Citi Strata Cards Add Lifetime Language for Welcome Bonuses
Citi appears to have made an important change to the bonus rules on its Strata cards. The current application pages for the Citi Strata Elite, Citi Strata Premier, and Citi Strata now show lifetime language instead of the old 48-month rule that we are used to seeing on Citi ThankYou products.
That means the welcome bonus language is now much more restrictive. Rather than becoming eligible again after a set period of time, the terms now say that you are not eligible if you currently have or previously had that specific card.
Citi Strata Elite® Card
New account bonus offer is not available if you currently have or previously had a Citi Strata Elite® account. You also may not be eligible for the new account bonus offer based on a number of factors, such as your history of opening, closing and using credit cards.
Citi Strata Premier® Card
New account bonus offer is not available if you currently have or previously had a Citi Strata Premier® account. You also may not be eligible for the new account bonus offer based on a number of factors, such as your history of opening, closing and using credit cards.
Citi Strata℠ Card
New account bonus offer is not available if you currently have or previously had a Citi Strata® or a Citi Strata Student account. You also may not be eligible for the new account bonus offer based on a number of factors, such as your history of opening, closing and using credit cards.
Why This Matters
This is a pretty significant change. Under the old setup, many applicants mainly had to worry about Citi’s 48-month rule, which at least left the door open to earning another bonus down the road. With this updated wording, it now looks like these bonuses are once per product, for life.
That doesn’t necessarily mean you can’t earn a bonus on more than one Strata-branded card. Based on the current wording, the restriction is tied to the specific card, not the entire Strata family.
We also do not know how strictly Citi will enforce this new language. We know that Amex for example considers lifetime to be 5-7 years, but they will even approve you for some cards (co-branded business usually) much sooner than that in some cases. We’ll have to wait and see what Citi does going forward.
HT: DoC
