May 17, 2013, 11:04 pm
Last edit by: beltway
- What are the most current working links?
- Is this card churnable?
- How frequently can I apply for these cards?
- Do I have to close my previous card before reapplying?
- I got the 60K card and bonus but when I finished the spend on my second 60K card I did not get the bonus. What happened?
[1] What are the most current working links?
There is a standard offer for 50K points after $1K spend in 4 months. (No landing page is available for this offer; lnik taken from wiki for http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/citi-...amex-citi.html.)
There are no known 60K offers available. The most recent one expired in late September 2014.
[2] Is this card churnable?
In the past, this card has been easily churnable. However, in December 2014 Citi began inserting language into some applications and landing pages disqualifying current Hilton Visa cardholders & requiring an 18-month wait from the date of the previous card's cancellation. The application link listed above does not include this restriction, and FTers have confirmed that they have been approved through this application despite being current or recent holders of another Citi Hilton card.
[3] How frequently can I apply for these cards?
You can only apply for ONE Citi card in a week or TWO in two months (60 days). To be safe, it is frequently suggested to wait 8+ days between ANY two Citi applications and 65+ days until your third Citi application of ANY kind. These are rolling dates, so you have to wait at least 60 days (65+) from your second application to your 4th applications, and so forth.
If math is not your strong suit, you can use: http://www.timeanddate.com/date/duration.html.
Example:
Day 0 - Citi HHonors Card #1
Day 8 - Citi AA Personal Card
Day 65 - Citi AA Business Card
Day 73 - Citi HHonors Card #2
Day 130 - Citi TY Card
[4] Do I have to close my previous card before reapplying?
Not if you use the application link above. As stated above, in December 2014 Citi began introducing new application pages requiring an 18-month wait since cancellation of the prior card.
Note that when you close an account, Citi may not "free up" the credit limit from that card for as long as 6 months. So if you're going to apply within 6 months, it's better to not cancel beforehand.
[5] I got the 60K card and bonus but when I finished the spend on my second 60K card I did not get the bonus. What happened?
There appears to be a problem with Citi crediting you with both bonuses but Hilton not crediting the second bonus because their system sees it as a duplicate.
You need to open up a case, preferably with Hilton, and explain that you have two separate cards (feel free to explain one is for business and one for personal if they ask why you have multiple cards and you feel like explaining). You also need to diligently check back with them and make sure that they do not close the case as you already got the bonus.
This is very much a YMMV situation. Depending on who you talk to and where, this can be a relatively short process or a particularly unpleasant and long one. Best advice: Be nice to the CSRs and get them on your side or HUACA until you find someone useful.
For some people it may be worth getting the 50K card instead, possibly trying to "bump the bonus" to 60K and getting it as a 10K adjustment instead.
Citi Hilton HHonors Visa [2011-2014]
Oct 15, 2014, 4:18 pm
#2896
Join Date: Feb 2009
Posts: 6,605
I applied for 50K and 60k came out days later so Citi matched the offer and it posted fine as 50k and 10K
I then applied for the 60K offer and that posted no problem.
This thread had several people post issues with the 2nd 60K not posting so rather than go through all that BS I just applied for another 50K card and asked Citi to match the 60K which again posted as 50K and 10K.
Oct 16, 2014, 2:08 pm
#2897
Join Date: Jan 2014
Posts: 59
So you had trouble with your first 60K card or did I read it wrong and you had three 60K cards ?
I applied for 50K and 60k came out days later so Citi matched the offer and it posted fine as 50k and 10K
I then applied for the 60K offer and that posted no problem.
This thread had several people post issues with the 2nd 60K not posting so rather than go through all that BS I just applied for another 50K card and asked Citi to match the 60K which again posted as 50K and 10K.
I applied for 50K and 60k came out days later so Citi matched the offer and it posted fine as 50k and 10K
I then applied for the 60K offer and that posted no problem.
This thread had several people post issues with the 2nd 60K not posting so rather than go through all that BS I just applied for another 50K card and asked Citi to match the 60K which again posted as 50K and 10K.
This is technically my third 60k card. The first was back in June (?) -- the two where I earned the bonuses in early September both didn't show up immediately. After two cases, one showed up and the other still is pending.
That said, just looking for a little hope that others were also in my situation and have emerged successful.
Oct 16, 2014, 5:02 pm
#2898
Join Date: Feb 2009
Posts: 6,605
Only an EXEC card needs to have $5K kept on it. You can lower a Signature card to $2K, and a Citi AMEX to $1K. Only keep a few extra $Ks on one card so you have something to move at Recon if you need to. Lower the rest of your Citi cards to minimum as soon as you meet the required bonus spend and you probably won't need to ever call Recon.
I'm not going for another HH card until December so hopefully my streak of cards continues and I get # 16.
Thanks for letting me know what the minimum CL's are.
Oct 17, 2014, 3:58 pm
#2899
Join Date: Jan 2014
Posts: 1,269
I have 5 open HH cards that are less than 6 months old. Rather than cancel so early I lowered the credit limits again from $5K to $2k.
I'm not going for another HH card until December so hopefully my streak of cards continues and I get # 16.
Thanks for letting me know what the minimum CL's are.
I'm not going for another HH card until December so hopefully my streak of cards continues and I get # 16.
Thanks for letting me know what the minimum CL's are.
Oct 21, 2014, 7:22 pm
#2900
Join Date: Sep 2013
Programs: AA Lifetime Gold
Posts: 3,677
I have 5 open HH cards that are less than 6 months old. Rather than cancel so early I lowered the credit limits again from $5K to $2k.
I'm not going for another HH card until December so hopefully my streak of cards continues and I get # 16.
Thanks for letting me know what the minimum CL's are.
I'm not going for another HH card until December so hopefully my streak of cards continues and I get # 16.
Thanks for letting me know what the minimum CL's are.
Oct 22, 2014, 3:13 pm
#2901
Join Date: Sep 2013
Programs: AA Lifetime Gold
Posts: 3,677
For anyone wanting to do this, Citi typically SMs you back and warns you that if they lower it for you, you won't be able to raise the CL on that exact card for the next six months. So when I ask them to lower my CL, I say in my first message "I understand this means I may not be able to increase this CL for 6 months, and I'm find with that". Then they lower it right away, and you don't have to SM them twice.
Oct 22, 2014, 6:09 pm
#2902
Join Date: Jan 2014
Posts: 1,269
So the link in the wiki (with no landing page) is still good for 50K? I have a working landing page for 40K that I can use as a fallback, but if the wiki link is still good, obviously I'll go with that.
Oct 22, 2014, 10:59 pm
#2903
Join Date: Apr 2014
Posts: 70
I used the link twice for myself and my spouse and it works. Got the letter saying that I will get the 50k bonus points.
Oct 22, 2014, 11:58 pm
#2904
Join Date: Jul 2011
Posts: 775
did the Hilton cards always have this " This offer is only valid for new accounts."
Oct 23, 2014, 10:03 am
#2906
Join Date: Sep 2013
Programs: AA Lifetime Gold
Posts: 3,677
Yes, and all that means is when you apply for a new card, that in itself is a new account. I think that is just to prevent someone who applied for a lessor offer from calling them and asking for their bonus to be upgraded to a better offer.
Oct 23, 2014, 4:05 pm
#2907
Join Date: Feb 2009
Posts: 6,605
I applied for 50K twice and Citi matched the (then current) 60K offer both times just for asking.
Oct 23, 2014, 7:48 pm
#2908
Join Date: Jan 2014
Posts: 1,269
I assume it's either (a) to stop long time cardholders from calling up and asking why they can't have 50,000 free HHonors points or (b) to make people think the card can't be churned. (b) doesn't really make sense because it seems like an easy coding change to make sure nobody gets the bonus more than once, but if you can stop x% of potential churners just by telling them they can't churn, that's easier than changing your coding. I remember how surprised I was last fall when I discovered flyertalk wikis that laid out the rules for cards that could be churned. I would have started churning years ago had I known, but every cc signup bonus always said the bonus was limited to new accounts. Silly me for believing that.
Oct 23, 2014, 8:07 pm
#2909
Join Date: Jan 2014
Posts: 1,269
I remember how surprised I was last fall when I discovered flyertalk wikis that laid out the rules for cards that could be churned. I would have started churning years ago had I known, but every cc signup bonus always said the bonus was limited to new accounts. Silly me for believing that.
Oct 24, 2014, 1:11 am
#2910
Join Date: Jul 2011
Posts: 775
Related thought: I wonder how much longer Citi will allow rapid churning of any of their cards. I can't understand why they would "fix" the churnability loophole for some cards (e.g., the AAdvantage Platinum card) but not others (e.g., the Exec card and the HHonors card). Better get while the gettin is good.