Originally Posted by
iahphx
From correspondence, I understand that others have recently had their Citi accounts closed for perk abuse. It seems best not to "go crazy" with your Preferred card. Of course, nobody really knows what level "crazy" is.
I am one of those who were shut down (shared story earlier in this forum). Since that time I have received numerous PM's and also read on other forums of others having the same thing happen.
'Crazy' has ranged from earning 60K TYPs in a month to... well sky's the limit.
Originally Posted by
LoveMountains
Or go crazy for 1 month and then take your points and run.
No, I have not tried that. I am in the middle, trying to understand / push where the "go crazy" level is.
This would have worked for those who were shut down in the first batch (late last March). Since Citi still allowed access to TY Account even after card closure.... but... (and I will explain below).
Originally Posted by
jz48
Anyone has his Thankyou account (not citi bank or citi credit card account) locked and cannot access/redeem? I never heard this but my account was locked and was told under review. I can still use my citi cards and see the Thankyou points there when I login, it's just the thankyou account is locked. Called in and was told they do this on customers for account maintainance occasionally, and it may take weeks to unlock.
I am sorry to say this, but, you points are gone. You represent the '
new' process by which Citi is closing accounts... (back to my explanation from above).
Previously Citi shut down accounts, and if you were quick, you could go an redeem your TYP's out. In my case my TY Account had full access for nearly a week after account closure.
Now they've updated the process in order to capture those TYP's.
1) They lock your TY Account
2) They investigate you
3) They shut you down
4) They drain your TY Account
Even this morning 3 more people I know of have shared reports with what I can tell the same set of events. One of which was a work colleague of mine whom I know 'face to face'. So, it was definitely clarified, no ambiguity in his details as he shared with me...
Previously they never performed step #1, and took about a week to perform step number 4 after they did number 3... So folks from last months purge could 'cash out' so to speak (if they were quick about it).
At any rate, their clear motive is to renege on the 5X TYP deal... It's unlikely at this point you'll be able to 'go crazy for 1 month' (as some have suggested) because once flagged I doubt you're getting the points even if you accrue them. My colleague was accruing them for nearly 2 weeks, but, had no access to his account to redeem them. Then finally they closed all his cards and purged all points from his TYA. <Yes, he stopped spending when he noticed he couldn't access his TYA, but, pending purchases posted, statements cycled, and thus he did see points still post to his TYA despite not being able to redeem anything>
Finally, not sure what specifically the 'flag' is yet, so, don't bother pm'ing me asking as such.
I can not implore as much to tread very carefully on this one. Citi is definitely purging customers, and the commonality is all have this specific card and with this specific 5X deal...
If you have 'gone crazy' and not yet been locked/closed/etc... do not delay in cashing out your points. It's not a matter of 'if' it's a matter of 'when'