Citi Might Be Holding Your Points Hostage. Here’s How To Reinstate Them.

by joeheg

Let me start by saying that until last night, I didn’t even know I had Citi ThankYou points that were being held from my account. It was only when I logged into my account at Thankyou.com to see if I was getting credit for the current 10x ThankYou point promotion for online purchases that I found out.

When I went to look at my point balance, I saw a box asking if I wanted to reinstate my points.

  1. Of course, I did!
  2. What points did I have that were in limbo?

I’ve admitted in the past that I’ve occasionally forgotten a payment on a credit card. Most times I realize it right away, but sometimes I’ll have to contact the bank for forgiveness.

As it turns out, I was one day late making a payment on my Citi Rewards+ card. In Citi’s mind, that’s all it takes to take your points away.

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Even if I paid the account in full the next day, those points were unavailable for redemption. Until I asked for them to be reinstated, that is.

Once you’ve brought your account current, Citi’s process to reinstate your points is relatively easy.

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With one click, my points were back.

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It was only 240 points and thankfully, Citi didn’t charge me any fees to reinstate them.

Final Thoughts

Every bank has its own policy about withholding points because of late payments. Citi’s policy is that even if you’re a day late with the minimum payment, they can keep the points until you bring your account current.

I was glad to see they’re willing to reinstate the points for no fee if you’ve brought your account up to date with payments. Because of that, it only took one click to get the points back. I’d count this as a minor annoyance but something to keep an eye on if you’re ever late on a payment, like me.

#stayhealthy #stayathome #washyourhands

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This post first appeared on Your Mileage May Vary

Featured Image “Citibank” by Mike Mozart licensed under CC BY 2.0

1 comment

Flying Willie February 22, 2022 - 12:10 am

I just discovered approx. 80,000 miles this way. It was a credit card bonus that got held back. I didn’t realize it until I was merging some other accounts and saw it there. Glad I found it but could easily have missed it. Check your accounts for this!

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