Updated on April 5, 2017
Background
The Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World Elite™ Mastercard® sign-up bonus of 100K + $200 statement credit was the signup of the year for 2014! Last year, it was possible to score the sign-up bonus over and over again, without cancelling the current Citi card. There have been reports of people who had 5+ active cards and patiently following (waiting for) the 8/65 day rule before the next application. There were even reports of those who cancelled the card after receiving the bonus in order to avoid the $450 AF.
6/13/15 Update: This offer is no longer available. The 1 working zombie link now errors out.
Recent Changes
Well, Citibank has been clamping down on its Citi AA credit card sign-up bonuses for the past half-year. It’s gotten so strict that Citi will reject applications for Citi AA cards simply because the applicant has a current or previous Citi AA product. For example, an applicant would be rejected for the Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Elite MasterCard® because he was a current or previous holder of the Citi Exec AA card.
Many of the current application links have the dreaded “American Airlines AAdvantage® bonus miles are not available if you have had a Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World Elite™ Mastercard® opened or closed in the past 18 months” message:
Working Sign-Up Link
Fortunately, a Flyertalk contributor discovered a link without the prohibitive 18 month language. There is no landing page, so don’t sign up if you feel uncomfortable doing so. However, many have confirmed on this Flyertalk thread that the 50k bonuses have posted to their AA accounts, despite being a current or previous holder of any Citi AA product. Here is the link you should use (non-affiliate link – aka I do not receive a commission):
- Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World Elite™ Mastercard® 50K offer (without the prohibitive 18 month language – no landing page, will have to apply on good faith)
Avoiding the $450 Annual Fee
It’s possible to avoid the $450 AF but I do not recommend doing so and will not get into details of how to do this. Peruse through this Flyertalk thread if you insist on learning how. If the 50k sign-up bonus and the many perks that come with the card do not justify the AF, you probably should not sign up.
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Too much sharing. I hope not too many people are following your blog.
10s of 10s of subscribers so far! Good chance you are the only reader of this post
It’s been tough to balance the 8/65 day rule with the recent advent of the prestige and premier sign ups. I had to take a break from the AA exec To squeeze in these 2 new signups. In any case, ditto w your comment. Citi controls been broken since the advent of time. Gotta wonder why it’s a $5 stock (reverse split adjusted)
As Taylor Swift says, haters gonna hate hate hate. Shake it off, shake it off!
Any anecdotal evidence of “It’s gotten so strict that Citi will reject applications for Citi AA cards simply because the applicant has a current or previous Citi AA product”
i got in on the aa exec… would HATE to wait 18 months FROM CLOSURE of the Executive card to open a regular platinum AA card…
I can tell you from personal experience this is the case. If my word is not good enough, check the FT thread and it’s in the wiki based on many similar experiences.
I’ve read FT. Nothing clear and there are several wikis of different timing and of different rules by Citi which change and adapt to marketing needs. If you have recent personal experience then let us know, why not? T&C doesn’t state different cards outright will dq you.
Sorry I should have clarified. Was rejected in Jan 2015 for the citi aa biz card, letter indicated that reason was because I was already a holder of an aa citi card and the only one I had active was the citi exec aa. I do not know for sure when the 18 month clock starts and historically there has been no hard and fast rule – it’s when enough time has passed (in citi’s eyes)
Thanks. Last aa exec app for me around June ’14 (1 of 2 execs, both canceled). Just applied for MC 30k. Got approved and letter stating 30k. Now we’ll see I suppose… Last MC definitely over two yrs. terms only state in regards to prev MCs. We’ll see…
come on bro…this is common knowledge. why advertise this so it dies. at least let people do some work and read FT like the rest of us.
Similar posts were published starting a year ago – still alive today. If there is one blog Citi does not follow, it would be this one!
Getting the miles and avoiding the fee is simply dis-honest. Too bad a few rotten apples caused the rest of us to lose an opportunity for multiple cards. Too bad Citi wasn’t smart enough to have written into their T’s and C’s that one had to hold the card a certain amount of time or the miles would be cancelled or charged in some way. And if they did, too bad they didn’t enforce their T’s and C’s.
Not as smart as Barclays. The U.S. Airways card (when it existed) required AF payment before the 50k bonus was credited. Then again, Barclays allowed multiple signups, which has since been shut down.
Do people report getting the $200 statement credit also?
Thanks for posting this and sharing! Dont worry bout people complaining, there are many more who appreciate it but just don’t take the time to write comments.