PugRanch said:Hmm, looks you did a couple of smart things on that PNC card that I didn't do. I didn't call about getting a larger line and I put the BT's on the application. (For some reason I thought I had to.) Since I put the BT's on the application I just forgot about the $50 bonus but it looks like you plan to get the bonus and still do a BT.

How are you going to do that? With the BT checks PNC sends? I wish I had known I was going to get those.

I did not put BT on the application b/c I did not have a good card to BT to (at the time). I don't think PNC's T&C have a language that requires one to request a BT at the application time to get 0% APR, so I was counting on those checks that come 3 weeks later as some people report (I have not gotten them yet). In the meanwhile, I put some effort into getting $50 bonus to "break even" (compensate myself for lost interest while PNC procrastinated with the checks ) Very "conveniently", my wife had to go see a dentist making $500 in "purchases" a piece of cake. I think you have a good likelihood of success if you call PNC now and ask for a CLI, even if you carry a balance. They did not do a CRA pull for me (though they promised nothing as far as that goes).

Yeah, my advice is to stick with the checks from PNC. I've got an $8400 BT off in limbo that was requested 2/18. Yeah, I know they didn't see it until 2/19. That's still almost 3 full weeks for the calendar fans out there. I'm not fooling with it, the written dispute goes out Friday morning if it hasn't posted.

WalStMonky said:Just a note that my missing BT posted in the BofA Visa target account last night so no dispute required. 2/19 to 3/7, Well, that would have been prompt back in the '90s.

WalStMonkey, thanks for a data point on BOA BT timeframe. In my case the CSR said they initiated BT on 02/27. He told me to call them if I don't see the money today (03/08) ... I guess he had a regular CC-to-CC transfer in mind (mine was CC-to-DC) ... Anyway, I'll call them today, b/c last time I spoke with them they were so eager to just put money in my checking account (they seem to do that quite often, scott1961 with $100K to checking comes to mind first).

Applied on 03/07/2007 They pulled Equifax FAKCO 732 (TrueCredit) instant approval $5,000 will see if I can CLI like others have said in this thread.
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How long did you wait to do the CLI? When card came or after approval? Using # 1-800-364-9648

CK, you seem to be up on the ins and out of PNC. Do you know if the checks they send can be deposited in a checking account? I'm thinking of paying off my PNC balance, making a $500 charge, paying it off again, then writing a check to myself. Goal: snag the $50 bonus.

I don't see anything in fine print that would prohibit it, but I'm a chicken about doing things like this.

I know you don't have your checks yet, but I thought you might know. And in case you are curious as to the actual fine print, here it is:

"These three Welcome Checks are valid for 90 days from the date of this letter. The enclosed Welcome Checks will be treated as a purchase according to your Cardmember Agreement. The introductory 0% APR applies for 12 billing cycles from when the account is opened to qualifying transactions made with these checks. [There is a section about how they apply payments to higher rates first.] No balance transfer fees apply to those balances transferred with, or in conjunction with this offer. Checks may not be written to pay an Elan Financial Services or PNC Bank account. Any future convenience checks offered on this Account will be treated as a cash advance according to the terms of your Cardmember agreement."

I bought a $500 Wal-Mart shopping card. It took about 5 minutes.

I got the money out of PNC by BT from a BofA/MBNA account and sending a bill pay to USAA and having them give me a cash advance. It's not something that I share much because it's not available to everyone. Anyway no CA fees from USAA and the APR is only 12.15% (only!) so the cost is minimal. I always take the debit first because it's much easier to deal with the CSRs and I guess I think USAA will like me better if I pay them a little interest. Why didn't I just BT from USAA? Because I had no clue how long it would take to hit and at the ungodly rate of 12.15% (only!) I'm not willing to suffer a debit balance for more than a day or two. It was a good thing too as one of the BTs from BofA took from 2/18 to 3/7 to post. I won't be taking any more BTs over the net from PNC.

The wording on the checks makes me hinky about getting charged for a CA.

Here's few more (potentially useful) bits of information / discusion topics (feedback is very welcome):

1. Called CITI to reallocate CL to Professional Card (from the two Diamond Rewards cards I've had). The CSR was NOT nearly as enthusiastic about the reallocation as Chase or BOA CSRs were. He started out by saying "It's not always possible, but let me see if it can be done in this particular case". Then he said I won't be able to reallocate the CLs back from Professional to Diamond Rewards if I later need to (I think this was already mentioned in other threads). He aslo said that it would take 5-7 business days to complete the process. Anyway, I asked him to do the reallocation, b/c CITI Professional has sent me checks (which look like BT checks, but I would appreciate if anyone with recent experience could clarify) that expire 03/24.

2. BOA AMEX ("bonus card" -- the one I didn't really apply for) arrived (CL=$5K, not gonna use it for anything except, perhaps, boosting CL on another BOA card)

WalStMonky said:I bought a $500 Wal-Mart shopping card. It took about 5 minutes.

Thanks for the idea! I went online and bought a $500 Costco Cash Card. They will take ANY type of credit card online and there was no shipping. We spend over $500/m at Costco anyway between gas and groceries, so this was easy.

Yes, giftcards do come in very handy when one needs to meet a minimum purchase requirement ... I just could not come up with a good place to buy a giftcard from. WalMart -- I don't spend $500 in there in a year, even Newegg did not work for me (despite being in the process of building a new box), b/c I have amost all of the stuff already ... Can one go to a gas station and buy a card there? -- that would be almost the only fully liquid option for me ..

Wal-Mart fit the bill for me because it's time to buy my spring wardrobe. I had a tougher time coming up with a place because I didn't want to wipe out a 5% rebate if I could help it. So gas, groceries, drugstores were out, and Safeway sells all manner of other gift cards which count as groceries.

cyberkost, I know both Shell and Citgo sell giftcards, and you might check your local grocery store, they seem to all have jumped on the bandwagon. 10% is still better than 5% and it is important to be able to spend the gift card on things you need anyway, and not items where buyer protection, extended warranties are important. Of course a much lesser consideration if you don't have a 5% ED card.

Another idea is a gift to charity. Most, if not all the majors take credit cards. We all do give more than $500 a year to worthy causes, don't we? Then you even get to deduct the $50 rebate. I'll even shamelessly include a link to my favorite. Habitat for Humanity