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Citi AA credit cards, except Executive. (2013-2014)

Old Jun 13, 2013, 2:57 pm
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Last edit by: mia
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See the new thread & wiki at http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/citi-...24-months.html.

* * *


SEE NEW THREAD - 50K AA Cards


As of Sunday August 25, 2013:
Reports indicate personal cards can no longer be rapidly churned.

Click HERE to review the previous thread on this topic.

Recommended Application Procedure:
Clear cache and cookies prior to applying or use an incognito or private browsing session to apply. Opening multiple different apps in different windows or tabs or failing to clear cookies/cache has resulted in people receiving a lesser offer.

For information on the Executive version of this card, with $450 annual fee, not waived, see: Up to 100k miles Citi Executive AAdvantage offers

MOST CURRENT 50K LINKS:

Citi Personal and Business:50K miles & two Admirals Club one-day passes after $3000 spend in 3 months, $95 fee waived first year.

Citi AA Platinum Personal Mastercard, 50,000 miles after $3k spend in 3 months. $95 annual fee, waived first year. Landing page available here. This is a CHIP and Signature card.

Landing page for 50K Business and Personal MC requires $3K spend in 3 months. $95 annual fee, waived first year. This page leads to the following application pages:
Landing page for 50K Business and Personal MC after $3K spend in 3 months. $95 annual fee, waived first year. This page leads to the following application pages:
Landing page for 50K Business and Personal MC after $3K spend in 3 months. $95 annual fee, waived first year. This page leads to the following application pages:
Landing page for 50K Business MC after $3K spend in 3 months. $95 annual fee, waived first year. This page leads to this application page.

OTHER PERSONAL CARDS

Citi Platinum Select Mastercard. 30,000 miles after $1k spend in 3 months. $95 annual fee, waived first year. Up to $100 statement credit for AA purchases. Landing page available here.

Citi Platinum Select Mastercard. 30,000 miles after $1k spend in 3 months. $95 annual fee, waived first year.

Citi Gold Mastercard. 25,000 miles after $750 spend in 3 months. $50 annual fee, waived first year. Landing page available here

If you are already a Citigold customer, read this post from the Miles Professor about another 50K offer from your branch office for the American Airlines credit card.

OTHER BUSINESS CARDS

Citi Business MasterCard. 40,000 miles after $3k spend in 3 months. $95 annual fee, waived first year. Landing page available here.

Citi Business Mastercard. 35,000 miles after $1.5k spend in 3 months.

Citi Business Mastercard. 30,000 miles after $1k spend in 3 months. $95 annual fee, waived first year. Landing page available here.

Citi Business Mastercard. 30,000 miles after $1k spend in 3 months. $95 annual fee, waived first year. Up to $100 statement credit for AA purchases. Landing page available here.


Citibank Contacts/Resources (Please add the others that you know)
  • Application status: https://www.accountonline.com/cards/...?screenID=3187
  • (800) 695-5171 Personal Application Status and Reconsideration Line with live rep
  • (800) 763-9795 General Personal Application Inquiries with live rep
  • (800) 645-7240 Business Application Status and Reconsideration Line, dial option 3 then option 1 for application status
  • (800) 288-4653 Business Application Status and Reconsideration Line, dial option 3 then option 1 for application status
  • (866) 606-2787 General Application and Account Questions with live rep
  • (888) 201-4523 Application status
  • (866) 606-2961 Reconsideration Line.
  • Twitter : @AskCiti. Very powerful tool.
  • Executive Office - useful for getting a more empowered agent for reconsideration purposes: CitiBank Executive Review Department, P.O. Box 6000, Sioux Falls, SD 57117

FAQ
  1. Are these AA cards churnable?
  2. What are the most current time-restriction rules in applying for all Citi cards?
  3. Do I need to close existing cards before applying?
  4. When should I close existing Citi accounts?
  5. Can I apply for a business card if I dont have a business?
  6. Can I buy Visa gift cards to meet my minimum spend?
  7. Do I get 10% back when redeeming miles for awards?
  8. Do I have to use my own AAdvantage number on applications?
  9. There is nothing on the application page stating the bonus miles. How do I know what I will be getting?
  10. When will my bonus miles post?
  11. I met the minimum spend. Why does my statement say "Miles Reported to AA: 0"?
  12. Can I cancel a card using secure messaging?
  13. I activated the card online and got a message about this card replacing an old card. What does that mean?
  14. Which credit bureau does Citi pull and can I force them to use a different one?

1. Are these AA cards churnable?
Yes and No. The general rules are:
  • Personal AA cards: As of August 25, 2013 all linked personal AA cards in this thread can be churned only after Citi decides that you are no longer an existing cardmember. This usually occurs between 12 and 26 months after your last successful AA personal card approval of any type including AA Executive card(s). If you want both a Platinum card and an Executive AA card and are eligible under the 12-26 month rule, get the Platinum card first or the Executive card will restart the clock. Although it is not a hard-and-fast rule, 18 months after previous approval is the most common. YMMV. You do not need to cancel old personal cards.
    • Note: You cannot circumvent this rule by applying for a card type different from your previous Citi AA card. If your last personal AA card was a Visa, the waiting period for your next personal AA card will be the same regardless of whether you apply for a Visa, MC, or Amex.

  • Business AA cards: have been churnable repeatedly by some people without restriction other than the general Citi application rules. Apply once every 91-95 days. For unknown reasons, some other people have been unable to churn business cards at all. Also, some (but not all) people need to completely cancel their previous business card (ie, cancel both the card account and the associated master account) before they can apply for another business card.

    Note: If you encounter difficulty in obtaining a Citi AA business card after holding one before, it may because of the unusual way Citi sets up business accounts. The business account per se has its own master number; like a standard MC/Visa, this master account number is 16 digits. In addition, each card on the account has its own 16-digit card number. Each of these numbers, including the number for the primary cardholder, is different from the master account number.

    Sometimes, when you call to close your card account, all the card numbers are canceled but the master account remains open. When this happens, subsequent applications for a business card may encounter difficulty. Online, there should be a dropdown of accounts under your business login; the number that match your card number is your card account, the number that does not match your card number is your master account. When cancelling, ask to cancel both accounts, giving the last 4 digts of each (as shown in that dropdown).


2. What are the most current time-restriction rules in applying for all Citi cards?
  • Only 1 Citi application of any kind per week (8 days to be safe).
  • No more than 2 Citi applications of any kind in 60 days (65 days to be safe).
  • No more than 1 Citi business application in 90 days (95 to be safe). This does not override the rules above.

While the day limits are a little flexible by a few days either way and YMMV, the rules themselves are not flexible. Note: In applying the rules above, count all Citi applications, including denials and/or applications for non-AA cards.

Mixed type Example:
Day 1 60K HHonors Visa
Day 9 or later 50K Personal Platinum Visa
Day 66 or later 50K Business #1
Day 74 or later 60K Executive
Day 161 or later 50K Business #2
18 Months, 74 days or later 50K Personal Platinum Visa

Not sure what day you applied? The date is written year, month, day in the application number: 201402280000 means you applied on Feb 28, 2014


3. Do I need to close existing cards before applying?
No. There is no requirement that you close previous personal accounts. People have reported having 4 or more of the exact same card. However, many people have reported problems getting AA Business cards if they have an open Business account.


4. When should I close existing Citi accounts?
This is a matter of personal preference. Citi cards can be closed immediately after receiving a bonus and paying off the balance. There are no verifiable reports of Citi clawing back miles (exception - miles were clawed back for returned merchandise around November 2011).

Reasons to keep accounts open:
  • Having large credit lines improves your utilization percentage.
  • Maintaining old cards improves average age of cards.
  • Credit lines can be moved from old cards to new cards.
  • Anecdotal evidence suggests that Citi counts the credit lines of recently-closed accounts for 3-6 months against your total available credit.
  • You can receive retention offers once every 6 months per card. See this thread for details on the latest retention offers.

Reasons to close accounts:
  • Having a large amount of available credit with Citi will eventually reduce your chances of instant approval. Your application will automatically be reviewed if your CL's total 75K or more. This may also result in a large disparity between existing account CL's and new CL's, such as 20K, 20K and 1K for a new card, as an example.
  • There is little incentive to pay an annual fee if it is not waived.
  • The annual fee on Business cards is rarely waived.
  • Having a large number of open Citi cards will show up on your credit report and may affect non-Citi applications as well as the overall age of your accounts.


5. Can I apply for a business card if I dont have a business?
Anyone can apply for a business card. You do not need a registered business with an EIN. If you do not have a business with an EIN or with bills/accounts in the business name, you can apply using your name as the business. The three possibilities are that: 1. You could be approved unconditionally, 2. You could be asked to fax a couple of bills or accounts (water, electricity, gas, cable, or phone bills, bank accounts, etc.) in the name of the business to Citi, or 3. You could be required to fill out and send a 4506-T tax form. Whatever you do do not make up income etc. about the business. Plenty of people have been issued cards for businesses with $0 annual revenue, 1-5 employees, and 0 years in business.


6. Can I buy Visa gift cards to meet my minimum spend?
Purchases from banks are almost always coded as a cash advance regardless of what they are for. Purchases from stores, e.g. CVS, are almost always coded as a purchase.
If you are concerned about it, its recommended to send a secure message Citi and have them set your Cash Advance limit to zero. Phone CSRs often say they can not do this.


7. Do I get 10% back when redeeming miles for awards?
It depends. First, the rebate program (which began in April 2012) applies only to holders of these cards:
  • Citi Platinum Select AAdvantage Visa Signature
  • Citi Platinum Select AAdvantage World MasterCard
  • Citi Platinum Select AAdvantage World Elite MasterCard
  • Citi Select AAdvantage American Express
It does not apply to the Citi Gold World MasterCard, Citi Executive products, or some of the Citi Business cards.

Also, the maximum rebate for any cardholder in a single calendar year is 10,000 miles. Having more than one qualifying Citi AA card will not allow you to receive a larger rebate; the restriction applies per AAdvantage account.

For more on the 10% rebate benefit, see Citi 10% miles back / rebate for reward redemption.


8. Do I have to use my own AAdvantage number on applications?
Yes. The name on the card application must match the name on the AAdvantage account. You cannot apply for multiple cards for different people and use the same AAdvantage account number. AA does not care or even know how many Citi accounts you have so there is no harm in having your AAdvantage account number associated with multiple cards in your name. If you forget to add your AAdvantage account number to your application, an AAdvantage account in your name will be created and can later be merged with your existing account by calling AA.


9. There is nothing on the application page stating the bonus miles. How do I know what I will be getting?
You need to have faith in the people here if you want to maximize your miles. The people on this board constantly apply for these cards and report back what they are told are the benefits and what they actually receive. The way Citi works is that if you are approved for a card, you will get the bonus associated with the link you applied under as long as you make the minimum spend. It does not matter if you already had the card or anything else. If you are approved - then you get the bonus. The two exceptions to this are: 1. If you fail to clear your cache and accidentally load a cached application, you get the miles associated with that application and 2. Some people have recently succeeded in 'bumping the bonus' by contacting Citi and requesting a match to a 50K offer after applying for a 40K card. If you don't feel like trusting in the experiences of others, then apply for an offer with a landing page.


10. When will my bonus miles post?
Two working days after the date of the statement containing the charge that takes you across the spend threshold. It posts overnight, it'll be there when you check your AAdvantage account in the morning.


11. I met the minimum spend. Why does my statement say "Miles Reported to AA: 0"?
No one knows exactly why this is happening to some people (Citi blames AA, AA blames Citi, and both blame the merger). It supposedly has something to do with the time it takes them to properly link your AAdvantage number to your card. There are two ways to deal with this:
  • Wait 1-2 statement periods, and see if the points post on their own. Per Citi, it can take this long for the accounts to link.
  • Call AA (1-800-882-8880) and open a case about it. Most people have had their miles post within 2 weeks of doing this.

For ongoing discussion, see Some AA Citi Card miles not transferred to AAdvantage accounts [Q3 2013 - Q1 2014]


12. Can I cancel a card using secure messaging?
Yes, assuming you have set up the credit card in your Citi account. Quick and easy.


13. I activated the card online and got a message about this card replacing an old card. What does that mean?
When activating cards online, Citi normally displays the text:

"This account replaces your old account, which is now closed. Statements for your old account will be available for up to 6 months. Your current account summary and unbilled transactions are now listed under your new account number."
This is normal and is supposed to be displayed when activating a replacement card but it seems to display even when activating a brand new card. This is nothing to worry about.


14. Which credit bureau does Citi pull and can I force them to use a different one?
Citi appears to use Experian most frequently, followed by Equifax. For some people they pull both. It depends on where you are located. You can check the Credit Boards database to see where card issuers have pulled recently.

For the most part, freezing Experian, or another bureau, will not cause Citi to pull a different bureau. They will almost certainly require you to unfreeze the bureau they wish to pull or deny your application. Some people have been successful providing the PIN but others have not. Mostly, freezing a credit bureau in an attempt to force Citi to pull a different one seems to waste time, money, and effort for little result. But YMMV.

For one person's experiences with various card issuers, check here.


For rules and info on any offers that include Admirals club passes or statement credits, see here.
Print Wikipost

Citi AA credit cards, except Executive. (2013-2014)

Old Jul 18, 2013, 9:54 pm
  #826  
 
Join Date: Apr 2011
Posts: 2,055
Apply Day 1 for 50K card in Wiki.
Apply Day 8 for same 50K card in Wiki (or 7 days after approval of first card if not approved on same day).
Apply Day 66 for 50K card in Wiki.
Apply Day 74 for 50K card in Wiki.

No more than one card in a week.
No more than two cards in 60 (65) days.

You must follow both rules.

Originally Posted by tsanfei
To IkeEsq and fellow FT members who have churned the AA Plat Visa...

have been reading the thread and wanted to clarify something.

to make this churn work, are you doing the following
day 1 apply once
day 8 apply second using same link (will Citi actually give you the same card twice?!)
repeat every 7/8 days until you get declined or can't meet the minimum spend or your Credit score get hit too hard...?

is that how it works?
thanks much
IkeEsq is offline  
Old Jul 18, 2013, 10:26 pm
  #827  
 
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: IND
Programs: DL, AA
Posts: 144
Originally Posted by sdsearch
Requires 3k spend in 3 months, and is apparently not "frequently" churnable:
* This Citi / AAdvantage card offer is only valid for new applicants for a Citi / AAdvantage account made pursuant to this offer and is not available to existing cardmembers or recent applicants for a Citi / AAdvantage credit card.
Translation: It's an offer that appears to be subject to the 12 to 18 to 26 months "rule".

So what's the allure in this offer (for those in this thread)???
I am not sure of the allure of this offer, but yesterday I was approved for the 35K Platinum Mastercard offer which actually has the same language as the offer posted by webazoid. It's my fourth AA card, second this year, so I am not quite sure of how indicative the language used is.
carofly is offline  
Old Jul 18, 2013, 11:18 pm
  #828  
 
Join Date: May 2008
Location: BOS/SIN
Programs: SQ
Posts: 2,704
Originally Posted by carofly
I am not sure of the allure of this offer, but yesterday I was approved for the 35K Platinum Mastercard offer which actually has the same language as the offer posted by webazoid. It's my fourth AA card, second this year, so I am not quite sure of how indicative the language used is.
The allure is in the valuable miles that can now be obtained easier than before. 35k isn't a great offer, but why not get the 35k for free if you can!
benzemalyonnais is offline  
Old Jul 19, 2013, 12:37 am
  #829  
 
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: IND
Programs: DL, AA
Posts: 144
Originally Posted by benzemalyonnais
The allure is in the valuable miles that can now be obtained easier than before. 35k isn't a great offer, but why not get the 35k for free if you can!

Yes great, obviously, but what has your comment to do with my post? I was specifically referring to post 823 where sdsearch is commenting on webazoid's link and the language of the offer and blah blah.
carofly is offline  
Old Jul 19, 2013, 12:47 am
  #830  
 
Join Date: Oct 2011
Posts: 4,166
Originally Posted by newbynewbynew
Another data point for those curious:

Jan 8 Amex Plat
March 25 Citi Biz AA Visa
March 25 Chase Ink Plus MC
March 25 BofA Virgin Atlantic Amex
June 20 Chase Ink Bold
July 10 Citi AA 50K Visa (wiki link)
July 18 Citi AA 50K Visa (wiki link)

Approved by step 5 chat window on both by moving some credit line around. All 7 of my apps above this year pulled Experian.
How did you get both Ink cards? Separate businesses?
Superorb is offline  
Old Jul 19, 2013, 1:34 am
  #831  
 
Join Date: Jan 2013
Posts: 299
Originally Posted by Superorb
How did you get both Ink cards? Separate businesses?
You can get both. 1 is charge card and 1 is credit card.
waingro is offline  
Old Jul 19, 2013, 2:29 am
  #832  
 
Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: Born and raised in South Carolina, now in New York City.
Posts: 534
What browser are people using when they apply? I just applied (and was approved for the wiki 50k offer) but I had to call in to get approved... No chat window ever popped up. I used chrome.

When I try for card two in 8 days I'd like to not have to call in to avoid them asking why I just applied for a card a week ago. Has anyone been asked this? If so what's your answer? I already have a few citi AA cards so I'm running out of reasons why I need so many lol!
saranyc is offline  
Old Jul 19, 2013, 2:50 am
  #833  
 
Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: FL
Posts: 57
Originally Posted by newbynewbynew
Another data point for those curious:

Jan 8 Amex Plat
March 25 Citi Biz AA Visa
March 25 Chase Ink Plus MC
March 25 BofA Virgin Atlantic Amex
June 20 Chase Ink Bold
July 10 Citi AA 50K Visa (wiki link)
July 18 Citi AA 50K Visa (wiki link)

Approved by step 5 chat window on both by moving some credit line around. All 7 of my apps above this year pulled Experian.
Just to clarify.. Did you have to move credit around for the July 10th Visa too then? I had to move credit to get my 1st one and am curious if that indicates I may not be approved for a 2nd one 8 days later.. Thanks!
hnf8705 is offline  
Old Jul 19, 2013, 6:21 am
  #834  
 
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: BOS
Programs: AA EXP, DL PM, Hyatt Diamond
Posts: 2,028
Originally Posted by hnf8705
Just to clarify.. Did you have to move credit around for the July 10th Visa too then? I had to move credit to get my 1st one and am curious if that indicates I may not be approved for a 2nd one 8 days later.. Thanks!
I had to move credit around for the first one and the second one 8 days later, but both were approved. The rep sounded pretty aware of what I was doing from a churn perspective, and commented that "he would do the same if he could."
callmedtop is offline  
Old Jul 19, 2013, 7:04 am
  #835  
 
Join Date: May 2006
Location: Melbourne, Florida, USA
Posts: 2,978
Add me to the list of people for whom Citi pulled two bureaus (Experian and Transunion) for one Platinum Visa application.

Last edited by michael_v; Jul 19, 2013 at 9:49 am
michael_v is online now  
Old Jul 19, 2013, 7:12 am
  #836  
 
Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: DCA
Posts: 7,761
Originally Posted by saranyc
When I try for card two in 8 days I'd like to not have to call in to avoid them asking why I just applied for a card a week ago. Has anyone been asked this? If so what's your answer? I already have a few citi AA cards so I'm running out of reasons why I need so many lol!
I think we need to be honest with ourselves and get over the perception that these companies don't know what's up, and that our "little group" (tens of thousands of people) is pulling a fast one over these guys. They know EXACTLY what is up, I can guarantee you. These companies pull in billions, with a "B". They hire the best quants out of the ivies and tech schools to do their analytics. They have entire social media teams. And we think that we're keeping some secret from them here on FT? No way.

You and I can see our accounts with all our cards; the CSRs clearly can too. The reason why they are letting us get more cards is because someone is telling them to let us. If Citi told them to cut us off it would stop tomorrow. This is a calculated effort they are allowing for some reason, whatever that reason may be.

This is no different than playing at the casino, the house may appear to lose now and then but in the net the house always wins. So just as at the casino, when you're on a hot streak, ride it until it runs out. This game will be up when Citi says it is, not a day before or a day after.

Originally Posted by callmedtop
The rep sounded pretty aware of what I was doing from a churn perspective, and commented that "he would do the same if he could."
This. They know what's up and have some reason, somewhere, to be allowing it.

Kicking around thoughts - I'd appreciate any insight from people who know the financials and business models of these companies and their agreements with FF programs - but could there be anything in it for Citi to flood the market with AA miles before the merger? Would it make their program look stronger in an effort to compete for AA's business going forward (though folks claim they already have it in the bag)? Do they want to burn through their existing mileage stockpile so they can renegotiate after the merger for a new deal? Are they anticipating a devaluation of AA miles and looking to get what they have off their hands? I am just of the belief that when these huge companies do something, they do it for a reason.
arlflyer is offline  
Old Jul 19, 2013, 7:24 am
  #837  
 
Join Date: Nov 2012
Location: East Coast US
Programs: Free Agent
Posts: 192
Best synopsis so far on churn

Thanks to sd, think this encapsulates the current understanding, although I would suggest 2 caveats:

1. We still do not have actual confirmation that someone has received the 50k in their AA account for the latest offer while having had open Plat Visas at time of application. Potential issue from the "existing cardmember" language in the email T&Cs.

2. We still do not have actual confirmation that someone has received the 50k in their AA account for the latest offer while having recently applied for 2 cards at the 8+ day windows being currently successfully applied for. Potential issue from the "recent applicants" language in the email T&Cs.

Originally Posted by sdsearch
Two things to be noted:

First, I'd call in post 265 the supposed T&Cs. That's because there are additional T&Cs in the application page itself, and there it says:
This offer is only valid for new accounts.
(which is the traditional "frequently churnable" language).

So there's contradictory T&Cs apparently for the current 50k Plat Visa offer (at the top of the Wiki). It says "rarely churnable" in one set of T&Cs but "frequently churnable" in the other set of T&Cs!

Second, even the "existing cardholders" clause does not really mean what it says. It means the (12 to) 18 (to 26) month "rule" applies. (And that rule, at Citi, is from when you last applied for a card they're "counting", not when or whether you cancelled it. Citi doesn't count uncancelled cards against you, it just may count cards you opened "too recently" against you in some cases.)
jigri2003 is offline  
Old Jul 19, 2013, 7:33 am
  #838  
 
Join Date: May 2011
Posts: 199
Originally Posted by saranyc
What browser are people using when they apply? I just applied (and was approved for the wiki 50k offer) but I had to call in to get approved... No chat window ever popped up. I used chrome.

When I try for card two in 8 days I'd like to not have to call in to avoid them asking why I just applied for a card a week ago. Has anyone been asked this? If so what's your answer? I already have a few citi AA cards so I'm running out of reasons why I need so many lol!
I used Chrome for this most recent card and a chat session popped up - this was the first time it had happened to me (a chat session) and I always have used Chrome to apply in the past. I *did* use an incognito window this time around (pasted the application link into the window) and don't know if that had any effect or not.
Nick311 is offline  
Old Jul 19, 2013, 8:06 am
  #839  
 
Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: Born and raised in South Carolina, now in New York City.
Posts: 534
Do they pull your credit again when you apply 8 days later or do they just use the one from a week earlier?
saranyc is offline  
Old Jul 19, 2013, 8:29 am
  #840  
 
Join Date: Nov 2007
Programs: Marriott Bonvoy Platinum, Hilton Honors Diamond, Delta Gold
Posts: 4,296
Originally Posted by saranyc
Do they pull your credit again when you apply 8 days later or do they just use the one from a week earlier?
Yes, of course they do.
friedablass is offline  

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