I’ve long thought that the Merrill+ has one of the best credit card sign up bonuses currently available because of the following:
- 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
Frequent Miler is reporting that he was told that the card would be discontinued in “mid September”. This lines up on what I predicted might happen with the introduction of Bank of America’s new premium card. This is one of those cards I think makes sense for the majority of people (as long as you can safely meet the minimum spend requirement) as worst case scenario you get $500 in cash value and best case it’s $1,000 in airline tickets. We have a full review of the card here.
To apply for the card call them on 866-751-1257 and mention the offer. If necessary mention the offer code BAABZX.
BTW I did get approved for my second card after the credit analyst called me.
He basically asked me if I give my permission for him to pull my TU instead and approved my application within seconds.
@DoC
Is it better to freeze Experian before applying for this card for the second time?
Not sure it matters
Thanks @William
I did freeze my Experian even if it only showed 4 inquiries in last 12 months.
The only ?advantage of freezing your Experian might be that the credit analyst will call you instead of you having to call the reconsideration line if your application would have gone to pending.
Disadvantage being that your application may have been approved if you did not freeze your Experian (especially if you do not have too many inquiries).
can i get a second bonus and collect it on this card by getting a 2nd care in my name. Does it matter if I just co sign and it is my relatives name (I have the card and bonus) and my relative does not.
Applied evening of 8/30, approved by lunchtime 8/31.
8/24, 10 inquiries in last 2 years, no previous BoA relationship before nor is there one near me. Lady was asking how I received the offer [I said via mail :)] and asked if I had an employee ID or Pin, to which I said no. I told her I had the offer code, gave it, and continued along with the application. Took 27 minutes start to finish, including ~5 minutes of hold time.
I got this card back when it was first available (can’t remember exactly when) and received the bonus. I just recently closed the card in the past 2 weeks. Today I called and applied again, and received approval today.
Thanks for your effort in this blog. It is really nice.
Froze Experian. App went pending, so they pulled TU with only 4 inquiries.
TU Score: 741 VS 3.0
New accounts: 7/6 months
No prior BoA relationship ever. No prior cards.
They did seem to double-pull TU though. 🙁 Will that be reconciled to one somehow?
Exact same scenario. Double-pulled TU as well for me. This was on 8/24, still showing 2 inquiries. Can’t dispute with TU so I think we will have to call BOA to get it sorted.
Hurray, I was just approved for this card! Thank you so much DoC for posting this deal. I prefer cash back right now to help pay for our meals and activities in Hawaii, so this will work out great.
Just a DP, I applied for the card about 2 hours ago over the phone. I have a BofA checking acct that was opened just last month plus two long-standing BofA credit cards. I was not instantly approved over the phone, but i just checked their status page and I was approved! I am 9/24 and my previous opened card was AMEX PRG 2 months ago.
For anyone interested, you can check your app status at bankofamerica.com/cardappstatus
I got this card last year. Redeemed 50700 points for two flight tickets to Asia last week, cash value of which is about $1000. Excellent value from a no annual fee card!
I just applied for my second M+ last week and it went pending for a week and I got a letter saying it was ignore as a duplicate app. I did notice when I was checking app status that it shows all apps in the past days. I wonder if this is how long you should wait between duplicate apps for the same product?
I don’t think I was getting approved anyway. I was shocked I got it the first time because I’ve opened many accounts with other banks.
*In the past 90 days*. When I checked status I could still see my old approved one in the same page.
I’m planning on applying in about a week, hopefully the clock doesn’t run out. I’m hoping a Merrill Edge account will help, so I’m in the process of moving assets to have $100k+ with Merrill/BofA, so they will have a harder time rejecting me, and I’ll get the platinum honors benefits too.
My last card app with BofA was very tenuous, they would only approve me for my last card if my total personal credit line across 2 cards was reduced to a measly $7k. Meanwhile Chase, Citi and Amex will happily extend me in excess of $100k lines of credit each. I have not hit BofA very hard, and I’ve had BofA checking and credit card for 15+ years, so I find their lack of faith disturbing.