When the banks fight, we win.

Chase increased the offer on the Sapphire Preferred card just a few weeks ago to 80,000 points after spending $4,000 within the first 3 months (the offer is now expired).

Now it seems that Citi is fighting back – they increased the offer on the Citi Premier card to 80,000 points after spending $4,000 within the first 3 months!

The Citi Premier is a good choice since it offers 3 points in some categories, one of them being gas.

The prices on gas are sky-high so the 3 points you earn per dollar can save you a lot. With the current gas prices, 3 points can equal 200-300 points every time you fill up your tank!

Here are 9 things you need to know before you apply for the Citi Premier card.

1. Welcome bonus eligibility

The welcome bonus on the Citi Premier card is not available if you’ve received a new cardmember bonus for the Citi Rewards, Citi ThankYou, Citi Preferred, Citi Premier, or Citi Prestige, in the past 24 months, or if you have closed any of these accounts in the past 24 months.

Citi has a very weird way of calculating the welcome offer eligibility. It goes based on a family of cards, plus the clock resets if you close the card. So in order to be eligible for a new welcome bonus you need to make sure you did not receive a welcome offer on any of these cards within the past 24 months plus make sure you did not close any of these cards within the past 24 months (this may get some of you guys’ heads spinning).

If you want to double-check if you’re eligible for the welcome bonus you can log in to Citi.com and look for the welcome offer tracker within your dashboard (image below). Or you can be old-fashioned and call Citi by phone to confirm your eligibility.

2. 12 month credit history

You will usually need credit history for a minimum of 12 months before Citi will approve you for the Citi Premier card (there are some reports of approvals with less history).

3. Applying for multiple cards the same day

Citi will only approve you for one personal Citi card every 8 days and up to 2 personal cards every 65 days. So you can’t apply for multiple Citi cards on the same day.

4. Offer is based on date applied

If you apply now for the card and the application goes pending and you only get approved after the offer expires, you will still get the offer that was live at the time you applied. That’s because the welcome offer you get is based on the date you apply for the card, not on the date you get approved.

5. Credit bureau pull

Citi will usually pull your Experian credit report, sometimes Equifax, and sometimes Experian and Equifax.  

• Brooklyn: NY is usually Equifax
• Upstate NY and Lakewood: NJ is usually Experian

If you freeze your Experian credit report you can sometimes request the reconsideration department to pull your Equifax credit report.

6. Application status

You can check your Citi application status  online or call 1-888-201-4523. This tells you if your application has been received, is still pending, has been declined, or has been approved.

7. Reconsideration option

If declined, you can call 1-800-695-5171 to have your application reconsidered. I’ve usually had bad experiences with the Citi reconsideration department. The decision will usually not change unless you change information on the application for example your income, etc (in addition, they will re-pull your credit report).

8. Annual fee not waived

Some cards don’t have an annual fee. Some cards have an annual fee that is waived the first year. The Citi Premier card has an $95 annual fee that is not waived the first year.

This should not put you off, because the welcome offer of 80,000 points, far outweighs the $95 annual fee you’ll be paying from the start, so it’s well worth it.

9. Downgrade options

 The Citi Premier card has many no annual fee downgrade options. It can be downgraded to the Citi Rewards ($0), Citi Double Cash ($0), Citi AA MileUp ($0), Citi Costco ($0), Citi Custom Cash ($0), or to the Citi AT&T Access ($0).

Citi Premier Card >>