For CC apps are FIA and BoA cards the same?
 

I know that FIA was bought by BoA, and they are part of BoA.

So I was surprised in my recent call with BoA when they said I had very little history with them as I had the FIA Fidelity AMEX since I started establishing credit history.

For the purpose of CC apps, are FIA and BoA cards distinct entities? Will the BoA rep be able to see my FIA cards and vice versa?

Same. BofA rep can see FIA, BofA and Merrill Lynch accounts as well as banking history.

Perfect timing.

Ms. smilesbuzz is looking at canceling the BOH card and applying for the Fidelity. Since both cards are FIA and she never gets automatic acceptance on FIA cards should the cancellation happen during call in (to free up CL)?

FIA is actually a separate entity wrt hard pulls. This means that same day BoA and FIA apps will not be consolidated into 1 inquiry.

Correct. However FIA credit analyst or BofA credit analyst would be able to see ALL the cards associated to your SSN. They could, and would, go in arbitrarily to reallocate credit line or even close an inactive card in order to approve a new card WITHOUT your knowledge. Therefore it could produce a danger that if you apply for an AS Visa Signature but wound up getting a Visa Platinum, hence a drastically reduced bonus (25 to 30K versus 4K).

Therefore, it is important for yourself to manage the total credit line with BofA - reduce the credit line on cards you dont use often and not need a high CL, to the $5K minimum for a Visa signature, so not to jeopardize your next application on another BofA or FIA card.