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Honestly, I'd argue you are better off rotating through credit cards every 3 months for the sign up bonuses. 4 cards a year is few enough not to draw any real s

Honestly, I'd argue you are better off rotating through credit cards every 3 months for the sign up bonuses. 4 cards a year is few enough not to draw any real scrutiny, at least so far for me. I'm not sure how you'd get 25,000-50,000 points every 3 months unless your lifestyle is pretty expensive compared to mine. For example: https://creditcards.chase.com/credit-cards/sapphire-preferred-card.aspx https://creditcards.chase.com/credit-cards/sapphire-preferre... -> http://www.capitalone.com/credit-cards/venture/ http://www.capitalone.com/credit-cards/venture/ -> https://creditcards.chase.com/6000356?CELL=6WKP https://creditcards.chase.com/6000356?CELL=6WKP -> https://creditcards.chase.com/credit-cards/southwest-premier-business-credit-card.aspx https://creditcards.chase.com/credit-cards/southwest-premier... 180,000 points for $198 [the last one is a business card but this is HN so I suspect a bunch of people have ways of getting one of those] iirc, 180k points is ~$1800 Just realize this tears up your credit score so don't go getting large 5-6 figure loans for cars/houses while doing this.

ethbro 11y ago
> the last one is a business card but this is HN so I suspect a bunch of people have ways of getting one of those Given that the primary difference between a credit card application and a business card application is possession of an EIN, I refer you to the IRS (http://www.irs.gov/Help-&-Resources/Tools-&-FAQs/FAQs-for-Individuals/Frequently-Asked-Tax-Questions-&-Answers/Small-Business,-Self-Employed,-Other-Business/Form-SS-4-&-Employer-Identification-Number-%28EIN%29/Form-SS-4-&-Employer-Identification-Number-%28EIN%29-1 http://www.irs.gov/Help-&-Resources/Tools-&-FAQs/FAQs-for-In...), Question: Does a small company that operates as a sole proprietorship need a tax ID number? Answer: A sole proprietor who does not have any employees and who does not file any excise or pension plan tax returns does not need an employer identification number (EIN) (but can get one if they choose). In this instance, the sole proprietor uses his or her Social Security number as the taxpayer identification number. However, at any time the employer hires an employee or has to file an excise tax return, they will need a new, separate EIN. In other words, in the absence of a more formal business structure requirement by the credit card issuer, you can be considered to be your own business. EDIT: tldr, use your SSN
- fweespeech 11y ago
  Yeah, but I'm not sure its worth the paperwork hassle of doing that when you can get another 30k bonus from a different card. 150k v. 180k +EIN cost is likely similar value for $.
  - saryant 11y ago
    EINs are free.
Nicholas_C 11y ago
>Just realize this tears up your credit score so don't go getting large 5-6 figure loans for cars/houses while doing this. What part of this tears up your credit score? The hard inquiries or the opening of new accounts? I may be buying a car in the next few months and now I'm a little concerned about opening up a new account or two for points.
- fweespeech 11y ago
  I'd advise getting any loan(s) you need in the next 2 years first, then doing this if you are going to. https://www.creditkarma.com/article/hard_inquiries_and_soft_inquiries https://www.creditkarma.com/article/hard_inquiries_and_soft_... Hard inquiries when you open the new credit cards. A number of companies have a threshold where it triggers a denial. Its a bit more complex than the credit score itself, for instance: http://milestomemories.boardingarea.com/chase-credit-card-churning-rules/ http://milestomemories.boardingarea.com/chase-credit-card-ch... > The 5 cards across all banks rule generally applies to authorized user accounts as well. So yeah, there are things in place to knock you down a peg if you do stuff like this. But so far, at 4 cards per year, I don't really run into issues.

ethbro 11y ago

> the last one is a business card but this is HN so I suspect a bunch of people have ways of getting one of those Given that the primary difference between a credit card application and a business card application is possession of an EIN, I refer you to the IRS (http://www.irs.gov/Help-&-Resources/Tools-&-FAQs/FAQs-for-Individuals/Frequently-Asked-Tax-Questions-&-Answers/Small-Business,-Self-Employed,-Other-Business/Form-SS-4-&-Employer-Identification-Number-%28EIN%29/Form-SS-4-&-Employer-Identification-Number-%28EIN%29-1 http://www.irs.gov/Help-&-Resources/Tools-&-FAQs/FAQs-for-In...), Question: Does a small company that operates as a sole proprietorship need a tax ID number? Answer: A sole proprietor who does not have any employees and who does not file any excise or pension plan tax returns does not need an employer identification number (EIN) (but can get one if they choose). In this instance, the sole proprietor uses his or her Social Security number as the taxpayer identification number. However, at any time the employer hires an employee or has to file an excise tax return, they will need a new, separate EIN. In other words, in the absence of a more formal business structure requirement by the credit card issuer, you can be considered to be your own business. EDIT: tldr, use your SSN

fweespeech 11y ago
Yeah, but I'm not sure its worth the paperwork hassle of doing that when you can get another 30k bonus from a different card. 150k v. 180k +EIN cost is likely similar value for $.
- saryant 11y ago
  EINs are free.

Nicholas_C 11y ago

>Just realize this tears up your credit score so don't go getting large 5-6 figure loans for cars/houses while doing this. What part of this tears up your credit score? The hard inquiries or the opening of new accounts? I may be buying a car in the next few months and now I'm a little concerned about opening up a new account or two for points.

fweespeech 11y ago
I'd advise getting any loan(s) you need in the next 2 years first, then doing this if you are going to. https://www.creditkarma.com/article/hard_inquiries_and_soft_inquiries https://www.creditkarma.com/article/hard_inquiries_and_soft_... Hard inquiries when you open the new credit cards. A number of companies have a threshold where it triggers a denial. Its a bit more complex than the credit score itself, for instance: http://milestomemories.boardingarea.com/chase-credit-card-churning-rules/ http://milestomemories.boardingarea.com/chase-credit-card-ch... > The 5 cards across all banks rule generally applies to authorized user accounts as well. So yeah, there are things in place to knock you down a peg if you do stuff like this. But so far, at 4 cards per year, I don't really run into issues.