An Unexpected Citi MileUp Spending Offer and a Friendly Reminder
In our hobby, it’s sometimes the little, unexpected surprises that bring delight. I just experienced such a situation a few days ago. The art of obtaining credit card retention offers is a well-known strategy in the hobby, but getting a spending offer over the phone is more of a moving target – at least for me. Here’s how I ended up obtaining a Citi MileUp spending offer, albeit by surprise, and the reminder the experience provided.
Why I Called Citi
The Citi AAdvantage MileUp Card launched in July 2018, and I obtained the card later that year. The card earns uncapped 2x AAdvantage miles at grocery stores, which is why I’m primarily drawn to this card. Even better, the card has no annual fee. From my perspective, this card is solid yet easy to overlook. The low 10k miles and $50 statement credit after $500 spend welcome offer probably hasn’t helped its popularity, either. This is still the current welcome offer for the card.
I haven’t used the card much in the past year, but I wanted to put more spend on the card in the coming months. The current 0% APR offer sweetened the spend, as well. So before I went to Kroger to put about $1k spend on the card during a recent VGC promo, I decided to give Citi a call to notify them of the upcoming spend.
My Call with Citi
I informed the bubbly CSR of my upcoming spend at the beginning of the call, and she noted this in Citi records. As I started wrapping up the call with her, she informed me that I had a spending offer available on the account. She offered:
- 3k bonus AAdvantage miles with $500 spend in the next three months
I accepted while trying not to laugh. The CSR provided an offer that I would satisfy with the charge I had previously described! She registered me for the offer and confirmed that day’s spending would count. I decided to ask her about spending offers on my other Citi cards, but I came up empty. I guess I’m not as skilled as Shawn.
This equated to 8x for the first $500 spend on the card at Kroger, which I was going to do at 2x anyway. Not amazing, but welcomed!
A Friendly Reminder
Later, I thought about how asking for a spending offer was the last thing on my mind when I made the call. The experience was a friendly reminder that I should always have my radar up for a spending offer or other unexpected opportunities even while conducting mundane tasks in the hobby seemingly unrelated. I can’t win if I don’t play. And more importantly, I should always be playing in order to get further ahead.
Citi MileUp Spending Offer – Conclusion
Looking back, it’s only 3k extra AAdvantage miles. But hey, it all adds up. The hobby can be lucrative in some times, and it can be a slog at other times. Due to current events, people are having accounts closed, credit limits are being lowered, and new account approvals are harder to come by. The small, easy wins mean even more during these times. I even appreciate lean times, though, and how much fun the hobby can still be.
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AA miles are hard to come by especially with the mailers being gutted. 2x is solid depending on how you use your AA miles… especially if you can score a good web special.
Randy,
Agreed! I’ve enjoyed the web specials in the past and plan to continue redeeming for those fares.
2x on groceries is very unimpressive (McKayla Maroney face)
In a vacuum, I would agree. But everyone’s situation is different.