Episode 57: Heightened Offers from Bank of America

Four great credit card welcome bonuses to consider from Bank of America. Let’s discuss them, how we’d prioritize them, and also navigating the complicated and ever-changing approval standards over at Bank of America.

0:54 BofA Amtrak 50,000 + $100 Statement Credit (DoC)

• Do a dummy booking to see offer
• $79 AF not waived
• $2,500 min spend in 90 days
• Amtrak points are worth 2.9 cpp towards non-Acela, 2.56 cpp towards Acela
• So this welcome bonus is worth $1,450 + $100 - $79 = $1,471 for non-Acela
• Or $1,250 + $100 - $79 = $1,271 towards Acela
• That’s crazy value for people who want to ride Amtrak
• See also: How to redeem bank points for up to 1.64 cpp towards Amtrak

03:55 BofA Alaska Business 60,000 (HT Commenter Matt on DoC)

• Direct Link
• $3,000 min spend
• $75 AF not waived
• 65,000 for the Personal Alaska card still available
• Not subject to BofA personal churning restrictions
• Don’t forget BofA Business Cash Rewards $750 (Direct Link)

06:19 Getting Approved

• BofA 2/3/4: 2 BofA cards per rolling 2 months, 3 per rolling 12, 4 per rolling 24
• BofA is said to not approve new BofA card if you have more than 2 new credit cards on your credit report (across all banks) in the past 12 months -or- 6 in the past 12 if you’ve got a checking account with BofA
• HT DoC
• Overall exposure with BofA to consider too (lower CL before closing BofA cards)
• Limits to the number of active credit cards BofA will let you hold?

08:47 Discuss: Is it a mistake to ignore BofA at this point?

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