We have written extensively in a series of posts about the Citi AA Platinum Loophole. If you are new to this loophole, follow the links below to catch up:
We successfully applied for, and earned the bonus on, four rounds of Citi AA Platinum cards. This earned a significant amount of points for us. Amid rumors of the loophole being closed, I conducted a survey, which I described in Update #3. We decided to apply for our 5th round of cards, and I am sad to report that neither of us got a bonus tracker on our account.
Do not misunderstand me. I am not declaring that the loophole is closed completely, but I am adding our datapoint to the mix. We applied via a public 50,000 point link. Brooke had closed one of her World Elite cards, and I had product-changed mine to a Double Cash. Neither of us got a bonus tracker on our latest cards. For us, this will be the end of the line with this particular loophole. As a point of reflection, we were able to earn a total of 460,000 AA miles using only this loophole. Add that to the points we earned from our Barclays US Airways cards, Citi AA Executive Cards, and Citigold Checking accounts, and we should be ok for a little while :).
If you choose to apply for an additional round of AA Platinum cards, do so at your own risk. Good luck!
Same here. It was only my second one so I’m really bummed because I basically never got to try this loophole out. The odd thing is, on the date I got approved (had to call in since my application went to pending), the rep told me that I WOULD receive a bonus. However, when I received the new card in the mail, the letter clearly stated that I was not eligible to receive the bonus miles. I called in and got the same info from both a rep and her Supervisor. I’m thinking of maybe contesting this discrepancy, since that initial phone call would be recorded… There was a 2 week lag between the date I got approved over the phone and the date I received my card, so I’m guessing something changed during that period. I’d love to find out if the loophole is actually still open? It sure didn’t work out for me…
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This was exactly our experience. We called in to shift credit around for approval, and the rep confirmed the offer on both cards. When the letters arrived, it was the opposite story.
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Did you have any luck calling and complaining? I had the same experience in that I confirmed with the rep when I applied. I called and complained and the rep said she would put in an investigation on it but i’m wondering if anyone else has done that and had any luck in getting the miles.
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Maybe renew your survey asking for data points for after March 15th…I get the feeling that there will be a lot more “no’s” than in your previous chart 😦
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It would be difficult to re-poll everyone, or to determine which response are new. I believe that you are correct, and that Citi will continue to deny bonuses going forward. Some people may continue to slip through, but they will be the exceptions, not the rule.
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These things are great while they last, so the key is to act quickly and earn your miles as rapidly as possible before they catch onto the game.
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I thought the survey said that the public links weren’t getting bonuses and it was just the links via snail mail or their pre qual tool that people were continuing to get the bonus?
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It said that public links were riskier, but they were still working for some.
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Thought I remembered reading that a PC to a different card or account closure (which you guys both did) would start tge 18 mo clock for receiving a bonus.
Thought about PCing earlier this mo, but I’m holding off to try & get AA card #4.
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This is a possibility and why I included that with our data points. Please report back with your results.
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any luck with getting another one when not closing one out or PC’ing. Thanks.
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Got denied back in April-too many new inquiries, but planning to try again this month.
Still havent closed any out or PC’d, but if Im shot down again Ill probably start shutting them down to aboid AFs.
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[…] { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-13'); }); Another DP from a Reddit member (link): They (husband and wife) were denied bonuses on their 5th cards (one product-changed a WE to […]
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Why in the world would you apply via a public link when FT and your survey all point to the idea it will not work. Targeted mailers are the way to go, as shown in both sources.
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We took a calculated risk. Our survey showed a 2/3 success rate. With four cards already, we were not expecting to get more targeted mailers.
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Not everyone gets targeted mail. I’ve been signing up for lots of credit cards in the last 6 months and the only card offers I get in the mail are from Discover. And yes, I’ve gone through each of the banks and opted in to receive promo materials from them.
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