This offer has now expired, click this link to see the best current bank bonuses.
The Offers
Citi has released their best offers ever for their checking accounts, you can now get 50,000 American Airline miles (previous best was 30,000 miles) or 50,000 Citi ThankYou points (previous best was 40,000 points). Let’s take a quick look at the information that is the same for both offers, followed by the individual bonuses themselves:
- Hard/soft pull: Soft
- Credit card funding: Yes, $100,000 limit (be wary of cash advance fees, click that link to see what has/hasn’t been a cash advance and set your cash advance limits appropriately).
- Monthly fees: $10-$30, avoidable
- Early account termination fee: $0
- Expiration date: December 31st, 2015
Avoiding Fees
All of the Citibank accounts waive the monthly service fee for the first two months, after that you need to complete set requirements to keep them fee free.
Citigold Account Package $30 Monthly Fee
To avoid the $30 monthly fee you need to complete one of the following:
- $50,000 in combined link deposit or retirement accounts
- $100,000 in all linked deposit, retirement, credit or investment accounts (excluding a first mortgage with citibank)
- $250,000 including linked Citibank mortgages
Citibank account Package $20 Monthly Fee
To avoid the $20 monthly fee you need to have a combined average balance of $15,000 or more
Basic Banking $10 Monthly Fee
Make a direct deposit (the following methods count as direct deposit, click to view) and 1 bill payment each month or keep an average balance of at least $1,500 in the previous calendar month to avoid the monthly fee.
Early Account Termination Fee $0
We couldn’t find any mention of any EATF in the product disclosures and haven’t heard of anybody being hit with a fee. Your account does need to be open for the miles to post though.
50,000 American Airlines Offer
Direct link to offer [requires promotional code 42ERCWNQU6. I’d strongly recommend calling in to apply on 1-800-374-9500 and confirming your eligible for this offer when you do as the fine print states it’s only for those who received the direct communication).
- Receive a sign up bonus of up to 50,000 American Airline miles when you’re a Citi® / AAdvantage® credit cardmember. Bonus is broken down as follows:
50,000 Citi ThankYou Points
Direct link to offer [requires promotional code 42ERCZ42PY. I’d strongly recommend calling in to apply on 1-800-374-9500 and confirming your eligible for this offer when you do as the fine print states it’s only for those who received the direct communication).
- Receive a sign up bonus of 50,000 Citi ThankYou points, when you have an existing Citi ThankYou point account. Bonus broken down as follows:
F.A.Q’s
Can The ThankYou Points Be Transferred To Travel Partners?
No, this is from the fine print:
“Taxable Points” are Points received for a Citibank checking relationship, Points obtained through activity unrelated to purchases made with your eligible Card Account, as well as bonus Points that may be awarded with no spend requirement. Taxable Points and Points made unavailable for redemption due to signs of fraud, abuse or suspicious activity on your ThankYou Account or due to your failure to make the required minimum payment on the Card Account by the payment due date are not eligible for Points Transfer. (HT to Anthony)
Do I Have To Pay Taxes On These Bonuses?
Legally all bank account bonuses are treated as interest and as such you should pay taxes on them. The real question most people want the answer to is, will Citi send out a 1099-INT form for these bonuses. You can read our more in depth answer to this question here.
What’s The Best Way To Fund With A Credit Card?
Funding online doesn’t work, you need to do it via phone or fax. Read our walk through here.
Can I Cancel My Citi Gold Account After Receiving the Miles/Points?
Yes you can, there is no early account termination fee or requirement to keep the account open after you’ve received the bonus.
Can I Use These The Citi ThankYou Points To Pay For Airfare?
Yes you can and if you have the Citi Prestige you’ll get 1.6¢ in value per point for American Airlines/US Airways flights. If you redeemed all 40,000 points for this you’d receive $640 in value which would put you over the $600 limit causing Citi to issue a 1099-MISC. This screenshot again supplied by Kenny from Miles4more shows he is able to use points earned from this bonus for that purpose.
Which Is The Better Offer?
What’s worth more to you, 50k non transferable ThankYou points or 50k American Airline miles? Everybody will have a different answer and I cannot supply one for you.
Our Verdict
These are two amazing deals, especially when you also consider that having a Citi Gold checking account will lower the annual fee on the Citi Prestige by $100 (if you already have the card it will be prorated based on how long you’ve had the card for) and the fact you can fund a massive amount with a credit card. If you subscribe to our newsletter, you’ll also know that there is an additional reason to open this account (hint, it’s to do with credit card funding – please don’t spoil it in the comments).
These bonuses will be added to our best bank bonus list and also our complete listing of all bank account bonuses.
Hat tip to Frequent Miler & reddit.com/r/churning
No comments have been published yet.