Credit Cards

January 21, 2015

The Two Browser Trick is Back with the Bank of America Alaska Airlines Credit Card

Update Dec. 2015: Per the comments, the double application trick is effectively dead. 

Note: I posted an update here about the miles posting. 

Back when I first got into points & miles, one of first tricks I learned from other blogs was the infamous “two browser trick” with Citibank American Airlines credit cards in which you could get two American Airlines credit cards with a 75,000 mile signup bonus if you applied for the cards at the same time using different internet browsers. Well, I can now confirm the newest two browser trick: Alaska Airlines personal credit cards from Bank of America.

AlaskaAir

While prepping for my wife’s latest round of credit card applications, I wanted to include an Alaska Airlines credit card since they are churnable as you can get the signup bonus again and again without any issue. On Flyertalk, there was a post of someone getting approved for both cards at once so I decided to try it and report my findings. The current best offer for the Alaska Airlines credit card is 25,000 miles + $100 statement credit after spending $1,000 in 3 months with the annual fee of $75 NOT waived. This isn’t the largest ever signup bonus for this card and not necessarily an exciting offer by itself. However if you could double this offer for a single credit inquiry, this offer becomes more attractive.

Here how I got approved for two personal Alaska Airlines credit cards:

  1. Closed all internet browsers and opened an incognito Google Chrome window and a private session Internet Explorer (I’m sure a private window in Firefox would work as well).
  2. Pasted the link for the 25,000 mile offer + $100 statement credit in each browser.
  3. Important: On one application, I chose the Northern Lights design while on the other I chose the Classic design. I have no idea if this actually made a difference but my thinking is BofA’s computers will not mark the applications are duplicates since technically the applications are different due to the card design. I haven’t tested trying out the same design on each but I recommend doing different designs since I know this works. AlaskaAirDesign
  4. I completed the application for my wife in each window quickly to avoid possible timing out the page but I did NOT click submit yet.
  5. Once I got to the next page before hitting the final submit application, I quickly verified the information I entered on each was identical (with the exception of the design of the card noted above).
  6. I clicked submit on one application and I immediately, as quick as I could (use ALT+TAB) switched to the other application and hit submit. I did this in about a second or so. I don’t know how quick you need to be but I imagine a few seconds is fine.
  7. About 30 seconds later, I got the message my wife was instantly approved for both cards with identical credit lines on each card. Make sure the credit line is above $5k otherwise you will get approved for a lower level card and not receive the 25k miles.
  8. Since there is no minimum spending requirement for the 25,000 miles (you only need to spend the $1,000 to get a $100 statement credit), the miles should have posted a few days after approval. I applied for the cards on 1/10 and 50,000 miles posted in my wife’s account on 1/18 though the activity was backdated to 1/12. SUCCESS!
  9. I currently see two credit pulls from Bank of America on my wife’s credit report. They haven’t combined just yet but I fully expect them to do so within a few weeks. And if they don’t, I’m confident in my ability to call and get the pulls combined.

Confirmation of miles posting

Confirmation of miles posting

Even though the above worked for me, there are some remaining open points:

Will this work for other Bank of America credit cards? I don’t know and I haven’t test this out to try it. Personally, I believe the offers from BofA to be pretty weak with the Alaska Airlines card as the true standout among their offers due to how valuable their points are.

What if I’m not instantly approved and I have to call the reconsideration line? I don’t know how Bank of America will react if a rep see two pending applications. They will most likely assume it’s a duplicate application but you might be able to explain why you need two cards. You could explain that you want to track different type of expenses or if you added an authorized user on one card, you want to keep the expenses from individuals on separate statements. This is a big YMMV.

Can I do this with Bank of America Business cards? Again, I don’t know and I haven’t tested it. What is interesting though is that after applying for the personal card, on the approval screen I was offered the chance to apply for the business version of the card as well. I didn’t try it out as my wife doesn’t have a legitimate business but I did have someone else try this for me. The business application was initially marked as pending after getting approved for both personal cards. After a call to reconsideration, he was approved so in total he netted 3 Alaska cards (2 personal, 1 business) in a day.

Post your results and findings in the comments!

January 9, 2015

PSA: Don’t Apply for the Chase Hyatt Visa Credit Card Unless You Are Getting a $50 Statement Credit

Last night, while helping a client map out a personalized credit card application strategy, I was recommending the Chase Hyatt Visa credit card but I couldn’t remember if the $50 statement credit “hack” was still around. After pretending to make a reservation on hyatt.com, sure enough there was an offer for a $50 statement credit on the card in addition to the 2 Free Nights with the annual fee waived for the first year. Basically Chase is paying you$50 to acquire 2 Free Hotel nights  – sounds good to me!

Here is how to get the Chase Hyatt Visa credit card with a $50 statement credit which is better than the standard, public offer that does not have this $50 statement credit:

  • Log in to your Hyatt Gold Passport Account (you need to do this at some point in the process, I recommending doing it first).
  • Pretend to make a reservation at a United States Hyatt hotel. I chose my favorite Hyatt hotel, the Andaz Maui.
  • Select any room type and click through to the next page which brings you to the “Complete New Reservation” page
  • Scroll all the way down to where it asks for your credit card information. Right next to that should be a box to click with the offer for a $50 statement credit on the Chase Hyatt Visa credit card (see picture below).
  • Click that box and then on the next page, click the apply button which will take you to the Chase website with some of your information pre-filled from your Hyatt account. If you didn’t log into your Hyatt account before, it will ask you to do so here.
  • You DO NOT need to complete the reservation – feel free to close the reservation page once you apply for the card.
The offer next to where it asks for your credit card information

The offer next to where it asks for your credit card information

The following page confirming the signup bonus

The following page confirming the signup bonus

This isn’t groundbreaking news as this offer has been around for a while now but I want to make sure no one is applying for an inferior offer for this card. I don’t see this offer or hack mentioned too often on the blogs, so hopefully this will bring some attention to it.

January 5, 2015

Good Deal Alert: 100,000 Point American Express Platinum, 50,000 Point Premier Rewards Gold Rewards & 30,000 Point Everyday Preferred Credit Cards

I know every blogger has posted about this but I wanted to make sure my readers had a chance to get in on this offer as well. Right now using, the Card Match Tool on creditcards.com, there are some great offers on American Express cards including the Platinum, Premier Rewards and Everyday Preferred cards. However, this is targeted and seems to be aimed at folks who either do not have Amex cards already or barely use their existing Amex cards. Each of the these offers are significantly higher than the standard public offers and I recommend applying for them if you are targeted for any of these offers. Note you cannot get these offers if you already these cards before at somepoint.

To check to see if you got this offer, click the Card Match Tool link and fill out the info requested. Do not worry about putting the last four of your social security number, this does not generate a hard pull nor does this affect your credit score.

The CardMatch Tool

The CardMatch Tool

Here are a rundown of the three offers and how I would rank them. Note I only recommend applying for one card if you happen to be targeted for multiple offers.

1. American Express Platinum Card (60,000 to 100,000 points)

  • 60k to 100k Points after spending $3k in 3 months
  • $450 Annual Fee NOT Waived
  • $200 Airline Travel Credit Annually (since this is calendar year you can do this twice and cover $400 of the $450 annual fee)
  • Elite status with Starwood, National, Hertz & Avis Rent a Car
  • Lounge Access with Delta, Centurion, & Airspace Airport Lounges
  • Free Global Entry or TSA Precheck

The normal offer on this card is 40,000 points and 100,000 points is the about the highest offer I’ve seen (some rare people have seen 150,000 point offers). I’m sure people have concerns over the annual fee but the points are easily worth ~$1,500 plus you get $400 in airline gift cards plus the other perks listed above. Keep the card a year and then cancel the card before the next annual fee is due. I wrote how to get a 100,000 point offer on the Business Platinum Card here.

2. American Express Premier Rewards Gold Card (50,000 points)

  • 50k Points after spending $1k in 3 months
  • $175 Annual Fee IS WAIVED the 1st year
  • Triple points on airfare, double points on gas and groceries

The normal offer on this card is 25,000 points so this is double the standard offer. This is a solid card to rack up points if you pay for airfare typically or do not currently have a card that earns a bonus at gas stations or grocery stores.

3. American Express Everyday Preferred Card (30,000 points)

  • 30k Points after spending $2k in 3 months
  • $95 Annual Fee NOT Waived
  • Triple points on groceries, double points on gas
  • 50% bonus on points if you have more than 30 transactions in a billing cycle

A relative newcomer to the Amex lineup, the standard offer on this card is 15,000 points so again double the standard offer here. If you hit the 30 or more transactions in a month you actually earn 4.5x on supermarkets and 3x on gas which is fantastic.

Neither my wife nor I were targeted for any of these as we already have a ton of Amex cards and use them heavily. In speaking with my clients about this offer (who got early access to this deal as a perk for being a client if it made sense for them), only 2 out of 10 clients who have written me back so far were targeted so this is definitely limited. However, its well worth a shot to see if it works for you. Good Luck!

*Unlike many of the other blogs discussing this offer, I do not have an affiliate link for creditcards.com. Didn’t see too many bloggers mentioning a disclosure that they got paid on these offers…
December 29, 2014

Travel Hacking Year End Checklist: Here is What You Need to Do Before January 1st

Year end is here and as such, there are several calendar year opportunities that you want to make sure you’ve taken advantage of before Thursday. Additionally, there are some limited time opportunities that may not be around much longer, so I’ve included those items below as well.

The clock is ticking...

The clock is ticking…

Here is a list of items you want to make sure you’ve taken care of before the clock strikes midnight on December 31st.

1. Spend the $200 American Express Platinum Airline Credit – Each calendar year, Amex Platinum cardholders (both personal and business) get a $200 airline credit to spend toward fees on a specified airline. You must first select the airline here and if you made a selection last year, it is automatically carried forward for 2014 (you can change this selection once a year in January). Even though the official language regarding this credit is meant to cover baggage fees, lounge passes etc., I always buy gift cards to make sure I fulfill this $200 credit, since I wouldn’t complete it on fees alone. Buying $50 Delta e-gift cards or $100 American Airlines gift cards does the trick. 

2. Spend the $300 Ritz Carlton Credit Card Travel Credit – Similar to the Amex Platinum above, the Ritz Carlton credit card offers $300 annually in travel credit for baggage fees, lounge passes, seat upgrades and other fees, but with two key differences: 1) The $300 credit can cover multiple charges from different airlines and 2) You have to call in to request reimbursement. This second part makes it a little trickier to use this credit for gift cards since they aren’t technically eligible for reimbursement and by having a person manually review every charge (as compared to the Amex Platinum where the credit is automatically generated) it is harder to get reimbursed for gift cards. There are two good threads that have some reports on people getting reimbursed for gift cards here and here. It seems buying gift cards in denominations of stated fees, such as pet fees and checked baggage fees have been working if you are willing to fudge the truth on what the charge is actually for if the agent asks. This is a YMMV scenario.

3. Book Hyatt My Elite Rate & Book via Hyatt Mobile App- I’ve covered this before but Hyatt is ending the My Elite Rate in 2015. If you have any known paid stays upcoming in 2015, you might want to lock in the My Elite Rate now and if you see it go cheaper or your plans change, you could always cancel as most My Elite Rates are cancelable up until a few days before the stay. In addition, the ability to earn 1,000 bonus points if you book a stay via the Hyatt mobile app is ending on 12/31.

4. Maximize Chase Freedom 4th Quarter 5% Bonus – The Chase Freedom Q4 5% Bonus is Amazon.com, Zappos.com and select Department stores. In these categories you will earn 5% cash back up to $1,500 in spend in these categories.  I’m a big Amazon shopper so I will always stock up on Amazon gift cards when the 5% bonus is active on the Freedom card to make sure I hit the $1,500 in spend. You could take a similar approach for department stores or Zappos by buying gift cards for future purchases.

5. Apply for the US Airways MasterCard  – I’m technically cheating on this one since I believe this offer will be around after 12/31 but now is a great time to apply for the US Airways MasterCard. This card is going away at some point in early 2015 (maybe January 18th?) and this is the final call to earn a signup bonus on this card. The current offers are 50,000 miles after first purchase that is valid for everyone and an offer targeted for Preferred Members that offers the same 50,000 miles + 10,000 miles upon renewal. I’ve heard several reports that if you apply for the offer meant for Preferred members but you aren’t a Preferred member and you do not get automatically approved, Barclays will no longer approve you for this offer if you call the reconsideration line. In that case, I recommend going for the standard 50,000 offer and remember there is a refer a friend offer ongoing.

6. Earn 500 Free Points from Virgin America – This is a pretty easy 500 points for a minute of work but this offer expires on 12/31. Here is the link to the offer as well as my write-up on the offer.

7. Check Your American Express Offers – Many good deals expire on 12/31/14 including $10 off Uber, $15 off Toys R Us, and others. If you didn’t register for some of these offers earlier, they may not appear in your account now and others were more targeted. However, for the ones you do have, check to see if any expiring 12/31 offers are worth taking advantage of.

8. Try to Earn 1,000 Free Hilton HHonors Points – Hilton HHonors is running a targeted promotion that gives users 1,000 free HHonors points for updating your email address. I wasn’t targeted as I got a message indicating they had my email address on file. This offer expires on 12/31 so I think its worth a minute of your time to see if your account is eligible for a free 1,000 points.

9. Take 10% off Hyatt Stays with Hyatt Gift Cards – I’ve discussed this deal previously and while the expiration date for this promotion isn’t known, it is widely assumed to be 12/31/14.

I’m sure I missed something here. What else are you doing before year end? Thanks to PointChaser for inspiration of this post.