[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.

Useful posts regarding bank bonuses:
    William Charles
  • On June 6, 2017, 15:30

View Comments (20)

  • I got a similar targeted offer in the mail today, 50k AA points for the exact same requirements in the image you have in the article, expires 12/31/17. Seems like a new offer? The closest thing I found was some discussion from 2014 on FlyerTalk, not sure if I should take the offer if they're going to send me a 1099 though

  • Update a few months later, I did not receive the bonus and they just told me I wasn't eligible after the whole thing. They didn't find any issue with the account until now. I'm never dealing with Citi checking again.

  • I got the 40k TYP offer. I threw it straight in the trash as well.

    Something to note, I don't believe you can transfer checking account earned TYPs to airlines which makes them worth even less.

    • You are correct. But you can redeem your TYP at your premier/prestige redemption rate, something like 1.66 or 1.3 towards hotels. airlines, sorry I forgot the details. Note that you will receive a tax form for any checking account TYP redemptions.

  • I received the offer. Currently, have no checking with Citi. I opened the account in branch after failed to do in online. The branch banker said I must have $50,000 otherwise I'm not eligible for the bonus (well I'm sure she's wrong.) She had to add the offer code to my account the next day because their system has some sort of problems. She confirmed such on the 2nd day.

    I then called in to verify this, I was transferred over and over until I reached a guy. The guy claimed he wouldn't add the promo because the promo is only for customers who doesn't have an active checking account. Since my account is opened so NO. I explained I just opened the account solely because I was targeted. Nope. If I don't receive my bonus after completing the requirements, I'm going to file a complaint.

    • Also, the branch banker wouldn't send me any confirmation saying i'm enrolled. The online secure message rep said I'm targeted but not enrolled. The phone banker said, i'm not eligible. Also said if I open in branch, he cannot see if i'm enrolled or not. and he refuses to enroll me. What a fucked up company.

      • File a complaint with the CFPB, seems like it's the only way to get Citi to resolve issues.

  • I agree with TheMonkeyTech. Citi customer service sucks. I have had my share with them. I have the thank you points card. If I'm targeted, I'll ignore it but I'll provide a few data points on how to take the most out that customer service... later on.

  • I did a 50k TYP bonus citigold checking in late 2015. No issues with bonus posting. I redeemed the points through the travel portal and got a 1099-Misc for the redemption value. Think it was 1.33 cpp.

  • I received this offer, and would like to take advantage of it. However, I do not have a valid W-9 or W-8BEN on file. What should I do to ensure that information is on file - apply in a local CitiBank?

    Thanks!

  • My wife received this offer in the mail a few weeks ago for 30,000 miles and i threw it straight into the trashcan. Two years ago - i opened a CitiGold under a similar offer. It was a nightmare getting the AA miles and every month you were watching the monthly fees accrue. Customer service was completely useless. CFPB was able to help me finally resolve the situation but that was still another 2 months of followups. In the end I was able to chase them down for a full refund of all fees and I did eventually get my miles deposited, but it was a 10 month ordeal with many calls, secure messages, and emails to customer service. Also they responded to the CFPB complaint but did not fully comply initially and i had to follow up etc. Not worth the headache. I put my 50k in BankDirect instead and slowly collect my 5k points every month, and open a Citi AA whenever i get a targeted mailer.

    • Citi does everything to "forget" to pay bonuses. The offer codes never seem to automatically trigger the bonuses. Their "records" always seem to indicate lesser promotions, or with more stringent terms. It's ripe for a class action, as it's clearly intentional.

      Like you say, not enough meat on the bone with this offer to bother.

    • How do I value them? Or how does Citi? Mine is just a made up number that I change on a regular basis. No idea how Citi does it.

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