Boa Cc
 

Does BOA have an CC worth applying for?

I have had my US Airways Visa Signature card from BOA for several years now. This is no longer my primary card... however i have owned this card for several years so i dont want to cancel it. The yearly fee is $95.

I would like to have this account switched to a No Annual fee card so my history is there but i lose the $95 dollar yearly fee.

There is the Merrill+, and charles schwab 1.5%? back card. BoA also offers a no fee VISA signature card. OTher than that i cannot think of any other useful cards in their stable.

i dont see any of these cards on BOA's website. Could you provide some links?

I don't believe you can apply for these cards through Bank of America, and I would be surprised if you can exchange a BoA card for Merrill+ or Schwab. These cards are issued by a company called FIA which was a subsidiary of MBNA. When BoA bought MBNA they also bought FIA.

FIA primarily issues cards for other financial institutions that outsource their credit card business, but may still be actively involved with the products. I have been able to reallocate credit between two FIA cards, but I also have one BoA issued card and it is accessed through an entirely separate website. Of course, this may simply be a transitional step because the BoA takover of MBNA is relatively recent.

Information about Merill Lynch cards is here...

http://cards.ml.com

If you call them up and tell them you want to close the acct. because you don't use it that much and don't want to pay the annual fee, they will usually offer to waive the annual fee and only credit you 1 mile for every 2 dollars spent if you agree not to close it! ;)

I just spoke with 4 reps from BOA. Everyone provided me with the same information.

This is what I was told:

1) Due to the US Airways airline agreement, BOA cannot waive the yearly fee. If the fee is waived the account must be closed
2) The account cannot be switched to a CC with no annual fee. The only way to do this would be to cancel the card and apply for a new card. Therefore my CC report would show the card as being canceled and my history with the card and BOA would disappear.

So my only option seems to be paying the $95 dollars a year… in return I keep my long standing history with the card. This does not seem worth it to me.

Bummer. But take heart: Creditors are primarily interested in a customers most recent 2 year (24 month) credit history: as long as you have other cards older than 2 years, you may close the account you've had open for several years without fear of negative impact. It's a "But what have you done for me lately?" mentality. I.E.: An account that you kept open in good standing for ten years, but closed ten years ago, doesnt mean zip to them. They mostly want to see what you've been doing over the last 2 years. That's what matters now.

I just got off the phone with Card Cancelation Services at BOA. I didnt like the answers i was getting earlier. I told them that i was going to cancel the card and they simply credited my account $95 dollars. So i will keep the card another year since it isnt going to cost me anything.

Thanks for the help

Check it out: They are some hard-core experienced negotiators, yes? They wouldnt do squat for you 'til you said "Screw it. Close the account." And then: Bingo!

Good for you!!!! ^

Congrats! BTW BoA will not have the card after this year as their agreement with USAir will expire by 2008. They will anyway change yours to a fee free card ;)

Why will US Airways no longer be a partner with BOA? Will they be going back to MR?

I wish there were more options for transferring to and from US Airways... unfortunately there aren’t.

From my primitive understanding ... US air already is in bed with Juniper - Barclays. THe only reason BoA card is still available is because BoA sued and won the case. US had to honour the previous contract till the end of the original (pre merger) term which ends in 2007

so if you fly US Airways you should take advantage of the 20,000 bonus miles they are offering before the card is retired

on a side note.... when i spoke with AMEX about supported airlines i brought up US Airways... although they are not a partner. If you call AMEX travel and book a flight on US Airways... AMEX travel will figure out the ratio, deduct the MR, and credit your account in $$.

You can buy a ticket on most any airline from the American Express travel website, and pay for the ticket with Membership Rewards points. The "catch" is that the points are valued at only $0.01 each. For example, buy a $500 ticket, redeem 50,000 points.

If you look at the US Airways website you will see that they offer two affinity credit cards. The VISA is issued by Bank of America, the Mastercard by Juniper which is owned by the UK Barclay's Bank.

http://www.usairways.com/awa/content...s/default.aspx


American Express also issues a credit card that earns points which can be transferred to US Airways...

https://www124.americanexpress.com/c...ype=intProduct

http://www.starwoodhotels.com/prefer...tner_list.html

I currently have the US Airways Visa Signature card... and the US Airways MC does not have as good of benefits. Although I just realized that MC offers a free US Airways card… you only get 1 mile for ever $2 dollars spent though

I also recently got the SPG because of the ability to transfer to US Airways. With this card there is no reason to keep the Signature card... which I plan to cancel however it is my only Visa CC as of right now so I am going to hold on to it for a little longer.