The Merrill+ card is one that we’ve talked about often. Here’s a brief list of reasons why:
- Sign up bonus of 50,000 points after $3,000 in spend (only available via phone)
- Points are worth up to 2¢ each (read our full guide to their valuation and redeeming them here)
- No annual fee
At worst you get $500 in value, at best you get $1,000 in value. We’ve long listed this as one of the best credit card bonuses to sign up for and part of the reason for that is I don’t think it will be around for ever. It’s generally not a good sign when a card moves to phone only applications. With Bank of America rumored to be launching a new premium credit card in September or October it’s easily possible that this Merrill+ card could be replaced or changed. My recommendation is that if you haven’t already got this card and can meet the minimum spend requirement, sign up sooner rather than later. You can read our full review of this card here.
View Comments (112)
Closed old Merrill today along with 2 other non-BBR cards (3 BBRs remaining have 1k CL each). Applied for Merrill over the phone, guy found offer easily and I double checked the source code is BAABZX. App went pending, called recon, approved with 18k CL, card expedited. Was transferred to different department to verify bonus, guy said he can't see it from app but the 50k/$3k offer is still active. I mentioned some others only got 25k and he said that was a snafu and has since been rectified.
Now hoping premium card comes out in next 30 days so no extra HP to get that!
This offer is still available as of Aug. 11 with code BAABZX.
I was going to recommend a friend and his wife apply for this today. Anyone still able to call in and they recognize the 50k bonus in last couple days? Last DP I see is over 2 weeks old. Thanks!
Yea I called them just now, the guy I talked to found it.... it took him like 3 minutes to find the offer (I had to spell Merrill for him, he had no idea what I was talking about lol)
One thing that people might be interested in knowing about this card, when you spend $10 (or any amount really), you get the points instantly after it posts. You get the bonus instantly after $3000 posts, no waiting until the next statement etc. My first statement doesn't close until July 18th and I booked my flights on the 15th (I spent the last few dollars on the 13th and they posted to the card on the 15th).
Slept on applying until 3 days ago (7/10/2017). Called and they informed me it's for the 50k bonus. Applied, went pending, check the app status 2 days later, poof, approved. I *am* the data point I was hoping to be.
Approved today after recon call to 866-224-7803. Only have the Alaska card for 2 months, no relationship with BoA before that. Experian pulled, score over 800. 12ish cards in last 12mos
I just got denied because of too many credit enquirers/ 6 hard pull the pas 6 months and no long relationships/ deposit. They have their own version of chase 5/24!
Called today and applied for the Merrill + visa signature card over the phone to only get denied within an hour. Called recon and would not approve me for the card. This is after them confirming my score to be 817. But they still can't approve for various reasons like I already have only 1 BOA card with them with a credit limit of 4K (usage being less than $100) and high credit limit on my credit file from all banks.
Definitely disappointed and the above explanation sounded like a big joke. Also have applied for only like 2 credit cards in the last 3 years.
On a side note wanted to make sure I maximize the hard credit pull by applying for the below 2 cards. Approved for both with 15K and 18K limits.
Cash Rewards Card & Travel Rewards Card
Do these points ever expire?
Just applied over the phone with the card and went to referral. Will call on Monday and see if they will use up some of my large Travel Rewards credit limit on this, or issue me more credit.