I accidentally discovered that it is possible -- in fact, quite easy -- to get multiple accounts with the same credit card, together with all signup bonuses.

When UAL offered double miles this summer, I signed up for the 1-for-1 annual fee card, and registered it for the promotion. I got 10,000 miles for signing up. Then last week, to my surprise, I received another statement from Mileage Plus Visa charging me for another $60 annual fee. The kicker: it was a different account number! I don't recall signing up twice, but somehow they think I did, and they gave me two cards with two annual fees and yes -- two 10,000 mile signup bonuses.

But wait -- it gets better.

One of the two cards had a limit of X dollars, the second a (larger) limit of Y. Although I technically qualified for it, the issuer would not have normally given me a limit of X+Y, due to my lack of "previous experience" with such a line. But once both cards were approved, it was trivial to combine the credit line of both accounts! They also waived the second annual fee.

I asked the CSR supervisor about this. She was very friendly and totally unfazed. Didn't they have a problem with people doing this intentionally? "It's fine with us," she said. "We figure we're happy to have a customer who plans to give us that much business." But what about the multiple signup bonuses, etc? "We'd obviously rather not have to award multiple bonuses, but if that's what it takes to get the business, we'll do it."

No doubt to many of you wise guys, this is not news. But do you realize all the (positive) implications of this? Assuming other issuers share this supervisor's view, this is quite a discovery.

The CSR's actually encourage this. A friend of mine had the college visa (2 miles per dollar), and wanted to upgrade to the normal one, using the 15K bonus. The CSR told her to keep the old one, get the new one and then combine the accts + credit limit into her new acct....

You brought back two pleasant memories and I can confirm the First USA, the issuer of the United card, does allow multiple accounts and bonuses. I got rejected for a British Airways card, which made me mad, so I applied again and got rejected again and got mad again. I hadn't realized that First USA was owned by Bank One, where I had a relatively large but unused line of credit. I closed the line of credit and asked First USA to review my application for a British Airways card. They approved both applications and I got two 15,000 mile bonuses.

I am also a sucker for the cool Southwest Airlines shirts they give away for free at PHX when you apply for a card. I figured I would get the shirt and simply be rejected for the card, since I already had a S/W Visa card. I wasn't rejected and I ended up with three S/W Visa cards and two S/W Airlines T-Shirts. Best of all both of my additional S/W Visa cards generated the 2 Bonus Credits on first use and the five bonus credits for balance transfers.

I'm sittin ghere with the card that was included in my statment last month. "eart up to 15,000 miles when you refer three friends to the mileage plus visa".....

Can I refer myself?

With all the mileage devaluations and the annual fees you usually get, I'm starting to sour on cards that earn miles (unless you're in a situation where you can charge 40K + a year with no earning cap).

My credit union had a points based program under ScoreCard for no annual fee where 20K can get a freebie in the 48US/Canada/Alaska. One big catch: The value is capped at $325 or you pay the difference (but you can do your own research during a sale & dictate the exact flights, airlines, etc.; anything goes as long as it prices below $325).

Did an award on such a 20K deal for an ATL-LAS RT this week; the great thing was that the trip EARNED miles and also got upgrades (as I got it on an airline where I had plat status).

The program also has a USAir partnership where they offer awards on their system in the 48US/Canada at 25,000 points ($1 = 1 point) with no cap on value (in case you need to go to Montana).

These type cards may actually have an edge in the future if airlines like CO keep cutting seat allocations and using "EasyPass" as a de facto 50% devaluation. OTOH, I'm not sure in today's volatile environment that I'd want to build up too many miles OR points in any program. Better to use as you go.

I have held the UA free card that gives 1 mile per $2 for quite awhile. I wanted the $60/ 15000 mile deal for a card that gives 1 mile per dollar spent, so I called customer service to see what I had to do. Was told that I first had to cancel my old card, then apply on line for the new one.

Perhaps I should have obtained a second opinion.

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The Personal Travel Experience of Gary Steiger - including how to get free frequent flyer miles on the web.