Merrill+ VISA [Consolidated]
Jan 12, 2017, 1:07 pm
#542
Join Date: Jun 2015
Location: JFK
Programs: AA Platinum
Posts: 325
Can you call and book through an agent and ask them to book you in a higher economy fare category than the lowest? The reason I ask is I'd like to book using the points & then call AA and up-fare to a discounted first class. So an example:
ORD-MCO r/t lowest discount economy (booking code O): $107
ORD-MCO r/t economy (booking code K) $475
ORD-MCO r/t lowest discounted FIRST (booking code I) $515
So my plan would be to use 25,000 points to book the coach ticket in K class at $475 then call AA directly and pay the $40 out of pocket to up-fare to FIRST. Anyone tried this or had any luck doing this?
ORD-MCO r/t lowest discount economy (booking code O): $107
ORD-MCO r/t economy (booking code K) $475
ORD-MCO r/t lowest discounted FIRST (booking code I) $515
So my plan would be to use 25,000 points to book the coach ticket in K class at $475 then call AA directly and pay the $40 out of pocket to up-fare to FIRST. Anyone tried this or had any luck doing this?
Jan 13, 2017, 12:58 pm
#543
Join Date: Nov 2012
Location: East Coast US
Programs: Free Agent
Posts: 192
As with many others, trying to figure out how best these points would be used for airfare. Can someone with the following metrics be kind enough to check what the booking engine asks to charge for the following scenario:
1. more than 50K points in point balance
2. look for 2 tickets more than $500 each
3. each ticket's price should be somewhat above what could be covered on a combined basis by the points balance.
This is the critical test. A useful example would be a points balance of ~54K, and search for 2 tickets of $550 each. Theoretically, the booking engine should require 54K points + $310:
1. 25K pts for the 1st ticket's initial $500 cost
2. 5k pts for the remaining $50 cost of the 1st ticket.
3. 24k pts remaining. Because there are fewer than 25k pts remaining after charging for the 1st ticket, there should not be enough to generate a $500 coverage of the 2nd ticket's cost for 25k pts.
4. The engine should take the remaining 24k pts but only for the initial $240 of the 2nd ticket's cost
5. then charge $310 for the rest of the 2nd ticket's cost.
The 54k pts really only provided $790 in airfare credit, so around 1.46c in airfare value. To get back closer to 2cpp, one would have to have enough pts to cover 1 ticket entirely (as close to $500 as possible ideally) and have at least 25k pts remaining to get another $500 credit for a second ticket.
However, if the engine's charge sequence is actually
1. take 25k pts and credit $500 to 1st ticket's cost
2. take 25k pts and credit $500 to 2nd ticket's cost
3. take remaining 4k pts and credit $40 to 1st ticket's cost
4. require $60 charge for remaining cost of each ticket ($10 for 1st ticket and $50 for 2nd ticket)
then we have these points being around 1.93cpp in airfare value without needing to generate significant pts above the $3k spending requirement. A comment on a blog seemed to indicate this is how it actually works when booking 2 tickets, but would love to get additional data points to confirm.
1. more than 50K points in point balance
2. look for 2 tickets more than $500 each
3. each ticket's price should be somewhat above what could be covered on a combined basis by the points balance.
This is the critical test. A useful example would be a points balance of ~54K, and search for 2 tickets of $550 each. Theoretically, the booking engine should require 54K points + $310:
1. 25K pts for the 1st ticket's initial $500 cost
2. 5k pts for the remaining $50 cost of the 1st ticket.
3. 24k pts remaining. Because there are fewer than 25k pts remaining after charging for the 1st ticket, there should not be enough to generate a $500 coverage of the 2nd ticket's cost for 25k pts.
4. The engine should take the remaining 24k pts but only for the initial $240 of the 2nd ticket's cost
5. then charge $310 for the rest of the 2nd ticket's cost.
The 54k pts really only provided $790 in airfare credit, so around 1.46c in airfare value. To get back closer to 2cpp, one would have to have enough pts to cover 1 ticket entirely (as close to $500 as possible ideally) and have at least 25k pts remaining to get another $500 credit for a second ticket.
However, if the engine's charge sequence is actually
1. take 25k pts and credit $500 to 1st ticket's cost
2. take 25k pts and credit $500 to 2nd ticket's cost
3. take remaining 4k pts and credit $40 to 1st ticket's cost
4. require $60 charge for remaining cost of each ticket ($10 for 1st ticket and $50 for 2nd ticket)
then we have these points being around 1.93cpp in airfare value without needing to generate significant pts above the $3k spending requirement. A comment on a blog seemed to indicate this is how it actually works when booking 2 tickets, but would love to get additional data points to confirm.
Jan 13, 2017, 1:08 pm
#544
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: Washington, DC
Programs: Hyatt Globalist, AA Executive Platinum
Posts: 1,932
I got denied for the Merrill+. I applied for the Amtrak at the same time, and it was approved. Those are my first BOA apps ever. I called reconsideration and they said I have too many new accounts in the past year, that it is aggressive credit seeking, and they do not want to participate in aggressive credit seeking. I have something like 11 or 12 new accounts in the past 24 months, FICO is around 800. Oh well.
Jan 13, 2017, 1:47 pm
#545
Join Date: May 2015
Posts: 30
As with many others, trying to figure out how best these points would be used for airfare. Can someone with the following metrics be kind enough to check what the booking engine asks to charge for the following scenario:
1. more than 50K points in point balance
2. look for 2 tickets more than $500 each
3. each ticket's price should be somewhat above what could be covered on a combined basis by the points balance.
This is the critical test. A useful example would be a points balance of ~54K, and search for 2 tickets of $550 each. Theoretically, the booking engine should require 54K points + $310:
1. 25K pts for the 1st ticket's initial $500 cost
2. 5k pts for the remaining $50 cost of the 1st ticket.
3. 24k pts remaining. Because there are fewer than 25k pts remaining after charging for the 1st ticket, there should not be enough to generate a $500 coverage of the 2nd ticket's cost for 25k pts.
4. The engine should take the remaining 24k pts but only for the initial $240 of the 2nd ticket's cost
5. then charge $310 for the rest of the 2nd ticket's cost.
The 54k pts really only provided $790 in airfare credit, so around 1.46c in airfare value. To get back closer to 2cpp, one would have to have enough pts to cover 1 ticket entirely (as close to $500 as possible ideally) and have at least 25k pts remaining to get another $500 credit for a second ticket.
However, if the engine's charge sequence is actually
1. take 25k pts and credit $500 to 1st ticket's cost
2. take 25k pts and credit $500 to 2nd ticket's cost
3. take remaining 4k pts and credit $40 to 1st ticket's cost
4. require $60 charge for remaining cost of each ticket ($10 for 1st ticket and $50 for 2nd ticket)
then we have these points being around 1.93cpp in airfare value without needing to generate significant pts above the $3k spending requirement. A comment on a blog seemed to indicate this is how it actually works when booking 2 tickets, but would love to get additional data points to confirm.
1. more than 50K points in point balance
2. look for 2 tickets more than $500 each
3. each ticket's price should be somewhat above what could be covered on a combined basis by the points balance.
This is the critical test. A useful example would be a points balance of ~54K, and search for 2 tickets of $550 each. Theoretically, the booking engine should require 54K points + $310:
1. 25K pts for the 1st ticket's initial $500 cost
2. 5k pts for the remaining $50 cost of the 1st ticket.
3. 24k pts remaining. Because there are fewer than 25k pts remaining after charging for the 1st ticket, there should not be enough to generate a $500 coverage of the 2nd ticket's cost for 25k pts.
4. The engine should take the remaining 24k pts but only for the initial $240 of the 2nd ticket's cost
5. then charge $310 for the rest of the 2nd ticket's cost.
The 54k pts really only provided $790 in airfare credit, so around 1.46c in airfare value. To get back closer to 2cpp, one would have to have enough pts to cover 1 ticket entirely (as close to $500 as possible ideally) and have at least 25k pts remaining to get another $500 credit for a second ticket.
However, if the engine's charge sequence is actually
1. take 25k pts and credit $500 to 1st ticket's cost
2. take 25k pts and credit $500 to 2nd ticket's cost
3. take remaining 4k pts and credit $40 to 1st ticket's cost
4. require $60 charge for remaining cost of each ticket ($10 for 1st ticket and $50 for 2nd ticket)
then we have these points being around 1.93cpp in airfare value without needing to generate significant pts above the $3k spending requirement. A comment on a blog seemed to indicate this is how it actually works when booking 2 tickets, but would love to get additional data points to confirm.
I found 2 tickets for $531 each, or 27,660 pts each. Combined cost is 55,320 pts. I have 53,004 points available to spend. It's going to charge me $23.16.
Under the "pay with points & cash" heading, it says
Price per ticket: 25,000
Payment: 53,004 points + $23.16 (includes overage payment of 3,004 points and $23.16)
So, it's doing 2 tickets = 50k points
5,320 left over - 3,004 points (at "1 point per point") = 2,316 points needed ==> $23.16 at "1 cent per point"
Jan 14, 2017, 8:29 pm
#547
Join Date: Jan 2014
Posts: 1,269
I got denied for the Merrill+. I called reconsideration and they said I have too many new accounts in the past year, that it is aggressive credit seeking, and they do not want to participate in aggressive credit seeking. I have something like 11 or 12 new accounts in the past 24 months, FICO is around 800. Oh well.
Jan 15, 2017, 9:07 am
#549
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: Sunny AZ
Programs: HH Diamond, Sixt Platinum, IHG Spire Ambassador, Marriott/SPG Gold .....
Posts: 3,215
I wonder what would happen if you cancel inside 24h ... will the airline credit the cash prize of the flight or will one get the points ....
Jan 15, 2017, 4:51 pm
#551
Join Date: Jun 2016
Posts: 2,257
tip - freeze the CB with most number of inquiries before applying, usually EX for me and this is also the default bureau BOA pulls. you wont get auto-approved, but you will have a chance to ask recon to pull another CB
Jan 18, 2017, 12:30 pm
#553
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: EWR-SEA-IAD
Programs: UA 1P MM, AS MVP G*, SPG Gold, Hyatt Plat, IHG Plat, Hilton Diamond, Marriott Gold
Posts: 977
No BoA relationship. Approved for AS card over recon first but then denied for Merill card. Called again later and a much nicer lady asked me about assets and said she would recommend approval if I moved 5k from my recently approved AS. Waiting on a sup to approve it.
Now to figure out the spend for these. Is BoA MS sensitive?
Now to figure out the spend for these. Is BoA MS sensitive?
Jan 22, 2017, 7:37 am
#554
Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: ORD
Programs: Once a somebody now a nobody
Posts: 518
Just for those curious, the 50k bonus points post fast. I received the card on 1/18 and spent the $3k that day. I looked today and the charges went from pending to posted and I have 53,030 pts. Points seem to post as the charges post versus the more common statement closing date.
Also, it looks like if a first class fare flight is <$500 you can book that too. I do a lot of ORD-TPA to see my folks and AA/UA consistently have fares around $250 each way. I was able to pull those up and it prices at 25,000 points. The only issue I found is for AA/UA you have to select BUSINESS class, not first class.
Also, it looks like if a first class fare flight is <$500 you can book that too. I do a lot of ORD-TPA to see my folks and AA/UA consistently have fares around $250 each way. I was able to pull those up and it prices at 25,000 points. The only issue I found is for AA/UA you have to select BUSINESS class, not first class.
Last edited by chicago747; Jan 22, 2017 at 7:54 am
Jan 22, 2017, 12:38 pm
#555
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: EWR-SEA-IAD
Programs: UA 1P MM, AS MVP G*, SPG Gold, Hyatt Plat, IHG Plat, Hilton Diamond, Marriott Gold
Posts: 977
Just approved for the Merrill+ and the Alaska card from BoA. My first time with any cards from them. Looks like I have a choice for the Merrill card to use the Merrill or BoA site for online access. Any differences between them? Is one more polished than the other or offer more functionality?
Wonder if the AS card is addable to the Merrill site...
Wonder if the AS card is addable to the Merrill site...