There are accounts which would answer your second question scattered in this thread:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/miles...nks-first.html

but with the size of that thread, "scattered" is an understatement. Good luck on finidng them quickly! (You could "serach this thread", but the trick there is to find the right word or word combination that will turn up these kinds of reports without turning up that much else.)


As for the combining of Citi pulls, it depends on how "different" the cards are. Two Citi AA cards combine in one pull (per bureau*). Two Citi HH cards combine one pull (per bureau). But a Citi AA card and a Citi HH card may not combine in one pull, because they look "too different" to the bureau. (It's the bureau that does the combining of pulls that it thinks look "so similar" they might be duplicates. In other words, as far as I understand, the combining of pulls is ismply a side-effect of the bureaus' attempts to not put dupilcate pulls accidentally into your report. I guess it's hard for a bureau to tell apart two legitimate pulls for "too similar" a card, from a duplicate pull. And I guess dupicate pulls sometimes happen, and often enough that the bureaus want to eliminate them from your report.)

*I have to clarify that pulls are only combined "per bureau", not across bureaus, because someone posted recently in another thread "why did I get two pulls with my two-browser trick" when it was actually the case that they had gotten only one pull per bureau (as should happen), but Citi had pulled from two (of the three) bureaus. And Citi can pull from however many ahd whichever bureau(s) they feel like, and apparently they feel like making that somewhat unpredictable!

Regarding my quesiton as to whether a targeted pre-approved offer for an AA Amex linked to my AA Visa would be "different" (ie, not generate a pull):

Well, they did in fact pull. I had a free credit check offer from my bank in mid-Nov that was to last 60 days, and it still worked a few days ago, and so I checked my pulls and there was one from Citi that corresponded to the Amex that's linked to the Visa or MC*.

*Bizarre: I have a several-year old AA MC, plus a year-old AA Visa. The email invite said it'd be linked to my AA Visa, but after approval, I received a letter in the mail that says it's linked to my AA MC! (Of course, it's linked to an account that has both, but the point is the invite said I'd have no annual fee on the AA Amex as long as I kept my AA Visa open, but the letter says I have no annual fee as long as I keep my AA MC open!!! )

It works just like an additional credit card for say, a family member. It is NOT additional credit. It's just an additional way to access the same credit card and line of credit. You don't get a bill from Amex. However, if you use the card, you may well increase your credit utilization which is potentially negative. There are no fees (other than interest if you carry a balance). As long as your new "Amex" card is linked to the primary card, there is no annual fee. On the other hand, if you cancel your primary card, you will pay the annual fee.

My brother was sent one of these cards without asking for it. He didn't get any additional miles, however.