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UPDATES:
- Data points from the miles and points community stating that Citi Premier Card’s highest 80K points offer is about to end. There’s no set date yet, but it’s officially ending soon. So if you have been wanting to get this card because of its highest sign-up offer, please consider doing it now.
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Citi Premier Credit Card currently offers an all-time high sign-up of 80,000 bonus ThankYou points right now. If you are looking to apply for the Citi Premier Credit Card to receive the welcome offer, there are a few application rules and sign-up bonus eligibility information that are worth knowing before applying for the card for approval.
My goal in this post is to help answer some commonly asked questions below.
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Does Citi 8/65 rule apply to the Citi Premier card?
Yes. Citi will only approve you under the following conditions:
- One (1) Citi card every eight (8) days and,
- No more than two (2) Citi cards every sixty-five (65) days.
How does Citi 24-month rule work for the Citi Premier card?
According to the Citi Premier Credit Card sign-up bonus offer terms:
Bonus ThankYou Points welcome offer is not available if you received a new cardmember bonus for Citi Rewards+ Credit Card, Citi Preferred Credit Card, Citi Premier Credit Card, or Citi Prestige Credit Card, or if you have closed any of these accounts, in the past 24 months.
- The 24-month rule starts from when you last received the sign-up bonus, not the time you opened or were approved for the card.
- For example, you applied and were approved for the Citi Premier Credit Card in July 2019, and you received the welcome bonus points offer in August 2019. So after August 2021 (2 years later), you are eligible to receive the sign-up bonus offer again. See the How to find out the exact date that you last received the Citi Premier Card’s sign-up bonus in the past 24 months? below for more information.
- If you already closed the card, you will also have to wait 24 months from when you closed the card.
- In summary, if you still have the card open and you received the bonus 24 months ago, you can get the bonus again. However, if you closed the card you will have to wait 24 months from the date you closed before getting another sign-up bonus.
How to find out the exact date that you last received the Citi Premier Card’s sign-up bonus in the past 24 months?
Citi and ThankYou points customer services are no help.
To find out the exact date that you last received the sign-up bonus points of the Citi Premier Credit Card is to check your Citi ThankYou Points Summary online.
On your computer’s desktop:
- Go to the official Citi ThankYou website.
- Sign on with your Citi card account.
- On the top where your total points are, click on the drop-down and go to Points Summary
- From there, adjust the start date and end date that you wish to see the specific dates that you earned ThankYou points in the past.
- Click on VIEW BY LIST
- From there, you should be able to see the exact date that you last received your Citi Premier Card’s sign-up bonus points in the past 24 months.
- The date that your ThankYou points are posted there is pretty much when your card’s statement closing date is too.
How long do you have to wait after closing your Citi Premier card before applying for another Citi Premier card?
If you closed a Citi Premier Credit Card in the past, you will have to wait 24 months or 2 years from the date when you closed the card to be eligible for the sign-up bonus again. That’s why it’s better to keep the card open as you can for at least 24 months, and then apply for a second Premier card to receive the sign-up bonus again.
It is also important to note that, the same rule applies if you closed the following Citi credit cards, you must wait 24 months from the card’s closure date:
- Citi Rewards+ Credit Card
- Citi Preferred Credit Card
- Citi Prestige Credit Card
Can I apply for two Citi credit cards at the same time?
Unfortunately not.
Citi has an 8/65 application rule that you can only apply for 1 Citi card every 8 days and no more than 2 Citi cards every 65 days. In other words, after 65 days, you can apply for another Citi credit card.
Moreover, please note also that after 65 days of getting a Citi Premier Credit Card, if you want to apply for a second Citi credit card such as Citi Rewards+ Credit Card, Citi Preferred Credit Card, or Citi Prestige Credit Card, you will NOT be eligible to receive that card’s sign-up bonus.
It’s worth mentioning too that for Citi business credit cards, you can only apply for 1 Citi business credit card every 95 days.
Can I apply for the Citi Premier card if I already have a Citi Premier card to get the sign-up bonus?
If your goal is to receive the Citi Premier Credit Card sign-up bonus twice, you must wait 24 months from when you last received the first Premier card’s sign-up bonus.
The good news is, after 24 months, you don’t have to cancel or close your previous Premier card to apply for a second Premier card. This helps in a way that if your second Premier card is not approved, you can still keep your first Premier card. On the other hand, if your second Premier card is approved, you can decide whether to close or downgrade your first Premier card to another Citi credit card.
Should I close or downgrade my Citi Premier card first and apply for the second Citi Premier card?
No. You do not have to do that. See above.
Can I apply for a second Citi Premier card and then downgrade the first Premier card to another no annual fee Citi ThankYou points card?
Absolutely. In fact, this is one of my favorable strategies to earn a high sign-up bonus on a Citi ThankYou (TY) points credit card. Here’s why:
For example, you want to get the new Citi Custom Cash Credit Card because of its lucrative 5x ThankYou points per $1 spent on top eligible spending category each billing cycle, or you want to get the Citi Rewards+ Credit Card because of its 10% rebate on ThankYou points redemption, but the sign-up bonus offers on those credit cards are pretty low. Therefore, it’s much better to sign up for a second Citi Premier Credit Card, receive a much higher sign-up 80,000 bonus points offer, then downgrade the first Premier card to one of those cards instead. Doing so will also keep your ThankYou points alive.
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Can I apply and receive the Premier card’s sign-up bonus if I already received the sign-up bonus offer on another Citi credit card?
It depends on which Citi credit card and when you received that card’s sign-up bonus. If that Citi credit card is not included in the list below, then you are good to go!
Citi Premier card’s welcome offer terms clearly state that you are not eligible for the sign-up bonus if you have received a new cardmember bonus for the following Citi credit cards in the past 24 months:
- Citi Rewards+ Credit Card
- Citi Preferred Credit Card
- Citi Premier Credit Card
- Citi Prestige Credit Card
Additionally, you are also not eligible for the sign-up bonus offer if you have closed any of the above-mentioned accounts, in the past 24 months.
Can a Citi Premier card’s authorized user apply for the Citi Premier card?
Yes. Citi does not consider you as the Premier card’s account holder if you are just an authorized user on that card.
Similarly, anyone that is an authorized user on your Citi Premier Credit Card, that person can apply for the Premier card on their own and get the sign-up bonus if s/he meets all the welcome offer’s eligibility. See the checklist below.
Can a Citi Premier card’s authorized user apply for the Citi Premier card and earn the sign-up bonus?
Yes. Being an authorized user (AU) is not the same as the primary cardholder. Although you have a Citi Premier Credit Card with your name on it as an authorized user, you are not the account holder and therefore you do not have the Premier card’s account as far as Citi is concerned.
Therefore, If you are an authorized user on a Citi Premier Credit Card, you can apply for the Premier card on your own, get the sign-up bonus, and be the primary cardholder of that account. In other words, an authorized user of the Premier card can apply for the Premier card. Authorized users are also eligible for the Premier card’s sign-up bonus if they meet all the offer’s eligibility. See the checklist below.
Citi Premier Card’s Application and Sign-up Bonus Eligibility Checklists
- You have not applied and been approved for 1 Citi credit card already in the last 8 days.
- You have not applied and been approved for 2 Citi cards already in the last 65 days.
- You have not received the sign-up bonus of the following Citi credit cards in the past 24 months:
- Citi Rewards+ Credit Card
- Citi Preferred Credit Card
- Citi Premier Credit Card
- Citi Prestige Credit Card
- Citi’s 24-month rule starts from when you last received the sign-up bonus, not when you opened or were approved for the card.
- If you already closed your Citi Premier Credit Card, you will have to wait 24 months from when you closed the card. The date that you were approved for the card or received the sign-up bonus does not matter anymore.
- The same rule applies if you closed the following Citi credit cards. You must wait 24 months from the card’s closure date:
- Citi Rewards+ Credit Card
- Citi Preferred Credit Card
- Citi Prestige Credit Card
- There’s no need to close or downgrade your current Citi Premier Credit Card to apply for another Premier card to receive the sign-up bonus again once you meet the offer’s eligibility terms again.
- An authorized user (AU) on the Citi Premier Credit Card is not considered a primary cardholder, and therefore, the AU can apply for the Premier card and receive the sign-up bonus once s/he meets the offer’s eligibility terms.
Thanks for this post, very helpful. Can you clarify exactly how the 24 month clock is counted? For example, lets say I last earned a TYP bonus on October 15 2019, does that mean I need to wait till 11/01/2021 in order to be eligible? Or am I eligible on 10/16/2021?
Hi there. It is based on the date that you earned the bonus. So if you did your research and are 100% sure that you earned the bonus on October 15, 2019, and you did not close that previous Premier card, then technically you are eligible on October 16, 2021.
But I still want to suggest you not apply right away like that. If you are not in a hurry, I would give it a few more weeks after that before applying just to be on the safe side.
Thanks for the quick response. IIRC, Citi posts the bonus on the statement date during which you hit the spend threshold. For example, lets say I hit the spend threshold on 10/7/19, but my statement didn't close till 10/13/19. In this case I believe I should be counting from the 10/13 date. Does that sound right to you?
With regards to timing, I am not in any big rush except that I want to get in on the Premier card while it is still offering the 80K bonus. Do you have any idea how long that's gonna stick around?
I just added a section on "How to find out the exact date that you last received the Citi Premier Card's sign-up bonus in the past 24 months?" I go by that to determine my eligibility date for the bonus.
As far as when the 80k bonus offer will go away, your guess is as good as mine 🙂 The points community are pretty on top of this though should there be a deadline. I'll update this post and the Citi Premier Card Review post once there's a date. If you haven't, you can subscribe to our daily posts for any updates too.