Yes, it's somewhat common. There are some cards that people have applied for again and again for the signup bonus or for other rewards (Bank of America Better Balance Rewards is a prime example). It also happens when people do product changes (particularly from a card with an annual fee to one with a lower or no fee) or when lenders buy other lenders and the cards are converted (I had 4 Capital One Platinum cards due to this at one point).
Back in the golden age of churning, people would get the same card over and over again as quickly as they could meet the bonus spend. Now that banks have rules which have essentially rendered churning dead, the practice is not nearly as common. Most still don't prohibit you from having more than one of the same product, though.
That said, it's not easily justified to an issuer on a recon so you might want to save the HP for something more plausible.
@UpperNwGuy wrote:Having two of the same card is normally of little benefit, but it really pays off when the card has a spending limit on a bonus category. One example is Chase Freedom with its $1500 per quarter limit. Another is Amex BCP/BCE with their $6000 per year limit on groceries. Having two of the same card doubles your limit.
Yep. Same with Discover.
Although the correct way to use Discover is to get a new one each year (they let you have max two cards at a time) so you get the double cash back all the time.
