asiaFT

I have recently received Citi AA Amex card that requires $750 in "eligible spending/purchases" to qualify for bonus miles.

I was wondering if balance transfer is considered eligible speding to get 25K bonus miles


Thanks

mia

AAdvantage® miles are earned on all purchases except returned goods and services, cash advances, convenience checks, transferred balances, credits, fees and finance charges.

I read this to mean that miles are earned on net purchases after returns and that advances, checks, transfers, fees and finance charges are not purchases and do not earn miles.

technique

Balance Transfers earn you no miles...

frank_10b

I didnt spend the 750 during the allowed period, b/c I forgot. If I call will they reset the clock and allow me to get the miles bonus? I think that I have spend 750 by now, however the one year honeymoon of no fee is over soon so I will be canceling the card anyways. Any experience with this issue.

CandymanJim

Cancel the card and get another... lather... rinse... repeat...

Jim

curious_miles

Bonus miles post on the statement where you spent more than 750. If you don't see the 10K bonus miles there, then send an online message saying that you have spent 750 but haven't received the bonus miles. If they respond you by pointing out the 4 month window, take it as a lesson and move on. With amex, they usually give miles or points even if you don't technically deserve them. But I have no experience with citi in this respect.

gerald5

Agree with Jim that it's easier to cancel the current card and apply for a new one. Why risk $750 on an out of date card?

Marathon Man

Might you be at all referring to this link?

http://citi.bridgetrack.com/USC/07/a...0FE9FF67A5C3AE

It had shown up a few times about a week or so ago when I was on my citibanking web page checking things in linked accounts I have, and I was planning to convince my wife to sign up now. But today I checked the link I'd saved and got THIS message for the Platinum MC:

The page you requested is currently unavailable. We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused. Please try again later.


When checking the 2nd card in the list, the AMEX from citi, I got this:

A system error has caused a delay in processing your application. Please try again later.

And when checking the business MC, I got the same error as the personal plat. MC message shown above.

Sooooo, is this 25k CC offer offer still available????

I wasnt planning on having her get the Business MC, but if she must, this link does seem to work for it:

https://www.citicards.com/cards/wv/c...o?screenID=919

Seems in all cases, you do need to spend $750. But that's easy!

-other advice/links that work are welcome. I would like her to get the personal platinum card if possible.
thanks!

MM

technique

Just go to www.miles.citicards.com for the most current, working link... 25k offer for business is there now and working...^

UA Fan

buy a fully refundable airline ticket. see if you get the miles, if you don't then refund, if you do get the miles, refund and spend on something you need.

Marathon Man

yup it worked--that link worked for the regular non business card too, as the three I was talking about are shown on it!

thanks!

MM
She applied. Now we wait for the approval and card.
(and miles)

pushback

Here's 20,000 miles for $250 spend. Slightly better ratio.

Marathon Man

well, no it's actually not.
don't forget that you are not BUYING the miles with the 750 or 250... You are doing normal, every day charges with a credit card--that you would have to do anyway--and as a result this pings them to give you a mileage rebate on the promise that you do that with them over someone else.

If you were paying for the miles then yes, the $250/20k would be 'better' than $750/25k, but people should not think of the numbers in this way here.

Would work in stock markets, exchanges and math class, but not with miles (yet one more reason it is so hard to tax miles!--good for you and me!)

Also, in my opinion, 'spending' $250 for $20000 miles is almost not worth it in itself. Sure, if a friend bought me a ticket that required that many to fly, it would have probably have saved me about $250, but it's not like he'd want me to hand him cash. Maybe SOME, but not that much. Maybe he'd want me to book him a ticket using my miles on an airline where he has none but needs to fly them anyway.

I dunno.

Just saying that one should not think of the $250 or $750 you need to spend as a cost for those miles. That's money you spend anyway. You could buy, for example, a few hundred bucks worth of home depot gift cards via the northwest airlines worldperks mall or the United airlines mileage plus mall (see links on these airlines' individual sites) and you'd get the miles for the expense on your new Aadvantage mastercard here, while getting bonus miles on those airlines for the mall use there. ^

A short note though: AA's mall does NOT let you get miles for home depot gift cards. It used to but no more. Those two airlines DO--and I know Northwest's actually SAYS it is ok in its fine print. I think United's does too but even if it doesnt, I know it worked legitimately as of last month.

Anyway, the reason why those gift cards are good to buy (and spend citibank mastercard money on, which triggers the AA mastercard's sign up mileage bonus promo) is because they cost nothing to ship and they can be used in the stores any time for any things you buy there forever. You really committed to 'nothing' specific, and so in a way, spending money at their store in this fashion is 'better money' to have to spend. That is, of course, if you are like me and so many other home owners out there who inveriably KNOW we will be shopping there a lot!

there are, of course, soooooo many ways to quickly rack up $750 in purchases and pay them off.



good luck!
MM

CandymanJim

My biggest decision is due to the 3 apps in 60 days. During the holidays I used the $750 cards since I knew I could hit $750 on each of them in 60 days and get 25k each. However, now that things have slowed down I get the $250 cards so I can hit all three of them in the 60 day period. Depending at the 30 day point, I will reconsider the 3rd $250 for a $750 if I already blew through the 2 $250 cards. I like the 25k in miles, just takes a bit more planning to maximize the miles.

Jim

pushback

You and I are completely different in our approach to this stuff. For me the ratio makes a big different because there is opportunity cost involved in using it. When I use this card I am not using another card which pays me 5% in cash, so the difference between $750 and $250 in spending on this card is $25 in cash to me. Also, the quicker I hit the $ threshold the quicker I can move onto my next miles card to do it again. You are embracing the new card as a financial vehicle. I am embracing it as a way to get some miles. Period.

<soapbox>
As far as gift cards go, I think they call them gift cards because they are such a gift to the retailer or the bank that issues them. They have got to be the biggest legal scam on the planet. So, let's see. How about I give you some money to hold onto for me. You give me back a piece of worthless plastic and in many cases charge me for it. While I hold that plastic in the back of my drawer, how about you go off and use my money to invest or expand your operations, all without paying me for the use of my funds. Oh, and while you are at it, how about if you service charge me every month that I have a value on the card. Oh! And don't forget to make the card expire after while so you can keep the cash I gave you and provide no goods or services for it--even though the cash I gave you never expires! If I should happen to eventually use the card, keep in mind that I will most likely not use exactly the amount on the card and that human nature is to want to use up the value, so I will probably spend more in your store than I would have anyway, spending beyond the value of the card. These cards are such a win-win for the corporation a total lose-lose for the consumer. They give the consumer no more spending power or any advantage of cash and there is risk and cost built into them.

I prefer the universal gift certificate--cash. No expiration date, no service charges, not locked into one retailer. The only risk is getting mugged--but that's the same with a gift card.
</soapbox>