Originally Posted by biggestbopper
The inquery is supposed to be merged into the newly opened account when you get credit or use the card for the first time.
I don't believe there is such thing as merging an inquiry into an account - the one is a separate beast from the other.
My experience has been that inquiries conducted in relation to opening an account are "Inquiries Viewed By Others," so that means they are displayed to other creditors and calculated into your score.
That said, I think the experience of most has been that if your credit profile is strong in other areas (low utilization, reasonable age of accounts, no missed payments/derogatories), then inquiries have relatively little effect on your score. Also, I can't find the exact source now, but IIRC, FICO weighs inquiries much less heavily after 6 months and ignores them altogether after 12 months.