BoA Air France Credit Card Approval Odds

Anonymous · ‎09-28-2021

Hi, experts -- I really want to get the Bank of America Air France Mastercard, but I'm wary of not being approved. I haven't submitted any applications in two years, so that's not an issue, but I DO have delinquencies that have not left my credit report yet (I don't think there have been any in the past 2 years, though). My current score with Experian is 679 (674 TU/667 EQ). Should I wait and try to get it over 700 before even thinking of applying? Do you think they'd decline me at 679 given the previous delinquencies or just offer a lower line / higher APR? I've read that Bank of America is tricky. My credit history length is more than 20 years.

Thank you!

FinStar · ‎09-28-2021

Hi @Anonymous -- welcome to the forums.

The KLM/Air France WEMC is a toughy for a variety of profiles. You don't see very many approvals for it, but can certainly search in the Approvals forums to get an idea of those who were approved. Are you currently a BoA or Merrill Lynch customer?

I would lean conservative on this one. The combination of delinquencies and low scores isn't likely to point toward an approval. The 20+ year credit history is a plus, though. How old is the most recent delinquency? How many are there and are they satisified?

JLRDC909 · ‎09-29-2021

There are a few cards that BofA has that is rumored to be hard to obtain

1. AAA Visa

2. Amtrak MC

3. Alaska Airlines

4. Air France.

not sure why these seem to be on the harder side to get. They are all great cards but it seems BofA is harder to get the cobranded cards approved for rather than their legacy cards.

I can't say for sure what your approval chances will be. You can always call for a recon.

JR

FinStar · ‎09-29-2021

@JLRDC909 wrote:
There are a few cards that BofA has that is rumored to be hard to obtain

1. AAA Visa
2. Amtrak MC
3. Alaska Airlines
4. Air France.

not sure why these seem to be on the harder side to get. They are all great cards but it seems BofA is harder to get the cobranded cards approved for rather than their legacy cards.

I can't say for sure what your approval chances will be. You can always call for a recon.

AAA and Amtrak are really not too difficult compared to the others. Virgin Atlantic, KLM/Air France, Alaska and their core Premium Rewards are some of the toughest. Granted, profile-specific, but you don't see tons of approvals for the latter.

Anonymous · ‎09-30-2021

Thank you @FinStar and @JLRDC909 ! I have a couple of late student loan payments from 2020 from COVID (Navient) and all of my current revolving accounts are in "good" status -- the delinquencies are in closed accounts from 2014-15ish (one of these accounts was BofA, unfortunately). Do I need to wait for those to fall off entirely, or if I can get my score in the 700s, will it help? I don't know if they look at the score first and then the red flags, or if they look at everything. I'm tempted to apply but I don't want to if it's just clear I'm going to get declined, I guess I'd rather wait then. If you call will they tell you your odds of approval?

JLRDC909 · ‎09-30-2021

They can't tell you the odds before you apply. It's almost like a dice game. You just have to roll the dice and see what happens.
I don't know how algorithms are set up but it takes a milasecond to get an instant approval or denial. I think most issuers first look for a clean file. Computer seems to pick up late payments, bankruptcies, and other things fast. Your score is probably factored but I think negative items possibly play the more important deciding factor.

JR

FinStar · ‎09-30-2021

@Anonymous wrote:
Thank you @FinStar and @JLRDC909 ! I have a couple of late student loan payments from 2020 from COVID (Navient) and all of my current revolving accounts are in "good" status -- the delinquencies are in closed accounts from 2014-15ish (one of these accounts was BofA, unfortunately). Do I need to wait for those to fall off entirely, or if I can get my score in the 700s, will it help? I don't know if they look at the score first and then the red flags, or if they look at everything. I'm tempted to apply but I don't want to if it's just clear I'm going to get declined, I guess I'd rather wait then. If you call will they tell you your odds of approval?

They look at everything. And, by 'they' it's their UW algorithms.

What may stand out is the most recent 2020 late payments, unfortunately. You'd hate to put in the application in good faith, but then get declined when perhaps maybe waiting longer can help your prospects. Calling the agents will not provide any type of odds (they won't know) as it's all done behind the scenes once the application is submitted. That said, you don't need to wait for the delinqencies to drop off, but rather place some distance (time-wise) until the delinquency factors fade.

TheBoondocks · ‎10-03-2021

I applied for the alaska credit card like 2 years back, even then I had really good credit score as always and everything low. couldn't get it unfortunately... somehow my friend got it and its probably the first card, she has lol.