Did Citi Just Add A Lifetime Limit On Signup Bonuses? (Probably Not)

(Update: Mark from MtM notes that this language was added some months ago. Given it’s been around for some months and we haven’t heard of anyone getting denied a bonus, I’d guess that there is no new rule limiting to one bonus per lifetime. One of the other interpretations, mentioned below, must be their intent.)

Readers point out that there’s a new qualifying line for the signup bonus on the new 80,000 points Citi Premier signup bonus (direct Citi link):

Bonus ThankYou® Points are not available if you received a new cardmember bonus for Citi Premier® Card within the first 3 months of account opening.

It’s quite vague as to what they mean to exclude, but it’s possible they mean to say that if you’ve ever gotten a Citi Premier signup bonus (within 3 months) in your life, then you aren’t eligible. It’s also possible they are simply saying that you can’t get two bonuses for the same signup. Or maybe they are somehow trying to prevent someone from signing up for two cards at the same time and getting two bonuses. According to these latter interpretations, you can get a second bonus for the Citi Premier card, e.g. if you got a bonus 5 years ago, you can get another bonus now.

This new qualifier is in addition to the regular line of not having received a bonus or closed a card within the past 24 months – a confusing rule in its own right which we discuss in detail in this post.

If there is indeed a new rule here, there’d be two separate limitations to Citi signup bonuses: 1) each card bonus can only be received once in your lifetime, 2) even a card which you never got a bonus on, you still need to wait 24 months since you got a bonus on the ThankYou family.

Reader boomX reports that when applying over the phone for the same 80,000 offer the new terms were not there. I did some searching and found a signup link for the new offer which does not contain the line and should not have the new rule (if there even is a new rule).

Link with new qualifier | Link without new qualifier

I’ve updated the link in our original post to the link without the new qualifier. Note, the new qualifier is found on affiliate links which bloggers are using, so you might to avoid those if you’ve already gotten the Premier signup bonus until we get greater clarity on this new rule. Also note, the new language is only showing on the Citi Premier card; at this time it’s not showing on signup bonuses for other cards, such as the Rewards+.

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26 Comments
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Rye
Rye (@guest_1228729)
July 26, 2021 11:20

Does the Link without new qualifier still work?

Acid Bath
Acid Bath (@guest_1220151)
July 9, 2021 05:45

1) Is the first part lifetime language?
2) Why say the second part (e.g. close any accounts in past 24 months) at all when the first part trumps the second part?
“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.”

Sam
Sam (@guest_1219910)
July 8, 2021 18:15

I am not sure how this works so I will ask away, can you get the bonus if you have Premier card and was opened 3+ years ago. I didnt close it or PC it. Any ideas?

MAS
MAS (@guest_1219927)
July 8, 2021 18:36

Yes, you are eligible for the bonus.

“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.”

Ranga
Ranga (@guest_1219818)
July 8, 2021 15:41

I did check in with the Citi CS and they did mention Im eligible for the bonus offer. I downgraded my Premier to Rewards+ 3 years ago

Mark Ostermann
Mark Ostermann (@guest_1219788)
July 8, 2021 15:09

Been around for a while now – was targeting a certain gaming aspect of their cards.

https://milestomemories.com/citi-adds-new-anti-gaming-language/

Mark
Mark (@guest_1219878)
July 8, 2021 17:16

Thanks Mark – do you know what the 3-month language prevents? Apparently there was a loophole for double dipping that I wasn’t aware of.

Kyle
Kyle (@guest_1220053)
July 8, 2021 22:43

Goes likes this:
1) you are currently in the clear regarding not having opened or close a TYP account within 24 months
2) apply for TYP card #1, do not meet min spend right away
3) apply for TYP card #2, meet min spend, get bonus
4) meet min spend for TYP card #1, get bonus

Without this new 3 month language, the above was possible. Hell, when Citi was a bit looser with apps, you could do 3, 4, even 5 cards at once and get the bonus for all of them within the 3 months. The bonus restriction was only used for card applications and not used after you received the card.

Mark Ostermann
Mark Ostermann (@guest_1220079)
July 8, 2021 23:30

^^^ This

Mark
Mark (@guest_1220109)
July 9, 2021 01:08

Got it! Thanks for the detailed rundown, really helpful.

Acid Bath
Acid Bath (@guest_1220149)
July 9, 2021 05:35

Damn, that is smart!
But it did have language that said the bonus was NOT available if you received the bonus in the past 24 months. This would mean, if TYP card #2 got the bonus, then TYP card #1 would NOT get the bonus. (e.g. you just received the bonus within 24 months.)
The only way I can think this would work is that if the bonus promotion was “tied” to the to the “point in time” when the account was “opened.” So all the TYP cards you opened would follow that rule (like being frozen in time). Then, all of the TYP cards before #3 (so #1 and #2) could get the welcome promotion.
Kyle

jsl
jsl (@guest_1220233)
July 9, 2021 10:53

This is exactly how it worked. I’d argue that it was entirely enforceable to deny a bonus for another card, even if it was opened before the bonus on another card was met, so I’m not sure why they had to add language to do that – it seems like more of an IT issue to me (because… Citi).

Mark
Mark (@guest_1219783)
July 8, 2021 15:06

Interesting. I’m not sure what the 3-month language means, but at the moment it seems to be unique to the promo landing page. I don’t see it on the standard website yet, located here: https://www.citi.com/credit-cards/citi-premier-credit-card.

Andrew C
Andrew C (@guest_1219778)
July 8, 2021 15:01

lol, that is definitely not what they mean. This is intended to close (what I thought was) a fairly well-known loophole.

James L
James L (@guest_1219784)
July 8, 2021 15:08

I agree, it seems to be directed at closing the double dip loophole.

Sam
Sam (@guest_1219888)
July 8, 2021 17:33

Uhh I thought was gangsta when I discovered I got the annual fee credited back automatically after a quick 1 month hitting the premier spend and closing after immediate redemption. People were getting multiple premiers right after each other and bonuses on both???

Chuck
Chuck (@guest_1219892)
July 8, 2021 17:35

But why isn’t that excluded given the 24 month bonus clause?

Sam
Sam (@guest_1219896)
July 8, 2021 17:43

No idea if that is even the loophole referenced wish I had first hand knowledge lol. I think this could be Citis announcement they figured out how the IT thing works but not English just yet lol! Maybe similar to chase not counting their own new card internally if it’s not on your report yet (even personal) for 5/24.

Kafka
Kafka (@guest_1219956)
July 8, 2021 19:18

Eligibility under 24-mo is determined at the time of account opening. This sounds like Citi’s added a second check at the time of paying out.

SPY220p
SPY220p (@guest_1220021)
July 8, 2021 21:34

The 24 month rule referred to receiving a bonus. So you can open a second account before receiving the bonus for the first one, and get a second bonus.

Mark
Mark (@guest_1220051)
July 8, 2021 22:34

Ahh got it, thanks for clearing it up!

Mark
Mark (@guest_1219795)
July 8, 2021 15:14

What did the loophole involve?

NotARider
NotARider (@guest_1219828)
July 8, 2021 15:59

I think the TrAAin

psh
psh (@guest_1219776)
July 8, 2021 15:00

+1 to DoC for finding a link without the new language. You rock!