Citi® Double Cash Card’s $200 Offer

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The Citi® Double Cash Card is now offering $200 cash back after spending $1,500 on purchases in the first 6 months.

Let’s take a quick look at this card and see how it might fit into your overall credit card strategy.

Offer no longer available

The welcome offer

The new welcome offer sticks out because for the longest time this card never offered a bonus and when it did, it was often around $150.

For that reason, a lot of people would get the Double Cash via a product change but now it could make sense to apply for this card directly.

$200 is a solid bonus for a no annual fee credit card but the bonus is even sweeter than $200 for some people which I will get into below.

Bonus earning

The Double Cash offers 2% cash back on all purchases with no limit although you have to pay off your credit card bill in order to receive the full 2% back (you only receive one percent back after the purchase).

One reason why I really like the Double Cash is because it pairs so nicely with the Citi Premier® Card.

That’s because if you have a card like the Premier, you can transfer the ThankYou points you earn from the Citi® Double Cash Card to travel partners just like you do with the Premier.

This opens up a lot of good possibilities.

First, you could combine this bonus with the current all-time high offer for the Citi Premier® Card, which is offering 80,000 points after you spend $4,000 in the first three months. (Remember, only apply for one Citi card every eight days.)

Getting both would set you up with 100,000 Citi ThankYou Points which you can then transfer to partners like:

Aeromexico Club Premier
Air France-KLM Flying Blue
Avianca LifeMiles
Cathay Pacific Asia Miles
Emirates Skywards
Etihad Guest
EVA Air Infinity MileageLands
JetBlue TrueBlue
Malaysia Airlines Enrich
Qantas Frequent Flyer
Qatar Airways Privilege Club
Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
Thai Airways Royal Orchid Plus
Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles
Virgin Atlantic Flying Club

Find some redemption ideas here.

Because you have the ability to transfer your points to airline partners, that means that you can receive more value from your points than just a one cent per point cashback rate.

For example, you might be receiving 1.7 cents in value per point when redeeming your points with partner airlines. This means that the Citi® Double Cash Card could net you ~3.4% back on your non-bonused purchases.

That’s really solid.

If you’re able to pick up both the Premier and Double Cash Card, your earnings could look like this:

3x points at Restaurants
3x points at Supermarkets
3x points at Gas Stations
3x points at Air Travel and Hotels
2X on all other purchases

Since the Double Cash has no annual fee, you essentially create one “super card” with the above earning rates.

The only major drawback to the Double Cash is that it does have foreign transaction fees (3%).

The Double Cash also offers 0% intro for 18 months on Balance Transfers.

Final word

The Double Cash is a solid card to use on non-bonused spend and now it has a solid welcome bonus making it a great time to jump on this card. Consider pairing it with the Premier for optimal value.

Related offer Citi Premier® Card: Earn 80,000 bonus ThankYou Points after you spend $4,000 in the first 3 months

Editorial Disclosure: Opinions, reviews, analysis & recommendations are UponArriving’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.

Daniel Gillaspia

Daniel Gillaspia is the Founder of UponArriving.com and creator of the credit card app, WalletFlo. He is a former attorney turned full-time travel expert covering destinations along with TSA, airline, and hotel policies. Since 2014, his content has been featured in major publications such as National Geographic, Smithsonian Magazine, Forbes, CNBC, US News, and Business Insider. Find his full bio here.

Putting Value on WalletFlo’s Hottest Summer Credit Card

Offer no longer available

Right now the Citi Premier® Card is offering one of the best ever welcome bonuses of 80,000 ThankYou Points after you spend $4,000 in purchases within the first 3 months.

This is proving to be the hottest card for WalletFlo users for the summer and so I think it would be a good time to take a look at what type of valuation you should be giving your ThankYou Points.

Citi Premier overview

As mentioned, the Citi Premier® Card has an outstanding welcome offer of 80,000 ThankYou Points after you spend $4,000 in purchases within the first 3 months.

But in addition to the bonus, you can also get:

3X on air travel and hotels
3X on dining
3X on gas stations
3X on supermarkets
1x on other purchases
$100 Annual Hotel Savings Benefit
No Foreign transaction fees
$95 annual fee

While you can do better on some of these individual spend categories, the Citi Premier® Card is certainly a strong all-around spender.

If you want solid rewards but don’t want to mess around with multiple cards, this card can make it easy to earn a lot of points with your spend.

Interested in the 80,000 ThankYou Points welcome bonus? Learn how to apply here.

ThankYou Points valuation examples

That 80,000 point welcome bonus is very attractive but exactly how much value should you expect to receive for those points?

Below, I’ll show you how it could range from $800 to over $28,000!

And no, that $28,000 is not a typo.

Remember – You can input your own custom points valuation into the WalletFlo app and that will impact how your credit card ranks on your Cheat Sheet!

Cashback and gift cards

Valuation: 1 cent

You can redeem Citi ThankYou points for cashback/statement credits or for lots of different gift cards at a rate of one cent per point.

Gift cards are one of the most convenient ways to redeem points and if you can get one cent per point it’s not a terrible use of your points (but definitely not optimal).

Generally, for me gift cards are a last resort when redeeming transferable points but as long as you get one cent per point it’s not the end of the world.

Citi Travel Portal

Valuation: 1 cent

You can use the Citi Travel Portal to redeem at a rate of one cent per point for things like airfare, rental cars, cruises, and hotels.

When you book airfare, you’ll also earn miles for your flights so you do get a bit more value than one cent per point if you factor that in.

While the value is still on the low side, the benefit of using the travel portal is you don’t have to worry about award inventory so you can book any flight you see.

This method is for people who want to save money on travel but don’t want to bother with the challenges of transferring points. It can also be useful for cheap flights and some hotels.

Sometimes you may just want to book your travel outside the travel portal and reimburse yourself with direct deposit cashback so you can get your full benefits, travel protections, etc.

Tip: If you utilize the $100 Annual Hotel Savings Benefit you can technically get over one cent per point for hotel redemptions.

Citi Travel partners

If you’ve been in miles and points for a while you know that the best value for your points comes from utilizing transfer partners.

So let’s take a look at some of the Citi partner redemptions to see what type of valuations you might be working with.

We’ll start small and then ramp up the value.

Interested in the 80,000 ThankYou Points welcome bonus? Learn how to apply here.

JetBlue (USA Domestic)

Valuation: 1.2 cents per point

An economy redemption on JetBlue from LAX to MIA would run you 12,900 points for a $164 flight. So that comes out to about 1.2 cents per point.

You should be able to do better than that on other JetBlue flights but not that much better. (If you can get around 1.5 cents per point you are doing pretty good with JetBlue.)

Because JetBlue award prices are tied to revenue prices (similar to Southwest), these are always going to represent the lower end of redemptions for ThankYou Points when it comes to travel partners.

Tip: If you have the JetBlue Plus Card you can get a 10% rebate on your point redemptions which increases the value of your points.

Avios (USA Domestic)

Valuation: 2.1 cents per point

Flying business class from JFK to MIA on American Airlines would cost $357. Using 16,500 Avios to cover that trip, the cents per mile comes out to about 2.1 cents per point.

The way this redemption would work is you would first transfer your Citi points to Qatar and then transfer them to British Airways where you could book American Airlines (using the British Airways site) at the above rate.

For those of you who live near an AA hub, using the Qatar-BA route for American flights can be a very easy and efficient way to get around with ThankYou Points.

Avianca (USA-Europe)

Valuation: 10.1 cents per point

This valuation is based on business class redemptions on both Lufthansa and United using Avianca Life Miles.

For 63,000 Life Miles and only $25 in fees you could book a one-way business class flight on either United or Lufthansa from Houston to Frankfurt.

These flights are listed at $6,399, so that means that your redemption value comes out to 10.1 cents per point which is pretty amazing for business class.

Emirates (USA-Europe)

Valuation: 15 cents per point

If you thought 10 cents per point was impressive, it’s time to bump things up a notch with first class awards.

Emirates awards can get expensive for premium cabins but they have reduced fuel surcharges so they are not nearly as expensive as they used to be.

For 72,500 miles you can fly their amazing first class from New York (JFK) to Milan, Italy (MXP) and you only have to pay $84 in fees. That flight is currently going for $10,922.

With $84 in fees the cents per mile comes out to 15 cents per mile!

Virgin Atlantic (USA-Asia)

Valuation: 27.4 cents per point

Here’s when things start to get stupid.

If you were to transfer your Citi points to Virgin Atlantic and book first class on ANA from JFK to Japan it would cost you 60,000 Virgin miles one way.

I priced this flight in October of this year for $16,574. If you assume fees of about $100 then that means that the cents per point comes out to an astonishing 27.4 cents per point.

If you want to get even crazier Citi has offered 30% transfer bonuses to Virgin Atlantic before. So if you took advantage of one of those bonuses you could transfer 47,000 points for this redemption, making the value of your points come out to 35 cents per point.

Final word

Some of these redemptions represent amazing outsized value.

Most people will want to stick to valuations that represent their actual travel savings rather than value captured from mega outsized redemptions.

That will typically be around one to three cents per point, depending on how you like to travel.

But knowing how insane the value can get with some of these programs can be a real motivating factor to help you optimize your rewards.

Citi Premier® Card: Earn 80,000 bonus ThankYou Points after you spend $4,000 in the first 3 months

Editorial Disclosure: Opinions, reviews, analysis & recommendations are UponArriving’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.

Daniel Gillaspia

Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World Elite Mastercard® Review [2022]

The Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World Elite Mastercard® is a popular premium airlines credit card that’s perfect if you’re eyeing elite status with American Airlines or you are interested in Admirals Club access.

In this article, I’ll go over the Citi AAdvantage Executive World Elite Mastercard benefits likes its bonus, airport lounge access, free checked baggage, priority boarding, and more!

Welcome bonus

The Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World Elite Mastercard® currently offers a welcome bonus of 50,000 American Airlines AAdvantage® bonus miles after spending $5,000 in the first 3 months.

50,000 miles could cover a round trip in domestic first class, which could net you over $1,200 in value!

We’ve also had some great flights thanks to AA miles, especially on partners like Etihad, Qatar, British Airways, etc. where 50,000 AA miles got us closer to $4,000 and $5,000 in value in first class!

While a higher bonus could return, 50,000 miles is a pretty sweet offer and this card is more about the benefits than anything.

Tip: Use WalletFlo for all your credit card needs. It’s free and will help you optimize your rewards and savings!

Application rules

Citi has somewhat complicated application rules which is something that WalletFlo can help you automate.

In addition to standard Citi application rules, once you pick up a bonus on this card, you can’t get its bonus again for 48 months, as the rules state:

American Airlines AAdvantage® bonus miles are not available if you have received a new account bonus for a Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive account in the past 48 months.

The good news is this means that you can get other AA cards without violating this rule and really build up a huge balance of AA miles!

Credit card strategy tip

Although the Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World Elite Mastercard® is a great card, I’d be sure to hit up the best Chase cards first like the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card which offers 80,000 points after spending $4,000 in the first three months.

That’s because once you’ve opened five cards in the past 24 months, you will no longer be eligible for cards like the Sapphire Preferred.

So it usually makes sense to go for those cards first and then tap cards like the Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World Elite Mastercard®.

Bonus earning & Loyalty Points

The Citi AAdvantage Executive earns the following rates:

2X on purchases on American Airlines
1X on all other purchases

The Citi AAdvantage Executive is not a great card for bonus category spend since it only offers 2X on AA purchases.

But the awesome thing about this card is that for every dollar you spend you earn one Loyalty Point which is the new American Airlines loyalty program currency. This means that you can spend your way into elite status.

Here’s a look at the elite levels and the corresponding threshold for Loyalty Points.

Elite Status	Loyalty Points
AAdvantage Gold®	30,000
AAdvantage Platinum®	75,000
AAdvantage Platinum Pro®	125,000
AAdvantage Executive Platinum®	200,000

There are a few things to note about Loyalty Points:

You can earn Loyalty Points with all AAdvantage cards but you only earn Loyalty Points per base dollar spent — you don’t earn extra Loyalty Points for special bonus multipliers.
There is a special perk on this card that allows you to earn a bonus of 10,000 Loyalty Points if you spend $40,000 in qualifying year (defined as beginning on March 1st and ending on February 28th).
The welcome bonus does NOT count towards Loyalty Points.
You can supplement your earnings with spending through things like: AAdvantage eShopping, SimplyMiles, AAdvantage Dining, etc.

Admirals Club membership

The Citi AAdvantage Executive World Elite Mastercard grants cardholders 18 years of age or older with full membership privileges to Admirals Club lounges, which may also include access to other airline lounges and clubs (e.g., Alaska, Qantas Clubs, oneworld or partner lounges, etc.).

This membership is worth up to $650 so getting it as a perk is a huge deal!

Note: same-day boarding passes on American Airlines or partner airlines will be required for entry.

Admirals Club lounges are pretty standard domestic lounges.

In these you might expect to find comfortable spots to relax in along with modern and fresh decor. As far as drinks go, you’ll find coffee, tea, soft drinks, house wine, beer, and spirits (premium drinks will cost you).

And for complimentary food, it’s usually lighter snacks, fruits, yogurt, breads, oatmeal, although some will serve up something special like avocado toast. You can also order dishes from the menu but you’ll generally have to pay for those.

Some Admirals Club lounges will have shower suites and children play areas. You can read more about my Admirals Club experience here.

Authorized users

Authorized users can get into the Admirals Clubs but they don’t get the full membership.

Citi states, “Full Admirals Club® membership privileges do not apply to a credit card authorized user,” so authorized users don’t get access to the partner lounges.

To access an Admirals Club lounge, authorized users must present their credit card (along with other needed things like an ID, boarding pass, etc.).

Primary cardmembers need only show their AAdvantage number and ID/boarding pass.

Flagship Lounges

Neither membership nor the credit card authorized user access benefit provides access privileges to the Arrivals Lounge, International First Class Lounges, or Flagship Lounge facilities, including Flagship First Dining.

Guest policy

This card has a pretty good guest policy for lounges.

You can get your immediate family members in for free (spouse or domestic partner and children under 18) or you can bring along up to two guests traveling with the primary credit cardmember or authorized user.

The fact that authorized users can bring in up to two guests is pretty awesome.

Authorized users

One of the biggest features of this card is that you can add up to 10 authorized users to your account for no additional cost.

That’s some crazy value when you consider how many people could get Admiral’s Club access for essentially nothing.

But note: authorized users do not receive the first checked bag free or boarding benefits.

First checked bag free

Primary credit cardmembers may check one bag and avoid AA baggage fees when traveling on domestic itineraries.

All flights on the itinerary must be domestic flights marketed by American Airlines and operated by American Airlines or American Eagle.

(This benefit will not be available for travel on codeshare flights booked with an American Airlines flight number but operated by another airline — see the terms and conditions for more on eligible airlines.)

The cool thing about this perk is that it offers the free first checked bag to up to eight companions traveling with the eligible primary credit cardmember (as long as they are listed in the same reservation). That’s a ton of value if you can utilize this perk for a large group of people.

Airport experience

The Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World Elite Mastercard® can help upgrade your airport experience with the following benefits:

Priority check-in (where available)
Priority airport screening (where available)
Priority boarding privileges

Up to eight companions traveling with the eligible primary credit cardmember will also get these perks if they are listed in the same reservation.

For benefits to apply, your account must be open seven days prior to air travel and the reservation must include the primary credit cardmember’s AAdvantage number seven days prior to travel.

These benefits apply when traveling on flights marketed and operated by American Airlines, or on flights marketed by American Airlines and operated as other eligible airlines.

Priority check-in (where available)

Priority check-in offers you a special counter area for you to check in at many airports. These check-in areas (seen below) can have much smaller crowds than the standard check-in areas so you can save a lot of time.

American Airlines priority check-in at DFW.

Priority airport screening (where available)

Priority airport screening will allow you to bypass the main security line. This can save you a lot of time in some cases but I’d generally just go with the TSA Pre-Check line or even CLEAR if you have it.

Priority boarding privileges

The priority boarding benefit will display on your American Airlines boarding pass as “Group 4.”

This is the final group in the priority boarding group, so you’ll be boarding before all the economy passengers but you’ll still have some first class and elites in boarding in front of you. To find out more about the American Airline boarding groups click here.

25% Discount

The Citi AAdvantage Executive offers a 25% savings on inflight purchases of food and beverages on flights operated by American Airlines when you use your Citi AAdvantage Executive card.

Keep in mind that the discount does not apply to any other inflight purchases like in-flight wifi.

Global Entry or TSA Pre-Check credit

The Executive will grant you a Global Entry or TSA Pre-Check application fee, every five years up to $100.

TSA Pre-Check is a program that costs $85 to join and allows approved passengers to go through a separate security screening process that is less demanding than the security screening open to the public.

Meanwhile, Global Entry provides you with TSA Pre-Check in addition to expedited entry back into the US. You can read about how to get approved here.

No foreign transaction fees

This card has no foreign transaction fees which is pretty standard for a major airline cobranded credit card.

Annual fee

$450

This is a very reasonable annual fee considering how much lounge membership is worth and the fact that you could add up to ten authorized users for free.

Benefits and protections

Citibank dropped pretty much every major travel benefits and protection from their cards as of September 22, 2019. Some of the benefits and protections that were dropped consisted of:

Worldwide Car Rental Insurance
Trip Cancellation & Interruption Protection
Worldwide Travel Accident Insurance
Citi Price Rewind
Trip Delay Protection
Baggage Delay Protection
Lost Baggage Protection
Roadside Assistance Dispatch Service

For this reason, you don’t want to use this card for purchases that you really need or want built-in travel insurance/protections for.

So when it comes to purchasing flights and prepaid hotels, you would be much better off with a card like the Chase Sapphire Reserve® or Chase Sapphire Preferred which provides you with much better protections.

Final word

The Citi AAdvantage Executive World Elite Mastercard is the card to get if you’re interested in AAdvantage elite status, Admirals Club access, and/or have a family or group of people who want in on the travel savings.

If you have people you trust as authorized users, the ceiling for your value with the Citi AAdvantage Executive can be very high.

It’s also great for groups because you can get all of those travel perks for up to eight companions, which again means a lot of value.

Editorial Disclosure: Opinions, reviews, analysis & recommendations are UponArriving’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.

Daniel Gillaspia

Citi Premier® Card 80,000 Point Bonus: Worth It?

Offer no longer available

The Citi Premier® Card has an outstanding bonus of 80,000 points and it’s ending very soon!

But what can you really do with this bonus and what type of value can it mean for your travels?

Let’s take a look at some of the best redemptions for using these 80,000 points so you can see what might be possible.

The Welcome Bonus

Earn 80,000 bonus ThankYou Points after you spend $4,000 in purchases within the first 3 months

Before getting in too deep in the details of how to use the bonus, it’s a good idea to take a look at the overall package of the Citi Premier® Card.

3X on air travel and hotels
3X on dining
3X on gas stations
3X on supermarkets
1x on other purchases
$100 Annual Hotel Savings Benefit
$95 annual fee
No Foreign transaction fees

While you can do better on some of these individual categories, the Citi Premier® Card is certainly a strong all-around spender. If you want strong rewards but don’t want to mess around with multiple cards, this card can make it easy to earn a lot of points with your spend.

Interested in the 80,000 point bonus? Learn how to apply here.

Transfer partners

Here’s a look at all of the potential transfer partners:

Aeromexico Club Premier
Air France-KLM Flying Blue
Avianca LifeMiles
Cathay Pacific Asia Miles
Emirates Skywards
Etihad Guest
EVA Air Infinity MileageLands
JetBlue TrueBlue
Malaysia Airlines Enrich
Qantas Frequent Flyer
Qatar Airways Privilege Club
Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
Thai Airways Royal Orchid Plus
Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles
Virgin Atlantic Flying Club

If you’re thinking that hardly any of those airlines look familiar — don’t worry.

A lot of these are somewhat niche programs but they allow you to book sweet redemptions including awards on airlines you are more familiar with like United Airlines, Delta, etc.

Below I’m going to highlight some of the most tempting redemptions. By no means is this list exhaustive. But if you’re looking for some type of reference point for what you can do with 80,000 Citi points this should help.

Turkish Airlines

Transferring your points to Turkish Airlines is a great way to fly domestically. You can get a one-way on United for 7,500 miles in economy and 12,500 in business class, even when flying to Hawaii. They even allow you to take advantage of 48 hour holds so you can transfer your points with confidence.

Avianca LifeMiles

Avianca LifeMiles is great for low fees and now it’s easier to book online. You can book a first class one-way to Europe for 87,000 miles on Lufthansa, considered by many to be one of the best first class cabins. You could also fly across the US in business class on United for 25,000 points.

Virgin Atlantic

Use 50,000 Virgin Atlantic miles to fly Delta in business class from the U.S. to Europe. Or, if you want to take advantage of one of the best first class redemptions consider flying between the U.S. and Japan on ANA-operated flights for 90,000 to 120,000 miles round trip!

Singapore Airlines

Singapore Airlines are not the cheapest but because you can transfer points from various programs to Singapore Airlines, even rewards that cost a lot are very obtainable. You could fly Singapore Suites for ~147,000 miles from Singapore to the US.

Or for something more obtainable, you could fly from the East Coast of the US to Europe for 81,000 miles in business class.

Interested in the 80,000 point bonus? Learn how to apply here.

Emirates

Emirates awards can get expensive for premium cabins like their amazing first class. But they have reduced fuel surcharges so they are not nearly as expensive as they used to be. For 72,500 miles you can fly first class from New York JFK to Milan, Italy and you only have to pay $84 in fees. That flight is currently going for over $10,000!

JetBlue TrueBlue

JetBlue TrueBlue Award prices are tied to revenue prices so the more expensive the cash price, the more expensive the award ticket.

JetBlue can be a great way to get around the US and they have an amazing business class product (Mint) although sometimes the award redemption value on that is not terrific. For that reason, you might want to sometimes look elsewhere like booking inter-island Hawaiian flights on Hawaiian Airlines for 6,000 points in economy.

Qatar Airways

I wouldn’t necessarily recommend Qatar Airways for partner bookings but if you’ve never flown on the famous Q-Suites, you can find some redemptions decently priced. This is especially true since you can use Avios to makes your bookings. Use the Q calculator to get estimates on the award price and you’ll see Qatar business class seats go for 43,000 from Doha to Paris.

Final word

The Citi Premier® Card bonus of 80,000 points can be used in a lot of ways for travel. These redemptions above are only the tip of the iceberg but should give you a good indication of just how much value you can obtain from this bonus.

Interested in the 80,000 point bonus? Learn how to apply here.

Editorial Disclosure: Opinions, reviews, analysis & recommendations are UponArriving’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.

Daniel Gillaspia

How to Get a Citi Credit Limit Increase: (Soft Pulls & Hard Pulls) [2021]

A Citi credit limit increase can be a great way to increase your spending power and to improve your credit score. These requests are also very simple to make and sometimes the results can be instant. Here’s everything you need to know about Citi credit limit increases, including how often to request these and whether you can expect for Citi to make a hard pull or soft pull on your credit profile.

Interested in finding out the top travel credit cards for this month? Click here to check them out!

What is a Citi credit limit increase?

A Citi credit limit increase is a request that you can make with Citibank for them to increase the credit limit for your credit card.

How do you request a Citi credit limit increase?

There are two different ways that you can request/apply for a Citi credit limit increase.

Tip: Use the app WalletFlo to give you auto-reminders of when to request credit limit increases!

Request online

You can request a Citi credit limit increase by logging on and going here.

Once you log-in to that page, you’ll be able to select which card you want to apply for the credit limit increase for. You can also log-in and go to “Services” and then click on “Request a credit limit increase.”

You’ll then be taken to a screen where you’ll be asked to enter your monthly rent or mortgage and also to input your income. Remember, if you are 21 or older you can include all income that you have reasonable access to.

Once you verify your details, you’ll be notified immediately if you’ve been approved for a credit limit increase. At that point, you’ll get the chance to request for an additional credit limit increase if you’d like.

Request by phone

You can request a credit limit increase by calling Citi at the following phone number: 1-800-950-5114. You can also try calling the phone number on the back of your Citi credit card.

How much of an increase should I ask for?

If you are interested in asking for an additional increase for your credit limit, you might be wondering how much additional credit you should ask for.

The amount that you request for your credit limit increase is really up to you. It’s usually pretty reasonable to request for your credit limit to be increased by 50% to 100%, depending on how high your starting credit limit is. However, you can request for increases that are way higher than that.

There are reports of people starting with credit limits at $1,200 and then receiving increases all they way up to $20,000. Another report shows someone getting an $11,000 increase from a $3,750 credit line.

Citi is known to offer you a counter offer if your request is too high so that’s why a lot of people will request for increases which are much higher than their current credit limits.

Note: Once you start requesting for additional credit limit increases beyond what is initially granted to your, that’s when the hard pulls start to become a factor (read more on that below).

Related: Citi ThankYou Premier Review

How often can you request a credit limit increase?

As soon as you receive and activate your credit card you can request a credit limit increase.

But note that often banks don’t approve you for a credit limit increase until after you’ve used their cards for several months. So I personally would wait 3 to 6 months before requesting a credit limit increase from the time of opening a new credit card account or from the time of my last credit limit increase request.

It’s also not just about days waited.

You typically want to wait until your credit score is in better shape before applying for an increase, especially if you were denied an increase before.

Remember that opening up a new credit card can temporarily drop your credit score because of the hard inquiry and also the new account bringing down your average age of accounts. So it’s often a good idea to wait until that negative effect has gone away before requesting your credit limit increase.

As a general rule of thumb, try to get your credit score as close to 720 or higher as you can for the best odds of getting approved for a credit limit increase.

What cards are eligible for credit limit increases?

You’ll be able to see exactly which of your cards are eligible for a credit limit increase when you log-in to your account with the above link.

However, I don’t think that Citi limits these requests to certain cards so I think virtually any Citi card should be eligible for a credit limit increase including:

Citi^® Double Cash Card
Citi® Diamond Preferred® Card
Citi Simplicity^® Card
Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Elite™ Mastercard®
CitiBusiness® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Mastercard®
American Airlines AAdvantage MileUp℠ Card
Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World Elite™ Mastercard®
Citi ThankYou® Preferred Card
Citi PremierSM Card
Citi ThankYou® Preferred Card For College Students
EXPEDIA®+ CARD From Citi
Costco Anywhere Visa® Card By Citi

Why would you want a credit limit increase?

A Citi credit limit increase could benefit you in a couple of ways.

More spending power

The first is that if you need to make a big purchase or put more spend on your credit card then a credit limit increase is going to allow you to increase your spending without maxing out or going over your credit limit.

Obviously, you need to make sure that you’re ready to take on a higher credit limit so that you don’t end up paying interest on your purchases (though many Citi cards offer interest free periods).

Boost your credit score

The second is that increasing your credit limit will decrease your credit card utilization and allow your credit score to increase. Utilization is the second most important factor for your FICO credit score, making up 30% of your overall score (payment history is #1 at 35%). So if you can get the utilization down then your score will go up.

Ideally, you want your utilization to be somewhere between 5% and 10% but no higher than 30%. So if you currently have a $5,000 credit line and you’re using $3,000 of it and you get a credit limit increase to $10,000 then your utilization will go down to 30% which should increase your credit score by at least a few points.

Tip: Use the free app WalletFlo to help you travel the world for free by finding the best travel credit cards and promotions!

Is the credit limit increase a soft pull or hard pull?

Generally, getting a Citi credit limit increase should only result in a soft pull as Citi states, “A credit bureau report will not be requested and you will receive an instant decision.”

Soft pulls

A soft pull is a form of credit check that does not result in a ding on your credit score. That’s very different from a hard pull which will have a negative effect on your credit score.

Hard pulls

The effect of a hard pull on your credit score depends on a few factors, such as how established your credit profile is. If you have a very new credit profile then a hard inquiry could drop your credit score by a dozen or so points.

However, if you have a more established credit profile you may not even notice a drop in your score. For most people, they will fall somewhere in-between and will likely experience a drop of 2 to 5 points in their credit score after a hard pull is made.

The good news is that hard pulls will not impact your credit score for forever. After two years they fall off your credit report and after one year they no longer affect your credit score. But even after about 90 days you should start to notice that their impact is starting to get diminished.

Warning: If you request an even higher credit limit as discussed above, then Citi will perform a hard pull on your credit so keep that in mind.

If you are worried about incurring a hard pull then I highly suggest that you make your request over the phone so that you can verify whether or not a hard pull will be made on a recorded line, just in case anything unexpected happens.

What credit bureau will Citi pull from for the credit limit increase?

Citi will often pull from Experian but it does depend on your location. Click here to find out more about which banks pull which credit bureaus.

Automatic Citi credit limit increases

Citi will perform a soft pull on your credit profile sometimes (some say every six months) and it’s possible to receive an automatic credit limit increase.

Usually, you’ll need to be a very active spender and have your utilization under control along with a flawless payment history to be eligible for the automatic credit limit increase. The more that Citi sees that you’re going to be a profitable customer, the more likely they are to offer you an automatic increase.

If you ever get a pay increase make sure to update your income in your personal file because that can make a huge difference when it comes to getting automatic increases.

Credit line increases with other issuers

You might also be interested in reading about getting credit limit increases with other issuers.

Final word

Getting a credit limit increase with Citi is a pretty straightforward process and in some instances it can take only seconds to complete. Don’t be afraid to shoot for the moon with Citi because even if they don’t honor your original request you still stand a good chance of receiving a solid credit limit.

Daniel Gillaspia

Citi Premier $100 Annual Hotel Savings Benefit Guide [2021]

The Citi Premier comes with an interesting hotel benefit that can save you $100 on certain hotel bookings. But is this benefit really that valuable or should you pass on using this perk? In this article, I will tell you everything you need to know about the $100 annual hotel savings benefit.

What is the Citi Premier annual hotel savings benefit?

The Citi Premier $100 annual hotel savings benefit is a special perk that will save you $100 on bookings of $500 or more as long as you make your booking through Citi and comply with other eligibility criteria. Below, I will break down all of the rules and restrictions for using this perk.

Tip: Use the free app WalletFlo to help you travel the world for free by finding the best travel credit cards and promotions!

Citi Premier overview

Before getting in too deep on the details, it’s a good idea to take a look at the overall package of the Citi Premier.

Solid welcome bonus (usually)
3X on air travel and hotels
3X on dining
3X on gas stations
3X on supermarkets
1x on other purchases
$100 Annual Hotel Savings Benefit
$95 annual fee
No Foreign transaction fees

In addition to the great bonus earning potential on dining, gas, and groceries, one thing that should stand out is the $95 annual fee.

That stands out because this benefit can save you $100 which means it is an instant way to come out on top with the annual fee. Sure, it may only be a $5 difference but anytime you can completely neutralize an annual fee with the single use of one perk that is something to be aware of.

Citi Premier annual hotel savings benefit rules

Like most credit card perks, the Citi Premier annual hotel savings benefit comes with a number of rules and restrictions. Luckily, the rules are pretty straightforward so you shouldn’t get surprised by anything. Here’s a breakdown of what you need to know.

Once per calendar year

This benefit can only be used once per calendar year. This means that it will expire every year on December 31st whether or not you put it to use. As far as I know, there is no ability to reinstate this benefit once it expires.

I would recommend that you use WalletFlo to help you to remember to use perks like this.

$100 off a single hotel stay of $500 or more

In order to trigger this discount, you’ll need to book a hotel stay of $500 or more. Keep in mind that this is excluding taxes and fees.

There are a few things to note here.

First, you should absolutely compare prices with booking directly because you might be able to save a good amount of money with member rates, etc. Many times the OTA prices are competitive when compared to booking directly but that is not always the case.

The second thing to note is that because there is a $500 minimum, this discount is not well suited for shorter, cheaper stays. If you typically stay two or three nights at hotels costing around $150 or so, this benefit may become difficult to use.

Book through thankyou.com or 1-800-THANKYOU

You must make your booking through thankyou.com or 1-800-THANKYOU.

The big factor to consider here is that your booking will amount to a typical OTA booking. This means you will almost certainly lose out on elite night credits and points for your stay.

You may or may not receive your elite benefits like free breakfast, upgrades, etc. To maximize your odds of getting those be sure to call the hotel ahead of time and ask them to add your loyalty number to your reservation.

Because receiving elite benefits can sometimes be hit or miss when booking through an OTA, there is a risk that you can lose out on more value than you are saving.

For example, assume you had a four night stay and you would normally be receiving a free breakfast every morning for you and your spouse valued at $40 per morning. Normally, you would be getting $160 in value from breakfast alone but if you pursue that $100 discount you might lose out on that in addition to other benefits like upgrades.

This is one reason why I think this type of discount is best suited for non-chain hotels or hotels that you don’t have any status with.

Prepaid stay

To receive the $100 annual hotel savings, you must pre-pay for your complete stay with your Citi Premier Card, ThankYou Points, or a combination thereof.

The bummer is that you have to pay using your Premier Card if you are not going to use points. This means that you will not be able to utilize things like property credits from other hotel credit cards like the Hilton Aspire or Marriott Brilliant.

But the cool thing here is that you can use points to cover the booking and receive the discount. When I tested out the perk, it showed me that my 4,396 points were worth $54.95. That comes out to a value of 1.25 cents per point, which is actually not bad at all. That puts it on par with the Chase Sapphire Preferred (at least when it comes to hotel stays).

You could make the argument that with the $100 discount, you’re getting more value from your points.

For example, 32,000 points could get you a $500 hotel stay when you factor in the discount. That would come out to closer to 1.56 cents per point which is pretty impressive but not everyone likes to calculate value that way.

Reservations must be made by the primary cardmember

The reservations must be made by the primary cardmember but you can make reservations in the primary card member’s or authorize users’ name.

Package rates

Packaged rates such as air and hotel or hotel and car rental do not qualify.

Can’t be combined with other offers

Unfortunately, this benefit cannot be combined in the same transaction with the Citi Prestige card’s complimentary 4th night free if you have both the Citi Premier and Citi Prestige cards. This benefit also cannot be combined with any other promotions or discounts on thankyou.com.

How to use the Citi Premier annual hotel savings benefit

It is very easy to use the annual hotel savings benefit. Simply head over to thankyou.com and log into your account. Click on “Travel” and then “Hotels” on the top navigation bar.

Now, all you have to do is go through the normal booking process. Simply search for the hotel you want to book. If you don’t see your hotel then you can try inserting the name of the hotel chain into the “preferred hotel” field which may show you more results.

If your booking qualifies, meaning that the total of the hotel stay is $500 or more, you will see verification of your discount displayed in the price breakdown (as shown in the image below).

If you would prefer to not use your hotel benefit on the booking, you can simply uncheck the check box that states “apply my annual Citi Premier hotel benefit.” (Citi provides a helpful reminder about the expiration of the perk here.)

Just below that you can choose whether or not to use your points for the booking. In my case, I only had 4,386 ThankYou points and so I could have only used my points to cover a partial payment.

It shows you exactly how much your points are worth and how much of the remaining cost will be charged to your card so it is a helpful and easy to use feature.

Canceling a booking

If you happen to cancel your booking that you used the $100 benefit for, the benefit will remain available for use in that same calendar year.

Final word

Overall, the $100 benefit is an interesting hotel perk but I would make sure to remember the following:

If you take a lot of short cheap stays with only two or three nights, you might find it difficult to use this benefit.
If you are interested in earning elite credits and points and/or receiving your elite status benefits you might be losing more value by chasing this discount
The hotel prices may be higher than booking directly

However, if you are not staying at properties where you have elite status, prices are more or less equal, and your booking price is $500 or more, I don’t see any reason why you wouldn’t want to consider using this benefit.

Daniel Gillaspia

What Card Should I Product Change my Citi Premier to? [2021]

If you are serious about your credit card rewards and striving for an optimal strategy then you will no doubt have to make a decision on product changes at some point. In this article, I’ll break down what to do when you face this decision with respect to the popular Citi Premier.

What is a product change?

First, the basics so we make sure we are on the same page.

Product changes are when you change from one credit card to another. This could be an upgrade, a downgrade, or it could be changing to a different type of product line (American Airlines card to a cash back card).

For some banks, the consequences of product changing are pretty minimal.

You can proceed without having to think through your strategy too much and enjoy the benefits like avoiding the annual fee or jumping on a more premium credit card option.

But for other banks, such as Amex and Citi, you really need to think through the consequences of a product change. If you make the wrong decision, it could cost you a lot of bonus points in the future.

By the way, I recommend that most people use the app WalletFlo to track all of their product changes. It will allow you to track as many product changes as you need for a single card and it will help you keep up with your credit history in that regard.

Citi Premier options

If you hold the Citi Premier, you might be tempted to product change to a few different options. If you wanted to go to a more premium card, you could look into upgrading to the Citi Prestige.

But a lot of people who are product changing the Premier card actually want to lower or remove the annual fee so they will look for other options. One of the most tempting options is the Citi Double Cash but you should think twice before you product change to that card.

The reason is that if you product change from the Premier to the Citi Double Cash, your credit card number will likely change. And if your credit card number changes, it will probably reset the 24 month clock on your eligibility for a ThankYou bonus.

This means that you will have to wait an additional two years before you can receive a ThankYou bonus (*no thank you*). This could be a huge bummer if you have already been waiting a while for your ThankYou bonus eligibility to reset.

The best product change options

But there are a couple of cards known for NOT giving you a new credit card number and those are the cards you should be trying to probably change to if this is a concern.

These two cards are the:

Citi Rewards+
Citi ThankYou Preferred

Both of these credit cards have no annual fee and data points show that typically you will not be issued a new number for them. I said “typically” because a lot of things like this are YMMV. In other words, it’s hard to know for sure that you will not be issued a new credit card number but it seems like you certainly increase your odds of keeping your number if you go with these cards.

If you had to choose one of these cards, I would probably just go with the Citi Rewards+. I like that it earns 2X on groceries and gas but it also has a cool feature that rounds up to the nearest 10 points on every purchase. So if you make a lot of smaller purchases, this can be a nice way to rack up more points.

It also offers you 10% points back for the first 100,000 ThankYou Points you redeem per year, so for a no fee card it packs a good amount of value.

Final word

Overall, product changing with Citibank can be a little bit tricky sometimes. This is especially true with the 24-month ThankYou bonus rule. But by switching to the right cards, you can increase your odds of avoiding that reset and hopefully earn a bonus a lot quicker!

Daniel Gillaspia

$125 American Airlines Flight Discount Guide [2021]

Many travel credit cards offer you special bonuses when you hit a certain threshold of annual spend. The Citi AAdvantage Platinum Select is another one of these cards offering you the ability to earn a $125 American Airlines flight discount.

But is it worth putting a lot of spend on this card to earn this benefit and what are all of the restrictions that apply? In this article, I’ll break down everything you need to know about the $125 American Airlines flight discount.

What is the $125 American Airlines flight discount?

The $125 American Airlines flight discount is a special perk offered by the Platinum Select that you can receive after you spend $20,000 during your card membership year.

Before jumping into the details of the flight discount perk, it’s worth pointing out that the Citi AAdvantage Platinum Select also has other solid perks like free checked bags and some pretty decent bonus earning rates which consist of the following:

2X on purchases on American Airlines
2X at restaurants (including cafes, bars, lounges, and fast food restaurants)
2X at gas stations

You can also get “Preferred Boarding” on American Airlines flights for up to four companions traveling with you and listed in the same reservation.

Tip: Use WalletFlo for all your credit card needs. It’s free and will help you optimize your rewards and savings!

Is the $125 American Airlines flight discount worth it?

Any time you have to spend $20,000 to receive a perk it’s a good idea to ask yourself if it is really worth it?

If you are somebody who only uses the Citi AAdvantage Platinum Select credit card and easily hit the $20,000 threshold every year, then it’s just a matter of whether or not you will use the benefit.

But if you are not somebody who would normally spend $20,000 on the the Citi AAdvantage Platinum Select credit card then you definitely want to consider other options.

I say that because you can find more lucrative bonuses with other cards. For example, the Hilton Surpass will give you a free night after you spend $15,000.

That free night could easily be worth several hundred dollars so you would get a lot more value for even less spend.

So make sure you are aware of the alternatives!

$125 American Airlines flight discount rules

In order to receive the flight discount, you must spend $20,000 or more during your card membership year. This means that this park is given out on an anniversary year basis (the spending counter does not reset at the new year unless that is your account anniversary).

As soon as you open up your card, you can begin working toward the spend for this benefit and the deadline for your spend will be at or around your account anniversary.

Every year after that, the deadline will be 12 months from the billing period after your annual fee bills through the next billing period your annual fee bills.

Closing your card

The terms and conditions state “[t]o receive the Flight Discount, your account must be open for one billing cycle after your annual fee is billed..”

This would suggest that you will need to pay the annual fee in order to receive the benefit.

Expiration

The discount will expire one year from the date of issuance. However, due to the coronavirus pandemic they have offered extensions such as six month extensions.

The terms state that after you qualify for the discount, it could take 8 to 12 weeks for delivery of your discount. But in reality a lot of perks like this can arrive much quicker so be on the lookout.

Eligible Airlines

As you would probably expect, you can use your discount on ticket purchases for flights marketed and operated by American Airlines.

But you can also use the discount on flights marketed by American Airlines and operated by:

Compass Airlines
Envoy Air
Republic Airways
SkyWest Airlines
Mesa Airlines
PSA Airlines
Piedmont Airlines

Just make sure that the itineraries are originating in the U.S., Puerto Rico, or U.S. Virgin Islands, and sold in US Dollars.

Something that is really cool about this benefit is that it can also be redeemed for air travel on oneworld carriers or American Airlines codeshare flights. A lot of co-branded airline credit card perks do not extend to partner airlines so this is a great enhancement to the value of this benefit.

Base fare

You can only use this discount toward the base airfare and directly associated taxes, fees, and other charges that are collected as the normal part of a fare calculation.

So if there are flight products or services that are sold separately this discount will not apply.

Using the benefit

You can use the benefit online at AA.com or you can also use it by calling American Airlines Reservations. (If you choose to book your ticket over the phone, you might be subject to booking fees so consider that.)

Once you pull up your desired flight, go to the other forms of payment option and then select the option for “Gift card/Travel Voucher/flight discounts.”

You will then get the opportunity to enter your discount code.

If the price of your ticket is more than the value of your discount, then you will need to pay the difference with a credit, debit or charge card, or with American Airlines Gift Cards.

If you decide to cancel or change your ticket, the flight discount will be forfeited and you will be responsible for any change fees or the difference in airfare.

Another thing that is cool about this benefit is that you can use the discount to book a flight for somebody else. Just provide them with the discount code and they should be able to apply it at check out with no issue.

Final word

The $125 discount is a decent perk if you regularly fly with American Airlines. However, I would take a close look at the alternative bonuses you could earn with $20,000 worth of spend. In some cases, you might be able to come out with much more value.

Daniel Gillaspia

Citi Prestige Lounge Access Policy (Priority Pass) [2020]

The Citi Prestige is an interesting credit card because it’s not marketed quite as well as other premium cards but it does offer tremendous value to certain niche customers. People who spend a lot on dining can take advantage of 5X on dining and there’s also the 4th night free benefit that can still be very valuable for the right person.

But another group that can benefit a lot from the Citi Prestige are those who want lounge access for more than two people. In this article, I’ll tell you everything you need to know about the Citi Prestige Priority Pass Select lounge access.

What is the Citi Prestige Lounge policy?

The Citi Prestige lounge policy allows for entrance into Priority Pass lounges for yourself and up to two guests and/or immediate family members.

Here is exactly what the terms and conditions state:

Primary and Authorized users are granted complimentary access to the Priority Pass lounges and allowed a maximum of up to two guests or and immediate family members (spouse, domestic partner and/or children under 18 years of age).

Because you can bring in immediate family members, the Citi Prestige has one of the most generous lounge access policies for families. Most other premium cards like the Chase Sapphire Reserve and American Express Platinum Card limit your membership to only two additional guests.

What about additional guests?

If you want to bring in additional guests you will have to pay $27 per guest. Keep in mind that some lounges do have capacity constraints so you would not always be able to pay for additional guests. If you are heading to a lounge during peak hours then you are more likely to encounter these type of restrictions.

Note that these restraints are different from the limitations put on Priority Pass members in general. For example, some lounges won’t allow any Priority Pass members during certain hours. The restraints I’m referring to here are essentially subjective determinations of overcrowding made by the lounges.

Tip: Use WalletFlo for all your credit card needs. It’s free and will help you optimize your rewards and savings!

Citi Prestige authorized users Priority Pass

Authorized users for the Citi Prestige are also allowed Priority Pass membership. This is a great deal because you can add authorized users for only $75 per user, on par with the $75 required to add authorized users to the Chase Sapphire Reserve.

What about Admirals Club access?

The Citi Prestige no longer allows complimentary American Airlines Admirals Club access as of July 2017. Many people saw this as a huge devaluation when it happened and as a result a lot of people canceled their Prestige cards.

How do you sign up for Priority Pass?

You should be automatically signed up for the Citi Prestige Priority Pass once approved so you shouldn’t have to worry about enrolling yourself. This is in contrast to a lot of other credit cards that force you to enroll. For example, you may have to log into your account and click through a few buttons in order to trigger your membership.

But that is not the case with Citibank. After you’ve been approved, your Priority Pass card should arrive in about one week.

Note: It’s not possible to expedite your Priority Pass card although you can expedite your Citi Prestige card.

Are Priority Pass lounges legit?

In case you were not aware, Priority Pass is a network of over 1,100 lounges located all across the globe. The quality of these lounges can vary dramatically depending on your location. For the most part, I have not been very impressed with many of the lounges located in the US.

However, when traveling internationally I tend to get more from them. This is especially the case on some of our round the world trips where arrival lounges can be a lifesaver with early or odd-time arrivals.

Even though some of the domestic lounges are a bit underwhelming they still are better than waiting out by the gate the vast majority of the time. (Sometimes the lounges are ridiculously crowded and I prefer to just wait outside by the gate.)

If you are truly interested in a more premium lounge experience than you might look into a card like the American Express Platinum Card. That card, in my opinion, has the best lounge access out of any credit card on the market. Not only do you get Priority Pass Select membership, but you also get entrance into a lot other lounges including Centurion Lounges and Delta Sky Clubs (when flying Delta).

Amex Las Vegas Centurion Lounge membership desk.

Is the Citi Prestige worth it?

Beyond the lounge access, you might be wondering if the Citi Prestige is worth it. Well, after the new Citi Prestige relaunch, the card comes with some enhanced benefits. The 4th night free got limited to two uses per year and lost concierge booking but it does have some new valuable perks.

The Citi Prestige offers 5x points on dining and air travel/travel agencies and 3x points on cruises and hotels. 5X on dining is very impressive when compared to the competitors.

The $250 airline credit on the new Prestige is much broader and will be activated upon making any kind of travel purchase including:

Travel Purchases are defined as purchases made within the travel category, including purchases from airlines, hotels, car rental agencies, travel agencies/travel aggregators/tour operators, commuter transportation, ferries, commuter railways, subways, taxis/limousines/car services, passenger railways, cruise lines, bridge and road tolls, parking lots/garages, and bus lines.

You’ll also get a nice cell phone protection benefit and some great travel protections which come in the following forms:

Update: The Citi Prestige lost many of its benefits below:

Trip cancellation and interruption
Trip delay protection
Baggage delay protection
Lost baggage protection
Roadside assistance
Travel in emergency assistance
World wide travel accident insurance
Medical evacuation

Final word

The Citi Prestige has one of the best Priority Pass Select memberships for families since you can bring in two guests and your immediate family members. The additional benefits of the Prestige card aren’t too shabby, either. The Prestige isn’t for everybody but if you fall into one of the right niches, it’s a great card.

Daniel Gillaspia

How Long Do Citi Cards Take to Arrive? [2020]

A common question is “how long will my credit card take to arrive?”

Every issuer can be different and in this article, I’ll focus on how long it takes for Citi cards to arrive. I’ll discuss new approvals, lost and stolen cards, expedited deliveries, and how long you can expect to wait to receive product changes.

Interested in finding out the top travel credit cards for this month? Click here to check them out!

How long do Citi cards take to arrive?

Citi states:

Once your application is approved, you will receive your card within 14 days.

You might also receive an email stating that your card will arrive in 7 to 10 days.

The actual delivery time from Citi can vary, however. A lot of people have received their cards within 7 days (four to five business days). So I would generally expect Citi take about 10 days to issue my credit card.

By the way, if you’re looking to maximize rewards while waiting for your cards to arrive, consider getting a card like the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card.

Tip: Use WalletFlo for all your credit card needs. It’s free and will help you optimize your rewards and savings!

Will Citi expedite my credit card delivery?

If you’ve just been approved for a new credit card, Citi will likely NOT allow you to expedite your card for delivery. Some people have had success in the past when requesting expedited delivery but generally Citi appears to decline those requests.

You might have some luck if you explain why you need that card expedited. For example, if you have a large and important purchase on the horizon, you might be able to persuade Citi to expedite your card for that purchase. I just wouldn’t go in expecting Citi to do so, however.

With the launch of the new Citi Prestige in January 2019, we might see Citi implement a new delivery system for its premium cards (but I wouldn’t count on it).

Lost or stolen cards?

If your card has been lost or stolen, Citi will usually send you a replacement card on an expedited basis. Citi actually has a way for you to track your replacement cards via mobile.

Upgrades and product changes

If you’ve upgraded, downgraded, or done a product change with Citi, there’s a good chance that you could be waiting a very long time for your new card to arrive. I’ve had to wait 6+ weeks for cards to arrive after a product change before. I’m not sure what takes so long but product changes seem to be on the bottom of the totem pole when it comes to delivery times.

Here are some cards I’ve had to wait a long time to receive when dealing with product changes and upgrades/downgrades:

Citi DoubleCash
Citi Diamond Preferred
Citi Simplicity
Citi Platinum Select
Citi ThankYou Premier

What can you do if forced to wait?

If Citi takes longer than two weeks to issue your new card or they keep dragging things out with a product change delivery, then I suggest that you call in to check on the status of the delivery. You might have to do this on a continual basis but it might be necessary. You might be able to request an expedited delivery at some point if you’ve waited longer than what Citi stated you should expect to wait.

Also, you could try to request some form of compensation for your waiting time. I once was given 1,000 AA miles since my Citi Platinum Select card didn’t arrive before the stated time.

Final word

Citi has a bad reputation when it comes to their IT department and so credit card delivery times can be an issue you face when dealing with Citi. For new cards you should expect to receive them within 7 to 10 days but keep an eye out for how long it takes to receive your card. If it takes longer than what Citi stated it would, definitely call in and inquire about expediting and/or receiving compensation in the form of miles or points.

Daniel Gillaspia

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