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
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