nwflyboy

Churnable? If so, how long to wait between ending one card and starting another?

I've heard rumors than one can simply apply for and get more than one of the same cards at the same time (and get sign-up bonuses for both). True?

I picked up an Alaska B of A Visa Signature card last summer when they were giving 40,000 miles for sign up. Looks like their current offer for this card is 25,000. Is that typical? Do they offer higher sign-up bonuses often?

Any other tips on picking up a large chunk of miles with their credit cards?

Thanks.

RetiredRoadWarrior

My data points on churning BofA Alaskad are here:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/credi...l#post18026632

Had a couple of churns before that, but before I started spreadsheet tracking.

nwflyboy

Impressive.

Is 25k generally about all one can expect from these? Like many folks, I've become spoiled and now figure that it's not worth it to apply for a card that doesn't come with at least 50k miles/points. Granted, for those cards one typically only gets one bite at the apple, so n * 25k can easily trump 1 * 50k....then again, when I got my first (and so far, only) BofA AS Visa last year, the offer was 40k. So of course I'd rather hit that one repeatedly - but I don't recall seeing that since the deal was available summer of 2011. But I have not been paying close attention for very long.

Based on their website (no secret links, no targeted offers), they currently offer the Visa Signature (personal card) - 25k bonus, $75 annual fee (not waived 1st year). This is the card I have (although I got 40k summer 2011) and seems to be their main card.

They also have a couple of lesser cards with tiny bonuses (Platinum and Preferred, 5k and 3k bonuses with $50 and $35 annual fees, respectively). These don't seem worth the bother/credit pulls.

They also have a Business card, which yields a 20k sign-up bonus with a $75 fee.

So, a couple more questions on AS cards...

1. Is the sign up bonus pretty much always 25k (20k for Business), and was last summer's 40k bonus a rare exception?
2. Is the Business card also churnable?
3. How much of a "business" is required for the business card? I've had a couple of Chase United "business" cards that were just issued in My Name Inc, using my SSN and personal info for all business details (i.e. "I sell something on eBay occasionally"). Is that enough to satisfy the biz requirements here?

I actually could use another 20k miles fairly soon (thinking about an award ticket to Hawaii in the fall and would like to book soon), so if I was able to hit on the Business card now, that would give me enough to top off my account. I'm tempted...

Thanks for any further input.

nwflyboy

Oh yeah, one more...

I've heard rumors that you can get more than one of the same card (at the same time) and still get the bonus for each. True?

I've got one right now, but could use another 20k miles for an upcoming trip I'd like to book. Is it likely that I'd get the bonus if I simply applied for another? That seems like one of those 'too good to be true' things...

reaper99999

RRW, I see that you are in the wc. What's your experience with which credit agency the bofa AS card pulls from (Experian, Equifax, or both)?

RetiredRoadWarrior

Yup, I live in the NW. All my BofA Alaska pulls have been Experian. 780+.

RetiredRoadWarrior

For me, Experian only.

RetiredRoadWarrior

ViewFromTheWing has new 30k offer. https://consumer.bankofamerica.com/U...?cid=2069046#b I don't see any fine print excluding current cardholders, so I may go for a second.

ShaktiSRK

If you already have a BofA Alaska card & want to apply for another for business
is it okay to apply and give your Alaska member number again or should you leave that box blank and have them issue you a new member number & later transfer miles between these account numbers?

nwflyboy

Anyone know if they will ever bump the bonus?

Wife just applied for one of their cards with 25k just last week. Got instant approval online, the card is in the mail, I'm expecting it in the next couple of days. I would like to get the higher bonus, of course.

The new card has not been activated yet, so I assume that give us a little more leverage (we could decline to activate the card, and avoid the $75 fee, right?).

rxgeek

My wife holds a 2 year old Delta Amex with the $95 annual fee due in a couple weeks. She gets little benefit for this card. She has one other Amex (SPG). I know cancelling an old card gets a credit hit. How old is old? She would like to start churning Alaska cards. If she cancels this & applies for the Alaska Amex (both Experian), does the timing matter, i.e. cancel apply same day/apply first, cancel later or vice versa?

inY

There isn't an Alaska Amex. It's a Visa issued by Bank of America. I don't think timing will matter that much since these are different banks.

nwflyboy

Card came yesterday. We called the customer service number on the card before activating it. Agent was clueless. Transferred our call to Alaska, which was closed (10pm, shouldn't be a surprise). Called back and trued a different agent. Same thing. Had to explain to the agent 10 times what we wanted. They were completely clueless. said to call Alaska.

We gave up, just activated the card, and 30 seconds later the miles were in my wife's account. We booked award tickets to Hawaii immediately. Those miles weren't in her account more than a minute.

Oh well, you can't get every mile. We figured we did pretty well.