MilesBuzz! - Current Credit Cards with 20,000 mile signup bonus???

Awhile back I saw a United Airlines credit card that you could signup for and get 20,000 bonus miles at signup if you applied online. I also have seen an Amex credit card that gives you 20,000 points on signup which you could convert into a free SW airlines ticket.

Are there any CURRENT 20,000 mile/point credit card signup offers???
I searched the forum and could not find any. TIA.

The United offer appears to still be valid (http://www.firstusa.com/cgi-bin/webcgi/webserve.cgi?card=5SZN&mkid=6B01&partner_dir_name=united_signature_20k).

The Delta Platinum Amex (http://www66.americanexpress.com/cards/Fmacfservlet?csi=24/2158/b/71/0/069223758602/0/n) offers 15,000 miles with first purchase and then 10,000 more miles for spending $25k in a year.

Thanks a bundle Gleff!
I couldn't find the link anywhere.

ALSO, what is the best method to signup for a Mileage Plus account and receive the most startup bonus miles?? Thanks, Wes

[This message has been edited by WESOCIETY (edited Jan 25, 2004).]

If you are flying on United by January 31 of this year, you (and I) can get 5,000 points for signing up for its frequent flyer program. Info on the Airlines Registrations and Other Bonuses page of my web site below.

(FYI: The link to the 20,000 mile offer is still on my Credit Cards page.)

I already have the MP Visa card (since 07/03).

Can I order a new one and get the 20,000 miles?

If yes and I cancel the orginal, will they deduct any of the bonus miles I already accumulated from that card?

I'm sure someone has tried this already and wonder if they were successful or not.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by Tonecold:
I already have the MP Visa card (since 07/03).

Can I order a new one and get the 20,000 miles?</font>

A pparently so (http://www.flyertalk.com/forumcgi/ubbmisc.cgi?action=sendthread&thread=http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/Forum50/HTML/019200.html&Subject=20,000+Miles+for+New+Mileage+Plus+Visa). But for credit reasons, it may not be prudent to add to your arsenal of credit cards because each credit check can lower your FICO score. You have to decide if the FICO hit is worth the bonus miles.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">If yes and I cancel the orginal, will they deduct any of the bonus miles I already accumulated from that card?</font>

Nope. However, it would be better not to cancel your old Visa card, again for credit reasons. Instead of canceling, convert your old account to a non-mileage earning one with no annual fee and lower your credit limit to $1.00 while keeping your account.

[This message has been edited by cAAl (edited Jan 27, 2004).]

I applied twice last year and received two cards, one with a 15k bonus and one with a 20k bonus. I honestly had forgotten that I had already received one card when I applied for the other. I won't use them more than once--I just put them in a drawer until the annual fee is due when I will cancel them.

Interesting advice cAAl about your credit score. Obviously my shenanigans with ff credit cards the past few years hasn't affected my FICO score enough to prevent me from refinancing my mortgage not once, but twice last year!

Just curious. Why would canceling a cc have a negative effect on your score?

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by stephlac:
Just curious. Why would canceling a cc have a negative effect on your score?</font>

It reduces your available credit which may be a factor if one has other debts that are near the overall credit limit of all debt held by that consumer.

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<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by Sweet Willie:
It reduces your available credit which may be a factor if one has other debts that are near the overall credit limit of all debt held by that consumer.</font>I'm not so sure about this. They way I understand it, and maybe someone who knows can help, but just having the credit card, and paying the bill in full each month doesn't add to your credit score. If you do this, you haven't used credit under the definition used by the 4 companies that score all of us.

The down side is having all that credit available. If you have six mileage earning cards all with 5000+ available credit, then your at risk for a 30,000+ default. And this may have a negative effect on your mortage and auto rates. Nowadays, this isn't a big deal, but 15 years ago it was, and you can see how all this adds up and at some point, I don't know where, it is still a big deal.

Additionally, the length of time you've had credit is also figured in, so don't cancel "old" credit cards. That probably wouldn't apply if the credit card is 5 years old or less (unless it's your oldest one).

I believe, though, at one time Fair, Isaac stated than cancelling credit cards could not help raise your score.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by Dudemon:
[QUOTE] The way I understand it, and maybe someone who knows can help, but just having the credit card, and paying the bill in full each month doesn't add to your credit score. If you do this, you haven't used credit under the definition used by the 4 companies that score all of us.
</font>

Can anyone shine some light on this question?

Thanks!

great topic guys!

A few years ago, I was a student who'd amassed an 11K debt on credit cards. I never fell behind but did carry a substantial balance for some time(never late), so the credit companies made their money on me.

Then I realized how I could gain miles (thanks Mom) so I switched over and cancelled my other 3-5 cc cards.

That was 5 years ago.

As of today, I have 1 AAdvantage Visa and 1 store (Express mens) credit card open.
I graduated in 2001, my student installment loans were then consolidated and are always on time thanks to EFTs. My FICO in Nov.2003 was +793.

So after seeing this thread, I am considering applying for another CC card in order to gain points/miles.

my questions are:
-considering my history, can a simple check on my credit harm my FICO? By "check", I mean wouldn't the potential issuing card company check my CC reports? And that can harm my FICO? I never heard of that. How is that?
-I am now in Hyatt, Starwood, Onepass and AAdvantage programs. Can you suggest a good program to join, one with a low annual fee?

cheers, phoenix

There are a myriad of factors that go into calculating a credit score. Paying off the balance each month can still be a positive factor - it will show up as an active account with a previous high balance, and will be reflected as always paid on time (if it was http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif )
Too many open cards can be a net negative factor in the overall score calculation, because of the risk of the cards being maxed out. However I don't think it's a big factor if all other things on the report are positive.

A hard credit enquiry (from applying for a credit card) will only lower your FICO score if you do this (more than) 3 times in a 12 month period. (Not sure if exactly 3 times in a 12 month period will lower your score).

If your FICO score is well over 750, you have nothing to lose even if you apply for more than 3 credit cards in a 12 month period : I have not heard of any mortgage or other loan whose best rate requires a FICO score higher than 750 (most only require 720 for their best rates).

[This message has been edited by ananthar (edited Jan 28, 2004).]

Thank you for the insiight Ananthar and Bob.

Since I only use my AAdvantage Citicard now, I will be soon applying for the Platinum Mastercard for AAdvantage.

With our wedding approaching and soon to buy a home, maintaining our credit is crucial.

Perhaps next year, as I buy into the office, I may apply for the business platinum http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

cheers!

This is an intresting topic. I'm not sure where everyone gets their info from....but, I was a loan officer/and manager at a bank for 7 years before I retired (hee hee to stay at home with the kids). I pulled credit bureaus by the thousands and rated them for loans.

Lets just put it this way....I open 10 new credit cards last year and have probably 25 different ones open. I refinanced my house late in 2003 and my credit rating was 791.

Don't be scared to open new ones. If its a good deal...then do it.

Its a good idea to keep them organized. I keep mine all in a business card holder so I can see all the ones I have.

Anyone know of any UK cards that have promotions ETC, after all if it's free then why not.
Doug

Opening too many new accounts can harm your score - but so can having too few accounts open. My score went up significantly when I increased my portfolio from 2 to 5 cards over two months.

Perhaps overly simplistic, but here's an explanation.

Assume you have only 2 cards, each with a $10 K credit limit. You have $7.5K on each of them. This means you are using 75% of your available credit - could be seen as too high a percentage; approaching the dreaded "maxed out".

Open three more cards, each with $10K limit. Don't charge anything (well, maybe $100 on each).

Now you are using only 30% of your available credit ($15K total of the $50K available on all cards together). Thirty percent is a much more comfortable number than 75%.

Edited to add: But don't get *too* much available credit - that "potential," even though unused, can scare issuers. One thing I do is reduce the limit on cards when I don't intend to use them very much. For instance, if the issuer gives me $25K as a limit, I'll call and have it reduced to $10K. (They don't seem to get many of those calls - one CSR wasn't sure if that could even be done!)

[This message has been edited by Counsellor (edited Jan 31, 2004).]

You can find a lot of answers to credit-card questions here (http://www.fatwallet.com/forums/messageview.php?catid=52&threadid=200596).

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Middle_Seat

Another reason to limit the number of cards you possess is to prevent identity theft (which sadly isn't that difficult these days). In the past three years, I have had (1) someone steal my new credit card in the mail and then activate it somehow (because they surely didn't do it from my home phone) and (2) someone steal (or recreate with a color laser printer) my credit card checks and try to use them for payment somewhere. One time the credit card company caught it before I found out. THe second time, the credit card company (a different one) called me after the fact.

Finally, as for the "mother's maiden name" password on all these applications, NEVER use your mother's maiden name. Use a password that only you know. Of course, it doesn't help that the customer service reps will often times give you hints to your password (i.e., it starts with the letter "E") if you forget it...

Just my experience - I was refused a signature loan at my credit union based on the number of credit cards listed on my credit report. The loan officer explained that since I had the POTENTIAL to charge so much that I was a poor risk for the signature loan.
I than got a copy of my credit report from the credit union and called to cancel all those cards I had completely forgotten about. Now I stay on top of the amount of available credit and cancel cards I amnot using.
Last year I received a bill for a card I had received but NEVER activated, for a charge at Office Depot. I enquired about the charge and was told that it was NOT an internet order, that someone had physically presented the card in the LA area (700 miles away from me). I contested it and had it removed, no problem. However, in talking to the issuing company, I found that one does NOT need to activate a card, many times, and that even having the card hidden in a drawer forever was no protection - thieves that have some knowledge of the numbering used on various CCs apparently make up random sequences, and mine just turned up. I don't know if this is true, or if the company was just blowing smoke at me for questioning their security procedures.
Kate

I can confirm at least some of the above.

1. Cards can be used without being "activated" (at least some of them). I think some issuers use the "activation" requirement as a sales opportunity to pitch extra services (at extra cost).

2. However, some issuers apparently also use the “activation” process as a guard against theft. I received a letter from one of my card issuers asking why I hadn’t activated a replacement card they had sent me. As it turned out, it had been lost (actually delayed) in the mail, and I hadn’t known.

3. "Card present" is not the protection it once was. With sophisticated "readers" a crook can get the information off of your card (even waiters at posh restaurants have been reported to have skimmed numbers using a hand-held device, when turning away with your card to "anvil" the bill). They then take a counterfeit template (or even a real card) and load that information onto the magnetic strip on the back. Voila, a "card present". (And yes, if you know the algorithm, you can figure out what numbers would belong to the universe used by a particular issuer. By selecting from those numbers, you could “hit” an active card.)

I just wanted to give a first hand example of what applying for lot’s of mileage earning credit cards may do to your credit.

To set the stage the only late payments I have ever had on anything are two “30 day late” payments in July of 1994 (I was in Central America for 3 months) and the Dudemon household income is 6 figures. I have a mortgage and 1 car loan.

In January of this year my score was 714. Since then I have applied for and be given the following:
2 UA visa cards 20,000 points each (I applied for 4 of these but they only gave me two and said the second pair were “duplicate” applications) Thanks to pgary's site (http://www.freefrequentflyermiles.com/index.htm).
1 Priority Club visa 10,000 points (I applied for the 20,000 point promo but they only gave me 10,000
1 AA mc 10,000 (I applied for a second one but it was rejected because you can only apply every two months)
2 NW visa cards 5,000 points each

Most of these cards are now cancelled, as I don’t want all the credit. The cards would come with some huge credit limit but I would always call right away and have it reduced to $5,000 so it wouldn’t have a major negative affect on my ability to acquire more credit.

I carry and use my Starwood Amex as my primary card but have limited the credit on it to $10,000.

My credit score as of last week was 722. I expected it to go down from the 9 inquires & all the open credit.

AA's new offer was posted today on aa.com - 15,000 bonus miles, a 1 year fee waiver, and a $25 coupon:

http://www.aa.com/apps/netSAAver/ViewPromotionsDetail.jhtml?repositoryId=10201048&repositoryName=PromotionContentRepository&itemDescriptor=PromotionContent

AA's new offer was posted today on aa.com - 15,000 bonus miles, a 1 year fee waiver, and a $25 coupon:

http://www.aa.com/apps/netSAAver/ViewPromotionsDetail.jhtml?repositoryId=10201048&repositoryName=PromotionContentRepository&itemDescriptor=PromotionContent

Perfect timing! :) I've been looking for a new credit card. Thank you for the info. I will try tonight.

AA's new offer was posted today on aa.com - 15,000 bonus miles, a 1 year fee waiver, and a $25 coupon:

http://www.aa.com/apps/netSAAver/ViewPromotionsDetail.jhtml?repositoryId=10201048&repositoryName=PromotionContentRepository&itemDescriptor=PromotionContent

The 15,000 miles is for the business card. Does anyone know if anyone can get this?

The 15,000 miles is for the business card. Does anyone know if anyone can get this?

Probably. But I tried and failed. I was told that my stated revenue was too low. Apparently a couple of thousand a year is not enough. I don't know what the lower limit is.

World Perks Visa sign up bonus just went to 10,000 miles for new card holders only. :(

Check out the details at the US Bank (http://www.usbank.com) home page.

i got my united visa signature cards today in mail. It does not say that i will be getting 15,000 bonus miles. Is this normal?? will the miles post to my account?? or should i call them??
I used one the links from one of the flyertalk forums with non annual fee and 15,000 bonus miles

i got my united visa signature cards today in mail. It does not say that i will be getting 15,000 bonus miles. Is this normal?? will the miles post to my account?? or should i call them??
I used one the links from one of the flyertalk forums with non annual fee and 15,000 bonus miles

I got the card about a month ago. Bought some stuff, the 15000 points just posted yesterday (plus the miles for the purchases). So buy something and figure it'll take about a month. :D

i got my united card, made a purchase on 7/1, but still no miles either. however my cc statement has not established any due dates yet...i still dont know when my bill is due because online it doesnt show.

i got my united card, made a purchase on 7/1, but still no miles either. however my cc statement has not established any due dates yet...i still dont know when my bill is due because online it doesnt show.

The miles should post within 1 week after the billing close date.

I finally got my third UA visa about a month ago and low and behold... I got 20,000 miles that posted not 15,000! I don't know if this was a carry over from one of my previous applications but I don't believe it is.

BTW, the reason I did the 5000 mile deal with NW visa's from US Bank is they'll give you back your annual fee when you call to cancel telling them you don't really need the card, so will BofA with AS mileage card. The folks at the UA visa call center have said they'll refund the fee but they don't.

I can't believe I'm not on some black list for all these mileage cards! :rolleyes: I'm going to keep doing it until something changes, this is just too easy.

I can't believe I'm not on some black list for all these mileage cards!

i've gotta believe that somehow this impacts your credit report, no?

[quote]<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by Dudemon:
[b]

Can anyone shine some light on this question?

Thanks!
The MyFico (http://www.myfico.com/myfico/CreditCentral.asp?fire=1) site has all the info about FICO scores.

i've gotta believe that somehow this impacts your credit report, no?
Yes, it does. On page one (or two) of this thread I mention that my score has gone up!?