Had an interesting chat with a friend of mine who is relatively new to the miles and points game. He has recently moved from Houston to a small city in Texas, that is only served by American Airlines to its hub in Dallas. So he wanted to cancel his United Airlines and Southwest Airlines card (which were great when he lived in Houston) and get the American Airlines credit card. We were chatting about where he was planning on traveling, and he mentioned that he was looking to take a trip to Greece next summer.
We were talking about the difference between American’s peak and off-peak award charts, and I realized that he had applied for an offer that only gave 30,000 American AAdvantage miles.
I thought that there were still offers that gave 50,000 miles as a signup bonus, so I checked the relevant Flyertalk thread to see what the best credit card offer was and sure enough there were a few 50,000 mile offers out there.
Calling reconsideration to get the best credit card offer
I suggested that he try to call in to see if he could get matched to the better offer, as oftentimes banks will do this. He had only applied earlier in the day, so when he called the Citi reconsideration phone number, they actually just canceled his original app. Being a good friend, he then asked if I had any affiliate links, so I checked my list of available credit card offers, and all I had was the same 30,000 mile bonus offer, so I told him to just sign up for the public 50,000 mile offer, since that was the best credit card offer out there for this particular card.
The agent had advised him that the online system would automatically flag the application as a duplicate and to just call in, so he did. Interestingly enough, he actually got the exact same agent he was speaking to earlier!!! She was able to approve him over the phone, and he’s on his way to getting the full 50,000 mile signup bonus.
I share this just as a cautionary tale when you’re applying for new cards – make sure you’re applying for the best credit card offer out there! There are some sites out there that only publicize the offers that benefit them, and hide better offers available that they don’t receive a commission on. Thankfully, most of them have been “blog-shamed” and so it happens less frequently, but still, be aware!
If you’re looking to apply for a new card, and aren’t sure if the offer you’re applying for is the best credit card offer available, feel free to email me at dan at pointswithacrew dot com and I’ll be happy to share my thoughts
Happy churning out there!
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Dan Miller travels with his wife and 6 (SIX!) children. He loves to help families travel for free / cheap, especially larger families. If you are looking for help, drop him an email at 
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