YoungSoloTraveler

Yep. In the future, if you already have BOA cards just tell them to take the existing credit line and reallocate, do not apply online, call via telephone.

chrisremo

This is a huge help, thank you!

Brugge

Glad to be of help. Especially since I have had to do this same thing on my last two apps with B of A, and I am still angry about it. Each time they gave me the lowest level card, with a measly $1K CL. When I finally got them to give me the card I applied for, they gave me a $10K CL with no questions about it. It's not about credit rating, mine is 789. It's just bait and switch.

sdsearch

How do you do a 2BM over the telephone?

michael_v

Make 2 phone calls on the same day maybe?

Brugge

Just did that. They would not negotiate the app, just took the info and plugged it into the computer. I have a credit rating a few points below 800, an excellent credit history with B of A, a huge balance in my B of A checking account, etc. She ran the app, then said "congratulations, let me be the first to welcome you to the Alaska cc family, you are approved with a CL of $3K."

I had started off our conversation by telling her I would not accept anything less than a Sig card...and she said 'congratulations, I'm not giving you what you need'. I just said cancel that card, and hung up.

AFAIK, calling in to apply doesn't help anything, and it's a 20 minute PITA as they read the entire T/C boilerplate language out loud.

Brugge

What I posted a little while ago, (see below) was true last June. And it was true last September. But it doesn't seem to be true anymore. I just did a 2BM app, and was approved for a $3k CL Plat card, and the second app got a "we'll send you a letter in a couple of weeks" response.

So I called the Spanish Recon line that has been recommended here. Since the second app was still "pending", he easily approved a Sig card with a $10K CL.

But he and the next two people I talked to, including a Senior Credit Analyst, said there was no way to turn the already approved Plat into a Sig, nor to redo the app with the less than two hour old HP. All I could do was be transferred to the new app department and reapply. The utterly frustrating and futile results of that are posted above.

After I canceled the second Plat card moments after being approved for it, I did HUCA, this time to the English Recon line. I explained what had just happened to an utterly wonderful CSR. She said she couldn't personally give me the Sig sign up benefits, but she could move $5K from the other just approved card, and turn my Plat card into a Sig card.

Then as for the sign up benefits she could fill out paperwork asking the Customer Care department to give me the benefits I signed up for in the first place. She however can't guarantee that the CC dept will agree to that.

Since the app is still being processed, she has to do that paperwork tomorrow, and then call me back to read me some legalize she's required to tell me when she changes the card from Plat to Sig.

She also gave me the direct # to Customer Care, so I can call and plead my case for getting the bonus. Which will be a very polite statement that if I don't get them, I'm not activating the card, and I'm certainly not paying the AF for it. Which if not readily approved will be followed by politely pointing out this card has an AF, and other banks will give me fee waived card with more point than the AS card. 'Would you rather I took my business to them'?But I don't expect it to get to that, I think they will want me to keep my card. The Senior Credit Analyst I talked with earlier certainly wanted me to keep it.

So the new process is:
Call Recon, and get your CL upped to at least the $5K required for a Sig card.
Ask the Recon CSR to fill out paperwork requesting Customer Care to give you the Sig card benefits you applied for.
After that is complete, a day or so later, call CC and ask them to approve your request.

The Customer Care ph # is 1-800-654-5669

Happy

Thank you for providing proof.

The $100 credit link also is the first one showing up via a google search despite 99% of the time if you ask a CSR who would claim never have seen such offer. When I first started using the link I was skeptical when the statement credit did not show up 10 days after meeting spend so I called. Finally got a CSR who was curious and dig deep then told me it was an internet offer and yes, indeed there was one. The statement credit posted on the 2 weeks mark. Subsequent experiences show that this is a batch process and can range between 1 to 2 weeks, sometimes on the second statement, but it does post. There is no reason to pay the fee when one can have the credit to offset the fee and put $25 back to one's pocket, for the SAME 25K.

honu

Completed the $1K spend four weeks ago but still no $100 credit. This would be the second such credit, both for cards acquired last year. The T&C mentions a longer period for posting the credit (4-6 weeks?), but reading here and IME it shouldn't take that long. Anybody here had problems with the $100 credit posting?

Brugge

I'm sure you COULD do a double app on the phone, but would you WANT to?

Based on my experience yesterday, it's a 20 minute process for a single app. They have you spell your name out, and then repeat the spelling back to you. They read out every line of all of the T/Cs from the app, which takes forever. You would have to go thru that twice for 2 apps. And then they just put that info into the computer the same way it goes in when you apply online. You can not negotiate anything, move Cl, etc. IME the only difference between a phone app and an online app is the extra 15 minutes of PITA phone conversation.

Two points:

I already had 2 cards just opened yesterday when I did the phone app, the first for a $3K Plat Pre, and the second for a $10K Sig, and I was still approved for another $3K Plat Pre. So yes, you can get more than one card approved on the phone. Just good luck having them both be Sig cards.

All together, I did 3 apps yesterday, the third of which I canceled immediately with the phone app CSR when it was still just for $3K. The 3rd app was over an hour after the online 2BM apps. And today both EXP and Credit Sesame list just ONE inquiry.

aarif1

Yes, I also made the $1000 requirement almost exactly 1 month ago, and no sign of the credit yet.

YoungSoloTraveler

Very weird, did you not tell them to shift credit away. I should have been more clear. Tell them you want to decrease CL to $5k on all your current cards.

michael_v

Do you get the $100 statement credit with the Platinum card?

newbynewbynew

Same boat as you both.

Brugge

Other than the apps I did yesterday, I haven't had a B of A card open for several months.

Yesterday, when I did the 2BM app, the 3K card was instantly approved, and the other app went to pending. Recon approved the pending card with $10K, then transferred me to a Senior Credit Analyst because they could not upgrade an already approved Plat card to a Sig card. She said she could raise the Plat credit limit but not guarantee that B of A would give me the full Sig sign up benefits.

She suggested I keep both cards open, and reapply for a second Sig card. I thought the New Apps CSR would be able to close the Plat and move the credit to a second Sig. Or at least make sure I got approved for a Sig on the new app. But no, all she did was manually fill out the same app I used online, and submit it to the computer. Which instantly approved me for another Plat card. And of course, said she couldn't do anything about turning that into a Sig, because "it's already approved as a Plat".

It appears there are only two ways to be guaranteed a Sig. Either get an instant approval for a Sig, or get a pending app, which can then be made approved as a Sig at Recon.

But the worst thing that can happen is to get an instant approval for anything less than a Sig. Because then all they can do is raise your CL to at least $5K, and petition Customer Care to give you the Sig sign up benefits. And 2 of the 3 CSRs I talked to yesterday didn't tell me they could even do that. It was only the HUCA 3rd CSR who suggested I do that.

Why with no open cards with B of A, a CR just a few points short of 800, a credit utilization of 1%, a long term credit card and checking account history with B of A, I didn't get an instant approval for a Sig card makes no sense. The Recon CSR took about 2 minutes to approve my pending app to $10K, with the $3K Plat already open, but the computer wouldn't approve me for even a $5K Sig when I applied with no B of A cards open.