First, do not cancel your existing card before hand. That would reset your 18 month clock! Wait to cancel until right after you've been approved for the new card. (Only by cancelling the old card right after you're approved for a new card can your 18 months since your last open and your 18 months since your last close be the same.)

Second, do lower the credit limit (if it's more than you need) on your existing card at least a few weeks for a your apply for the new one. That may help approval on the new card.

Third, make sure you're at least 18 months or more since you last opened your last Citi AA MC. "About" doesn't cut it! And Citi has documented counting problems, so if you want to be really sure, you might want to add a month for padding.

As I mentioned in the post right above this, the thing you have to fear is not being declined for the card, but being approved for the card but denied for the bonus. That still resets your 18 month clock, even if you don't get the bonus.

So if you're close to 18 months, don't cancel the old card for now, figure out when 18 or 19 months would definitely be, and wait until then to apply for your next one.


Btw, the thread that guv1976 was referring to is: