None of the content in this post it’s new, it’s all about combining three separate pieces of information into one mega deal. I think the deal itself is good enough that it’s worth a separate post so people don’t miss it, but feel free to voice your displeasure in the comments below.
In case you didn’t already know, the Citi Prestige card comes with an annual fee of $450 and a sign up bonus of 50,000 ThankYou points. There is also an in branch offer that comes with a sign up bonus of 60,000 ThankYou points and a reduced annual fee of $350, that offer is only supposed to be for Citi Gold checking customers though, the spend requirement is much higher and you need to apply in branch.
What we learned from that in branch offer though is that if your a Citi Gold checking customer, your annual fee is only supposed to be $350 instead of $450. We weren’t sure what happened if you applied for the Citi Prestige first and then the Citi Gold checking account, but a reader tried it and successfully had their annual fee lowered to $350 just by linking the accounts.
That’s all good and well, but to keep the Citi Gold checking account fee free you need to have $50,000 in funds deposited to keep the account fee free and the interest rate is practically zero. Thankfully you don’t need to keep the account open and there is no early account termination fee and the first two months they waive the $30 monthly charge for the first two months.
The downside is that they would still do a ChexSystems inquiry which might limit what other checking accounts you’d open for the bonus. Thankfully, there are two sign up bonuses on Citi Gold checking:
Which I’ve currently ranked as the #1 and #2 best bank bonuses. If you add all of this information together, you can get the following:
- Citi Prestige with 50,000 ThankYou points and the following benefits:
- Annual fee on the Prestige lowered to $350
- Choice of 40,000 TYP or 30,000 AA miles
Yes this requires a bit of work, but personally I think it’s well worth it. This isn’t the deal of a century, but it’s a nice deal none the less. I’m not going to make a habit of these posts, but I like it when you can combine multiple deals all into one. Also keep in mind we don’t use affiliate links for credit cards, the only thing I’m trying to sell is a good deal for you. If you’re thinking about signing up for the Citi Prestige, think carefully on who’s links you use and support bloggers that give you good value. From all reports the commission is very high, so make your choice wisely.
P.S There is also a targeted 100,000 TYP offer on the Citi Prestige, it might be worth trying to get matched to that offer or waiting to get targeted. Go here to view your targeted Citi offers.
Hi, everyone. Does anybody know if i need to keep the gold account open to keep annul fee reduced on prestige card, meaning that if i canceled the prestige card, will the annul fee go back to 450 thereafter?
Thank you!
this actually shows why TY points can’t be transferred to AA. Chase values 4 TYP worth 3 AA miles. the transfer ratio would have to be 4:3 and they don’t want TY points users to this that a TY point are worth less than 1 airline mile.
sorry, meant Citi.
One more step. Citi allows credit card funding. I funded my $10,000 deposit with Arrival+ card (with cash advance limit set to 0) so added $220 in rewards in addition to the 30,000 AA miles and the reduced fee on my 60K TYP (later adjusted to 50K) Prestige. Just a thing of beauty!
As newcomers to TYP (60k in-branch with the lower $350 AF, despite no Citigold.. yippee!), I’m enjoying the versatility of this currency. I understand TYP earned from the checking bonus can’t be redeemed for miles in partner programs, but can they be redeemed for 1.6 cents of AA travel, like the rest of my growing TYP stash?
That is correct. I thought, based on reports from others, that you could transfer the checking account points to partners. I have tested in my account and all points can be used at 1.6 cents but my checking account points can’t be transferred online.
Thanks Kenny. That, plus the cc funding, pushes this into the “must do” category for me.
I got declined for the citigold account. States the information in my Equifax report was used in their decision? My equifax is clean with two inquiries in the past couple months. Payment history perfect. Regardless, I’m not applying for credit so it shouldn’t matter. My chexsytems was also clean. Any idea why this might be the case for getting declined?
No idea, a few others have also reported being denied but I’ve never been able to put my finger on why.
Am I misreading? It seems to say ” with 50k typ” then below “choice of 40k typ or…”
Choice of 40k typ or 30k AA is for the checking account, separate to the 50k bonus from the prestige.