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100,000 AA Miles and Lounge Passes With Citi Visa/Amex Cards

by on October 12, 2011 · 54 comments

in American, Citi, Credit Cards

This week we saw the phenomenal 75,000 mile AA card deals die. Those offers were good all year long and I know many of you were able to get in on those deals.

For those unfamiliar with applying for Citi cards – you can get two personal cards on the same day and it will only be one inquiry on your credit and the credit line will be identical on both cards. Some people recommend using two browsers, but the last time I applied and got two in one day I applied using the same browser and did one right after another and I had no issues getting approved for both. I suppose though it’s better to be safe than sorry, so if you want to go for both applications, then use two different browsers.

General rules:
1) There are many types of Citi cards – Visa, American Express and Mastercard (usually the least lucrative) and business versions of each. If you’ve gotten one of them in the past, you should just apply for a different type and you should be eligible.
2) If its been over 18 months since you’ve been approved for a card you currently have, it may be possible to apply for it again and get approved as a new card-member.
3) If you wait 61+ days after getting your two personal cards, you can get a business card as well – essentially bringing your haul to 150,000 AA miles. Not bad since all of the annual fees are waived for the first year.
4) If you apply for a business card, you will most likely be asked to provide documentation that you actually have a business.

Unlike the 75,000 mile offers, the 50,000 sign-up bonuses are clearly outlined before you apply so you don’t have to worry whether you applied for the right offer. All applications can be reached through this landing page.

Each card has a $2,500 spend within the first 4 months. Key benefits:
- Two Admirals Club one-day passes (~$100 value)
• 2  AA miles for every $1 spent on eligible American Airlines purchases and 1 AAdvantage® mile for every $1 spent on other purchases.
• Reduced mileage awards for Citi cardholders

In general, I think these offers are better than the current 50,000 point offers for the Citi Thank You Premier (update: bonus has been reduced to 30,000 points) and ThankYou Preferred cards – especially if you are trying to get as many miles to count towards your AA million miler status before they stop counting all credit card earning on December 1, 2011!

Disclaimer: This content is not provided or commissioned by the credit card issuer. Opinions expressed here are author.s alone, not those of the credit card issuer, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the credit card issuer. This site may be compensated through the credit card issuer Affiliate Program.

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  • shawn

    I appled for the personal cards and then 6 months later applied for the business. Does anyone know If the 18 month clock for the personal cards is still applicable, or do I need to wait 18 months from the time of the business card? Thanks

  • http://www.leeschneider.com leeschneider

    How does this work intra-household? Can I apply for the 1 card I don’t have yet (citi aa amex) and have my wife also apply for the two cards (citi aa amex/visa)?

  • Nathan

    I applied for the Visa a few months ago and not the AMEX because I already had it (sadly). However, I am soon to hit the 18 month mark on the AMEX. Do you think I would be approved if I apply, or do I have to wait 18 months from when I applied for the Visa?

  • tassojunior

    The biz card churn also ended recently. While it used to be 90 days Citi now refuses a new AA biz card if you’ve had a prior AA biz card recently.

  • Benthelefty

    Unfortunately I didn’t know about this until it was too late (or maybe not!). I applied for the TY Premier for 50k yesterday…could I apply for both these Citi cards without any problem? My credit is strong enough but I’m wondering about # of apps…thanks in advance!

  • Iolaire

    lesschneider – yes that works for all cards. That is the way that couples rack of 100,000′s to millions of miles.

  • PJ

    I am not an expert. I do know almost for sure you and your wife or your kids are completely separate entities. I was working on Chase BA>.so i got Chase Sapphire Preferred in my daughter’s name. To my surprise her credit score was much stronger than mine. We both applied for Southwest and she got approved straightly versus I had to allocate credit out of my Freedom and BA cards to get Hyatt and SOuthwest cards on the same day..( so much for the one card 63 days theory at Chase) ..all i am saying is: use as many accounts as possible to get as many miles as possbile. Wish my wife could have been more responsibe to then huge sign on bonuses…

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_TYLL2AEDBGZFQBYC6XFTZCFG2Y Darren
  • Federico

    I’m on the same situation

  • Anonymous

    And can you explain how 40,000 miles after $5,000 spend is better than 50,000 miles after $2,500 spend?

  • Aaron Gordon

    So I got a Mastercard 16 months ago, can I apply for a Visa and Amex now and not worry about the 18 month rule? Or does it apply for the different cards?

  • Anonymous

    According to FT there’s actually yet another offer floating around, which is 50,000 miles after $3000 spend in 4 months, the good part being that you get a $100 statement credit and a domestic coach companion ticket with no minimum fare class. However, it may or may not have been targeted. That way you get the 100k AA miles but also $200 in AA statement credits and 2 domestic round trip companion vouchers after a higher minimum spend.

    That is not the offer Darren was referring to though.

    You could make the argument that if someone redeems primarily for coach tickets domestically then those round-trip companion vouchers (especially after the $100 off the primary’s ticket) are “worth” 25,000 miles. I don’t do that, so not to me, but I could see someone making that argument.

  • Travisair

    Darren must be seeing something that we aren’t :)

  • Corinne L.

    Hi Brian!! I got in on the 150,000 Citi AAdvantage Visa Signature/Amex deal about three weeks ago through the links in your blog. My question is about the two Admirals Club passes. Should I call or send a secure message explaining how I applied for and received their card (one call to Amex and one to Visa) and ask them for the passes since I only got the cards within the past month? Do you think this would work or do you think it would be too greedy on my part? Please be honest. Also, I used the same method as you with applying for both cards in the same browser one right after another…without any glitches.

  • Anonymous

    Hey- it never hurts to ask! It’s not greedy- its savvy. Greedy would be having a tantrum if they deny you. Keep us updated!

  • Josh_brooks

    Might be a luck of the draw thing, or they are cracking down. I tried to do both at the same time (different browsers). Got approved for both, but never got the visa. Called to inquire, no record of it. Applied again: “denied as I already had the Amex.”

  • BeachMiles

    Two browser trick just worked for me. 50 + 50

  • makoshark

    hi arcticbull, can you please post the link or phone number for the offer you mentioned?
    sounds like a great one

  • makoshark

    Hi Points Guy,
    My husband and I both took advantage of the previous 75,000 mile offer. I would love to sign up for this, but we haven’t yet canceled those cards so we won’t make the timeline. For future reference, how frequently should we cancel our cards so that we are consistently eligible? The 18 month timeline seems pretty long, and we don’t want to miss out on miles for every day purchases. Thanks!

  • Bill Dinner

    Thank You!
    Thanks to you I just received notice that I made the 1,000,000 mile mark with American Airlines. I signed up and just received noticed that I received 150,000 miles for signing up for the two personal Citi cards.

    Interestingly – My wife just received a new offer from Citi for a 100,000 bonus thank you point master card card worth up to $1330 in airfare as long as you use there travel “thank you travel center” (as good as Kayak?). Have you seen this? It appears very good.

  • Pianistat

    My Citi Biz AA card was recently reissued (with a new number) due to somebody (not me) trying to make a big purchase with the old number. Citi notified me, closed the old card and issued a new one. Now my question is do you think in their system I am now somewhat of a higher risk, and thus my chances to being approved for a new card not very favorable? Thanks

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1423706237 Spencer Wheelwright

    I applied for the Citi AAdvantage AMEX using this latest deal/link, but after receiving a “pending” response, I got denied because they said the offer was for first-time Citi AAdvantage cardholders only (and I already got the Visa about 70 days ago). I guess I’m out of luck?

  • Richard1148

    Is there any disadvantage to using the shortcut for having another Citi card? I have the Citi HH Visa, but no AA cards. I seem to recall reading somewhere not to use the shortcut for an Amex promo a while back, as you would not then get the bonus. I don’t want to update Citi with my current employent info, which is not as lucrative as before. I have always paid the full balance each month on time, so if they go by my history with them, then I would think that I would be approved.

  • Awesomedrafter

    I’m in the same situation. Did the VISA cards about 9 months ago. Now tried the AMEX. Gonna give them a call and tell them how I need an AMEX card to compliment my VISA, see what happens.

  • http://profiles.google.com/awindenberger Aurelien Windenberger

    If my girlfriend has already had a Visa AA card for over two years, does she need to cancel it first and wait 18 months, or can she apply for a new one and get approved right away because its been longer then 18months?

  • Jonathan Futrell

    Thanks for the post TPG – is it possible to merge FF accounts after applying for the card? I.E. consolidate my wife’s 150k points with my 150k points? Thanks.

  • Bill

    You most likely will not get both.

    In order to get both, you must apply on the same day. There is an epic thread on FlyerTalk about this. The thread discusses the 75K cards, but it would still apply here.

    General consensus was you need about 18 months between apps to get the “First Time” bonus again.

  • Josh_brooks

    Points Guy: Is there a new link for a 50K American Business card? Old link doesn’t work. Thanks!

  • Independent_Pea

    Does anyone know which credit bureau citibank uses to clear your credit for the card? I have all 3 of mine frozen and it would save a few bucks to know which one(s) to unfreeze before I apply. . . .

  • James

    I applied for the business card and they requested I send proof of the business address with a utility bill bank statement etc with the company name on it. I do have a new half legitimate business (just not making any money yet but it is a sole proprietorship with everything in my name…anyone have this problem or have any ideas?

  • Yogotmilk

    The 18 month rule…Is that from when you first applied for the card???Or when you actually cancel the card?

  • Independent Pea

    Slammed.

    I applied with the two browser trick on Friday evening for the Citi Visa and the Citi Am Ex. I currently have open an AAadvantage Citi Visa that I have had some 10-20 years. Additionally, only a month ago I closed my AAadvantage Citi Am Ex (after receiving the 100,000 points and having the card for 1 year exactly). I do realize that Points Guy tells us to wait 16 months from receiving the card (not 12 months as I did), but I was going for a last ditch effort to get to elite status, so went for broke, just to see what would happen. I received notification via email that both applications were denied within 2 minutes of each other. The reason on both – the Am Ex and the Visa – were that their records show that I have a previous Citi account “that was recently closed.” (BTW, I have a rockin’ credit score, so I don’t believe creditworthiness to be factoring in.) So on the Visa, they dinged me for the recently closed Citi Am Ex. They did invite me to “re-open” it, in both emails, by calling within 30 days. . . . wondering if I should reopen and get whatever paltry miles they offer me (as I do need a second card for an upcoming trip to India) or leave it alone and try to apply again in another 6 months.

    Any advice Points Guy?

  • T.R.W.

    I second Aurelien’s question. This post is not very clear about the 18 month rule.

    1. Should I cancel my Visa AA card, wait 18months, then apply for a new one?
    2. Should I keep the Visa AA card active, wait 18months, then apply for a new one?

    Thanks for the help all.

  • Andreas

    How do I get the lounge passes from that deal?

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  • Jp

    Josh,
    I did the same thing…but got the VISA and not the AMEX. Again, they had no record of my AMEX application. And then I realized that if you don’t clear the cache and cookies on your computer…it processes it like the same first app. Helped out two other people and this time we did it at the same time…but on different computers and it worked perfectly. So my 75,000 miles mistake at least helped both girls. Hahaha. jp

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  • Bterr

    This deal seems to be dead. It is now 40,000 miles, listed both on their website and over the phone. I missed the 50K deal but I guess 40K isn’t bad.

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  • Bterr

    I just applied for this and will see if it goes through. It seems BeachMiles comment was from 3 months ago. If it works and I get my 50K miles option, I’ll repost and you can disregard my earlier comment about the deal being dead.

  • benoit

    2 different browsers leading to 100K miles still works. applied for the card in late October, met both minimum spending in November, and the 50K bonus miles posted on the December statement.

    thank you, Points Guy!

    Andreas, the lounge passes will come in the mail after you meet minimum spending. I have just recently received mine.

  • bterr

    Yes, I just got the visa card in the mail and although the letter did not say anything about the promotional 50K miles. So I called up Citi and they confirmed that after spending $2500 in the first 4 months, the 50K will kick in. Benoit said that he just received his lounge passes in the mail, but the rep on the phone told me that I could just go to the lounge and present my card there to use the passes. I am not traveling any time soon, so I don’t know if this will work. I’ll look out for the passes once I meet the spending and check back here. This is cool. Thanks points guy!

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  • Marshall

    Two browser trick just worked for me. 50+50. Thanks!

  • Dan

    Got approved for the Visa and Amex/ Thanks!

  • Samir

    which city cards can you apply for to get a bonus if you already have the 2 from the prior post that gave 75K / card?

  • Beekbake

    I tried the landing page yesterday and today and got an error messaget that there is a delay in processing my request and to try again later. No bueno.

  • Tehilarus

    im trying to log in to 50000 citi card but it keeps on coming up as system error

  • Pranay

    Has this sign up bonus expired with the new AA perks? I tried to apply today using your link for the 50k sign up bonus however it will not let me apply for them. I went to the CITI AA site and their cards only show 30k sign up bonus

  • Diamond Vargas

    Hey Points Guy – it looks like this deal might be dead. Based on the comments over the last few weeks and my experience just now, people have been getting a “system processing” error and are unable to apply.

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