He's right. It's a never-ending game in which the rules can change out from underneath you. In the last four years I've earned and redeemed just over 2 millio

He's right. It's a never-ending game in which the rules can change out from underneath you. In the last four years I've earned and redeemed just over 2 million points. When I started you could still churn Amex cards, United's award chart was deliciously cheap and Hilton was practically giving away points. All of that is dead. But it's still a lot of fun. I actually just got off the phone with Singapore Airlines—transferred points over from Citi (earned through churning) and redeemed for a first class ticket in their A380 Suite from Singapore to Los Angeles with a stopover in Tokyo. Then I called Hyatt and booked a free night at the Park Hyatt Saigon with a free night certificate I received from Chase. That said, it's gotten much harder in the four years I've been playing. I started my senior year in college, churning Chase cards to fly to Southeast Asia after graduation. Back then awards were cheaper and more plentiful. United had yet to devalue their award chart. Now we're on the cusp of American's devaluation (so I just booked the Etihad A380 Apartment for later this year to burn off the rest of those miles), Starwood will likely be gutted after the Marriott acquisition and churning is getting riskier. Last week Amex killed off manufactured spending through their prepaid products and Chase is getting increasingly skittish. I keep plugging away at it. So long as the banks, airlines and hotels keep making it possible to earn lots of points on the cheap, I'll keep playing.