Select Citi/AAdvantage cardholders targeted for temporary 5x bonus categories
Editor’s note: This post has been updated with the latest credit card information.
Citi is a TPG advertising partner
Check your emails! Citi sent out a round of what appears to be targeted offers to both Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World Elite™ Mastercard® and CitiBusiness® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® Mastercard® cardholders for 5x AAdvantage miles across a number of new categories. The information for the CitiBusiness AAdvantage card has been collected independently by The Points Guy. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.
On the Citi/AAdvantage Executive Card, targeted cardholders are being offered 5x miles on the following:
Restaurants: including takeout meals and curbside pickup orders
Grocery Stores: including curbside pickup and online delivery
Gas Stations
Drugstores: including prescription orders made online
Mass Transit & Commuter Transportation Vendors
TPG Senior Editor Nick Ewen received the offer today with a special one-click link to activate. According to the email he received, targeted cardholders have until Oct. 15, 2020, to enroll their card and until Nov. 30, 2020, to take advantage of the spending bonus.
(Screenshot courtesy of Nick Ewen/Citi email communications)(Screenshot courtesy of Nick Ewen/Citi email communications)
Meanwhile, TPG Credit Cards Writer Chris Dong received an offer on his CitiBusiness/AAdvantage Platinum Select card for 5x on computer and electronic stores during the same time period.
Screenshot courtesy of Chris Dong/Citi email communications.
While 5x is an impressive earning multiplier — especially across so many categories — the spending cap is a bit disappointing. Both offers state you can earn up to 2,500 miles in combined bonus category spending, which equates to just $500 in spending. TPG values AAdvantage miles at 1.4 cents each, meaning those who max out this offer will only earn a total of $35 in additional rewards.
Considering the number of cards currently offering temporary bonus categories during the coronavirus pandemic, this offer may not be enough to tempt people to switch spending to this card versus others offering higher spending caps for temporary categories.
Bottom line
With spending habits changing for many cardholders this year, card issuers have launched a number of new ways for customers to earn rewards in order to encourage spending on cards that otherwise would have been resigned to the sock drawer in 2020. Citi is neither the first nor my guess the last issuer we’ll see add temporary spending categories this year. We’ve seen Chase dominate in this area, consistently offering cardholders new ways to earn rewards across both branded and cobranded card options. Some Amex and Capital One cards have also been among those to get temporary bonus categories added.
While 5x on certain non-travel categories is definitely a nice temporary offer, the 2,500-point earning cap dulls some of my excitement for this offer.
Featured image by The Points Guy staff.
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