As I was updating my post about the Citi Premier card to include the current 75K sign-up bonus, I noticed that the language about who is eligible had changed. I checked Citi’s Rewards+ card as well as Citi’s American Airlines co-brand card and saw all of the rules are now the same.
I looked through my posts and here’s the previous sign-up language for the Citi Rewards+
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.
In the past 24 months, you could not:
- Have received a bonus for any of the ThankYou cards (Rewards+, Preferred, Premier or Prestige)
- Closed a ThankYou card (which includes product changing to a non-ThankYou card)
This rule was unique to Citi cards where closing an account was held against you. Even getting a new card number due to fraud would reset the clock(but you could contact Citi to remedy this glitch in their systems).
Here are the current rules for getting a sign-up bonus for the Citi Rewards+ card.
Bonus ThankYou Points are not available if you have received a new account bonus for a Citi Rewards+ account in the past 48 months
And for the Citi Premier.
Bonus ThankYou Points are not available if you have received a new account bonus for a Citi Premier account in the past 48 months.
So the time between earning a bonus has gone from 24 to 48 months but there’s no cross-card restriction. Getting the Premier bonus doesn’t keep you from getting one with the Rewards+ card. The closing account restriction has also been removed.
In my opinion, this simplifies earning bonuses for Citi ThankYou cards. No more worrying that downgrading or closing my Citi Prestige would keep me from getting a bonus on another card.
This restriction is similar to the one on the American AAdvantage co-brand cards offered by Citi. You’re limited to a sign-up bonus every 48 months but the restriction is only for the same card. You’re able to get bonuses for the Executive, Platinum, and Mile-Up cards if you want. You could sign up for one card a year, get the Barclays AA card the next year and then repeat.
Citi is simplifying the rules for bonuses by making them consistent for all of their cards. Even the Citi Custom Cash card now has 48 months between sign-up bonus language.
Final Thoughts
While the time between earning a bonus for Citi cards has increased, I think this is a positive change. Citi is no longer punishing cardholders for canceling or downgrading a card. I’ve read stories of many people being locked out of bonuses because a Citi rep told them they’d keep the same account number when changing cards, only to find out they’d received a new account and couldn’t get a new card for 24 months.
Of course, if you knew all of the ins and outs of the system, it was possible to time applications, product changes and card cancellations to fit within the rules. Most cardholders don’t understand those rules and I’m glad Citi has made it easier for people to earn bonuses on their entire credit card portfolio.
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1 comment
It’s a flailing ecosystem and you can’t trust the Merchant Offers to ever post (I have about 25% success rate). Not going to chase them down and call on each one as Citi expects you to have to do to get them to properly post. Earnings fall way short of Chase. Letting my Premier age out. Citi only worth it for sign up bonuses, as there’s little left in their cards after that.