From the very beginning steps you take in this hobby, there’s an implicit sense of urgency. The big sign up bonuses that fuel your first redemptions require spending on a certain timeline, generally 90 days. 

While most of us unfortunately have adult obligations that make offers like $4,000 of spend in 90 days a breeze, larger requirements like the Amex Business Platinum or Capital One Spark charge card seem daunting at first.

Over time, as you progress, those $20k-$30k requirements start to feel simple too. Once you have a proven method to knock out spending, it’s easy to think back to the beginning of your churning career and laugh at the requirements you used to worry about. 

Of course, comparison is the thief of joy, wherever you go, there you are, or insert your own favorite cliched way of saying that it’s all relative. 

I also think it’s better for you to not lose that sense of urgency. While SUBs get easier with time, the need to carefully consider the timing of debits and credits only gets more complex. In a way, the retro /r/churning example of properly timing Southwest SUBs for a companion pass is the beginner version of what I’m about to talk about. 

Somewhere along the way from fish to dolphin to whale, you’re moving a lot of money around, and the velocity of that money will have an effect on your profits. 

While we all dream of that one unicorn that is an instant in and out loop, those are few and far between. Instead, you’re likely to be constrained by all sorts of things. Limits related to timeframe, transfer speeds, what day of the week it is, shipping speeds (and all the external factors that can affect that), etc. etc.

These things are inevitable, especially in a world where real-time payments are going to take a very long time to be fully adopted. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t things you can do to mitigate the effect as much as possible.

For example, there are many loops out there that have velocity limits that stop you from running your daily limit 7 days a week. If you can, running them on weekdays (and ideally not even Friday) helps ensure your liquidity is ready to loop again the following Monday.

It’s also a chance to spend money to make money. For example, some buyers groups will let you pay a nominal fee to expedite your shipping, while shippers will do the same to allow you to schedule a pickup. If either of those things means an expensive package is paid out a day earlier, the math very likely maths. 

In isolated cases, it can even be worth it to pay the fee that many fintechs will assess for a RTP deposit. A lot of us are running it up right now. Between shipping quirks on both ends, posting times, liquidity hurdles and market volatility, this plane is a lot harder to land than a Southwest companion pass. Netting 0.3% out of a transaction now vs. 0% a few weeks from now might make sense. 

ᐃᑲᔪᖅᑐᐃᔪᖅ!