[Targeted] Citi Offering 30,000 American Airline Miles Or 40,000 Citi ThankYou Points For Citi Priority Account

Offer at a glance

• Maximum bonus amount: 30,000 American Airline miles
• Availability: Nationwide but targeted, seems you must have the American Airlines or Citi ThankYou points earning card
• Direct deposit required: No
• Additional requirements: See below
• Hard/soft pull: Soft pull
• ChexSystems: Unknown
• Credit card funding: None
• Monthly fees: $30, avoidable
• Early account termination fee: None
• Household limit: None listed
• Expiration date: June 30th, 2017

The Offer

No direct link to offer

• Open a new eligible checking account in the Citi Priority Account Package by 6/30/17, enroll in this promotion and within 60 days complete the below requirements to receive 30,000 American Airline miles or 40,000 Citi ThankYou Points:
  • 1 qualifying bill payment for 2 consecutive calendar months AND
  • Spend $750 in purchases using your Citibank Banking card
• This account also lowers the annual fee on your Citi Prestige card by $100

The Fine Print

• Bonus miles will be credited within 90 calendar days of meeting all the requirements
• You must not currently have a consumer checking account with Citibank. If you were a signer on or owner of a Citibank consumer checking account within the last 60 days from the date you enroll in this promotion you’re not eligible
• Your Citi Addvantage credit card account and new checking account must be open and in good standing when the miles post
• Customers who do not have a valid W-9 or W-8BEN on file are not eligible. Ask your banker to confirm these documents are on file before enrolling
• All bank account bonuses are treated as income/interest and as such you have to pay taxes on them

Avoiding Fees

The Citi Account Package has a monthly fee of $30, this is waived if you maintain a combined average monthly balance of $50,000 or more in eligible linked deposits, retirement and investment balances. There is no early account termination fee for this account.

Our Verdict

Unlike the $500 bonus for the same account this one doesn’t require $50,000 to be deposited for 60 days. It does require an average monthly balance of $50,000 to avoid the $30 monthly fee though. I’m fairly certain Citi waives that fee for the first two months. Ideally you’d complete the bonus in month one and then need to wait 90 days for the bonus to post, that means you’d be paying a minimum of two monthly fees to avoid depositing the $50,000.

In the past Citi hasn’t sent out 1099 tax forms for these mile/point based checking bonuses, but there is no guarantee that will hold true. Most readers will just want to know if this is a good deal or not. My answer? It depends. Some things to consider:

• Getting checking bonuses from Citi isn’t normally easy, be prepared to wait longer than you should have to and have to fight for your bonus
• There is no guarantee you won’t receive a tax form.
• If you do receive a tax form, it’s unknown how highly they’ll value the miles
• At minimum you’ll be paying $60 in monthly fees. I’d budget for more like $90-$120.
• This gives you a $100 annual fee discount on the Citi Prestige

Personally for me that doesn’t leave a lot of meat on the bone. If Citi still allowed credit card funding then this is a no brainer but their recent offers have been lackluster at best. I’d probably do both offers and then hate myself for doing them. They have also offered bonuses of 50,000/40,000 in the past with lower monthly fee requirements.

Big thanks to readers: Mordechai C, Rahul, Will, Dotan who let us know. Learn how to find bonuses and contribute to the site here.

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