Approval Rules B of A 1/24
You'll be declined for Alaska Airlines and B of A Premium Rewards cards if you have opened or CLOSED that card in the previous 24 months
Deep Dive into the B of A 1/24 Rule
This rule is applicable to each card individually. As an example, if you close an Alaska Airline personal card within 24 months, you won't be approved for another Alaska Airline personal card. Same goes for the business version of that card. Close the Alaska Airline business card, and you can't get another Alaska Airline business card for 24 months (though you can hold both an Alaskan Airline personal and business card at the same time).
This also holds true for the personal and business versions of the BOA Premium Rewards cards. These cards are pretty far down our list of recommendations, so this won't have much impact on most people. Since you'll want your 24-month timer to start as soon as possible, however, you'll want to cancel the card once you have a safe home for your points. In other words, once you have the sign-up bonus, you may not want to hold these cards long-term. Cancel and apply again in 24 months for a new bonus. Or, if you want Alaska card benefits, for example ,you could alternate between the business and personal card, canceling when upcoming flights don’t necessitate keeping the current one open. Keeping in mind that you want to start the clock as soon as possible.
** Note: The actual BOA rule states you must wait 24 months after OPENING or CLOSING an account to apply again. But since other BOA rules already prohibit opening a second of the same card, the opening part of the rule is moot as it pertains to the 1/24 rule we've listed here. That's why we only focused our advice on CLOSED accounts within 24 months.
Important to know:
Many credit cards rules that we discuss, including the most popular one, Chase’s 5/24 Rule, aren’t actually stated in writing anywhere. Bank of America’s 1/24 rule is part of the terms and conditions for almost all Bank of America credit cards, though. The language is slightly varied depending on the card. The one card this language doesn't appear on is the Bank of America Premium Rewards Elite card.
This language appears for the following cards:
"This card may not be available to you if you currently have or have had the card in the preceding 24 month period. "
- Bank of America Travel Rewards
- Bank of America Premium Rewards
- Bank of America Customized Cash Rewards
- Bank of America Unlimited Cash Rewards
- Alaska Airlines Card
This means that you will have to wait 24 months after CLOSING the card to be eligible to get that card again. The phrase “may not be available” suggests that the rule isn’t black and white and does give Bank of America some wiggle room. Assuming the rule is enforced, be aware that it is card specific. That means you would be eligible to get multiple Bank of America cards in a 24 month period, just not multiples of the same card.
We referenced this above, but it’s worth pointing out again that the Alaska Airlines card is one of the cards that has this language, but it also has the caveat that says “this does not apply to the business credit card product.” So you are allowed to get the personal and business card offered by Alaska Airlines within 24 months of each other without being ineligible for one or the other.
The following business cards have this language:
"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."
- Bank of America Business Advantage Travel Rewards
- Bank of America Platinum Plus Mastercard Busines
- Alaska Airlines Business Credit Card
Important to know:
This seems to suggest that you may not be able to get another business card of any kind if you’ve had a business card with Bank of America in the preceding 24 months. But some data points seem to suggest this is not the case. Use of the word “may” is important here. We’re not sure why these are in the terms if they don’t actually enforce this, but they are there, so we wanted you to be aware of the language at the very least.
Related Rules
How Does This Affect Your Credit Card Strategy?
The Alaska Airlines cards will be most impacted by this rule since both Alaska cards are much higher up on our list of card recommendations than any of the Bank of America rewards cards listed above. The main thing you’ll want to do if you get either of the Alaska Airlines cards - personal and/or business - is close the card as soon as you feel comfortable doing so.
We generally recommend waiting a year from approval before closing a card, as doing so earlier can have a negative impact on your credit and your relationship with the bank. Since the rule states you won’t be eligible for a new card until 2 years after closing the first card, then this would equate to a three year waiting period. Everyone has their own comfort level when it comes to this, though, so you don’t have to wait a year before closing the card.
Important to know:
Since the rule allows you to have both the personal and business version of the Alaska Airlines card, you could always open the personal card, earn the signup bonus, then close it at the one year mark. While you would still have to wait two more years to get the personal card again, you could get the business card at some point in between.
Bank of America has a few more rules you should be aware of that may also impact your card strategy. They have a 2/3/4 rule that states that you can only be approved for 2 cards in a 30-day period, 3 cards in a 12-month period, and 4 cards in a 24-month period. Be aware this is unlike Chase’s 5/24 rule and the restrictions only apply to Bank of America issued cards.
Importance of this Rule
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While this rule does impact eight cards, chances are the only cards that most people will be interested in are the two Alaska Airlines cards. While you may get one of the BOA cards at some point, this rule only applies to each card individually. For example, you are eligible for the Bank of America Travel Rewards card and the Bank of America Premium Rewards card in a 24 month period. But you cannot get a second of either until you close it and wait 24 months. Taking all that into account, this rule isn’t one that will drive card strategy, but it is one that you should be aware of.
Cards Subject to This Rule
FAQs
Are there exceptions to this rule?
The Alaska Airlines card clearly states that this rule does not apply to the Alaska Airlines Business card, so you are allowed to get both the personal and business cards within a 24 month period.
How do I check my status?
You most likely won’t be getting any of these cards until you’ve been in the hobby for a while, as none of the affected cards are near the top of our recommended list. This means that by the time you need to be aware of this rule, you will have probably had a lot of different cards from many different banks. Which also means there are a lot of rules to consider.
Why not let us take the guesswork out of this for you. If you load your cards into the Points Navigator, we’ll let you know which rules apply to which cards you own, and we’ll alert you if you are about to violate any of the rules. This can save you a hard inquiry on your credit report when you have little chance of being approved for a card because of any of these rules.
Do business cards count for this rule?
While the language in the terms and conditions seem like business cards have this same 24 month restriction, there are a lot of reports that say otherwise. We decided to alert you of the language that is published on Bank of America’s site even if the data says they enforce it less than on the personal cards. You can make your own decisions on whether or not to apply for a card knowing you are not abiding by the rules and may get a denial.
Do product changes on existing cards count for this rule?
Yes, even if you downgrade to one of the affected cards, the rule states that you are ineligible if “you have or have had the card in the preceding 24 month period.” So even if you downgraded, never applied for the card, and didn’t receive the signup bonus, you still would have had the card, thus making you ineligible for another one until it has been closed for 24 months.
About Approval Rules
Collecting credit card points is largely driven by understanding and abiding by bank rules regarding approval (or disapproval) of cards. So here's what you need to know:
- Approval rules are rarely fully publicized by the banks
- We use our own research and data points from other users in creating the rules listing
- Our goal in sharing/using the rule listings is to provide you guidance to avoid getting declined
- There can sometimes be exceptions to the rules, but we try to take a more cautious approach in advising you.