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Citi AA credit cards, except Executive. (2013-2014)

Old Jun 13, 2013, 2:57 pm
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Last edit by: mia
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SEE NEW THREAD - 50K AA Cards


As of Sunday August 25, 2013:
Reports indicate personal cards can no longer be rapidly churned.

Click HERE to review the previous thread on this topic.

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.

For information on the Executive version of this card, with $450 annual fee, not waived, see: Up to 100k miles Citi Executive AAdvantage offers

MOST CURRENT 50K LINKS:

Citi Personal and Business:50K miles & two Admirals Club one-day passes after $3000 spend in 3 months, $95 fee waived first year.

Citi AA Platinum Personal Mastercard, 50,000 miles after $3k spend in 3 months. $95 annual fee, waived first year. Landing page available here. This is a CHIP and Signature card.

Landing page for 50K Business and Personal MC requires $3K spend in 3 months. $95 annual fee, waived first year. This page leads to the following application pages:
Landing page for 50K Business and Personal MC after $3K spend in 3 months. $95 annual fee, waived first year. This page leads to the following application pages:
Landing page for 50K Business and Personal MC after $3K spend in 3 months. $95 annual fee, waived first year. This page leads to the following application pages:
Landing page for 50K Business MC after $3K spend in 3 months. $95 annual fee, waived first year. This page leads to this application page.

OTHER PERSONAL CARDS

Citi Platinum Select Mastercard. 30,000 miles after $1k spend in 3 months. $95 annual fee, waived first year. Up to $100 statement credit for AA purchases. Landing page available here.

Citi Platinum Select Mastercard. 30,000 miles after $1k spend in 3 months. $95 annual fee, waived first year.

Citi Gold Mastercard. 25,000 miles after $750 spend in 3 months. $50 annual fee, waived first year. Landing page available here

If you are already a Citigold customer, read this post from the Miles Professor about another 50K offer from your branch office for the American Airlines credit card.

OTHER BUSINESS CARDS

Citi Business MasterCard. 40,000 miles after $3k spend in 3 months. $95 annual fee, waived first year. Landing page available here.

Citi Business Mastercard. 35,000 miles after $1.5k spend in 3 months.

Citi Business Mastercard. 30,000 miles after $1k spend in 3 months. $95 annual fee, waived first year. Landing page available here.

Citi Business Mastercard. 30,000 miles after $1k spend in 3 months. $95 annual fee, waived first year. Up to $100 statement credit for AA purchases. Landing page available here.


Citibank Contacts/Resources (Please add the others that you know)
  • 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, dial option 3 then option 1 for application status
  • (800) 288-4653 Business Application Status and Reconsideration Line, dial option 3 then option 1 for application status
  • (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

FAQ
  1. Are these AA cards churnable?
  2. What are the most current time-restriction rules in applying for all Citi cards?
  3. Do I need to close existing cards before applying?
  4. When should I close existing Citi accounts?
  5. Can I apply for a business card if I dont have a business?
  6. Can I buy Visa gift cards to meet my minimum spend?
  7. Do I get 10% back when redeeming miles for awards?
  8. Do I have to use my own AAdvantage number on applications?
  9. There is nothing on the application page stating the bonus miles. How do I know what I will be getting?
  10. When will my bonus miles post?
  11. I met the minimum spend. Why does my statement say "Miles Reported to AA: 0"?
  12. Can I cancel a card using secure messaging?
  13. I activated the card online and got a message about this card replacing an old card. What does that mean?
  14. Which credit bureau does Citi pull and can I force them to use a different one?

1. Are these AA cards churnable?
Yes and No. The general rules are:
  • Personal AA cards: As of August 25, 2013 all linked personal AA cards in this thread can be churned only after Citi decides that you are no longer an existing cardmember. This usually occurs between 12 and 26 months after your last successful AA personal card approval of any type including AA Executive card(s). If you want both a Platinum card and an Executive AA card and are eligible under the 12-26 month rule, get the Platinum card first or the Executive card will restart the clock. Although it is not a hard-and-fast rule, 18 months after previous approval is the most common. YMMV. You do not need to cancel old personal cards.
    • Note: You cannot circumvent this rule by applying for a card type different from your previous Citi AA card. If your last personal AA card was a Visa, the waiting period for your next personal AA card will be the same regardless of whether you apply for a Visa, MC, or Amex.

  • Business AA cards: have been churnable repeatedly by some people without restriction other than the general Citi application rules. Apply once every 91-95 days. For unknown reasons, some other people have been unable to churn business cards at all. Also, some (but not all) people need to completely cancel their previous business card (ie, cancel both the card account and the associated master account) before they can apply for another business card.

    Note: If you encounter difficulty in obtaining a Citi AA business card after holding one before, it may because of the unusual way Citi sets up business accounts. The business account per se has its own master number; like a standard MC/Visa, this master account number is 16 digits. In addition, each card on the account has its own 16-digit card number. Each of these numbers, including the number for the primary cardholder, is different from the master account number.

    Sometimes, when you call to close your card account, all the card numbers are canceled but the master account remains open. When this happens, subsequent applications for a business card may encounter difficulty. Online, there should be a dropdown of accounts under your business login; the number that match your card number is your card account, the number that does not match your card number is your master account. When cancelling, ask to cancel both accounts, giving the last 4 digts of each (as shown in that dropdown).


2. What are the most current time-restriction rules in applying for all Citi cards?
  • Only 1 Citi application of any kind per week (8 days to be safe).
  • No more than 2 Citi applications of any kind in 60 days (65 days to be safe).
  • No more than 1 Citi business application in 90 days (95 to be safe). This does not override the rules above.

While the day limits are a little flexible by a few days either way and YMMV, the rules themselves are not flexible. Note: In applying the rules above, count all Citi applications, including denials and/or applications for non-AA cards.

Mixed type Example:
Day 1 60K HHonors Visa
Day 9 or later 50K Personal Platinum Visa
Day 66 or later 50K Business #1
Day 74 or later 60K Executive
Day 161 or later 50K Business #2
18 Months, 74 days or later 50K Personal Platinum Visa

Not sure what day you applied? The date is written year, month, day in the application number: 201402280000 means you applied on Feb 28, 2014


3. Do I need to close existing cards before applying?
No. There is no requirement that you close previous personal accounts. People have reported having 4 or more of the exact same card. However, many people have reported problems getting AA Business cards if they have an open Business account.


4. When should I close existing Citi accounts?
This is a matter of personal preference. 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 (exception - miles were clawed back for returned merchandise around November 2011).

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 receive retention offers once every 6 months per card. See this thread for details on the latest retention offers.

Reasons to close accounts:
  • Having a large amount of available credit with Citi will eventually reduce your chances of instant approval. Your application will automatically be reviewed if your CL's total 75K or more. This may also result in a large disparity between existing account CL's and new CL's, such as 20K, 20K and 1K for a new card, as an example.
  • There is little incentive to pay an annual fee if it is not waived.
  • The annual fee on Business cards is rarely waived.
  • 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.


5. Can I apply for a business card if I dont 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 cards for businesses with $0 annual revenue, 1-5 employees, and 0 years in business.


6. 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.
If you are concerned about it, its recommended to send a secure message Citi and have them set your Cash Advance limit to zero. Phone CSRs often say they can not do this.


7. 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 Citi 10% miles back / rebate for reward redemption.


8. 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. AA does not care or even know how many Citi accounts you have so there is no harm in having your AAdvantage account number associated with multiple cards in your name. If you forget to add your AAdvantage account number to your application, an AAdvantage account in your name will be created and can later be merged with your existing account by calling AA.


9. There is nothing on the application page stating the bonus miles. How do I know what I will be getting?
You need to have faith in the people here if you want to maximize your miles. The people on this board constantly apply for these cards and report back what they are told are the benefits and what they actually receive. The way Citi works is that if you are approved for a card, you will get the bonus associated with the link you applied under as long as you make the minimum spend. It does not matter if you already had the card or anything else. If you are approved - then you get the bonus. The two exceptions to this are: 1. If you fail to clear your cache and accidentally load a cached application, you get the miles associated with that application and 2. Some people have recently succeeded in 'bumping the bonus' by contacting Citi and requesting a match to a 50K offer after applying for a 40K card. If you don't feel like trusting in the experiences of others, then apply for an offer with a landing page.


10. When will my bonus miles post?
Two working days after the date of the statement containing the charge that takes you across the spend threshold. It posts overnight, it'll be there when you check your AAdvantage account in the morning.


11. I met the minimum spend. Why does my statement say "Miles Reported to AA: 0"?
No one knows exactly why this is happening to some people (Citi blames AA, AA blames Citi, and both blame the merger). It supposedly has something to do with the time it takes them to properly link your AAdvantage number to your card. There are two ways to deal with this:
  • Wait 1-2 statement periods, and see if the points post on their own. Per Citi, it can take this long for the accounts to link.
  • Call AA (1-800-882-8880) and open a case about it. Most people have had their miles post within 2 weeks of doing this.

For ongoing discussion, see Some AA Citi Card miles not transferred to AAdvantage accounts [Q3 2013 - Q1 2014]


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


13. I activated the card online and got a message about this card replacing an old card. What does that mean?
When activating cards online, Citi normally displays the text:

"This account replaces your old account, which is now closed. Statements for your old account will be available for up to 6 months. Your current account summary and unbilled transactions are now listed under your new account number."
This is normal and is supposed to be displayed when activating a replacement card but it seems to display even when activating a brand new card. This is nothing to worry about.


14. 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.


For rules and info on any offers that include Admirals club passes or statement credits, see here.
Print Wikipost

Citi AA credit cards, except Executive. (2013-2014)

Old Aug 26, 2013, 2:16 pm
  #2266  
 
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: SE coast USA
Programs: US, AA, AM, BA, HH, SPG, PC, Carlson, Marriott, Choice
Posts: 306
Originally Posted by jhuck
Longtime lurker. first time poster. As a Data point, In my wife's churn yesterday I decided to play it safe and use the wiki link for 50k AA mastercard as she has had Visa for 17.5 months. Never had MC. It was under review and app. status line above says it was rejected as offer is for first time Aadvantage card holders. I had thought mastercard would be safer after reading some of the first posts yesterday indicating visa was no longer churnable and was very close to old 18 mo. requirement anyway.
Thanks for the data point. Great first post even if it was bad news!
aglasgow is offline  
Old Aug 26, 2013, 3:05 pm
  #2267  
 
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 756
Originally Posted by aglasgow
I was so ready to grab two more AA cards! Is it safe to assume this will not apply to having a personal and a business? Maybe I'll just go for the Business instead. Wondering if the shutdown may have something to do with re-positioning for a new card offering for combined USAir and AA mileage accounts....
No, go ahead and apply for the Biz card after 90days or so after personal card. Biz cards are not consider the "same" card as the personal.

No, dont think the June-Aug Wiki link freeforall was due to the US and AA merger, think it was more a glitch or loophole that they finally worked out and closed.
sharka is offline  
Old Aug 26, 2013, 3:21 pm
  #2268  
 
Join Date: Jul 2013
Posts: 209
maybe they just finally hit their goal of X number of new cards/customers ?

either way, that sucks.

was going to get the MC as my 3rd card...
riversidetom is offline  
Old Aug 26, 2013, 3:24 pm
  #2269  
 
Join Date: May 2008
Posts: 246
When does 18 month period commence

Do you have to wait 18 months from the end of the month when you cancelled your last AA card or is it 18 months from when you GOT the last AA card? If it is 18 months from when you last got an AA card, can you still have this card or did you have to have cancelled sometime within the last 18 months?
toddreg is offline  
Old Aug 26, 2013, 3:43 pm
  #2270  
 
Join Date: Jan 2013
Posts: 845
Originally Posted by riversidetom
maybe they just finally hit their goal of X number of new cards/customers ?

either way, that sucks.

was going to get the MC as my 3rd card...
yup..grabbed 2 for myself and the 9th day for my wife's 2nd was today.oh well
theplayer is offline  
Old Aug 26, 2013, 3:48 pm
  #2271  
Suspended
 
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: Barcelona
Posts: 3,317
Got two for myself and two for the wife. 200k net.

Was just going to sign up for the MC this morning when I saw that the churning is dead
pricesquire is offline  
Old Aug 26, 2013, 4:01 pm
  #2272  
 
Join Date: Jan 2000
Location: fort worth, texas
Posts: 945
Originally Posted by toddreg
Do you have to wait 18 months from the end of the month when you cancelled your last AA card or is it 18 months from when you GOT the last AA card? If it is 18 months from when you last got an AA card, can you still have this card or did you have to have cancelled sometime within the last 18 months?
Read the Wiki people!
teammjs is offline  
Old Aug 26, 2013, 4:07 pm
  #2273  
 
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: East or West
Posts: 388
Originally Posted by pricesquire
Was just going to sign up for the MC this morning when I saw that the churning is dead
Same here! =( Was hoping to get Plat Visa #3 today. No other Citi cards I'm interested in right now, so will skip Citi for this AOR...
MahiMahi524 is offline  
Old Aug 26, 2013, 4:26 pm
  #2274  
 
Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: San Antonio
Programs: AS MVP
Posts: 2,276
In the interest of keeping old (ancient) data out of the wiki, this info has been removed from the wiki and replaced with a link to this post. Please note this only applies to older offers that came with Admirals club passes and statement credits:

14. How long does it take for the Admiral passes to arrive?
For the better part, it takes about 3 months. This is not a set number, and some have received theirs sooner.It's been deduced that the passes are handled by a 3rd party that mails them in batches. Please don’t call Citi for the passes, because you’ll mostly find a CSR who doesn't know better and will give you wrong information.


15. How do I get the statement credit?
First, you have to make sure if the offer you signed up for gave you A $150 credit or UP TO A $150 statement credit. For the 1st, any AA coded purchase ($50 AA GC seems to be the simplest option here) will/should trigger it. For the 2nd, you’ll have to spend $150 to get the $150 credit. The credit will be issued on statement with the qualifying transaction.
For more information on what will work and what won’t, please see here (thanks sdsearch) and here (thanks dogbyte)


16. Does the $150 account credit (for AA purchases using the VISA or AMEX) count against the spending required to receive the initial mileage bonus?
No. It does not. (Put differently: any account credit you receive has no impact on your spending total for purposes of earning the "X thousand miles for $Y spent in the first Z months" bonus.)


17. At what locations are my one day Club passes valid?
All valid locations are listed here.
KennyBSAT is offline  
Old Aug 26, 2013, 4:26 pm
  #2275  
 
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: USA
Programs: All of em...
Posts: 1,265
2 data points here of denials for a previous AA card applied for 15 months ago and CLOSED, and one for having been opened 17.5 months prior. So not even with a prior AA card closed was he able to get the approval. I'm surprised on the 17.5 month one too. Brutal.

Will be interesting to see what other data rolls in, but it looks like for now we have to wait quite awhile again at least for the 50k cards (both Visa & MC have been tested).

Would be interesting for those trying the Citi Gold 25k card and for those who continue with the business card. Business card generally hasn't been a problem.

Originally Posted by kyunbit
Here's a data point.

Never had Citi AA visa. Had a Citi AA Amex (opened ~15 months ago, already closed).

Applied today for the Citi AA visa. Denied because I have had an AAdvantage card in the past.
Originally Posted by jhuck
Longtime lurker. first time poster. As a Data point, In my wife's churn yesterday I decided to play it safe and use the wiki link for 50k AA mastercard as she has had Visa for 17.5 months. Never had MC. It was under review and app. status line above says it was rejected as offer is for first time Aadvantage card holders. I had thought mastercard would be safer after reading some of the first posts yesterday indicating visa was no longer churnable and was very close to old 18 mo. requirement anyway.
x712xdamx is offline  
Old Aug 26, 2013, 4:41 pm
  #2276  
 
Join Date: Jul 2013
Posts: 1,784
Originally Posted by MahiMahi524
No other Citi cards I'm interested in right now, so will skip Citi for this AOR...
Any data points on whether Citi is applying this one card only policy to their HHonors cards? I'm used to churning one or the other every 100 days. Even after the devaluation, I still think 50K points, with no fee, is worth something at mid level Hiltons in Europe with free internet and BF. And two free weekend nights at very expensive properties in London and Rome sure seems worth the less than $50 a night AF.

But I have one of each right now, and a recent AA card. I'm worried Citi will be basically "dead to me" for 2 years.
RobertHanson is offline  
Old Aug 26, 2013, 4:44 pm
  #2277  
 
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 756
Originally Posted by x712xdamx
So not even with a prior AA card closed was he able to get the approval. I'm surprised on the 17.5 month one too. Brutal.

.

Not really. Myself and several others use to post about the best minimal wait time between apps for Citi AA cards (when it was not churn friendly). I use to advise waiting at least 22 -24 months for those that want at least 90% chance of getting it. This would help those that didnt want or couldnt afford to waste a hard pull.
For others that dont do AOR and couldnt care less about hard pulls then I use to say start taking your chances at 18mts at the min. as this was normally about 70%-+ chance of getting approval. Waiting less than 18 mts and the odds drops further, so 17.5mts is not a surprise for turndown and wasted hard pull but agree being so close it is brutal to watch.
sharka is offline  
Old Aug 26, 2013, 5:45 pm
  #2278  
 
Join Date: Apr 2003
Location: SEA
Posts: 27
data point

Two applicants to the 50k mc personal card in the wikipost link.
Both first opened the citi visa personal card in 1/2011, closed the card in 2/2012.
Both instant approval.
Just FYI...

Last edited by Bearfish; Aug 26, 2013 at 5:46 pm Reason: clarify card type
Bearfish is offline  
Old Aug 26, 2013, 5:49 pm
  #2279  
Suspended
 
Join Date: Feb 2003
Posts: 8,135
Originally Posted by Bearfish
Two applicants to the 50k mc personal card in the wikipost link.
Both first opened the citi visa personal card in 1/2011, closed the card in 2/2012.
Both instant approval.
Just FYI...
It really matters when these applications were made. Today? Saturday?
beltway is offline  
Old Aug 26, 2013, 5:49 pm
  #2280  
 
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: LAX
Posts: 670
Originally Posted by Bearfish
Two applicants to the 50k mc personal card in the wikipost link.
Both first opened the citi visa personal card in 1/2011, closed the card in 2/2012.
Both instant approval.
Just FYI...
Were the new applications and approvals today?
sk8uno is offline  

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