Question
I have the BA Visa, and am considering the MP visa. Each come with bonus miles for sign-up. My question is this: If I sign up, collect the bonus miles, then cancel after a year, and sign up a month or so later, assuming the same T&Cs are in effect, will I get the bonus miles?
I know there is a negative impact on credit if one is constantly cycling through cards, but was just wondering. The T&Cs I've read thus far seem to indicate that it is ok, but I wanted to know if anyone has actually done this.
I've heard that there are some sort of renewal bonuses that are sometimes offered to cardholders, but the sign up bonuses seem to be far more generous.
Many thanks.
Answer
[QUOTE=CheVive]I have the BA Visa, and am considering the MP visa. Each come with bonus miles for sign-up. My question is this: If I sign up, collect the bonus miles, then cancel after a year, and sign up a month or so later, assuming the same T&Cs are in effect, will I get the bonus miles?
Chevive:
I did exactly that...received 15,000 bonus miles for signing up for the UAL mastercard and after a year cancelled that and signed up with the American Airlines Citi card and received 12,500. In fact I did that a few times with no problem...always received the bonuses.
You are correct though that you need to watch your credit rating. I'm not sure about what affect churning cards has on your credit but last time I was turned down because I had "too much credit available" to me. I had a few dormant cards and had never totally cancelled them (no fee cards).
But if the card companies are willing to offer the mileage, take it.
Answer
[QUOTE=CheVive]I have the BA Visa, and am considering the MP visa. Each come with bonus miles for sign-up. My question is this: If I sign up, collect the bonus miles, then cancel after a year, and sign up a month or so later, assuming the same T&Cs are in effect, will I get the bonus miles?
Chevive:
I did exactly that...received 15,000 bonus miles for signing up for the UAL mastercard and after a year cancelled that and signed up with the American Airlines Citi card and received 12,500. In fact I did that a few times with no problem...always received the bonuses.
You are correct though that you need to watch your credit rating. I'm not sure about what affect churning cards has on your credit but last time I was turned down because I had "too much credit available" to me. I had a few dormant cards and had never totally cancelled them (no fee cards).
But if the card companies are willing to offer the mileage, take it.
I think the pertinent difference between the OP's situation and yours is that BA's and UA's credit cards are both offered by Bank One. In the OP's case, there would not be a change from one credit card company to the other.
OP: Regarding switching from BA's to UA's credit card, I don't specifically know the answer to your question -- so I would recommend calling Bank One and getting clarification. One tactic you might consider is to downgrade the BA card to a no-fee BA (spend-$2-earn-1-mile) credit card (if one exists) OR change to another no-fee Bank One credit card. Then, apply for the UA credit card separately to get the sign-up bonus.
Under this scenario, you are almost certain to get the UA sign-up bonus, and you have the added benefit of increasing your debt limits which should help your FICO score all other things being equal. Although it may be contrary to conventional wisdom, unused credit is beneficial in computing FICO scores -- assuming you have the willpower to not be tempted to use it.
With regard to returning to BA after a period of time and getting a bonus again -- I think that people have reported success in doing this with UA's credit card. However, I don't know if the same is true for BA. If BA offers different types of credit cards, you may be able to get each specific sign-up bonus. This what I am counting on with Citi's AA credit cards -- one sign-up bonus for Gold and one sign-up bonus for Platinum.
Answer
I have the BA Visa, and am considering the MP visa. Each come with bonus miles for sign-up. My question is this: If I sign up, collect the bonus miles, then cancel after a year, and sign up a month or so later, assuming the same T&Cs are in effect, will I get the bonus miles?
Many thanks.
Yes, but I would wait at least 90 days between applying.
Answer
I applied for two Bank One Card's several years ago and received bonuses for both cards. The best part about it is if you already deal with Bank One which you do with the British Airways credit card instead of cancelling the card ask them to merge the two accounts together (ie consolidation) and when you do this the new account will disappear from your credit report completely. YOu may have to send a letter to bank one for this to happen correctly but they did this when I merged the two accounts I had together. Also, you can convert between products at Bank One and they will also delete the duplicate accounts. I have heard from others that you can apply for a Bank One United Credit Card once every year to 18 months and receive the bonus miles. Also, now that Chase owns Bank One in the future you should be able to consolidate any chase cards that you open for the bonus points into your Bank One BA card. An additional benefit of merging the accounts together is that the two credit lines become one so you in effect can increase your credit limit as well on your old card instead of losing it completely when closing the account and your FICO score won't be hurt as much by having a lot of cards with short credit histories. Hope this helps.
JC
Answer
You can apply for the MP Visa and get the bonus. You can also apply for more than one MP Visa card and get multiple bonuses (one for each new Visa) as long as the applications are at least 90 days or so apart
Answer
So, I've been a Marriott Rewards, United MP, and AA cardholder in the past. It sounds like I can apply for the United MP card and get the bonus miles as long as it has been 90 days since I cancelled??? Is the same true for the Marriott Rewards and AA credit cards???