We reported on an increased signup bonus for the Bank of American Travel Rewards card. The offer is nothing amazing, but $200 is decent and I didn’t yet have any BofA cards so I gave it a shot. (I don’t travel much so the Alaska cards aren’t useful for me.)
As we know, BofA combines inquiries and most of us like to apply for a couple of them at a time. They combine business and personal cards and the best bet is probably to go for one personal and one business card. Aside from the Travel Rewards, no other cards interested me and I was hoping to score 2 or 3 or the Travel Rewards cards. Sometime down the line, I’d convert them into Better Balance Rewards cards. From what I’m told, you can even do this conversion soon after opening the card without the need to wait a full year.
BofA has gotten tougher on approving multiple cards. Mileswhip has been coaching me on the BofA approval process and he says that the trick is to get one card approved with a high credit line, then you’ll hopefully be able to get the others approved by transfering over credit from that card in $5000 increments onto the other cards.
In my case, I didn’t have any existing BofA cards and I needed to land a high credit line on the first one. My hopes were to get a $15000 credit line and then apply for two more Travel Rewards and transfer over $5000 on each. (If I’m not mistaken, you don’t get the signup bonus on the card without a $5000 credit line since it comes through as a lower-level card.)
Plans didn’t quite work out – I got a credit line of just $6000.
Plan B: At this point, I was doubtful I could get a second Travel Rewards card. Even if I’d get an approval somehow, it would have to have a $5k credit line to be eligible for the signup bonus.
What to do? Justify an Experian pull for just a measly $200 bonus? Okay, it’s my first BofA card and I’m happy to start a relationship with a new bank, but still…
It occurred to me to apply instead for the Better Balance Rewards card directly. Typically an option for downgrades, this card does not have a signup bonus at all but it does have value since you can get up to $120 per year with the card. It’s also considered a more ‘basic’ card, I believe, and should be easier to get approved for. At worst, I could try to transfer $1k from my new Travel Rewards card to help get approved for the BBR.
In the end, that wasn’t necessary. While the card initially went into pending, a quick talk the next day with reconsideration (phone number here) and the analyst who was able to approve me for a $3600 credit line. Since it’s a ‘basic’ card and doesn’t have a signup bonus, I’d imagine it’s not too difficult to get approved for.
In the end, I’m pretty happy with my two new BofA cards. And the BBR idea may be useful to others; if you’re looking for a card to throw in and you don’t have enough credit limit to support it, consider throwing in a BBR. Hey, rapidtravelchai is working on his BBR #7 and #8, we still have a way to go to catch up…
Related: PSA: Put a $5 Charge on that Better Balance Rewards Card
View Comments (33)
I currently have no BoA cards. I am planning to apply for the Amtrak card next week. I feel like I should also apply for the Alaska card the same day since it would be a waste not to because of the hard pulls being combined. Any advice?
If I got the BoA Travel Rewards Card back in February with the 10,000 point bonus, can I apply for it right now, get a second card, and get another 20,000?
I'm basically asking, can I get two of the exact same cards? If yes, am I still eligible for the bonus?
Yes, you should be able to get the bonus again. https://www.doctorofcredit.com/list-of-churnable-credit-cards/
applied 2 cards at same time and both approved. They pull credit once right?
Yup, that's what usually happens.
Good thing you didn't try a product change to the BBR. BoA apparently hasn't allowed that for almost a year.
Data point: https://www.reddit.com/r/churning/comments/319n8o/bank_of_america_product_change/cpzsa47
Product changes are still possible, keep calling until you're successful.
Keep calling till you succeed.
I was rejected two times over the phone and online chat to match increased signup bonus on BOA TR for 20k offer.
Finally I found a CR who was ready to submit match request. My account was credited with the difference.
I had similar experience with Merrill Edge (BOA's brokerage arm) where I was rejected to match new account bonus offer. After two calls, I was succeeded.
BOA CR does not have much authority. Everything need to be submitted to central team for an approval. Highly bureaucratic and inefficient
Just wanted to remind others that if this offer sticks around for at least a month, one might be also be able to combine this with the widely expected roll out of the BoA Amtrak Rewards credit card(s).
As I mentioned above, I don't have any BoA cards and at first I was intrigued by this one, but have decided to hold off as there seems to be no banking/checking bonus right now that appeals to me.
Hopefully, if this is still around when and if BoA rolls out the Amtrak card -- and depending on whether the offer is decent -- I'll bite.
If you have a BOA savings account (minimum $300 balance to make it free) then you'll get an extra $5/quarter for BBR. ALSO all cash rewards including the $100 signup bonus are increased by 10% when you have them deposited into that account instead of getting a statement credit (like for their Cash Rewards 1-2-3% card). That makes gas 3.3% and everyday 1.1%!
Did the two pulls get combined into one?
Yup, seems they were combined.
I currently don't have any cards with BofA (or any banking relationship at all with BofA or Fidelity), but do have multiple cards with Chase, Amex, USBank, Barclay's, etc. Have a very high credit score. Haven't done any churning lately. Was thinking of applying for the Travel Rewards and Fidelity Investment Rewards same day, because the inquiries should be combined, from what I've heard. Is that what other people's experiences have been? Any opinions if I have a good shot at approval?
I've heard that Fidelity gets combined with TR. Go for it!
I am really really skeptical since FIA card services (formerly MBNA) is still a separate business division AFAIK.
In fact, there's a comment on that thread saying FIA/BoA do not consolidate.
https://www.doctorofcredit.com/card-issuers-that-combine-multiple-credit-pullsinquiries/#comment-93395
Interesting. I recently saw a report on Twitter that they do combine
Great, thanks for the reply - going to go for it. I will need to set up a Fidelity account to deposit the money though.
I had $250 sitting in a cu savings account for years...To earn more with the BBR and make good use of the $250 I closed the account and put $300 in a no fee bofa savings account then linked the card for the rewards will go there...the $120 becomes $130. I have their visa rewards set up the same way too.
Ops, the $100. becomes $120..If someone can tell me how to edit my post I will. Thanks.
I believe the minimum of $5000 CL for the full bonus applies to the Alaska card, not the Travel Rewards.
Ah, that could be. I just thought that since they were saying the approval is for a lower-end card, that card is considered a different product and won't be eligible for the bonus.
Isn't that the rationale by Alaska? Should TR be different?
I got approved for a $2500 limit on the Travel Rewards card 6 weeks ago and have received the full bonus. :) We're Platinum preferred rewards with BoA and they still gave me that limit!
Nice! Seems I was wrong and you don't need 5k to get the bonus here.