Programs: *G, AA PLAT, Hilton Gold, Hyatt PLAT, IC PLAT
Posts: 846
[Primer] Citibank - All Programs Earning, Churning, and Burning
Standard Rules of Engagement
1) 2 applications (personal + personal OR personal + Business) every 65 days. If you apply for 2 cards Jan 1, 2013, you are not eligible to apply for anything else until at least Mar 6, 2013.
2) Some programs may allow you to apply for the same card twice (Hilton, currently YMMV) and others force you to apply for different cards (AA ie: Visa + Amex or Visa + MC).
3) Business accounts (if churnable) have a 90 day waiting period between applications.
4) Business accounts can be opened under your name as sole proprietor. Make sure you choose a name that has utility bills you can send over if required.
5) DO NOT CALL RECONSIDERATION UNLESS YOU NEED TO. Let the machine cycle you through. If you get a letter or email specifically asking you to call, then call. If a human looks at it, it will probably get rejected
6) Reconsideration numbers vary, here is a list and some common numbers:
7) If the application page loads AND you get the card, confirm bonus at activation. Congratulations, you have the bonus. Trust Flyertalk, you don't need a landing page, a confirmation page, T&Cs showing the bonus, or any of that other nonsense.
8) Two browser trick (AKA 2 BT) (applying for the same product like 2 AA cards or 2 HH cards) is pretty much dead. YMMV, very few are reporting success. This is intended to combine credit pulls (again, YMMV as some report different pulls during the 2 BT) and get two of the same product. Citi seems to have updated software circa Jan 25, 2013.
9) If you apply for 2 different products (HH & AA or HH & Reserve or AA & Reserve), you may get 2 credit pulls and have to wait for 65 days until your other set. Make sure you are applying for what you want.
Failure to follow these standard rules will result in application rejection
Programs: *G, AA PLAT, Hilton Gold, Hyatt PLAT, IC PLAT
Posts: 846
Airline Programs
AAdvantage
Success has been reported applying for a 50k VISA PLAT ($150 credit/$3k spend/ 2 AC passes) and a 30k GOLD MC ($750 spend) on different days. These may be considered two different products, this may get pulled soon.
1) Most people need to wait 18-24 months after application (card does not need to be cancelled) in order to get the bonus again. More and more people report later dates, the lucky few have been known to do it in about 12 months
2) There may be more lucrative products in the summertime due to the US-AA Merger announcement, but no one knows. There may also be a new line of AA cards much like what Chase did with the United MP cards that will allow us to re-qualify.
3) If you get the 2 BT to work and then get the Gold MC + 50k Biz, you would have maxed out at 4 cards and 180k AA miles for the year
4) If you are planning on getting AA miles, get the Barclay 35k US card ASAP for $1 spend and just sit on the miles until they become AA miles. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/miles...5k-benies.html That would bring you to 215k for the year.
5) User chrispalm Post #4710 reported being approved for 2 BT after its demise by escalating to a supervisor. Stupidzbu (hey, that's me!) reported success using the same technique with the reconsideration number provided Post #4781 - YMMV greatly
The 2 BT seems to work with 50k Visa & Reserve to combine pulls, but again, YMMV as reports are sporadic
Churning HH
1) 50k VISA is highly churnable (every 65 days). You do not need to close your account to churn. It is recommended NOT to close your accounts to churn as you can reallocate credit limit to open a new card. If you close the account, that credit limit is not immediately available to you for new applications.
2) The 50k Fee Free cards offer retention offers if you try to cancel:
Quote:
5k points for $1k spend in 3 months
750 points for $750 spend for 16 months
+2 points per $1 for 2 months
+2 points per $1 for gas station spend for 3 months
As reported by stupidzbu (hey, that's me!) Post #1659
Programs: *G, AA PLAT, Hilton Gold, Hyatt PLAT, IC PLAT
Posts: 846
All Things Credit
Burning Your Credit Limit
Your SSN + FICO score limits you to a certain amount of revolving credit per bank.
Once you max out on the revolving credit the bank is willing to offer you, they will still approve your card by reallocating CL from a different card. This is why it is recommended to not close an account unless you absolutely need to.
CITI has been known to combine credit limits in the past, currently that is YMMV. I called to cancel my HH card and they offered to move my CL over to my AA card. The CSR assured me they weren't doing a credit pull, asked me the same questions as a credit pull (income, rent or own, etc) and made a decision if the system would allow that reallocation.
This, AFAIK, is the only reported way to preserve your CL for opening up future accounts, but YMMV and I am not sure if the guy did a pull or not yet.
Programs: *G, AA PLAT, Hilton Gold, Hyatt PLAT, IC PLAT
Posts: 846
Hopefully we can get all this info in this thread so the other big ones aren't full of the same questions and cluttered with nonsense.
If anyone thinks of anything else to add, throw it in this thread and I will update accordingly. This is not meant to give you info on specific cards or programs, but info on dealing with Citibank and the various cards offered.
One note though - I had two completely different reconsideration calls with Citi lately. One after hours with a grumpy (Indian) voice which just kept rejecting my applications.
During this round I called again during business hours and had my best ever reconsideration experience (and I had many!) with a credit analyst approving two cards with a super friendly manner.
5) DO NOT CALL RECONSIDERATION UNLESS YOU NEED TO. Let the machine cycle you through. If you get a letter or email specifically asking you to call, then call. If a human looks at it, it will probably get rejected
This is not true at all. Many times people have had to call just to confirm minor details (phone, etc). I don't recall anyone being rejected just because they called recon, if they were going to be rejected anyways, they would have been rejected. This just expedites whatever decision was going to be made anyways.
Programs: *G, AA PLAT, Hilton Gold, Hyatt PLAT, IC PLAT
Posts: 846
Quote:
Originally Posted by PainCorp
This is not true at all. Many times people have had to call just to confirm minor details (phone, etc). I don't recall anyone being rejected just because they called recon, if they were going to be rejected anyways, they would have been rejected. This just expedites whatever decision was going to be made anyways.
I disagree. My wife applied for AA 50k Visa & HH 50k Visa. Both went to step 3. She didn't call, today she got letters in the mail approving her. I can almost guarantee she would have been rejected had a human looked at the apps.
Again, if you do not need to call, it gives you a better chance of getting the card. If you get rejected, then call. Patience is a virtue.
This is not true at all. Many times people have had to call just to confirm minor details (phone, etc). I don't recall anyone being rejected just because they called recon, if they were going to be rejected anyways, they would have been rejected. This just expedites whatever decision was going to be made anyways.
I have to agree with stupidzbu on this point of not calling the reconsideration line just because you are impatient. If Citi requests that the applicant call to verify information, that is different. This policy literally worked for years. Then when it became the norm for everyone to call reconsideration all the time, the 2 cards at one time policy was changed. We can't prove the correlation, but it is a big coincidence.
Great job stupidzbu! Thanks for taking the time commitment to start this new thread. I am confident you will do a great job!
Programs: *G, AA PLAT, Hilton Gold, Hyatt PLAT, IC PLAT
Posts: 846
Quote:
Originally Posted by jeanie
I have to agree with stupidzbu on this point of not calling the reconsideration line just because you are impatient. If Citi requests that the applicant call to verify information, that is different. This policy literally worked for years. Then when it became the norm for everyone to call reconsideration all the time, the 2 cards at one time policy was changed. We can't prove the correlation, but it is a big coincidence.
Great job stupidzbu! Thanks for taking the time commitment to start this new thread. I am confident you will do a great job!
thank you .. but the only way this will be of any use is if people start referring those asking these basic questions to this thread rather and cluttering the major threads ....
there really isn't much to it and for the most part, this info won't change too often.
