[False Alarm] Citi Card Apps No Longer Have 24 Month Language?
Update: Not sure what’s going on but I see the 24-month language on some application pages. I’m wrong and nothing has changed. I got excited and jumped. Going to close this for now. Sorry for the false alarm!
Just a quick post.
Citi has been limiting card sign-up bonuses per family of “brands” to every 24 months – with a clock that resets if you open OR close an account within that family. The 3 brands are:
American Airlines
Hilton
ThankYou points
So for example, if you opened or closed the Citi Hilton Reserve within the previous 24 months, you could NOT get the sign-up offer on the Citi Hilton no annual fee card. Period.
But it looks like that restriction has shifted:
“New accounts only”
Now it says, “This offer valid for new accounts only.”
What does that mean?
So… “new accounts” could mean:
If you’ve ever had that card, you can’t get it again OR
Each card is considered a new account, regardless of how many times you’ve earned the sign-up bonus
I checked an AA card, a Hilton card, and a ThankYou card (the Prestige, above), and they all have this new line in the T&Cs.
If it’s the latter, that’s obviously awesome.
Cuz then you could get another bonus
I actually don’t know of any card with that disclaimer that forbids you from earning the bonus again. A few say that, but it’s not enforced for future cards. The Discover It comes to mind – but I got a second card to get another Dublin anyway.
Discover It has similar “new account” language
My inkling is that you can now earn the sign-up bonuses again. Of course, there aren’t any data points yet.
But if that’s what it means – exciting! I hope Chase and Amex will reconsider their positions, too. And god knows Citi needs to do something to catch up to the Sapphire Reserve. Come on, Citi. Fight for market share! Even US Bank is catching up.
Bottom line
Link: Apply for Card Offers
If Citi is indeed letting peeps earn sign-up bonuses again without the 24-month restriction they’ve had for a while now, this is great news!
But Citi being Citi, it could also mean a new account as in brand new (haha, get it? I’m feeling punny). AKA once per lifetime, like Amex. But it seems one card in the brand doesn’t affect the others any more, so that seems to’ve definitely changed. So if you have one Hilton card, you can get the other one now – and earn the sign-up bonus on it.
Thought this was interesting and wanted to share. What’s your take on it? Is Citi finally loosening?
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