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 🙂
For a DP, initially signed up for the card in November 2016, cancelled June 5 (took me time to use all the points), applied again July16, went pending, then checked online two days later and it said I was approved. the phone rep asked for promo code. Gave her BAABZX and it worked for 50K point bonus. Signed up for 11 cards in last year.
@ Lan: I too applied online, and was approved after pending without needing to call in to recon. 1 week after receiving the card, BOA closed it automatically, and sent me a letter saying they approved in error. Maybe wait to celebrate until after you actually receive the 2nd 50k?
Hi Sid,
Was this you 2nd Merrill+ application? How many days between the 2 apps?
Hi James,
Sorry for the late reply. Yes 2nd merrill app, and I waited many months before the apps, prolly like 9 months or so. I product changed the Merill to a cash rewards card, waiting yet another month, THEN applied online for my 2nd Merrill. Several others have had success with their 2nd Merrills, but data points indicate most if not all of them did this before the Merrill blew up on the blogs.
Update: Sid, thanks for the heads up! Card arrived 7/24, activated online, made an online purchase, purchase posted to BoA account as pending. So far, so good. I’ll update when I get the bonus, but at this point I’m thinking it will work. Also received the paper with the card about the 50k point sign up bonus.
@ Lan: Okay cool, hope it works out, post an update after you get the bonus! Just don’t do that naked in the living room MS happy dance until you get that 50k in dah bank!
DP update: completed spend req on 8/16, 50k points posted on 8/18.
Like Sid said, wait for the 50k to post and then you can open the champagne.
Applied for second card for my wife about 2 1/2 months after getting the first. Took over a week to get the letter in the mail about believing it to be a duplicate application. Called 1-866-224-7803, said wanted card to separate expenses (wife is PTO president at school and thus had a lot of expenses she is reimbursed for). They claimed they wouldn’t approve due to 7 new card accounts in past year and no other B of A relationships.
I opened ML card 60 days ago, closed it last month after receiving bonus. Can I apply now or should apply after 90 days?
Success! Got a second card about 2 1/2 months after getting my first. Got a letter saying my application would not be processed because it was a duplicate within three months. I called the normal BofA reconsideration line and they were no help at all; wouldn’t even look at the application. But then I called the reconsideration number listed in the comments of 1-866-224-7803. that one worked better. It might be helpful to put the number more prominently in the post.
Did you get the second bonus yet? Let us know when you do.
My statement closes on March 5th, counting down the days.
I got the 2nd bonus! Didn’t realize at first but the points show up in my account before the statement closes. One annoying thing is that im not aware of a way to combine the points across my 2 cards.
I know many folks want to maximize the points and hence may not want to close the ML card after they received bonus. I have got my $500 bonus because I don’t travel that much.
Can you close the card and re-apply? How long you should wait between closing and opening? This will take care of “already a adequate credit” fiasco.
You can & should receive the bonus; there are some DPs on Reddit from today. https://www.reddit.com/r/churning/comments/5qn3w7/daily_discussion_thread_january_28_2017/dd0nw7v/
I would think a minimum of 3 months would be necessary, and likely one to three more.
While I applaud your determination, it’s no wonder banks are creating all these rules around churning. I mean how much total time did you waste with the reconsideration specialists? Combine that with the fact you would be an unprofitable cardholder and it’s a no-brainer that they establish some limits. In fact, the bank’s shareholders should be demanding it. Don’t get me wrong — I’m all for trying to work the system, but we shouldn’t be at all surprised that they have started putting limits in place.
I don’t think people are surprised they are putting limits in place, just disappointed.
Can you explain what you mean by this: “Did not try tweeting at them, learned about that afterward.”?
I should keep my current ML card and try apply again when the time is right? Should I also do the same with AS card?
YMMV. My choices may not be the best for you — I just really wanted to keep the card! I have not done enough reading to know the typical BOA churn process.
How long do you recommend keeping either card before cancelling or have you seen patterns that have worked for others?
To be honest, I have done very little reading about churning BOA cards. I do know that, typically, banks are not very happy when you close down cards very fast after getting the bonus (which is why I just went for it here with a fresh app, instead of doing research and potentially closing or changing the card—I value my relationship with BOA and I judged it far too soon to close the card).
I’m not quite clear what you were trying to do here. Are you trying to apply for a card you already have? If so, are you cancelling your first card before applying for it again?
Apologies in advance for the rudimentary question.
Yes to the first question, no to the second — sorry if that wasn’t clear!
thanks for the reply. then how does one get around the fact that you already have a card and are trying to apply for another?
I told them I wanted an additional one to consolidate my reimbursable work expenses (and that the other cards were for personal expenses). There was some confusion with the resolution manager where she tried to push a small business card, but I managed to straighten that out.
nice
Related question – do I understand correctly that a minimum of 25k pts is required for ANY flight redemption? So if I have 50k total, and I use 35k for a redemption, that means the remaining 15k are worthless by themselves? Can it be used for hotel/car?
25k is the minimum to redeem in the specific way that you get a flight up to $500.
There are many other ways that are 1cpp, including a statement credit and partially paying a fare or other travel (via the Merrill travel portal) with points.