Previous threads (now closed) on this topic are available for 2013-2014, 2015, and the first 7 months of 2016.

For information on the Executive version of this card, see: Citi Executive AA thread

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.

Table of Contents
Top personal card offers (currently 60K)

For the sake of continuity, please do not renumber items in this list. Links are listed in chronological order (newest ones last).

Note: except as noted, application pages for offers in this section contain the following (or substantially similar) language: 33) Landing page for personal Platinum Select World Elite MC offer for 60K miles after $3000 spend in 3 months, $95 fee waived first year; application page.


Top business card offers (currently 60K)

For the sake of continuity, please do not renumber items in this list. Links are listed in chronological order (newest ones last).

Except as noted below, all offers in this section contain language stating that
Prior to August 11, 2016, the standard language read as follows: Q) Landing page for business Platinum Select World MC offer for 60K miles after $3000 spend in 3 months, $95 fee waived first year; application page.

R) Landing page for business Platinum Select World MC offer for 60K miles after $3000 spend in 3 months, $95 fee waived first year; application page.


Other personal cards

24) Landing page for personal Platinum Select World Elite MC offer for 50K miles after $3000 spend in 3 months, $95 fee waived first year; a) original application page, b) replacement application page, c) current application page - 4/19/2017.

30) Application page for personal Platinum Select World Elite MC offer for 50K miles after $3000 spend in 3 months, $95 fee waived first year. Application page.

32) Landing page for personal Platinum Select World Elite MC offer for 40K miles after $1000 spend in 3 months, $95 fee waived first year. Application page.

26) Landing page for personal Platinum Select World Elite MC offer for 30K miles after $1000 spend in 3 months, $95 fee waived first year; a) new 30K application page b) original 50K application page. Expired ~ Apr. 18, 2017.

28) Landing page for personal Platinum Select World Elite MC offer for 30K miles after $1000 spend in 3 months, $95 fee waived first year; a) new 30K/$1K application page, b) original 50K application page. Expired ~ Apr 18, 2017.

Landing page for Citi Gold Mastercard offer for 25,000 miles after $750 spend in 3 months. $50 annual fee, waived first year; current application page, prior application page.

• Note: offer terms now state that
  Quote:

  American Airlines AAdvantage bonus miles are not available if you have had any Citi / AAdvantage card (other than a CitiBusiness/AAdvantage card) opened or closed in the past 24 months.
  Prior to August 11, 2016, the standard language was less restrictive:
  
  Quote:

  American Airlines AAdvantage bonus miles not available if you have had a Citi/AAdvantage Gold MasterCard opened or closed in the past 24 months.

Other business cards

K) Landing page for business Platinum Select World MC offer for 50K miles after $3000 spend in 3 months, $95 fee waived first year. Current (third) application page.

Landing page for CitiBusiness Platinum Select MC offer for 30K miles after $1000 spend in 3 months, $95 fee waived first year; Application page.



Citibank contacts/resources

• Inquiry form for prequalified offers: https://www.citicards.com/cards/cred...on~BrowseCards
• 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; press 1 for English and then follow prompts
• (800) 288-4653 – Business Application Status and Reconsideration Line; press 1 for English and then follow prompts
• (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

Frequently Asked Questions

The FAQs below will almost certainly answer questions you have about Citi AA Platinum, Gold, and CitiBusiness cards. Do not post in the thread "just to double-check if the wiki is correct"; the wiki is here to avoid having people ask the same questions endlessly. With few exceptions, Citi CSRs and bloggers spread a great deal of misinformation.


1. Are these AA cards churnable?
Yes and no. The general rules are:

• Personal AA cards: As of August 11, 2016, all public offers require you to wait 24 months from the date of opening or closing any other personal Citi/AAdvantage account, regardless of type (AmEx, Visa, MC) or category (Gold, Platinum, Executive). This includes voluntary and involuntary conversion of an AA Personal card of any type.

If you violate the 24-month rule, Citi may still issue you the card but you will not get the bonus.

Most of the above rules are new for Citi. Prior to December 2015, receiving the card meant receiving the bonus. Prior to August 2016, the card type and category mattered.

• Business AA cards: As of April 22, 2016, all public business card offers contain a 24-month restriction, as noted above.

Note that beginning in late 2014, new Citi AA business card offers began including the explicit requirement that the applicant not be an existing AA business cardholder. This language has not been uniformly enforced.

When closing a business card, be sure to completely cancel the full account; send an SM or call and request that the account, ending in XXXX and the associated cards, ending in YYYY (etc.) be closed, including the master account. (The master account is the actual line of credit, while the cards are the individual cards associated with each employee of the business.) To find the master account number, go to your online account and select the card you want to close. In the bottom left corner there is a dropdown box next to "Cardholder:" that has the master account and any card accounts listed.


2. Does a product change or card conversion count as a card open/close that resets the 24-month clock?

Yes. Downgrading to a different card (aka a "product change" or PC) counts as closing the AA card. This includes downgrades from AA Platinum to Gold as well as downgrades to non-AA cards. A similar rule has also been true for involuntary, Citi-initiated conversions of legacy, no-longer-issued AA Visa & Amex cards to MasterCards; these events are both a closure (of the old card) and an opening (of the replacement MC).


3. Is there any way around the 24-month restriction?
Yes. As of August 2016, there are two ways.

4. What are the most current time-restriction rules in applying for all Citi cards?

• No more than 2 Citi applications of any kind in 60 days (65 days to be safe).
• No more than 1 CitiBusiness application in 90 days (95 days to be safe).

Citi has been known to miscount in some cases. As a result, it is inadvisable to apply again exactly on day 60 or 90--thus the advice to wait 65 or 95 days.

For purposes of these rules,

• count all Citi applications, including denials and/or applications for non-AA cards.
• the only day that matters is the application date (not approval date, not activation date).
• count all calendar days, not just business days.

If you get denied for violating any of these rules, you will probably have to wait the full time period (60+/90+ days) before trying again. Use this calculator to establish your dates: http://www.timeanddate.com/date/dateadd.html

In addition, FT lore has evolved into soft guidance that you apply for no more than one Citi card (of any kind) in any 8-day period. This is merely prudential guidance, not clearly established Citi policy; there are examples of people applying for two cards in a single day and being approved for the second. However, multiple Citi applications in a short time frame do appear, at least anecdotally, to increase the odds of the second application being denied. (You may see FTers refer to "the 8/65 rule," which refers to this soft guidance plus the strict 60-day rule noted above.)

An example of the guidance above applied in combination: Not sure what day you applied? The date is written year, month, day in the application number: 201702150000 means you applied on February 15, 2017.


5. Do I need to close existing cards before applying?
There is no requirement that you close previous personal accounts. In fact, with the new applications that include 24-month language, closing accounts will increase the time between applications. People have reported having 6 or more of the exact same card.

The rules for Business accounts vary by individual. Some people can only get a single business card in their lifetime. Others can only get a new business card if their previous business cards are closed. This requires the master account and all employee accounts be closed see FAQ #1 above. Still others can have multiple business accounts open. It is unknown why people end up in one pool versus another. The only way to figure out which pool you are in is to test it out. With the new 24-month language, it is safest to completely close business accounts as soon as the bonus is received.


6. When should I close existing Citi accounts?
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 except in cases where charges forming part of the required bonus spend are later reversed (for merchandise return, etc.).

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 call/SM to reduce credit lines instead or prior to closing to free CL more quickly.
• You can receive retention offers once every 6 months per card. See this thread for details on the latest retention offers.
• Closing cards now resets the clock for future applications for the same type and category of card.

Reasons to close accounts:

• Having a large amount of available credit with Citi will eventually reduce your chances of instant approval. You may end up with 1K/2K credit lines, especially on Business cards. You can also SM and request that your CL be reduced.
• There is little incentive to pay an annual fee if Citi does not ofset it with a credit.
• Citi has become stingier with credits to offset annual fee.
• 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.
• Closing multiple accounts of the same type and category simultaneously resets the clock only once. Doing so shortly after opening a new account minimizes the wait for future churn eligibility.

7. Can I apply for a business card if I don’t 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 multiple cards for businesses with $0 annual revenue, 1-5 employees, and 0 years in business. While it may seem that your chances are better with an 'actual' business, Citi does not care.


8. 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. Citi is not very vigilant about policing MS.

If you are concerned about it, it’s recommended to send a secure message Citi and have them set your Cash Advance limit to zero. Phone CSRs often say they cannot do this.


9. 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. People have reported having as many as 6-7 open Citi AA cards.


10. There is nothing on the application page stating the bonus miles. How do I know what the associated offer is?
You need to have faith in the readers of this thread if you want to maximize your miles. FTers constantly apply for these cards and report back to confirm bonus amounts. If you don't feel like trusting in the experiences of others, then apply for an offer with a landing page.


11. After approval, how can I a) confirm the amount of the bonus I can earn and b) determine the deadline for completing the required spend?
For personal and business cards, you can always send Citi a secure message through your online account to confirm your bonus amount and deadline. (You must first activate the card and set up online access, either by creating an online account or by linking your new card to your existing online account. Unlike some other banks, Citi does not automatically add your new card to your existing online account.)

Note for for Business cards only: Approval letters for business cards do not confirm the bonus.


In addition, for personal cards only (and perhaps only for online applications), there are two additional indicators: Note that these are the only reliable indicators. Asking a Citi phone CSR immediately after you are approved is NOT a sound approach. Such CSRs can only tell you what the bonus offer terms were, not whether you are eligible. (This is because Citi will issue you a card even if you are ineligible for the signup bonus.)


12. When will my bonus miles post?
Roughly 2-3 days after the date of the statement containing the charge that takes you across the spend threshold.


13. 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 AAdvantage Citi / Barclays 10% miles / mileage rebate (consolidated).


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


15. 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.


16. When is the 60K (75K, 100K, etc.) offer going to come back?
Nobody knows except Citi & they don't announce these things in advance. If we knew, we'd be talking about it non-stop. Please don't ask about it periodically in the thread.

If you want to make yourself useful, you can easily look for new offers by testing the URLswhere * is any digit in the range 1-9.


17. Is my card World (W) or World Elite (WE)?
It was once useful to know if your card is World (W) or World Elite (WE) because of a loophole that previously allowed applicants to open new accounts and earn signup bonuses less than 24 months since the last open/close of the same card type. That loophole has been closed. (See FAQ #1 above for more information.)
18. Why and when does Citi convert cards to World Elite? Can I do anything to trigger the conversion?
Citi appears to convert recently opened World MCs to World Elite en masse at periodic intervals once every few months. For most new cardholders, this will occur in the second or third full billing cycle; for holders of legacy Citi AA VISA or Amex cards, the conversion may occur at any time.

There is nothing you can do as a cardholder to trigger the conversion.


19. What's the difference between World and World Elite cards?
See the wiki at Difference in MasterCard World and World Elite?.


20. Does Citi match bonus offers?
Yes. After you activate and link your new card to your online account, send an SM explaining that you heard about a XXK bonus and ask if they can match that bonus to your new card. You have to have a bonus on the existing card. You do not need to explain where you saw the bonus. You do not need to lie, simply read about current bonuses in this thread.

The bonus miles normally appear two days after the end of the billing cycle.

Some examples that make no sense:

• Offer: 40,000 miles for spending $3000 in 3 months and an additional 10,000 miles for spending a total of $5000 in 12 months. Request: Match to 60K for $3K in 3 months offer. Receive: Additional 20K miles.
  
• Offer: 30,000 miles for spending $1000 in 3 months. Request: Match to 50K miles for $3K spend in 3 months. Receive: Additional 20K miles.

As with all things Citi, YMMV but both of the above have been done.


21. The CSR told me I was not eligible for the bonus, should I cancel the application??
No. Citi CSRs do not always have complete information. When applying for a card, the CSR can tell that the link is associated with a bonus and that you opened or closed a card within 24 months. However, they cannot tell you whether or not you are eligible for the bonus. Wait for the welcome letter for personal cards or SM after activating a business card if you are unsure.