I hate dealing with banks. Unfortunately, they’re the ones who issue the credit cards that earn points and miles, allowing Sharon and me to travel as much as we do. I just wish they wouldn’t make things so unnecessarily difficult.
For example, in 2018 Sharon applied for the Citi Premier. Like most banks, Citi has rules about earning bonuses when signing up for cards.
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 accounts, in the past 24 months.
Sharon has had the Prestige for several years, so there shouldn’t have been a problem with her getting the Premier’s signup bonus. Or so I thought…
She was immediately approved and the card arrived in the mail about a week later. I do most of the points and miles stuff in the house so I went to activate the card so we could start making a dent in the $4,000 spending requirement needed to earn the bonus.
That’s when I saw this in the letter.
What???? I went back and checked my spreadsheet to see when Sharon received the Citi Prestige. It was way over 24 months ago. Sharon was going to have to call Citi.
I started the call and explained to the representative the problem. She was nice and said since Sharon is the only cardholder, she’d have to be on the phone. I handed the phone to Sharon and stood nearby. BTW, I don’t like adding authorized users – read this to find out why.
The phone rep took some time and figured out the problem. A year earlier, Sharon’s Citi Prestige card was hacked and we received a text and email asking about charges we never made. Citi did what all banks do in this case, they canceled the account and reissued a new card. In the Citi computer system, THAT RESET THE 24 MONTH CLOCK!!!!
The rep, realizing we had no control over our card being hacked, said that she would enter a dispute over the sign-up bonus and it could take two to three weeks to resolve.
Sharon eventually received a letter from Citi saying that she was eligible for the bonus after meeting the spending requirement in the required time frame.
Final Thoughts
When dealing with banks, always read what they send you.
How crazy is it that Citi can’t have their own computers figure this out? If I didn’t see that small note on the letter, I never would have known. After completing the spending requirement, I’d wonder why the bonus points never arrived. Sorting these things out after the fact is never fun. By calling when I noticed the problem, Citi started the dispute process and the problem was documented before we started spending on the card.
So heed this warning. If you ever had a Citi card reissued due to fraud, be sure to check carefully when signing up for a new card to make sure they’re giving the sign-up bonus you applied for.
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This post first appeared on Your Mileage May Vary
16 comments
[…] Citi 24-Month Card Application Clock Resets When Card Reissued For Fraud by Your Mileage May Vary. I know this isn’t done intentionally by Citi, but this is so very annoying. […]
Thank you for this helpful article! I never would have thought of that. I hope you update your article to let us know how the dispute turns out. Thanks!
Will do. I don’t know how Citi is supposed to tell me the status of the appeal. I’m planning on calling them again in a few weeks if I don’t hear anything.
sorry you had to be the datapoint… but the churning community is thankful for you! I cant see how they wont honor it, good luck!
After my wife finished the call, I told her this was the first time I remember anyone having this problem (I could be wrong). As long as it’s for things like this, I’m OK with being a DP.
[…] Citi 24-Month Card Application Clock Resets When Card Reissued For Fraud by Your Mileage May Vary. I know this isn’t done intentionally by Citi, but this is so very annoying. […]
As an alternative to having an unwilling spouse call the bank, you can both be on the phone and have your spouse tell the bank representative upfront that you will speak for her. Then you can do all the talking while spouse remains silent, or even leaves the room.
We were passing the phone back and forth. At the end of the call, the rep said that she could get my wife to give her verbal consent for me to get information on the account but by that time she had already left the room and I accomplished what I wanted to. No need to further the issue.
I think I remember someone on FT having that issue and Citi eventually granted the points, but I could be wrong.
This has been known for years. The clock is determined exclusively (AFAIK) by the acct number. New card=new number. Certainly a useful DP but not groundbreaking news 😉 https://thepointsguy.com/2017/07/product-changes-citi-24-month-rule/
Citi sent us a letter advising that we would receive the 60,000 ThankYou points after spending the $4,000 within three months of account opening.
This happened to me and it was easily resolved with a phone call within 2 days.
Thanks for replying. I hadn’t seen any recent data points. I’m disappointed that Citi hasn’t fixed this problem but glad to see that they’ve streamlined the resolution process.
I have never had any luck dealing with Citibank. Every call takes an hour minimum. I find it much more effective to enter a complaint with the CFPB and then someone from Citi calls you back.
[…] Citi May Reset Card Application Clock When Card Reissued For Fraud by YMMV. […]
Citi’s phone reps confirmed when issuing a new card after a fraudulent charge that it would not affect SUB eligibility. I’ll take anything they say with a large grain of salt (and Citi’s IT is another matter), but at least that’s the policy.
Also interesting that their notice calls out Premier, Prestige, and Preferred, but not Rewards+.