Approved for Bank of America Alaska Airlines card, $3,200 CL, no BofA CD required

[ratchada]

I've had my eye on this one for a while, since Alaska miles can be very valuable for booking international business class award flights (only 60,000 miles needed for Cathay Pacific first class to Southeast Asia!!)...plus they're actual quite easy to acquire; Alaska is one of the few airlines I'll fly domestically, which works out well for me since I live in and primarily travel within California. Also, Alaska's online shopping portal is pretty useful; I've accumulated close to 6,000 miles using it in the past 3 months or so.

I applied for an offer I was targeted for over e-mail: $2k MSR for 40,000 miles and $100 statement credit (as far as I can tell, the only thing that makes this different from the usual public offer is that statement credit), and was instantly approved with a $3,200 CL. I was 10/24 at the time of application, with 2-3 HPs in the past several months.

So anyway, I'm very happy to get this card so early in my "end game" (I'll be retiring and leaving the US in 6+ years), since this means that after I close this card after the first year, I'll have ample time to get another (you have to have not the card 48 months to apply again) before I retire.

As I said, I've had my eye on this card for a while, but based on multiple DPs I've seen, I was expecting to have to open a $1,500 CD with BofA in order to get approved for this card, and I'm glad that wasn't the case! I do have a BofA checking acct., but I only keep $10 in it after transferring out the $250+ direct deposit I have set up each month in order to avoid the fee (I opened the acct. this year to get the recent $100 bonus, but I was keeping it to help with getting approved for their credit cards).

[ratchada]

Forget to add an additional DP: I was given the option upon approval to get my card number to use immediately. Not sure if I will, but of course I recorded it; nice to have the option.

[Meanmchine]

Congrats !

[PutThatMoneyOnTheTable]

[ToxikPH]

You say you’re 10/24, what’s your ?/12 ?

[ratchada]

Bastards!!! I got hosed!

They gave me the FAR inferior "Visa Platinum Plus" and not the "Visa Signature" that I applied for. They don't tell you this, nor do they explain the vastly inferior benefits of the "Platinum:" instead of a SUB of 40,000 miles for $2k MSR, you get a paltry 5,000 miles for $1k MSR, and instead of a $100 statement credit, you get a $50 (yearly) statement credit for Alaska purchases. The annual fee is $50 (as opposed to $75 for the Signature). I had to find all this out on various blogs, after I saw in my BofA account that they had given me the "Platinum Plus." I'm a very unhappy customer now.

[snickerpedia]

Congrats!!

I am just curious where you have seen data points that show you would need a BOA CD account to get this card? Is this a known thing with BOA cards??

[ratchada]

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@snickerpedia wrote:

Congrats!!

I am just curious where you have seen data points that show you would need a BOA CD account to get this card? Is this a known thing with BOA cards??

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Definitely on the r/churning Subreddit...other places too, I'm pretty sure. Sometimes they even come right out and tell you that you need to open a CD in order for them to approve you.

[snickerpedia]

wow i have never heard of that, good to know. Is it only for certain cards that they offer?

[ratchada]

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@snickerpedia wrote:

wow i have never heard of that, good to know. Is it only for certain cards that they offer?

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That I'm not sure of...but it's definitely a thing to keep in mind when applying for BofA cards. The Alaska ones are the only ones I'm interested in.