Citibank has upped the offer for opening a new Citigold checking account. The previous offer was for 30K AA miles or 40K TYP but now you can get 50,000 AA miles if you sign up before 12/31/15.
This offer is available to Citi / AAdvantage credit cardmembers who receive this communication but you should be able to apply and make sure to use promo code 42ERCWNQU6.
To qualify to earn American Airlines AAdvantage bonus miles, open a new Citigold Checking account by 12/31/15. Then, within 60 days after account opening: the required $1000 minimum amount of purchases using the Citibank Debit Card must be posted to the new checking account AND 1 qualifying bill payment must be posted to the new checking account each month for two consecutive calendar months. Read the terms here.
Qualifying bill payments are those made using Citibank Online, Citi Mobile or CitiPhone Banking. Bills paid by making a transfer between linked accounts and/or transfer payments made to accounts within Citibank or to accounts with Citibank affiliates do not qualify as bill payments for this offer.
Qualifying purchases are those made using the Card to buy goods and services and are net of returns and other adjustments. ATM withdrawals, cash back and bill payments do not qualify as Citibank Debit Card purchases. Net qualifying purchases are determined in Citibank’s sole discretion and must post to the new account within 60 days of account opening.
AAdvantage bonus miles are earned on a per account basis and based upon all debit card purchases by all customers when the new checking account is the primary account linked to a debit card. HT: takeoffwithmiles
Funding the account
The account allows for credit card funding up to $100K so that is a nice bonus in itself. Only Visa and Mastercard are allowed and make sure to set your cash advance limit lower than the funding balance, to avoid cash advance fees. If you’re funding with an amount close to your credit limit (which you should), then that should already be over your cash advance limit.
Capital One with treat the funding as cash advance so don’t bother with it. Citi and Barclay are your best bets. I went for the previous 40K TYP offer and had no problems using my 25K limit on my Barclay card. You might want to notify your card issuer before charging such large amounts. DoC has some more advice regarding the process (it’s for the previous offer which was similar).
You need to print out a form for the credit card deposit during the application and fax it in. But you can also call after the account is opened to do the credit card funding. It’s quick and painless if you get the right customer rep. Make sure to look for someone to help with newly opened accounts.
Needless to say, this is an amazing offer that will give you a ton of miles without a hard inquiry on your credit report.
Fees
The Citigold account comes with a $30 monthly fee. To avoid it you need to have more than $50K or more in your accounts, which is not worth it. The fee is waived for the first two months, so you just might have to pay 2-3 monthly fees until you can close your account. The bonus miles should post 90-days from the end of the month when you completed the requirements.
Already Applied? Ask to match current bonus
If you already applied for the lower 30K AA offer, you can send Citi a secure message and ask them to match this offer. They often match credit card offers so you might have some luck with this offer as well.
Offer Details
- Apply here (use code 42ERCWNQU6)
- Account Type: Citigold Checking
- Availability: No restrictions
- Expiration Date: December 31, 2015
- Inquiry Type: Soft
- Credit Card Funding: Up to $100K
- Direct Deposit Requirement: No
- Other requirements: $1000 debit card purchase, 1 ore more bill pay for two consecutive months
- Monthly Fee: Yes ($30, waived first two months)
- Closing Account Fee: No
