Prepaying money to Citi AA Cards - CSR says no
Apr 18, 2011, 1:04 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: LAX
Programs: AA PLT / 2MM
Posts: 2,113
Prepaying money to Citi AA Cards - CSR says no
Just got a Citi AA Biz card. They only gave me a $1K credit limit, and I need a $4K spend to get the 75K mile bonus. I need to buy something for ~$2K. I just called and was told by the CSR that I won't be able to buy anything for more than $1K even if I prepay extra money to the card (i.e., by wiring money to the account). I know CSRs are often clueless, but are they correct here? Also, is there any way to get around this?
Apr 18, 2011, 1:07 pm
#2
Join Date: Sep 2001
Location: Hyderabad
Posts: 4,843
Just got a Citi AA Biz card. They only gave me a $1K credit limit, and I need a $4K spend to get the 75K mile bonus. I need to buy something for ~$2K. I just called and was told by the CSR that I won't be able to buy anything for more than $1K even if I prepay extra money to the card (i.e., by wiring money to the account). I know CSRs are often clueless, but are they correct here? Also, is there any way to get around this?
Apr 18, 2011, 1:28 pm
#3
Original Poster
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: LAX
Programs: AA PLT / 2MM
Posts: 2,113
Are you sure this works specifically for Citi? The CSR explicitly said it wouldn't, i.e., that even if you have a credit balance on your account, the system only looks to the $1K credit limit when you try to make a purchase.
Apr 18, 2011, 1:36 pm
#5
Join Date: May 2000
Location: Houston, TX, USA
Programs: UA 1K, AA Lifetime Platinum, DL Platinum, Honors Diamond, Bonvoy Titanium, Hertz Platinum
Posts: 7,969
That doesn't test the OP's situation. The OP wants to be able to spend more than their credit limit on a single transaction. That's completely separate from managing to get a credit balance posted to the account.
I believe what the OP was told is correct, at least as far as Citibank goes. The rationale behind this is that they tend to give immediate credit to payments. Since they've decided up-front that you're worth risking only a loan of up to $1000, they don't want to increase their exposure by allowing you to send in a payment of $1000 on a $0 balance, then charging $2000 as soon as the payment posts, only to have the payment come back for whatever reason and then be on the hook for $2000. Although there may be other ways around this for them, would it really be worth it?
I believe what the OP was told is correct, at least as far as Citibank goes. The rationale behind this is that they tend to give immediate credit to payments. Since they've decided up-front that you're worth risking only a loan of up to $1000, they don't want to increase their exposure by allowing you to send in a payment of $1000 on a $0 balance, then charging $2000 as soon as the payment posts, only to have the payment come back for whatever reason and then be on the hook for $2000. Although there may be other ways around this for them, would it really be worth it?
Apr 18, 2011, 1:40 pm
#6
Suspended
Join Date: May 2010
Posts: 2,998
And I don't think it would matter if it were a single or multiple transactions. They're going to look at the total, not the breakdown
Apr 18, 2011, 1:45 pm
#8
Join Date: Mar 2008
Posts: 235
That doesn't test the OP's situation. The OP wants to be able to spend more than their credit limit on a single transaction. That's completely separate from managing to get a credit balance posted to the account.
I believe what the OP was told is correct, at least as far as Citibank goes. The rationale behind this is that they tend to give immediate credit to payments. Since they've decided up-front that you're worth risking only a loan of up to $1000, they don't want to increase their exposure by allowing you to send in a payment of $1000 on a $0 balance, then charging $2000 as soon as the payment posts, only to have the payment come back for whatever reason and then be on the hook for $2000. Although there may be other ways around this for them, would it really be worth it?
I believe what the OP was told is correct, at least as far as Citibank goes. The rationale behind this is that they tend to give immediate credit to payments. Since they've decided up-front that you're worth risking only a loan of up to $1000, they don't want to increase their exposure by allowing you to send in a payment of $1000 on a $0 balance, then charging $2000 as soon as the payment posts, only to have the payment come back for whatever reason and then be on the hook for $2000. Although there may be other ways around this for them, would it really be worth it?
Apr 18, 2011, 1:53 pm
#9
Original Poster
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: LAX
Programs: AA PLT / 2MM
Posts: 2,113
Apr 18, 2011, 2:14 pm
#10
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: LAX
Programs: AA EXP 1.5MM, Asiana Club Silver, KE Morning Calm, Hyatt Platinum, Amtrak Select
Posts: 7,161
You don't have to wait for the statement to arrive to start paying off your card. Why not just do the following?
1. Spend $1000
2. Pay it off next day through your bank's online bill pay
3. Repeat as necessary
1. Spend $1000
2. Pay it off next day through your bank's online bill pay
3. Repeat as necessary
Apr 18, 2011, 2:16 pm
#11
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Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: LAX
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Posts: 2,113
Apr 18, 2011, 2:36 pm
#13
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: LAX
Programs: AA EXP 1.5MM, Asiana Club Silver, KE Morning Calm, Hyatt Platinum, Amtrak Select
Posts: 7,161
Unless things have changed, I never have seen a CC offer where one needs to have one transaction at a certain amount, just a cumulative total of that amount. 
Simply put: 1 transaction of $4000 is the same as 4 transactions of $1000, still the same $4000 total.
Simply put: 1 transaction of $4000 is the same as 4 transactions of $1000, still the same $4000 total.
Apr 18, 2011, 2:38 pm
#14
In Memoriam
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: dallas texas usa
Programs: aa plt 4.9MM LTAC
Posts: 14,828
pay $1k or more, check that you have a credit balance.....
go to merchant, work out a deal to pay $1k & wait til the 1st 1 clears, then do the 2nd...
if the merchant has gift cards, get 1k worth pay off & buy w gift & cc....
good luck...
btw, i sent a check for $4500 to cover a 2.5 month period of auto charges & some sppend by us....we were on a cruise....
all went well until we got home, now had a debit bal do to medical cost on ship.....then we received a check from the cc co for the credit bal from the previous state ment...when called, they said the new law requires them to remit a credit balance the after the 3rd statement in a row shoeing a credit bal....
go to merchant, work out a deal to pay $1k & wait til the 1st 1 clears, then do the 2nd...
if the merchant has gift cards, get 1k worth pay off & buy w gift & cc....
good luck...
btw, i sent a check for $4500 to cover a 2.5 month period of auto charges & some sppend by us....we were on a cruise....
all went well until we got home, now had a debit bal do to medical cost on ship.....then we received a check from the cc co for the credit bal from the previous state ment...when called, they said the new law requires them to remit a credit balance the after the 3rd statement in a row shoeing a credit bal....
Apr 18, 2011, 7:28 pm
#15
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: East Coast
Programs: All major Airlines, Hotel Chains, Credit Cards and Car Rentals
Posts: 1,263
Just got a Citi AA Biz card. They only gave me a $1K credit limit, and I need a $4K spend to get the 75K mile bonus. I need to buy something for ~$2K. I just called and was told by the CSR that I won't be able to buy anything for more than $1K even if I prepay extra money to the card (i.e., by wiring money to the account). I know CSRs are often clueless, but are they correct here? Also, is there any way to get around this?
Go ahead and prepay the amount by pushing it through your bank's online BillPay. This will increase your available credit by the corresponding amount and you will be able to charge more than your credit limit. ^