A great deal for an existing CitiBank cardholder...

[perthtraveller]

If you get the Select, transfer to CX AM. Effectively, $1 = 1 AM domestic or 2.5 AM international. Redeeming AM on QF metal is cheaper than redeeming QFF points on QF metal.

 

[Plutonus]

Has anyone been offered anything like this when signing up for a new CC with Citibank? Looking for a few reasons to sway me from another AMEX...

 

[wafliron]

There is a promotion at the moment (ends 31 March), that enables new enrolments to get a bonus 50,000 bonus QFF points on the first spend on the card

From their website, the sign on bonus of 50K points applies to CR AND QF rewards. In fact it represents best value on QF in this instance as for CR that would equate to less KF/Velocity points

Right, my mistake. Apologies. Not sure I agree that 50k QF points is worth more than 33.3k KF points though - taking into account KF's burn rates they'd probably work out about equal.

Absolutely correct. I am indeed looking for QF direct as I hold status with them so I want to maintain that (Fly Oneworld ALOT internationally and have a considerable bank of points built up already). The KF rates while I agree are competitive, F class awards are practically non existent on KF/SQ so that is also a deterrent.

And F awards can easily be found on OW carriers?? But fair enough, I take your point.

That being said, if I were you I'd still consider either:

1) Following perthtraveller's advice and getting a Select earning CR points, then redeeming to AsiaMiles at an effective 1 AM per $1 spent. AM burn rates are much better than QF burn rates, so you're getting better value than 1 QFP per $1 spent, although if your status is with QF you won't be able to do things like ring up to get extra QF award seats released.

2) Get a Select earning CR points and take a look at the QFF price match Citi Travel offers. There doesn't seem to be much info about how this works in practice, but take a look at http://www.australianfrequentflyer....ram/citibank-price-match-guarantee-35663.html for more info. I'm currently running some dummy price-matched bookings through Citi Travel to get a better real-world feel for it, and I'll post the results in that thread, so subscribe to it if you're interested. Hopefully it works well in practice (i.e. assuming they don't try to put you on JetStar / China Eastern / etc instead of QF), because it effectively makes a CR-earning Select card a 2 QFP per $1 spent card.

Plus as a bonus, with either of these two options you keep the flexibility of redeeming to KF or DJ if your preferences change in the future, or you can find a flight with either that suits, etc.

Correct, I currently have Signature (which I'm seeking for them to entice me to keep), and if they do that successfully, then I will consider applying for Select as well.

If you're only interested in QF direct, I'm a little confused as to why you'd want a Signature and a Select? Why not just the Signature, for the lower annual fee and still 1 QFP per $1 spent? Or are you after the 50k sign-up bonus on the Select and think that's worth the first year's annual fee?

FYI, if the reason is that you're after increased credit limit, applying for a second card is unlikely to help (unless you're already at the max limit of $100k for the Signature). Citi look at their total exposure when determining credit limits (rather than looking at each card individually), so in theory whatever limit you get on a second (Select) card could also be added as additional limit on the Signature.

To answer your original question though, no, I don't know of anyone getting bonuses (other than sign-up bonuses) on QF direct earn cards. I'd say it's less likely (although not impossible), as I'd imagine QF points cost Citi more than CR points (hence the 1 QFP : $1 vs 2 CR : $1 on Select). Also, I doubt Citi would offer "bonus points per $1 spent" on Signature or Select due to the lack of a points cap - it could end up costing them a fortune. But hey, it can't hurt to ring up and try

Has anyone been offered anything like this when signing up for a new CC with Citibank? Looking for a few reasons to sway me from another AMEX...

Not really answering your question, but I hadn't heard of anyone being offered a bonus like this until I was offered it, and then perthtraveller posteing that he'd been offered something similar. Given my experience with Citi's inflexibility with regards to sign-up bonuses, I suspect you may struggle - but again, it can't hurt to try, particularly if you can entice them with a big annual spend.

 

[Plutonus]

Not really answering your question, but I hadn't heard of anyone being offered a bonus like this until I was offered it, and then perthtraveller posteing that he'd been offered something similar. Given my experience with Citi's inflexibility with regards to sign-up bonuses, I suspect you may struggle - but again, it can't hurt to try, particularly if you can entice them with a big annual spend.

Try #1 today - basically ignored. CS Rep kept talking about 4 points per international and balance transfer. Will need to call back another time and try someone else

 

[wafliron]

Try #1 today - basically ignored. CS Rep kept talking about 4 points per international and balance transfer. Will need to call back another time and try someone else

Definitely worth trying more than once. I don't think the "sign-up" people have much flexibility though, whereas the "retention" people have a little more (and are noticably better in all ways).

 

[hahaer]

Just called them. They turned me down and gave me 5000 reward points to finalize. I am using free annual fee platinum.

 

[tinkybelle]

I had a totally different experience I have citi gold business and plat mastercard.

I said I wanted the 50k and the 1.5 cpp and was put thru to new acqusitions

she said i could have the citibank signature and keep the other or cancel and definitely get 40k pts bonus plus the 1.5 cpp for $395

also 1.9 % transfer bal for 15 mths( very hard to do when i have to spend something to get the 40k)
i said I didnt want to pay 395 she wouldnt budge but was very happy to put thru a new card app and I could either say yes or no once it was approved
i hung up i really just want to keep the plat MC and get an extra 1 cpp.
I will be canceling the citi plat when it falls due as my husband has the plat signature for free with free add on cards.

 

[wafliron]

Just called them. They turned me down and gave me 5000 reward points to finalize. I am using free annual fee platinum.

Damn :-( What do you mean by "5000 reward points to finalise"?

I wonder how they determine who they'll offer the bonus points to. It's clearly available for both CitiBusiness Gold and Platinum. I guess it might be to do with how "valuable" they perceive you to be. I can't speak for perthtraveller, but I reckon they'd see me as fairly valuable: 6-year customer, flawless payment record, $50k limit on my CBG and hit the points cap the past two years.

Would be interesting to see how you compare?

i hung up i really just want to keep the plat MC and get an extra 1 cpp.

Ditto what I said above to hahaer - would be interesting to hear about your history with CB to try and figure out if it's something offered based on how "valuable" CB think you are.

I will be canceling the citi plat when it falls due as my husband has the plat signature for free with free add on cards.

Knowing Citi, you should try for the bonus points one more time (when you ring to cancel).

I'd suggest not asking for it outright: just ask what they can do to convince you to keep the account open, and if they offer something you don't want then don't be afraid to tell them that and ask if there's anything else they can do. In my case, the bonus points were not offered up initially - they were only offered after I rejected the first thing they offered me (a small discount on annual fee if I upgraded to Signature).

 

[spentan]

I was just thinking about something, what happens if you have a Citibusiness Gold Alongside a Citi Select/Signature enrolled in CitiRewards.

Is there any way that the Citi Select/Signature points would credit towards your CB-Gold Citirewards account and therefore still be able to transfer to QFF?

 

[wafliron]

I was just thinking about something, what happens if you have a Citibusiness Gold Alongside a Citi Select/Signature enrolled in CitiRewards.

Is there any way that the Citi Select/Signature points would credit towards your CB-Gold Citirewards account and therefore still be able to transfer to QFF?

Thats exactly what I've got: a CBG and a Select. No go on your idea though - unfortunately they each get their own separate CitiRewards account (and separate online banking login, which mighty annoying).

 

[spentan]

Omg, I called Citibank last night saying that I was weighing up my options, because I already have an Amex qf ultimate and the cb gold is not as many points. She put me on hold, and then said she can waive the annual fee. I was like look is there any bonus points option? As I don't mind the annual fee. And she put me on hold again and came back with a 2 BONUS PTS PER $ offer, so now all purchases on my cb gold get 3.25pts per $.

Buying points with PayPal has never been cheaper

 

[kamchatsky]

Called Citibank on this for my Platinum card as well. Told them about cancelling the card after they said I do not have free upgrade to Signature/Select. Got to retention department and they just told me to keep my card as backup, no bonus points offered ..... How I feel unloved these days.

 

[wafliron]

Omg, I called Citibank last night saying that I was weighing up my options, because I already have an Amex qf ultimate and the cb gold is not as many points. She put me on hold, and then said she can waive the annual fee. I was like look is there any bonus points option? As I don't mind the annual fee. And she put me on hold again and came back with a 2 BONUS PTS PER $ offer, so now all purchases on my cb gold get 3.25pts per $.

Another person getting 2 bonus points per $1 spent - dammit, I though I got something great when I started this thread, now I feel like I got the short end of the straw! Very happy for you though. Out of interest, if you don't mind posting this info, what is your credit limit and how much approx were you putting through the card per annum?

Buying points with PayPal has never been cheaper

What do you mean by this?

 

[spentan]

Another person getting 2 bonus points per $1 spent - dammit, I though I got something great when I started this thread, now I feel like I got the short end of the straw! Very happy for you though. Out of interest, if you don't mind posting this info, what is your credit limit and how much approx were you putting through the card per annum?

Credit Limit was just raised to around 8k from 6.5k.

I put about 50-60k through in the year from june up til now. Need to ramp up the spend due to the points bonus now.

btw, wafliron, check your PM

 

[trungiez]

Hmm might try this trick tonight.

Is there an expiry on the bonus?

 

[spentan]

Hmm might try this trick tonight.

Is there an expiry on the bonus?

Yeah, 31-Dec-2012. Plenty of time to hoard points

 

[benhadi]

Another person getting 2 bonus points per $1 spent - dammit, I though I got something great when I started this thread, now I feel like I got the short end of the straw! Very happy for you though. Out of interest, if you don't mind posting this info, what is your credit limit and how much approx were you putting through the card per annum?

What do you mean by this?

I'm interested to know what this means too....can you share the love?

 

[wafliron]

Credit Limit was just raised to around 8k from 6.5k.

I put about 50-60k through in the year from june up til now. Need to ramp up the spend due to the points bonus now.

Hmm, I wonder why I was only offered 1 bonus point per $1, not 2 bonus points per $1 - at the time my CBG had a credit limit of $50k and I was hitting the points cap each year. Maybe it's because my spend was too high - it would cost them too many bonus points?

 

[spentan]

Hmm, I wonder why I was only offered 1 bonus point per $1, not 2 bonus points per $1 - at the time my CBG had a credit limit of $50k and I was hitting the points cap each year. Maybe it's because my spend was too high - it would cost them too many bonus points?

Yeah, what a gyp.

Ask them to speak to a Customer Relationship Manager again, and try for 2, maybe you'll get 3 bonus points

 

[wafliron]

Yeah, what a gyp.

Ask them to speak to a Customer Relationship Manager again, and try for 2, maybe you'll get 3 bonus points

Yeah, I am going to ring back and try again - just being lazy about it because I'm almost at my points cap, so any amount of bonus points isn't useful for me for another couple of months.