a single location.

Fuel Surcharge when purchasing an airline ticket.

Hilton Honors - Hilton Honors Reward Program

Hilton Free Night Certificate

Fine Hotels & Resorts - Amex Platinum Fine Hotels & Resorts Program

Manufactured Spending - The process of purchasing cash equivalents with a rewards earning credit card, where the rewards earned are greater than the fees incurred. This includes gift cards, money orders, and the loading of prepaid debit cards.

Gift Card - A prepaid stored-value money card usually issued by a retailer or bank to be used as an alternative to cash for purchases.

Origin of KATE is a mystery, but "Kiosk At The Entrance" works well - RIP. The now defunct The Money Center Express ATM at Walmart that were used to load VGCs to Serve/Bluebird.

Mastercard Gift Card - Similar to VGC, but issued by Mastercard

Money Order - A payment order for a pre-specified amount of money. It is required that the funds be prepaid for the amount shown on it, and therefore is a more trusted method of payment than a check.

OneVanilla - OneVanilla Prepaid Card

PayPal MyCash

Visa Gift Card(s) - Sold in many retail locations, a gift card that can be used, in the U.S. and District of Columbia, (almost) anywhere Visa is accepted. Fixed face value from $25 - $500, usually charges an activation fee between $3.95 - $6.95.

Office Depot

Office Max

Customer Service Representative - Customer service representatives interact with customers on behalf of the financial institution. They provide information about products and services, take orders, respond to customer complaints, and process requests.

Data Point - A single fact or piece of information. Used extensively in r/churning to decipher rules, roadblocks, and loopholes for earning rewards.

FlyerTalk - Forum with extensive discussions on all award travel related topics

Hang Up and Call Again - A commonly used tactic when encountering an unfriendly/unhelpful/uninformed phone CSR.

The Points Guy - "The Points Guy" blog

Your Mileage (Miles) May Vary - A common saying meaning results may vary.