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As I’ve stated many times before, one of the best ways to get a lot of miles and points is through careful and judicious credit card applications and signup bonuses. Again, you should not signup for a credit card just because some guy on the Internet says so ™, but if you are planning on signing up for a card, I receive a commission if you signup for a card through my top credit card offers page.
Applying for an(other) Alaska Airlines card
For whatever reason, some cards and banks don’t seem to mind if you have multiple cards. The Bank of America Alaska Airlines cards are one such card. So even though I already have 3 Alaska cards, I went ahead and applied for another one.
My application went into a “pending” status, which is fine and not unexpected. As I often caution, I did NOT call the reconsideration line
(SEE ALSO: This time I CALLED the reconsideration line… and it worked!)
Application…. denied!
Then I got a letter in the mail, saying that my application for the Alaska Airlines card was unable to be approved because
…. because you already have an account endorsed by this organization
Calling into Bank of America
Looking at the Bank of America reconsideration line phone number and website, I called in to Bank of America. My first choice (“Option 3”) led me to an automated phone line that just told me what I already knew (my application was denied) and then hung up on me. Undaunted, I called again and eventually keyboard mashed my way to a live agent. I explained myself once, twice then three times to three different agents before finally getting the right department.
I spoke to the lady, who gave me the same reasons and then mentioned that she could re-open my application to try again. I asked if that would cause another hard pull on my credit report, and she said no, that they recycle credit reports for 30 days. I had her try again and I was denied again. She mentioned that if I closed an account, they could try again, so I decided to close one of my accounts and I will try calling back tomorrow
Readers – any tips or suggestions? Ever dealt with trying to get Bank of America to approve multiple cards?
Dan Miller travels with his wife and 6 (SIX!) children. He loves to help families travel for free / cheap, especially larger families. If you are looking for help, drop him an email at 
I hit something similar about a year ago. I just reviewed my notes, and I was auto declined for applying for a duplicate card. When I tried again a few months later, I cancelled anther card first, then was automatically approved, with the credit limit identical to the card that I’d just closed.
Right – that is my plan as well
What’s the point of this – really? Get a small signup bonus and never use the card again? Are you continuing to pay annual fees on these cards? Really hope that CC co’s clamp down on this kind of CC whoring.
I’m inclined to agree. If ever there was something that could “kill” it for the rest of us, it is precisely this sort of “credit card whoring,” as Stephan put it.
@Dan, quite honestly I don’t see why you would want to do this — especially with such a low signup bonus. Honestly, it’s a bit like using anti-bacterial soap all the time: a) there’s no reason for it; and b) the net result is not a germ-free environment, but rather stronger, more resistant bacteria! Grabbing sign-up bonuses IS a great way to pad your account balance(s), but when you so obviously “game the system” (three BofA Alaska Airlines cards? really?), how long will it be before the result is not you getting declined, but the program policies changing — for the detriment of the rest of us?
Why are you here?? You don’t belong here..
Oh, p-u-l-l-l-e-e-e-z-z-z-e . . . First of all, from the standpoint of “who belongs” (and who doesn’t), I wasn’t aware there was some sort of application for membership — did I miss something? Secondly, I wasn’t aware that the First Amendment has been abrogated on the Internet. (I know it has within certain circles, but both Dan & I live in the US and I believe — short of yelling “FIRE!” in a chatroom — it remains in full effect.)
Third, and more to the point, I am all for taking full advantage of credit card signup bonuses, status matching and/or challenges, and other offers which are out there (e.g.: a free 999 points from Virgin America in celebration or their 9th anniversary just for asking), etc., etc. What I voiced concern about above is the obvious abuse of the system that is far more likely to lead to a crackdown affecting not merely the applicant (in this case, Dan) but all of us.
We’ve already witnessed the devaluation of airline and hotel points, the effective end of “mileage runs” (save for JetBlue’s point match re: Virgin America earlier this summer), the switch to revenue-based points earning rather than true mileage, etc., etc. I have already flown at least nine (10?) segments this year on points, and stayed in five hotels for a total of 12 nights on points. This is a “hobby” I take very seriously, and don’t want to see it damaged any more than it already has been — by the “corporate powers that be,” or by obvious abusers of the system.
Just a side note on your comment rather than the thread in general. The First Amendment to the US Constitution applies only to government regulation (or lack thereof) of free speech. Privately run lists such as this one are free to impose any limits the owner wants on what we say.
I’m not sure why this is so often misunderstood – the limits are right in the first words of the first sentence: “Congress shall make no law….”. There’s no mention of widening this to restrictions on a private organization or person having their own regulations in their own environment.
Just to be clear, I have no problem with what Jason said or any other viewpoints, dissenting or not. I have to my recollection only ever deleted 1 comment in the history of PWaC, which had over the top offensive language.
I believe what CJ was implying (and feel free to correct me if I’m wrong) was that most people that are reading this site and/or participating on “churning” are also doing similar things, so the idea that having multiple Alaska Airlines cards is “wrong” is not a majority viewpoint of readers of this site. I don’t know whether or not that’s true, but I am 100% certain I am not the only one with multiple Alaska cards
Presented in the FWIW Dept.: While true that the language starts out with “Congress shall make no law . . .,” it is also true that the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Reno v. ACLU (1997) that speech on the Internet receives the highest level of First Amendment protection. The Supreme Court explained that “our cases provide no basis for qualifying the level of First Amendment scrutiny that should be applied to this medium.”
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@Dan — thank you for that. Just for the sake of clarity, I have no objection to (e.g.) opening a Marriott card with Chase, getting the 80,000 point bonus, and then closing the account at such a time when it will not negatively impact one’s credit score.
My concern — and I should have made this clearer from the start — is any “abuse” (a strong word, I know, but I cannot think of a softer one at the moment) of the system that causes a company to tighten their restrictions on credit cards overall. Think of the Chase 5/24 rule. How many people out there would qualify for the card, and its 100,000-point bonus, but are otherwise blocked from obtaining that card simply due to that (seemingly arbitrary) rule? How/why did that rule come into effect? We ALL churn cards or flights or hotel stays or shopping to maximize our benefits, and we shall all continue to do so — but I’m simply worried that such obvious “abuse” will ruin the system for the rest of us.
By the way, a 30,000-point bonus isn’t all that great — is that why you need three cards? And since you only earn 3x points when you purchase tickets on Alaska, aren’t there other cards out there that would give you greater benefits? (Though, admittedly, the $121 companion fare IS a good deal.)
Do you have to call and cancel or is there a way to do that on the BOA website? I find the BOA website about the worst of all of them.
I applied 5 days ago, hit the same snag. I’ve only had one previous personal Alaska card. I’m waiting for the letter but I bet it will say the same as yours. If so I’ll call and ask if I can move credit around, or, cancel the old account and apply again. I wonder if the goal posts have moved.
Is there an update on this? Did you get the card approved after cancelling an account?
I had the same thing happen to me today, so I want to know if it’s worth fighting. Thanks!
Yup – it worked fine. Once I closed one of my cards, I had Bank of America re-process my application and it was approved