Hello fellow travelers!

Question: Are there any cards that you can use shortly after being approved?

Background:
My partner and I are Americans currently living in Canada. We would normally have a difficult time meeting the minimum spend in USD$, but he just got accepted into a workshop in Lisbon that will be at least USD$3k that for various reasons could make sense to buy in USD$. He has to pay by FRIDAY, 22 May (we're not procrastinators they actually gave us less than a week). So, we're trying to find a card with a quick turnaround between application approval and actually being able to use the card. I suspect 2 weeks is the best we're going to find, but worth asking (: We might be able to pay for the flight in 2 weeks, so that would give us time to get the 50k United card. Woo!

Sorry if this has already been posted, I can't find it if it has. Thank you!

I believe that any credit card company will expedite a card to you in one or two days. Many do it for free, some for a fee. Of course, all of this is a moot point unless you get instant or very quick approval.

also, if you already have a relationship with the bank (existing online account etc), the new account might show up online before the expedited card arrives...

for citi/BoA, you can generate virtual credit card numbers. dunno if those numbers will work w/o the card being activated... probably not

Well, you believe wrong. Plenty of people in the Citi AA Plat/Gold card thread have tried to get their cards expedited, and pretty much everyone has failed. At Citi, only the cards with very high annual fees (not waived the first year), such as the AA Exec, seem to get expedited for most people.

So you have to pick a bank that has a documented track record of doing it for anyone who asks, rather than relying on somene's "belief".

I seem to recall that some airline card I applied for gave me a temporary card number upon authorization which was only good for booking flights with that airline. But that would seem to be enough for you. So you may want to research whether the Chase UA card provides that benefit. (Sorry, I was unable to use that temporary account number and so I can't remember for sure which card for which airline it was, but I did apply for a UA card last year so it might have been that.)

All good to know! Maybe they'll be more accommodating than Citi. Asking specifically for expedited service or a temporary number is certainly worth a shot.
You've also given me new ideas for how to search for similar situations. Thank you!

Of course, if anyone has other suggestions, I'm all ears!

Amex Plat, US version, approved me in 24 hours and overnighted the card without me even requesting.

But...you'd want to be sure you actually want that card as it's a hefty AF that is not waived the first year.

http://www.doctorofcredit.com/which-credit-card-issuers-offer-expedited-shipping/

Chase will expedite new cards to you in two to three business days, so the United card would be good for you.

AMEX Starwood has overnighted my cards in the past after approval and without my asking. They have also given me my account number upon approval but I'm not sure if that was standard for everyone.

When I applied online for the Citi Hilton HHonors Reserve in April, the application webpage gave me the credit card number after I got the instant approval, so as long as you don't need to fill in the 3 digit security code, you can (and I did) use the card immediately.

So it gave you both card number and the expiration date?

Were you only able to use it for Hilton family hotel reservations, or for anything that didn't require the 3-digit security code?

(The no-fee Citi Hilton HHonors card, the one that gives bonus points as the signup bonus, that one never gives a credit card number on the application approval webpage that I've seen or heard of.)

But in any case, instant approval from Citi may be more hit or miss for many people than some other banks. (I get instant approvals from other banks all the time, and get non-instantly approved with good credit limits with Citi all the time, but at Citi I haven't gotten instant approval for over 2 years now. And I'm not the only one with those kinds of experiences.)

I was able to use it to buy a random item from some website that didn't require a security code. I guessed the expiration date (May 2017). I got instant approval from Citi -- probably because I already have bank accounts with them.

Chase's Ritz card arrived two business days after approval.

Thanks for all the responses! We went for the MP card, 50k miles! Apparently they can expedite it, but perhaps not all the agents know this. Our bizarre timeline:
Thurs, May 21: Instant approval, asked for expedited shipping. Agent 1 said it is not possible, we'd have it in 7-10 business days.

Weds, 26th: Boyfriend got an email that the card was in the mail.

Mon, June 1: Boyfriend called, the card should be here by now..? Agent 2 says it went in the mail Friday, and has no idea why Boyfriend got an email about shipping. Also that there's a little box to check to expedite the card, but Agent 1 hadn't checked it. Agent 2 was surprised and annoyed by this. Boyfriend added me as an authorized user, agent clicked the "express" box.

Tues, June 2: His card finally arrived. 8 business days after approval and one day too late to pay for the workshop that would've covered the $3k in one purchase!

Thurs, June 4: My card arrived in the mail, along with another card for him!

So, a cheaper card can be somewhat expedited, but I wouldn't rely on it!