Is Bank of America Limiting You To One Alaska Card Per 90 Days?

A few days ago a reddit user posted saying they had applied for two Alaska Airlines personal cards (with the 30,000 mile offer + $100 statement credit), the first was instantly approved and the second was denied due to it being a duplicate (this almost always happens) after confirming that they meant to apply twice a representative said they were still denied and stated that this was due to the fact that they had more than one application for this card in the last 90 days. One representative stated this was a new rule and the other stated it’s been this away for as long as they can remember.

Now as we know, one data point doesn’t make a rule and we usually can’t trust what front line customer service representatives state as fact. So let’s dig a little deeper and see what we find.

Data Points

• Approved for two or more cards within 90 days: 1 (one app was over a month ago), 2, 3
  • With Bank of America deposit accounts: 1, 2
• Denied for more than one card within 90 days:
  • Specifically citing this rule: 1 (original reddit data point), 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
    • With Bank of America deposit account: 1
  • Not citing this rule: 1

One person was actually given this reason as to why they were denied for a better balance rewards card after applying for an Alaska card, so it doesn’t seem to be Alaska specific.

Our Verdict

It looks like Bank of America is applying this rule some of the time, but not all of the time. They might just be using more than one application within 90 days as an excuse for applications that they would have denied anyway, but I doubt it. If the rule is just for Alaska personal cards then you could try to mix a business application in as well (30,000 mile sign up bonus, but no $100 statement credit). As always, if you have any data points then please share them in the comments below.