U.S. Bank isn’t the easiest credit card issuer to get approvals from, they’ll deny cards on the basis of too many card inquiries regardless of credit score and demonstrated ability to repay and even if you do not have any open cards with them.
They’ve also been fairly tight-fisted with signup bonuses in the past. I’ve reviewed the five best cards they offer and two things were apparent:
- that they have several non-U.S. airlines as partners (as a smaller card issuer they lack the heft of a Chase, American Express, or Citibank and get crowded out of the market but they’ve been creative)
- that the most attractive card they offer is the Club Carlson Visa — largely for elite status in the Club Carlson program and for offering a free night with every award redemption of two nights or more.
There are signs that U.S. Bank is getting more aggressive with their card marketing though.
A week and a half ago I reported on a 40,000 point signup bonus for their Korean Air Visa.
And now via Saverocity through October 15 there’s a 40,000 point signup bonus for the LAN Visa. The offer is for 30,000 points after first use and 10,000 more after $5000 spend within 120 days.
That’s an improvement over the usual 20,000 point signup bonus.
There’s a $0 annual fee the first year, you get a discount on your first LAN flight purchase, plus bonus miles flying LAN and upgrade certificates.
LAN is a oneworld member, with a zone-based award chart for LAN flights and a one-way distance-based award chart for flying on partners where short flights are quite reasonable but long haul flights in premium cabins get rather pricey.
Note: the links in this post do not offer any credit to me.
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US Bank is nuisance value because of the issues you raise regarding recent credit applications. For that reason, I haven’t bothered applying for the Club Carlson Visa, pending taking various steps to foil the oddball credit reporting bureau used by US Bank. Maybe those blockheads have been consuming too much lutefisk?
have no problem getting approved for chase products where usbank denies me everytime
I have had no problem in getting approved for the Club Carlson personal and business cards about six months apart.
In my App-o-Rama last month, I was instantly approved for the Club Carlson card by US Bank which I found a bit puzzling as I have an extended fraud notice on all my credit reports. This requires credit issuers to contact me to confirm my identity before approving me for credit. I’ve had to contact the BofA, Amex, Citi, Barclays, and Chase reconsideration lines in order to get my applications approved. It’s odd that US Bank, which has a rep for being stingy with their approvals, would bypass this basic security measure.
I wish they would increase the sign up bonus for LifeMiles card!
Avoid US Bank like a plague.
I have never been called at work by any customer or collection personnel – ever. Until Us Bank. I have never been late with payments with any credit cards whatsoever. When I returned the call, the person said they were attempting to collect a payment. The payment wasn’t due for another 2 business DAYS… I politely asked what made them think this was going on collection? – He said he did not know. And hung up on me! … Avoid at all cost.
I had been rejected by US Bank on two separate occasions over the past 12 months until about a week ago. I was approved for the Club Carlson Visa. It seems they may be loosening their stance on too many applications?
@Donnie Law – I was just approved for the Korean card albeit not instantly.
I’ve churned cards heavily over the last year and was approved for a US Bank Flexperks card. Clearly it is more than inquiries that is influencing approvals.
@Gary
do you know what triggered you getting targeted for the Korean card? I have a ff account there too but I was not targeted. 🙁