Marathon Man

I have a Citi checking, savings, CC and equity line. We have been using the eq line for home improvement and it's balance is in the 10s of thousands now and has been for a year. (yes I make sizable payments as able) Because this exceeds the $6k needed to make my checking acct free of any monthly fees, I can say that as far as I am aware, any 'balance' in one's Citi world will qualify. Put $6 in the acct, have $6k+ in an outstanding balance, etc. I would call 2 CSRs on this and get the details for yourself, but it's been the case for me. Now my wife may bite at this offer since she has no Citi accts at this time.

For the 25k funding, I suppose one could move money around and transfer it in from an ING account online. But the real question here is... do ya think they'd allow one to fund with anything else?

MM

iolairemcfadden

Edit: Shucks now I just read closely my PDF version of the terms and I do not qualify:
Existing checking customers not eligible for checking offer. Offers may be modified or withdrawn at any time without notice, expire 10/31/10, are not transferable and cannot be combined with any other offer. Limit of one of each offer per customer.

Duh, i also missed:
Terms and Conditions
Terms and conditions of accounts, products, programs and services are subject to change. This offer is available to Citi®/AAdvantage® credit card members who receive this communication.

-- anyway here is how I opened my account:
How could you tell it was targeted?

I feel I was able to open a new account under the offer code, here is what I did:
1. Logged into my existing Citibank account
2. In same window, visited offer.citibank.com
3. Entered offer code: C22D
4. It asked me for my social security number and started walking me through the sign up process with that code and my info from my existing account.

I now see the account is opened (along with my other AA related checking and savings accounts) with a zero balance.

wise2u

It seems if the savings account balance covers the checking account fee, you would just have to park 25k for 3-4 months in savings, make 1 DD to savings and a few 5per month swipes for the checking, then call and bug Citibank to get your miles before closing everything.

friedice

As far as I can see in the T&C it says that you have to do either 1 DD or 5 swipes, not necessarily both. Also, where does it say that you have to leave $25k sitting in savings for 3 months? All it says is that you have to fund savings with that amount.

josephstern

If I get targeted for this, I'll gladly just close my existing checking and then open this one. I don't see that there's a delay period in the terms. But I'll try to wait as long as possible. I'll lose my second 10K from the one in which I'm currently enrolled, but that's OK.

Middle_Seat

In my experience, one of the disclosures for Citi checking accounts should read:Mine have all been received, typically the night after I called in...which was usually more than a month after the miles were due to post.

tassojunior

The first 20K certainly seems easy. And no "keep open for 6 months" like Chase.
Even if I have to park $6K for a few months or pay $20/mo fee for a few months, 20K miles are worth $60.

The 2nd 20K is a pain if you don't have $25K spare laying around.

FlyingBoat

Are you sure the $1500 balance EZ checking account doesn't qualify for the miles? I applied for the account late last night and called in the morning to figure out which account I opened. The CSR said they couldn't tell which account it is yet, but that they could change it when I call back in.

techboyds

I wouldn't try it, personally. Many recent reports seem to indicate that Citi is now classifying using a credit card to open an account with them as a cash advance, and more than one person has had to call in in an attempt to get rather large fees and interest reversed.

Good luck if you attempt it anyway, though.

*EDIT* Actually, now that I think about it, that might be Citi Cards that are the problem, not citi accounts. Can't remember. Take that for what it's worth, which is now probably next to nothing.

Marathon Man

indeed, but there still is but ONE card that allows customers to set their cash advance limit to $0. If a CA was set to go through, the card would decline it and the bank or entity that was trying to post it would probably contact the customer and tell them there was a funding problem.

No card I know of lets you set a CA limit to $0 other than the Citi MC.
So as long as you have one that's not linked to any other checking acct I am inclined to think that should work. Who knows.

Happy

There are REPORTED cases that despite the cash advance is set to 0 the cash advance still occurred. One of the posters was still fighting to get the fee reversed. (The interest incurred was reversed but not the cash advance fee last he posted.)

You may want to spend some time reading up posts in the Other CC forum in the past 3 to 4 months before trying this. Things changed, drastically.

Marathon Man

I have read many a thread...

And based on everything I know, there'd be no legitimate way a CC can make you pay any fees if you and they had set an agreement to have a $0 limit. If people allowed this, they got screwed and should revisit that ASAP.

You could and should fight that at all costs --and be thorough and complete and you will win it!

However, and I have had direct experience with this, if you set it to like... $100 or $1, you may have trouble. The reason why is because a company can, in fact, send through one of those temp authorizations for $1 (like gas stations often do before the full amount charges to a card) and once that goes through to your card, it effectively opens the flood gates and lets the rest of their CA attempt through. It's very tricky in fact, but it does happen. Guess who pays for it!

I had a huge issue a while back with AAA doing this to me when I had set my old CC's limit to $100. I bought something with my CC from them and I thought I was getting it as a purchase.

I went away for 4 days and wasn't looking at the net or my CC balances. When I came home I had been hit with uber CA fees.

I contacted AAA who had said my purchase would NOT be a CA and they acted like they had never promised me that, but I had names and numbers and times and all that.

Then I contacted my card and they explained the above temp-auth thing... but they worked with me and fixed it anyway, stating that they happened to be aware that AAA can be tricky (I may still have all the paperwork on this issue but I would have to dig for it).

In the end, I ended up with no fees because I proved I was misled. The CC agent I was talking to then suggested I set my card to $0 going forward.

whynotgo

I want to get the 40,000 bonus miles. Currently, I have existing Citibank Checking and Savings.

My plan (if it will work).

1. Close both checking and saving accounts now.

2. One week later, open new checking and saving account. Deposit of $25,000 or more of new to Citibank money into a new or existing Citibank® Savings Plus Account linked to your regular checking account by 10/31/10. You must also complete at least 1 direct deposit to, or at least 2 electronic bill payments from or 5 or more debit card purchases from, the linked checking account for an additional (third) month.

Is there any reason I would not get the 40,000 bonus miles?

Since I have a Citibank location near me, can I open the accounts in person?

Marathon Man

I would say that should work... just keep detailed and thorough records of everything you do since Citi has been known to lag on posting mile bonuses relating to anything other than its credit card use.

I would assume you could open it in a branch too. You may even get more info there, and you would now have an actual face to go with the name when you have to dispute anything going forward. (see above about posting delays and issues)
Since I have a Citibank location near me, can I open the accounts in person?

I would like to ask if putting in the initial $25k from a Citi equity line would count as the deposit? If it only has to be there for a very short while, one may not lose much of anything in terms of interest. Then just put the money back ASAP.

MattinAustin

Has anyone had luck with this offer that hasn't been target?

Thanks-