topic Re: Did I just join Working America? in Credit Cards

Did I just join Working America?

TyrannicalDuncery — Fri, 02 Jun 2023 20:21:50 GMT

I'm interested in the Capital One Union Plus credit card. It says that one way to get it is to be a member of Working America. So I went to their site, clicked "Membership," entered my email where it said "join," and got a confirmation email. So am I eligible for this card now?

Feels too easy.

More info:

Thanks to @wacdenney for this information that seems to suggest that the answer is "yes."
Some report-backs from my interactions with customer service here and here. Make of that what you will.

Planning to apply for it in July or early August. I'll let you know if I get it, and then if I end up with hospital bills I'll let you know how the grant process goes! (Let's hope #1 happens and #2 doesn't.)

Re: Did I just join Working America?

markbeiser — Mon, 16 Jan 2023 03:10:08 GMT

I think joining gets you added to at least eleventy email lists, so brace yourself...

Re: Did I just join Working America?

SweetCreditObsession — Tue, 17 Jan 2023 01:02:19 GMT

Never heard of this card. Best wishes with it.

Re: Did I just join Working America?

TyrannicalDuncery — Wed, 18 Jan 2023 02:16:35 GMT

Thanks @SweetCreditObsession ! The reason I'm interested is the hardship grants, specifically the hospital grant. Pretty interesting benefit.

I'm not 100% sure that all cardholders are eligible for those benefits, I'm trying to find out from customer service.

Re: Did I just join Working America?

SweetCreditObsession — Wed, 18 Jan 2023 05:35:56 GMT

@TyrannicalDuncery, that IS a unique benefit. Please keep us posted on the outcome of your inquiry to customer service. Thank you 😊

Re: Did I just join Working America?

TyrannicalDuncery — Mon, 30 Jan 2023 21:37:33 GMT

@SweetCreditObsession Okay, so I called customer service and they told me the following:

They emphasized that you aren't guaranteed to be approved for the hardship grant, because your expenses have to be eligible, there's a review process, etc. Basically "don't get mad at us because you were deemed ineligible for any specific grant." Makes sense.
They said that Working America basically counts as a union for the purposes of the credit card.
In particular, they said that you will not lose eligibility for hardship grants just because you are in Working America instead of a union. (Yay! That's what I really wanted to know.)
I asked whether my credit card application would be less likely to be approved because I'm in Working America instead of a union. They weren't sure.
I asked whether I need to be a donating member of Working America to be eligible for the card. They weren't sure.
I asked whether I would be eligible for the card if I or a family member were in a union other than the ones listed in their dropdown menu. They said no.
I asked whether I would still be eligible for hardship grants if I or my family member later left the union that made me eligible. They said yes.
They said that they were a pretty experienced customer service rep, they had heard of Working America, but I was the first member they had ever knowingly talked to.

Re: Did I just join Working America?

SweetCreditObsession — Fri, 27 Jan 2023 21:08:19 GMT

@TyrannicalDuncery wrote:
@SweetCreditObsession Okay, so I called customer service and they told me the following:
They emphasized that you aren't guaranteed to be approved for the hardship grant, because your expenses have to be eligible, there's a review process, etc. Basically "don't get mad at us because you were deemed ineligible for any specific grant." Makes sense.
They said that Working America basically counts as a union for the purposes of the credit card.
In particular, they said that you will not lose eligibility for hardship grants just because you are in Working America instead of a union. (Yay! That's what I really wanted to know.)
I asked whether my credit card application would be less likely to be approved because I'm in Working America instead of a union. They weren't sure.
I asked whether I need to be a donating member of Working America to be eligible for the card. They weren't sure.
I asked whether I would be eligible for the card if I or a family member were in a union other than the ones listed in their dropdown menu. They said no.
I asked whether I would still be eligible for hardship grants if I or my family member later left the union that made me eligible. They said yes.

@TyrannicalDuncery, thanks for the detective work! You asked EXCELLENT questions. This sound fascinating. I'm curious to see if we'll get more interest in this card now that you've mentioned it.

Thanks again for doing the research and following up!

Re: Did I just join Working America?

TyrannicalDuncery — Fri, 27 Jan 2023 22:03:09 GMT

Thanks for the kind words . Yeah it's about the best I could have hoped for.

I guess the benefit is pretty situational, but I have pretty low spend and I don't have the most common sense or situational awareness. So the hospital thing seems like a good deal to me .

Re: Did I just join Working America?

TyrannicalDuncery — Fri, 02 Jun 2023 20:15:23 GMT

Okay, two pieces of information.

1. On the question of whether I'm really in Working America just by signing up for their email list (rather than donating or doing something else): It's still not a guarantee, but there is a place on the Working America site where you can check whether you qualify for a discount from AT&T. I entered my email to check my eligibility and it said yes, you have been in Working America for at least x days so you qualify for our discount.

2. On the question of whether I can get the grant if I'm just in Working America and not a union: I called that one customer service rep a while ago. Recently I also emailed grants at union privilege dot org with the following question and response:

Me:

I am a member of Working America, but not a member of any union. If I am given a Union Plus credit card and remain in good standing for at least three months, would I be eligible for hardship grants associated with job losses and hospital expenses? If not, what are the other requirements?

Them:

Yes, all Union Plus cardholders are eligible for our hardship assistance programs. The reference to “eligible cardholders” means that you must have had the account open and in good standing for at least three months before the hardship occurs.

-----------------

So I'm feeling pretty good about my chances for getting the hospital grant if I should be injured. I wouldn't bet my health on it, but I can afford to be wrong.

Just based on my own speculation, the two big question marks would be the following; a) Are the customer service people wrong about the policy? b) Does not being in a union make it HARDER (just not impossible) to get the hardship grants? For a) I feel better that someone from the actual grants email address told me that I would be okay.

Re: Did I just join Working America?

Anonymous — Sat, 03 Jun 2023 15:18:00 GMT

@TyrannicalDuncery wrote:

Just based on my own speculation, the two big question marks would be the following; a) Are the customer service people wrong about the policy? b) Does not being in a union make it HARDER (just not impossible) to get the hardship grants? For a) I feel better that someone from the actual grants email address told me that I would be okay.

I think more the real issue is just how easy is it for anyone to get the hardship grant. I would believe the CSRs that this is a card benefit, so once you are eligible for the card no-one is going to say "Oh, not a REAL member!" So to me the question is just how many hoops do you have to jump through to get the grant and it could be easy or hard! On much simpler things, like getting a refund for damaged/not-as-described goods, issuers vary greatly in how simple they make it.

Re: Did I just join Working America?

jbelinc — Sun, 04 Jun 2023 16:24:13 GMT

Is this card a triple hard pull or a single pull?

Re: Did I just join Working America?

FireMedic1 — Mon, 05 Jun 2023 09:17:10 GMT

@jbelinc wrote:
Is this card a triple hard pull or a single pull?

Its Cap1. Triple.

Re: Did I just join Working America?

TyrannicalDuncery — Sun, 31 Dec 2023 02:18:18 GMT

Just got approved for this card, yay! Here are a few details, let me know if I'm leaving out things you would have liked to know.

Info at the time of application:
- 3 months ago: New card and hard inquiry (Experian)
- 12 months ago: New card and hard inquiry (TransUnion)
- 18 months ago: New card and hard inquiry (TransUnion)
- 10 years ago: New card
- 4 credit cards open, none closed. Never had any other loans.
- Credit utilization was probably beteen 1% and 4%, out of 50k credit. Not exactly sure about timing.
  - (I mention utilization because I heard that Capital One likes people who carry a balance, not sure whether that's true.)
Instant approval
7.5k credit limit
I just got it, so I haven't tried to use it and I haven't gotten it in the mail yet. So there could be more drama to come.
To get this card, you have to either be in a union or a member of Working America. Some of the fine print in the application said that you or a family member have to be in a union (didn't mention Working America). I was asked to pick which union I was a member of, and selected "Working America" from the dropdown. (Working America is basically an email list and discount program. See above for discussion about that.) I didn't have to give proof at signup.
I did not have to provide any documents of any kind.
I had all my bureaus unfrozen.
I probably got the triple pull, not sure yet. Experian was pulled for sure.
I used the preapproval tool and it said I was preapproved for the two "better" cards out of the three (didn't say anything about the worst one). I applied for the 1.5% cash back one.

Re: Did I just join Working America?

TyrannicalDuncery — Sat, 06 Jan 2024 07:48:01 GMT

Update: I did indeed get the triple pull.

Another thing I forgot to mention: Now (I think this is a new thing), when I go to check my eligibility for the AT&T discount (my way of trying to verify my Working America membership), they send me an email with a lil membership card and a member number. I didn't need to provide that to apply for the card but I'm holding onto it in case they get on my case.

Re: Did I just join Working America?

Pppoolboy — Tue, 09 Jan 2024 01:57:48 GMT

wonder how many people actually get a hardship grant because otherwise the cards blow

Re: Did I just join Working America?

pizzadude — Tue, 09 Jan 2024 14:35:31 GMT

Moved this thread into credit cards forum.

Feel free to create a new thread to continue discussion on approval.

Re: Did I just join Working America?

TyrannicalDuncery — Fri, 12 Jan 2024 00:58:46 GMT

Haha, that is also what I'm wondering! I'll let you know, hopefully I never find out. Would love to hear others' experiences.