park2k

I recently applied for this new card from Citibank which rounds up to the nearest 10 points and have been charging $1 weekly to my apple itunes account to see whether I am getting the 10 points for each $1.00 charge. Anybody else doing something similar?

mia

Divide the ten point minimum by the number of points that you would otherwise earn per dollar. Examples:

The breakeven point for general spending is $5.00, because American Express Blue Business Plus, earns 2 points per dollar on all spending.

The breakeven point for Amazon purchases would be $2.00, because you can buy Amazon gift cards at Staples with Chase INK Cash (or the discontinued Chase INk Plus) and earn 5 points per dollar.

geoff325

So I have the Costco visa now and no longer want - It is about 4 years old and need history. I called Citi to product change 3 times and all 3 said would require new number. I want to product change to the Rewards card. I understand it to be since I am not getting the bonus, I will still be eligible for the Premier bonus when I apply sometime in the next 6 months?

Bonus ThankYou Points are not available if you received a new cardmember bonus for Citi Rewards+℠, Citi ThankYou® Preferred, Citi ThankYou® Premier/Citi Premier℠ or Citi Prestige®, or if you have closed any of these cards, in the past 24 months.

I have not received bonus, and I have not closed any card within this family for 24 months - so I am good right?

mia

This is correct. The Costco card is a VISA, and all card numbers begin with 4. Rewards+ is a MasterCard, and all card numbers begin with 5. Changing the card number does not necessarily mean that Citi treats it as a new account, but there is no way to be certain beforehand.

geoff325

ah, I didn't realize was a MC, thank you. So ultimately I don't care about a new number, they said I would maintain length of account. I really just want to know if will be eligible to still get bonus on Premier or prestige before 24 months. I will call again and be more specific.

sds1493

In your case you should be fine since you are not receiving the bonus, or closing a TYP account In general though, I don't think the agents can be trusted on whether it will be treated as a new account or not, definitely not before the PC. mia, is there a way to tell after the PC if it is a new account?

mia

You should be able to see the account on your credit reports, and it will show when each account was opened. If Citi is reporting it as a new account, it safe to assume that's how they classified it internally. However, since the bonus language changed from "opened" to "received a new cardmember bonus" the new account isn't relevant.

In the particular example the "closed" account is also not relevant for bonus purposes, because it's not one of the cards specified in the terms.

sdsearch

If you try to get a bonus on Premier or Prestige before 24 months, Citi is likely to deny you because of the "open" of your Rewards+ card. That's not based on anything Citi says (Citi agents don't always give correct or complete information anyway), it's based on datapoints; if you get a card in the same family as a new card number, it has always counted an "open" in reference to 24-month "opened or closed" language before, and I see no reason to expect that it wouldn't in this case. (And, btw, if you try to apply 2 months too early, and you're denied because of that, you've just reset your 24-month clock again. So "hoping'" that you're not under a 24 month clock can set you back even way more than "patiently waiting" for a "no doubt about it" time.)

Can I ask why you want to convert to the Rewards+ card, instead of the AT&T Access card, which is also a no-annual-fee card, also earns Thank You Points, but is never mentioned in Premier or Prestige application 24-month language?

I'd say your TYP choices are:

• Convert to AT&T Access and apply for Premier or Prestige any time you want
• Apply for Premier or Prestige first, and then right after that convert to Rewards+
• Convert to Rewards+ now, and wait at least 25 months before apply for Premier or Prestige (CIti is sloppy with counting months, so you should give plenty of "buffer")

mia

The "open" language is gone. Here are the terms from current Prestige and Premier offers:

SpammersAreScum

Regardless of the change in 24-month language, I presume that the "only 1 at a time" rule still applies to Prestige and Premium. I wonder if it also applies to Rewards+?

Correction: I wonder whether Citi would issue a 2nd Rewards+ card if I already had one without bonus?

I ask because Citi keeps encouraging me to convert my Preferred (currently my only TYP card) to Rewards+, and have resisted because I'd rather apply to get the bonus. I'll be clear of the 24-month in Sep, but would not surprise me in the least in Citi force-converted me before then. Either way, the lack of a max 1 rule would be relevant.

mia

I do not recognize this rule from your description. Can you explain more fully?

SpammersAreScum

Sorry, I have confused Citi's TYP card rules with Chase's URP rules.

So I guess there's no reason in principle Citi wouldn't issue me a second Rewards+ since I didn't get a bonus on the first.

yugi

I just converted 2 Preferred cards to Rewards+. On one of them I received a targeted offer to convert, the number didin't change, then I converted the second one. Number did change, but the points from the old card are still there, and they are not expiring. I wonder if I can get 2x 10% back on TYP redemption from 2 cards? If this is a case, I will convert my other 2 Preferred cards to Rewards+. I can still rollback my conversion until April 15th. I'm planning to book refundable hotel stay and see how many points I'm getting back, if any. Not sure if it applies to airline transfers as well, but the language only excludes "points sharing", and nothing else.
I'm pretty sure that conversion is not opening or closing an account, and will not reset 24 months clock. I was recently forcibly converted from Forward to Preferred and from Preferred Visa to MC, and none of the points expired, that means account was not closed.

SpammersAreScum

You had 4 Preferred cards? Wow.

This is definitely an encouraging data point, implying I'd get the bonus if I applied for another Rewards+ after the (forced or voluntary) conversion. The still open question is whether an app (as opposed to another conversion, as in your case) would be successful. Seems likely, but unproven.

mia

Citi's terms disqualify a new account bonus based on receiving a bonus, or closing an account, in the past 24 months. There is no mention of disqualification for an open account. This is different than other issuers' policies, but it is consistent across all Citi card programs. They do not care if we have duplicate cards.