Last night, I received a handy email from Citi alerting me to a 3 X bonus offer on certain purchases. This is the first bonus offer I’ve had in a while so I was pleased to see it.
Bonus miles are available on purchases from grocery stores, gas stations, drug stores, restaurants, and commuter transportation locations. All of these categories are ones that I certainly use. The total bonus miles earned is capped at 2,500 and the offer ends March 31, 2015.
MJ’s Take
I have the Citi Executive card which I finally picked up during the 100,000 mile bonanza offer last year. Since hitting minimum spend it’s been mostly sock drawered, and I doubt I’m the only one who did so. I suspect this is an incentive to encourage those who picked up the card last year to keep it since my first statement was dated March 2014. Ironically, I was leaning towards keeping the card for lounge access purposes. I don’t think 2,500 miles is enough to sway me one way or the other on a $450 per year card, but I might just reacquaint myself with the Executive card for a few weeks to pick up some bonus miles for spend I’d make anyway. That won’t stop me from making a call to Citi when the annual fee hits though.
Did you get this offer? Did it differ in some way? Any other Citi offers out there on different AAdvantage cards?
-MJ, January 17, 2015
Terms from the email I received
This offer starts upon enrollment and will end on 03/31/15. AAdvantage® miles are only earned on eligible purchases. Earnings associated with this program will equal 2 AAdvantage® bonus mile(s) per $1 spent on eligible purchases and may overlap with other special offers in which you are currently enrolled. AAdvantage® miles earned with this offer are subject to a maximum of 2,500 AAdvantage® bonus miles. Eligible purchases exclude purchases made at discount stores, balance transfers, cash advances, convenience checks, items returned for credit, fees and interest charges. Grocery stores, including supermarkets, are classified as merchants that provide a complete line of food merchandise for home consumption. This offer includes convenience stores which are classified as merchants who sell a limited variety of food items. Gas stations are classified as merchants that primarily sell vehicle fuel for consumer use. Restaurants are classified as stand-alone dining establishments that primarily prepare food and drinks for immediate consumption by consumers, either on the merchant’s premises or packaged for takeout, and include bars, cocktail lounges, discotheques, nightclubs, taverns and fast food restaurants. Drugstores are classified as merchants that sell prescription and proprietary drugs and nonprescription (over-the-counter) medicines. Commuter transportation merchants are classified as merchants that provide mass passenger transportation including railways and buses, bridge and tunnel fees and temporary parking, but does not include the purchase of Amtrak tickets. All purchases must be posted during the promotional period. We do not determine how merchants are classified, however, they are generally classified based upon the merchant’s primary line of business. We reserve the right to determine which purchases qualify for this offer.
In order to qualify for this offer, the account must be open and current at all times. If your account is closed for any reason, including if you convert to another card product, you may no longer be eligible for this offer. You may receive more than one communication regarding this bonus offer with a reply-by-date mentioned within; however, if you have already enrolled in this offer, no further action is required. This promotional offer is non-transferrable and applies to the account ending in the last 4 digits referenced in this offer.
If you have transferred a balance to this account or do so in the future, interest will be charged on purchases made with your credit card, unless your purchases have a 0% APR, or you pay the entire balance (including any transferred balances) in full each month by the payment due date.
I was targeted for an offer on my Citi Gold AA card. My offer was 3x for online purchases with the 2,500 mile cap. I keep the card in my safe, and will be pulling it out to take advantage of this offer.
This offer was made to me on one of my Citi AA cards, with a much lower annual fee. I’ve had this card for a couple years, but don’t use it often. So must be targeting infrequent users to try and get you back in the habit of pulling out the card to shop. Think I might add the card to my Apple Pay and remove when the bonus period is over.