I covered this fantastic loophole, which allows you to break Citi’s 18-month rule, in a previous post. Be sure to read that post to avoid confusion here. At that point, back in August, Brooke and I had just applied for our second round Citi AA Platinum 50,000 mile bonuses. We got those cards, met the spending, and earned our 50,000 miles each with no sweat! I kept my fingers crossed that the loophole would continue to work, and I was not disappointed.
We applied for our second round of Citi AA Platinum cards on 8/17/15. Based on the timeframe that our first cards were converted from World to World Elite (2 months), I was looking to get a second set of World Elite cards in mid October. Lo and behold, two envelopes arrived on 10/19/15 containing our newly “upgraded” cards. I waited a few more days to make sure we were outside of the Citi 2-app/60-day time limit. Tonight, I submitted applications for our THIRD round of these 50,000 AA mile cards, and we were instantly approved!
In conclusion, this loophole is still alive and well! It looks like we will be able to rinse and repeat this process every two months! If you followed the instructions from our previous post, keep an eye out for your new cards in the mail and go for round 3 with confidence. Combo this with a Citigold Checking Bonus to earn over 100,000 total miles. Cheers!
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[…] UPDATE: We were approved for a THIRD round of Citi AA Platinum 50,000 cards! […]
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Thanks for the update!
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Did you lower your credit limit on any of the other cards before you applied for the third? Want to pull the trigger, but not sure if I should lower some limits. Thanks!
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I did not. Go ahead and apply. If you are denied, call reconsideration and ask to move the lines. This is generally the only way that Citi allows you to move your lines around.
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Thanks, went ahead and applied and it went into pending, which didn’t surprise me. I normally just wait it out on these but I might call today/tomorrow to see if I can resolve over the phone.
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I usually go ahead and call. Up to you tho… Good luck!
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You didn’t just “covered” this fantastic loophole, you “discovered” it!
Kudos to you Jesse!
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[…] hear back within a few hours. Even if you are using the current loophole to get your second or third card, they will still match the bonus as long as you are within 90 days from your application! I was […]
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[…] Citi AA Platinum (#3) […]
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[…] Loophole Travel, FlyerTalk, and Reddit, some folks have had success earning the 50,000 mile sign-up bonus on the […]
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Does this work for the Prestige card too?
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Unfortunately, no.
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Sorry if this has been asked already – can you close the card once it’s been converted to WE (without any impact to the 18 month rule)?
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It should become a different product, but I don’t know if anyone has confirmed this.
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Thanks Jesse. I did some more reading on the Flyertalk thread, and it looks like it is treated as a different product for some folks. I may try it out and see how it plays out 🙂
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You’re welcome! Be sure to report back with your results. Good luck.
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It’s more than a different product. It’s a motherlode. An individual could earn about 350,000 AA miles before the first annual fee hits by churning four personal cards sequentially after the Platinum Select upgrades to WorldElite, adding a business card, meeting the minimum spends, and credit card-funding a Citigold checking and Citi savings account. Out-of-pocket costs are maybe $200-250, depending on checking fees. Sun’s shining. Make hay.
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How do you know if you had a World card to start off with? Does everybody start with the World card and then some/all get upgraded to the World Elite? I can’t remember if it we received new cards or not and we shred old cards especially when they have the same number so we couldn’t even check to verify. Is it possible to call Citi and ask about your account details or something? I wonder if it would show up as two products on the credit report.
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From what I know, they all start as World cards. I wouldn’t call Citi to draw extra attention to your account.
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I had an AA plat for 24 mos in Nov. I was approved for another at that time. Today I got my upgraded world elite. Since Nov I downgraded my original AA to a Citi dividend. Would that downgrade avoid the 18 month rule and now would likely be able to go for another? Or would that downgrade have reset the clock?
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Hard to say… I would be careful with that 18 month rule. The downgrade likely reset your clock.
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How do I get upgraded to WE?
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It should happen automatically after 45-60 days.
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So I received the card and my new World Elite card, but have not yet received the bonus points in my account as of yet. Should I wait for those to go into my account first before I start on the new application? Also I got targeted on the 60,000 should I apply with that referral link or should I just use the regular ones online?
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If you have already met the spend for the previous card, there is no reason to wait. Definitely apply for the higher bonus if you were targeted. Although, we have had 100% success requesting a match to the higher bonus.
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How do you citi accounts work. One thing I hate with citi is that your cards aren’t consolidated into 1 account, do you have a new account for each new aa card?
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I have all 4 of my AA cards under one account. After I activate a new card, I log in and manually add it to my account.
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cool thanks!
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Do you cancel any of the cards after?
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Not until the annual fee comes due, and only if they do not offer a good retention bonus.
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Just applied again, worked like a charm, I even spoke to them over the phone, BOOYAH!
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This is great! I have a question though: I have two open Citi personal cards. One is a Platinum Select from 2011 (not World or WE) and the other is a Platinum Select World card from 2013.
How can I avoid the 18 month rule and get approved for the new World card 50k bonus?
Can I have both cards PC’d to other cards like the Double Cash and Citi Expedia?
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You could try to product change, but I doubt that would be necessary. You are already outside of 18-months, so you should be free to apply now… Even without product changing.
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I was thinking about the language some more. It reads as though someone who currently has a Platinum Select card thats been open for more than 18 month would be eligible. The offer terms don’t seem to prohibit that. Will Citi approve an application for a product that I already have?
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Yes. This is why you should NOT close the card before applying. It is 18 months from open or CLOSE. If you close the card, it would reset the clock.
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Thanks a lot Jesse! Applying shortly. Hopefully this works 🙂
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Good luck!
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Didn’t get instant approval and it asked me to call in. They offered me a couple CL scenarios and then approved me on the phone. So far, so good. I’ll have to check the welcome packet for the offer when it arrives in a couple weeks.
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Congrats on the approval!
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Data point: I was approved and the welcome packet indicated the 50,000 miles after $3k spend promotion.
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Nice! Congrats!
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[…] loophole, which allows you to break Citi’s 18-month rule, in a previous post, and updated here when we got our third cards! Be sure to read those prior posts to avoid confusion here. After […]
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Is it still working?
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[…] Update #1 […]
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Hello everyone! I applied for Citi AA Platinum Select on 2/26/16, and got approved on the same day. I have met my minimum spend and received the 50K bonus.
I received an auto upgrade from WORLD to WORLD ELITE today on 5/21/16. Does that mean I can apply for another Citi AA Platinum Select WORLD MasterCard and get the signup bonus again?
Thank you.
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