Category Archives: Citibank

Spring Break to Maui: Introduction & Planning

Posted on April 24, 2013 by | 46 Comments

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Over Spring Break in March, Emily and I visited Maui in Hawaii.  This was our first time to Hawaii so we were very excited!  We spent only $570 dollars for a trip which has a retail cost of $8,731 for some Big Travel with Small Money!

Of course we wouldn’t pay the retail price ourselves, which is why we collect miles and points.

Can't Wait to Go Back!

Can’t Wait to Go Back!

I always thought that I’d “save” Hawaii for when I retire because it would be relatively easy to visit and explore later in life.  But one of the most common reader questions is “How do I get to Hawaii?”

And almost everyone who has visited Hawaii wants to go back (if that isn’t a ringing endorsement, what is?) so we decided to go!  As luck would have it, I fell sick the first 2 or 3 days, but still had a wonderful time. Continue reading →

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Posted in Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, Citi American Airlines, Hilton HHonors, Hyatt, Ink Bold, Southwest, Trip Reports, United Airlines

Daraius’ March 2013 App-O-Rama – 6 Cards. 265,000 Miles & Points

Posted on April 11, 2013 by | 81 Comments

[Emily and I get a referral for links to the Chase Ink Plus & Credit Sesame.  We do not get a commission for links to the US Air, Mercedes-Benz Platinum, and the Citi American Airlines cards because of the mother-in-law rule. We thank all readers who apply using our links!]

Warning:  If you’re new to miles and points, you should NOT apply for more than 1 or 2 cards at time.  Much better to start small, gauge the impact for yourself and then work your way up to more.  Also read The 5 Dangers of Credit Cards before applying for a credit card!

Emily and I set travel goals and we then collect miles and points to get to those goals. Our goals are quite simple.  We want to have enough miles and points to travel within the US in coach to visit friends, to go to Michigan or Ohio to visit family and to have weekend getaways.

We also want to travel internationally 2 to 3 times a year – ideally in business or first class, but we’ll choose a flight in coach if it means less connections and more time on the ground (like we did when we visited Brazil during Carnival).

We also need hotel points since we have to stay somewhere. We don’t really care which airline we fly or hotel we stay in as long as we can save money while traveling.

daraius’ March cards

Credit Card
Sign-on Bonus
Minimum Spending Required
Annual Fee
Total265,000 Miles$7,000 in 3 months + $3,250 in 4 months$494 Waived for 1st year + $475 Not Waived for 1st year
Chase Ink Plus50,000 Bonus Points$5,000 in 3 months$95 Waived For 1st Year
American Express Mercedes Benz Platinum50,000 Bonus Points$1,000 in 3 months$475 Not Waived For 1st Year
American Express Premier Rewards Gold50,000 Bonus Points$1,000 in 3 months$175 Waived For 1st Year
Citi American Airlines Visa50,000 Miles$2,500 in 4 months$85 Waived For 1st Year
Citi American Airlines MasterCard30,000 Miles$750 in 4 months$50 Waived For 1st Year
Barlcays US Air35,000 MilesAfter First Purchase$89 Waived For 1st Year

The minimum spending requirements may seem high, but you can meet the minimum spending requirements quite easily these days! Continue reading →

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Posted in American Express, Barclays, Chase, Citi American Airlines, Credit Cards, Denial & Reconsideration, Earn Miles, Southwest, United Airlines

New Rules for Getting 2 Citi Credit Cards

Posted on April 9, 2013 by | 82 Comments

 [Disclosure:  None of the links below earn us a commission as of the post publication date.]

You used to be able to get approved for 2 personal Citi cards (of the exact same type) at the same time (or one after the other) and get the bonus on both cards.  This worked with the Citi American Airlines cards, the Citi Hilton cards, and the Citi Hilton Reserve cards!

However, Citi has recently changed the “rules” for how they approve applications.  And you can’t get more than ONE Citi card approved per day.

Note that these “rules” are based on my experiences, reader feedback and posts on Flyertalk and MilePoint, which means that your experience could be different.

1 Citi card per day

The new “rules” are that you can get only ONE card – either personal or business – per day.  It doesn’t matter if you apply for a business card or a personal card.  Or if you apply for different co-branded cards (say, 1 Hilton and 1 American Airlines card).

You won’t get approved for the 2nd card, on the same day, and calling in to the reconsideration line doesn’t seem to help. Continue reading →

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Posted in American Airlines, Citi American Airlines, Citi Hilton, Citibank, Hilton Reserve

2 Citi Hilton Reserve Card Updates

Posted on April 8, 2013 by | 32 Comments

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I wrote earlier that Emily and I both applied for 2 Citi Hilton Reserve cards at the same time (1 for our business expenses and 1 for our personal expenses) and we received both cards!

Hilton Reserve Credit Card 3

2 Hilton Reserve Cards

Continue reading →

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Posted in Citibank, Hilton HHonors, Hilton Reserve

Credit Scores: Why Some Business Cards Impact Your Credit Score Less Than Personal Cards

Posted on March 25, 2013 by | 22 Comments

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Additional Reading:

I’ve explained the impact of applying & cancelling personal credit cards on your credit score.  In those posts, I mentioned that business credit cards (from Citi, Chase, and American Express) don’t impact your personal credit score as much as personal cards, but let’s take a closer look.

In general, you don’t need to have an established business or a partnership or LLC to get approved for a business card.  You can usually get approved for a business which you run as the sole owner.  Or even businesses which you are thinking of starting or which you recently started.  But you shouldn’t lie on the business card application form.

 How Is Your Credit Score Calculated?

According to the FICO website, your credit score is determined by:

  • 35% Payment History — (Do you pay on time?)
  • 30% Amounts Owed –  (Do you use a lot or little credit?)
  • 15% Length of Credit History — (How long have you had credit?)
  • 10% New Credit — (Have you applied for credit recently?)
  • 10% Types of Credit — (Do you have different credit types?)
Fico Score Calculation (Image from MyFico.com)

Fico Score Calculation (Image from MyFico.com)

Why Business Cards Impact Your Credit Score Less Than Personal Cards Continue reading →

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Posted in American Express, Beginner Tips, Business Credit Cards, Chase, Citibank, Credit Scores

Why Everyone Should Have a No-Annual Fee Credit Card

Posted on March 19, 2013 by | 55 Comments

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[Disclosure:  Emily and I get a referral for all cards in this post except for the JP Morgan Select, Ink Plus, Amazon.com, Amtrak, BP, AMEX Hilton, AMEX Blue, AMEX Clear, Citi Simplicity, Citi Dividend, Penfed, Pricline, BankAmericard & Club Carlson as of the post publication date. You don't have to use our links, but we're very grateful when you do!]

Additional Reading:

Having a personal credit card with no-annual fee which you will keep for a long time is very important for two reasons:

1.   Helps Increase Your Credit Score

According to the FICO website, 15% of your credit score is determined by the Length of Credit History.

Best No Annual Fee Credit Card

Fico Score Calculation (Image from MyFico.com)

So it helps to have a credit card with no-annual fee which you keep for a very long time because it helps increase the average age of your credit accounts.  This is especially important if you apply for & cancel cards frequently.

2.   Builds a Relationship With the Bank

Having a credit card with a bank for a long time also helps establish you as a long term customer with the bank.  I regularly let the folks on the reconsideration line know for how long I’ve had a credit card or checking account with their bank. Continue reading →

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Posted in American Express, Bank Of America, Barclays, Beginner Tips, Capital One, Chase, Citibank, Credit Scores, Discover, No Annual Fee, Penfed, US Bank

Credit Card Updates: 75,000 Point AMEX Business Gold & 50,000 Mile Citi Executive [Expired]

Posted on March 12, 2013 by | 16 Comments

[Disclosure:  Emily and I do NOT get a referral for any of the cards listed below as of the post publication date.  The link to the Citi Executive card is currently better than the public offer for the same card.]

1.   American Express Business Gold.   I mentioned that the American Express Business Gold card will offer 75,000 miles after spending $10,000 within 4 months up to March 14, 2013.  However, some readers have been writing in to ask if the offer is still available.

I was able to click on the application page so the offer should be available until the end of day on March 14, 2013.  $10,000 spending within 4 months is a lot of spending so be sure that you can complete the spending before applying. Continue reading →

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Posted in American Airlines, American Express, Citibank

You May Still be Able To Get 2 Citi American Airlines Cards

Posted on February 20, 2013 by | 95 Comments

 [Disclosure:  None of the links below earn us a commission as of the post publication date.]

For a long time the easiest way to get 100,000 American Airlines miles was to apply for 2 Citi American Airlines cards at the same time with the 2-browser trick.

This was an awesome deal and was the #1 deal listed in the Hot Deals tab, despite never earning a commission on the 50,000 mile cards.  My affiliate links were for 30,000 miles and the mother-in-law rule says that I should promote the better links.

There are over 1,000 comments on the post with many folks asking for reassurance that the card application page was still working.

I posted an update, a few weeks ago, that the ability to get 2 Citi cards at the same time may be over.  However, some readers have managed to get approved for the 2nd Citi AA card by writing (not calling) the Citi executive offices.  But I don’t suspect that will continue, since the reps admit that Citi’s policy is to issue only one card per product type, but they currently may approve the 2nd personal American Airlines card as a courtesy to folks who write in. Continue reading →

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Posted in American Airlines, Citibank

Citi 2 Browser Update

Posted on January 30, 2013 by | 36 Comments

 

Since the weekend a few readers have been emailing that they weren’t able to get approved for 2 Citi American Airlines cards or 2 Citi Hilton cards at the same time.  And if you call in, the reps say that you can’t have second card even if you have a legitimate reason for wanting them (like keeping your expenses separate etc.)

I’m traveling so I can’t write a longer post (check back on Saturday for a longer update), but it may be best to NOT call if you’re not immediately approved for a second Citi card.  Sometimes folks get automatically approved after waiting a bit.  Calling in seems to now result in a denial for the 2nd card.

I’m pretty sure that change isn’t a glitch and is intentional.  Stay tuned for more details later, or read this post from View from the Wing or this FlyerTalk thread.

→ 36 Comments

Posted in American Airlines, Citibank, Credit Cards

News You Can Use – Chase Air Tran With 32 Credits & Priority Club Points Break List

Posted on January 29, 2013 by | 10 Comments

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1.   Chase Air Tran.   Million Mile Secrets reader Paul (thanks!) emailed with links to a better Air Tran offer with 32 credits after spending $2,000 within 3 months.  This is better than the usual offer of 16 credits.

You can transfer Air Tran credits to Southwest and vice versa, so this may be useful as a way to get more Southwest travel.  But I prefer the 50,000 points offers on the Southwest Plus credit cards than 32 credits on the Air Tran credit card, because the 50,000 points currently counts towards the Southwest Companion Pass and are easier to use than credits.

2.   Priority Club Points Break.   Via Loyalty Lobby, the latest list of Priority Club Points Break hotels is out.   Hotels on the PointsBreak list cost only 5,000 points for a night (the regular rate is 10,000 to 50,000 points)! Continue reading →

→ 10 Comments

Posted in Air Tran, Chase, Citibank, Priority Club