Question
I have a question regarding the United Mileage Plus Visa. I just got an email offering me 17,500 miles with my first purchase and no annual fee. I currently have about 16,000 miles in my account, and I am considering applying, making a minimal purchase (to get the 17,500 bonus), then cancelling.
1) Will the annual fee be charged to me if I cancel the card immediately after the bonus miles have been credited to my account?
2) Am I eligible to get an award ticket just as soon as I have enough miles (meaning is it necessary for me to still be a cardmember, or can I cancel the card and still use the roughly 33,500 miles to get an award right away)?
3) Does doing this have any negative affect on my credit report?
It sounds like it's only a little bit of legwork to claim a free r/t US ticket.
Any input would be appreciated. Thank you.
Answer
1) Will the annual fee be charged to me if I cancel the card immediately after the bonus miles have been credited to my account?
Yes, but some people have been successful getting it refunded.
2) Am I eligible to get an award ticket just as soon as I have enough miles (meaning is it necessary for me to still be a cardmember, or can I cancel the card and still use the roughly 33,500 miles to get an award right away)?
Yes, the credit card is not needed to redeem the free ticket.
3) Does doing this have any negative affect on my credit report?
Yes, it has a minor effect.
It sounds like it's only a little bit of legwork to claim a free r/t US ticket.
Any input would be appreciated. Thank you.
Answer
I'd suggest checking out this thread; the topic has been well-discussed:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=480538
As you can see, it can be done :)
Answer
Should work. Go for it. I would.
Answer
Hmm, well I got an offer for 20,000 Mileage plus miles and no annual fee for the first year. Ask and see if they will match it! The letter has the code BUC16791... maybe that is the promo code for the offer.
I would keep the card for one year. You might as well get some purchase miles in addition to the bonus miles. There is no advantage to cancelling immediately anyway. Plus I believe it will look better on your credit report if you keep the card for a year.
Try this too.... I got the Delta AmEx for 17,500 bonus miles no annual fee for 1 year. 10 months later I called to cancel and was offered another 3,000 to keep it a full year (2 more months). I did, and when the annual fee posted, I called and cancelled, got the annual fee refunded, and walked away with 20,500 bonus miles, plus about 10,000 purchase miles for a total of 30,500. If I had cancelled right away, I would only have earned 17,500.
Some cards will waive annual fees too, or give bonus miles to keep you... always give them the opportunity to "sweeten the deal" before cancelling. Don't just cancel, tell them you are thinking of cancelling because you have heard of such-and-such offer. and then say will you match that offer? "I'd really like to stay with you?!" Works like a charm! ;)
Answer
I agree with you in principal but the problem is that I keep on piling up CCs and there seems to be no way of getting rid of them.
Answer
Thanks everyone for your help. I think my decision has been made, and this is NOT to do it. The thing is, I recently signed up for the AA Mastercard, for two reasons 1) the bonus miles, 2) of all the ff programs, I had the most miles with American already.
So now, I am starting to put some significant miles into my AA account, and I feel good about that. The only reason I would have done the United Visa is to get the bonus miles, claim a reward, and cancel the card. It might not be worth the hassle of dealing with the agents to waive the annual fee and let me keep my bonus miles, especially since technically in writing that they are authorized to do that, and I do have another ff program with a significant amount of miles.
I think those United mileage plus points I have will just expire in a few years, unless I make a flight on United. Who knows, maybe I'll take a flight often enough to claim a reward a few years down the road!
Answer
There is a United Visa offer for 20K miles AND annual fee is waived for the 1st year. A quick search around should net the right link or tele/code. That would be very little hassle for you -- my hubby did it & 20000 miles posted right after he made 1st purchase, and no annual fee charged. Here, I made it even easier for you, just print a copy of the offer in case there's a problem (we had none):
http://www.firstusa.com/cgi-bin/webcgi/webserve.cgi?partner_dir_name=united_signature_20k _1styrfree&page=cont&mkid=60NS
It might not be worth the hassle of dealing with the agents to waive the annual fee and let me keep my bonus miles, especially since technically in writing that they are authorized to do that, and I do have another ff program with a significant amount of miles.
I think those United mileage plus points I have will just expire in a few years, unless I make a flight on United. Who knows, maybe I'll take a flight often enough to claim a reward a few years down the road!