No, I Don’t Really Care about Your Bank Shutdown Data Points

Bank Shutdown Data Points

Doing bigger things in the points and travel hobby can entail pushing harder.  To earn more points and miles, certain hobbyists more aggressively spend.  The other end here is that banks can decide they’re no longer interested in you as a customer.  This has happened to me, and I imagine some of you, on a few occasions.  As I’ve heard Troy Aikman often say, “it comes with the dinner.”  While I’d like to avoid losing cards, I know I can come out ahead along the way to that conclusion.  It’s natural for hobbyists to share bank shutdown data points as they hope to avoid such a demise.  But I don’t overly focus on such DP’s for the following reasons.

That Ain’t Everything

Hobbyists swap information about what can lead to a shutdown, and these data points may very well contribute to that outcome.  But for many who have been shut down, it’s just as much – maybe more – about what they don’t share as what they do.

I’m skeptical that anyone shut down truly shares everything.  Out of guilt, embarrassment, or something else, certain hobbyists naturally omit.  And even if someone wants to be an open book, no single forum is necessarily the appropriate place to share all.  Consequently, we’re only hearing part of the story, and this can lead to false assumptions, rumors, and paranoia.  What may realistically be a perfectly-acceptable behavior can morph into a mortal sin.

Apples and Oranges

The timing and nature of how we accomplish certain tasks can play a role in if one is shut down and another is not.  What banks allow in one year, month, or week varies – and they’re not responsible for keeping us updated (more on that later).  This can also vary by region.  While we want to squint to make sense of bank shutdown data points, we erroneously commingle these variations and assume everyone is in the same situation.  Data points immediately age and inevitably become obsolete.

We Don’t Know Anything

Let’s remember that the banks have all the information.  They monitor our entire behavior profiles, decide what is acceptable, what’s not, and their exact shutdown formula.  Banks generally do not tell us the specific reasons why we were shut down, and even in the rare case they do, the reasoning is not complete.  I feel it’s naive for hobbyists to think that they have this stuff all figured out.  We may have a general idea of what’s okay, until it isn’t.

Bad Actors

As Alfred reminds us in The Dark Knight, “Some men just want to watch the world burn.”  I feel this applies today more than ever, within and beyond our shared hobby.  We live in a time where an increasing many just want to create chaos.

And unfortunately, in our hobby, we face a deluge of unverifiable information.  This often comes from questionable parties.  Intentionally or unknowingly, individuals parrot this as fact, to the point where other entities irresponsibly post and point fingers elsewhere.

Rise above the mess, trust your own experiences, and build true, real relationships.

Bank Shutdown Data Points – Conclusion

Of course, I can’t ignore that the spirit of certain bank shutdown data points rings true.  It’s safe to say certain behaviors are more acceptable than others.  But we must not overrely on these DP’s.  While I may see a certain value in specific pieces of information, my firsthand experiences will always come ahead of everything else.  But I also foster relationships with individuals – face to face, preferably – to share experiences and build more confidence in certain moves.  All those other data points floating around online fall significantly behind.

Again, this is just the way I reconcile things, and I can understand everybody has their own processes.  The key is to have a process, a plan, for how you go about your hobby activities.  I encourage you to determine the appropriate mix and weight of bank shutdown data points in your situation.  Godspeed!