Our coverage of the current 50,000 point signup offer for the Merrill+ has been missing one thing: can you churn the card? I’ve tried it, and I think it’s possible. Here are some notes from my experience.
You can read our review of the Merrill+ here.
Contents
Basic Information
I applied for my first Merrill+ as soon as I found the link. I recently used up all my points on 2 flights for $1,034.42—so I definitely wanted another one. My second application was 67 days after I was approved for the first one. I did try to convert my first one to a BBR, but that was unsuccessful, so I left it open. I could’ve chosen to PC it to a Cash Rewards or Travel Rewards card, which may have helped with…
Duplicate Application
My first hurdle was that my application went pending (as Merrill+ apps are wont to do) and stayed that way until I called in to the recon line a week later. As it turns out (and I received a letter about it shortly thereafter), my second application had been marked as a duplicate, so the first step was to actually get it processed.
The rep who processed my application quoted me a number of reasons for denial, but the one stated in my letter was…
Amount of Credit Extended to You is Adequate
I had been approved for three Bank of America cards in October / November, and they deemed the amount of credit line extended to me by them adequate. Before I applied for my second Merrill+, my total credit line with BOA was just under 40% of my annual income. By the time I applied for the second Merrill+, it was under 25%.
Recon #1. The Oops.
I called back a few hours later hoping to have my denial reconsidered. Huge fail. I hadn’t caught the name of the person who processed my application and as luck would have it, I managed to get the exact same person who had denied me earlier—without even realizing it until he said as much. While he did take down my assets and such, he was unable to get past the decision that “the amount of credit extended to you is adequate”.
Lesson learned: pay attention and be careful about the preferred rewards recon line.
Recon #2. Hope Springs Eternal.
Three days later, it was time to try again and on a different reconsideration line. I spent about 30 minutes with a representative as she tried to help me get it reconsidered (she also took down all my assets), and I felt pretty decent about my chances. She was extremely awesome, but also could not get past “the amount of credit extended to you is adequate”—even when I asked her if I could move credit lines to the new card to be approved. After I asked if anyone further up the chain could help me, she did send me up to her supervisor, a “resolution manager”, which sets me up for…
Recon #3. Oof.
The resolution manager didn’t really understand why I wanted the new Merrill+ card (“segment my reimbursable business expenses”) given that I already had 3 new cards with them—why couldn’t I use one of those? I eventually got her on the same page and she once again took down all my assets (clearly, this information does not carry over) and was able to move around existing credit line so that I could be approved for the new card. I simply had to agree to take $5,000 from any of my existing cards to be approved for $5,000 (note: not multiple cards, a single card). Excellent!
Unfortunately for me, but maybe not for you, she needed to take a look at my credit report first and I knew I was boned when she noted “I see here you have opened” – lengthy pause – “18 cards in 2016” (“I travel a lot for work, so I was looking to maximize the rewards I get for various trips, but now I want to consolidate all of that spending onto this new card”). She sounded incredibly concerned and I knew that was basically the end of the line for me.
She did offer to send it to her manager, but told me even that person wouldn’t be able to approve me because of how many cards I had opened.
Concluding Remarks
I think this card is churnable (though the bonus is supposedly ending January 2018, or possibly earlier). Based on my experience, I think you’ll want to wait around 90 days, and potentially, selectively reduce your CL with BOA beforehand, as a higher(er) income won’t necessarily get you around an “adequate credit extended denial”. You do want to make sure to keep enough CL on a card so that you can move $5,000 over during reconsideration.
You do want to send your recon up the line as soon as possible, since managers have much more flexibility with what they can do.
Not having opened an obscene number of cards in the past year will help you greatly.
Other DPs? Questions?
Drop them in the comments below, and I will link to or answer them here as needed 🙂
