Bank of America Adds 24-Month Churning Rule per card (Alaska, Cash Rewards, etc)

Update 10/28/22: Business cards now state:

I also understand that I may be declined for additional credit card accounts if my business entity currently has, or has had, another business card with Bank of America in the preceding 24 month period

I think this was added in early 2022, but we just missed the change.

Hat tip to Joe Jones

Update 12/20/21: There has been a slight change on some cards (Premium Rewards, Travel Rewards, Customized Cash & More) and it now states (emphasis ours):

This card may not be available to you if you currently have or have had the card in the preceding 24 month period

Original Post:

Bank of America now added a new 24-month restriction whereby, generally, you can not get any given BofA credit card if you got that card in the last 24 months.

Interestingly, the terms for Cash Rewards and Travel Rewards specifically suggest that you can get multiples of the same card, just you’ll have to wait 24 months between applications. Also, it seems that you can still churn the card in less than 24 months, just you’ll have to close it before applying again; the terms only limit you from another approval for 24 months if you currently hold the card. 

On the other hand, for the Alaska and Premium Rewards cards, you can only get approved if you don’t have the card and you haven’t had it in the prior 24 months. So if you cancel your Alaska or Premium Rewards card, you’ll have to wait 24 months before applying again. Perhaps they were more strict with these cards due to higher signup bonuses.

 This Cash Rewards card will not be available to you if you currently have a Cash Rewards card unless you have had that Cash Rewards card for at least 24 months.

 

 

(Alaska) This card will not be available to you if you currently have or have had the card in the preceding 24 month period.

 

This Premium Rewards card will not be available to you if you currently have or have had a Premium Rewards card in the preceding 24 month period.

 

 This Travel Rewards card will not be available to you if you currently have a Travel Rewards card unless you have had that Travel Rewards card for at least 24 months.

Some people like churning the Alaska or Cash Rewards cards. That will no longer be possible with the Alaska card – you are limited to one bonus per 24 months+ since you’ll have to get the bonus, cancel the card, then count 24 months from date of cancellation. For the Cash Rewards, it’s still possible to churn by getting bonus, closing, and getting again, but you won’t be able to hold more than one at a time unless you wait 24 months.

Overall, these restrictions aren’t terrible in comparison with what we’ve seen from other banks (e.g. Amex – lifetime, Chase – 48 months/family, Citi – 24 months/family open/close), but they are definitely a limiting factor for some people. Remember, Bank of America already has their 2/3/4 rule whereby you can only get 4 BofA cards total per 24 months, so the new limitations don’t really add a huge amount.

• Cash Rewards T&C
• Alaska T&C
• Premium Rewards T&C
• Travel Rewards T&C

Hat tip to u/kdm31091 on r/churning

Updates:

• Far as I can tell, the restrictions are only on getting approved. If you somehow get approved, I don’t see any reason to suspect you won’t get the bonus.
• Reader Sam notes that the co-branded Cash Rewards cards don’t (currently) show the 24 months rule.
• Reader Ben notes that the Alaska business card is not (currently) showing the 24 month rule.
• Reader AMK notes that some preselected offers don’t contain the 24 month rule.