Look What I Got . . .

Back in September, I wrote about an offer from Bank of America and Alaska Airlines Credit Card.

The offer gave me a $15 gift card to my choice of store, if I used my credit card to pay for a monthly reoccurring bill. To complete the offer, I paid a portion of my cell phone bill in October. However, I forgot about the offer until earlier this week, when this letter arrived:

The letter contained an awkward letter and my $15 Starbuck's gift cards:

Here is a copy of the letter:

The letter is awkward for two reasons:

   1) Its not personalized. In the age of mail merge, your can do this easily

   2) The second paragraph is not appropriate. This letter should be a simply thank you, nothing
        else.

Overall, thank you Bank of America for keeping your promise!


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Check Your MailBox

Yesterday, I received an interesting offer from Bank of America and Alaska Airlines. Earlier this year, I got the Bank of America Alaska Airlines credit card.

I used the card once and put it in the sock drawer. The new offer, ask me to make charge one monthly bill to the credit card by October 30th to earn a $15 gift card.

   "Thank you for your business. We appreciate you choosing Bank of America for your credit card
    needs, and as a valued customer we have an offer especially for you - a $15 gift card to Target,
    Starbucks, or Best Buy for using your Alaska Airlines Visa Signature credit card to pay bills
    automatically - a convenient option that saves you time and helps you earn more rewards each
    month."

The monthly bill needs to be in the following categories:

       - Telcomm,
       - Internet Service Provider
       - Cable/Satellite
       - Insurance.

My plan is to switch my cell phone bill for a month. Then I am switching it back to my Ink Bold card.

If all goes by plan, I should have my gift card by December!
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Is There An Opt Out Option, Bank of America?

I detailed here that one of the credit cards I recently applied for was the Bank of America Alaska Airlines credit card. The sign-up bonus was 25,000 miles after your first use. The miles sign-up bonus us great, but I really wanted $119 companion fare for an upcoming trip. I didn't get instant approval, but the card arrive a few days later.

Ever since, Bank of America has been mailing me stuff about the various features of their credit card. Most of the junk went straight to the shred pile until I received this insert below. What caught my attention was that I would receive "up to 5 miles per $1 spent at participating restaurants."

My initial reaction was cool, a feature I did not know about the card. That was until I turned over the flyer and read # 4: "Your Visa Card will be automatically enrolled in Mileage Plan Dining Rewards by Rewards Network and a Welcome Kit will be sent to your explaining your restaurant earning opportunities"

Really, your going to automatically enroll me? No choice? No opt-out?

Why am I making a big deal out of this, you might ask? Typically  Dining Rewards offers you a bonus to sign-up and spend a certain amount of money in your first 30 or 90 days. The bonus is typically only for new members. My gut tells me that there will be no bonus offer in my welcome kit.

I love Dining Rewards. I have written about it here and encourage people to sign-up for it. It takes minimal time, but has the potential for big rewards. Eat out, take a quick survey, earn miles/points.

What bothers me is the automatic sign-up for Dining Rewards! I could see this being a new trend with credit card companies, because it saves Dining Rewards money. Automatically signing people up reduces the need for spending extra miles on luring people to join with attractive sign-up bonuses. This is one time I hope I am wrong.....

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 Have a question for us? E-mail us at chris@doitforthepoints.com or jd@doitforthepoints.com

Most Recent Credit Card Applications

Important Note: We talk about credit card sign-up bonuses on our blog because they are an important part of the “game.” Any credit card links in this post will be public application links taken from the issuer's direct website. We do not earn income from you applying from the links. Similarly, please take an extra minute or two before applying for credit cards. If you do not pay your credit card balance off every month then you should stay away from this aspect of the game. Credit cards can lead to major long-term problems if not used correctly. I encourage you to read my post on Young People and the Chains of Credit Card Debt for more details.  

This week, I broken one of the golden rules of credit card churning: thou shall only apply for credit cards once every 90 days!

Yes, I applied for credit cards within 90 days of my last churn. Unlike last time, I decided not to churn after midnight. I learned my lesson and my success was the same 2 instant approvals and 1 pending.

The reason why I decided to apply for credit cards prior to my 90 days was simple: need. As I previously mentioned, I am planning on going to Alaska with Cash Back Boy, in July. We still have not booked our tickets and prices have gone up, and up and up. Then I had an idea: the Bank of America Alaska Credit card.

Strangely, the benefit that I want out of this credit card is not the points, but rather the companion ticket. Once approved, the card offers it owner a $99 ($117 with taxes) companion pass. This will reduce the cost of the airline tickets to Alaska dramatically for the two of us. Here is the public link to apply.

Of course, this is the application that I got a Pending Decision. Crossing my fingers as I need this the most.

The second card I applied for is the Chase Priority Club Visa.

I decided to get this because I will be cancelling a few Chase cards in the next month or so. Also, I received an email with an 80,000 offer, which is better the typically 60,000 offer. One can find the normal 60,000 offer here. If you Google, one can find a link to an offer for 80,000 points.

Result: Instant Approval

The final credit card I applied for was the American Express Delta Gold. I decided to do the 45,000 mile offer; instead, of the normal 30,000 mile offer. This will help me clear another section of the my Delta GrandSlam. I have previously written here about American Express Delta Gold section of the GrandSlam and how to get this 45,000 mile offer.

Warning: To get the 45,000 mile offer, one will need to go to a third party site. I had to refresh the
              application page two or three times before the third page appeared.

Result: Instant Approval.

Getting 2 instant approvals out of three is excellent. I just wish one of them was the Alaska Airways card. I am crossing my fingers and toes that I get approval for that card. Otherwise, Cash Back Boy is going to have to apply for his first points card.

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 Have a question for us? E-mail us at chris@doitforthepoints.com or jd@doitforthepoints.com