Milenomics² Episode 186: Time to Say Goodbye?

0:20 Citi Shutdown Coming? “Know Your Customer” Calls

• Saw a call come in to my cell phone from 855–688-0555 (Spam Risk)
• “Please call Citibank in reference to your account…” said to call them back at 833-951-0031
• I’d think it really was a spam call because they didn’t say my name, or any specific information about my account. But the woman had a bit of a southern accent and I hear Citi has a fraud team in Jacksonville. So I think this was a real KYC call. What to do now?
• Disclaimer: My point in discussing this is mostly to point out there are risks associated with the stunts you hear about in this game. I don’t know how Citi operates. I don’t think Citi even knows how they operate. The best I know to do is make decisions based on the information out there in conjunction with my situation.
• Listen to Citi Shutdown playlist on Spotify
• Option 1: Torch the place. Immediately transfer out all rewards then close all accounts in hopes of shutting yourself down before Citi shuts you down (thus leaving a black mark on your Citi record for years to come, unable to open new accounts).
• If I close my accounts every time there was a shutdown scare out there I’d…not have many open accounts left. Really have to use this lever carefully. Especially since…
• Me and P2 both have 3 Citi cards you can’t get any more! Prestige, AT&T Access More, and Dividend. I wouldn’t be able to get those again if I close them and if this was a false alarm I’d feel really dopey. But I don’t think this is a false alarm.
• I don’t know whether they were calling about my accounts or my wife’s since they didn’t mention an account number and they didn’t mention a name. But either way - I think I need to take action as if we’re both in the same boat because I hear Citi looks for AU accounts when taking action, and perhaps even same address even if not AU.
• The only AU we have between us is me on her AT&T card. I’ve tried to avoid interacting with Citi as much as possible the past couple years so as to avoid eyes on account. No retention calls, no calling to add/remove AUs, nothing. Relationship has been as “robotic” as possible.
  Tip: You can remove an AU via chat.
• Citi kept calling, with increased frequency and specificity. They asked for me by name and mentioned my Prestige card “and several other cards.” They also started mentioning “this is our third attempt to contact you.”
• They followed up with a secure digital letter to my email address and in my account saying that if they didn’t hear from me within a week they may close or suspend my card.

11:28 Remembering The Good Times

• The Disney Concierge Cruise we went on, funded 100% w/Citi points
• Booking Disneyland Hotel Club Level w/Park Tickets at 1.25 cpp
• Getting to know the CxLoyalty call center so well, we had relationships with the better reps by name
• Booking Four Seasons Aviara 4th night free + 1.25 cpp
• Booking Park Hyatt St Kitts 4th night free with huge property credit when Citi Concierge was considered a Prive agent
• "Has Citi Sucked All the Fun Out of Their Program?"
• I decided to close all my cards preventatively, in hopes of being able to re-open cards with them at some point in the future rather than facing a very long Citi ban.
• This was particularly painful with the cards I have that I’ll never be able to get again because they don’t issue them any more.
• With 6 credit cards on my side plus checking and savings, this took some time.
• For every one of the closures I was transferred to a live rep who asked why I was canceling (“just trying to reduce the number of credit cards I have”) and sometimes offered retention (including, I think, 2 additional TYP per dollar up to $35,000 in spend on the DoubleCash - hurt to pass on that one).
• Don’t forget rogue cards that might not appear on your main login like Citi Business cards (I had an old TY Business card that was converted from an AA Business card, ShopYourWay and other store cards).
• The next day I still saw one of them open, my DoubleCash, and had to call again to close it. Similar with Checking and Savings. “What’s your debit card PIN?” Sheesh, I don’t know. Good thing I had that noted. Surprisingly, closing Citi checking/savings wasn’t that bad: Just ACH’d out and closed. Should have done that a long time ago - this goes back to CitiGold/funding w/Barclays days!
• At this point it was clear that they were coming after me rather than my wife, and my wife had some more lucrative statement closures coming up, so for now I’ve kept her accounts open after removing myself as AU on her cards. Unsure what I’m going to do there.
• Pro-rated AF refunds came through on most of the cards the next day, except for my Prestige card. Unsure why that is, and it’s a bummer because that’s got a $495 AF.
• The cards remain visible when I log in, show closed, can still pay the balances down over the phone.

21:18 So Many Questions…

• Will the calls and letters cease and desist now that I’ve closed my accounts? Could they mark the account so as to disallow me to open accounts in the future even though I closed them preventatively? Could they pursue some kind of adverse action even though I’ve closed the accounts?
• Are P2 accounts safe? Does it matter that I was an AU on one of the cards if we live in the same household?
• What point is there in keeping accounts open and then “laying low” with Citi indefinitely?
• Fluz cash loads still seem useful, but what to do with 1-Time Cards without Citi Pay By Phone?
• How soon to try to get back in?
• What cards to go for when trying to get back in?
• I’ll update this ongoing issue in future shows…

27:20 Synchrony Premier 2% Mastercard

• Wanted to get a replacement for DoubleCash going, this card seems like a good one
• No welcome bonus, but no AF and unlimited 2% cashback
• Synchrony applications are strange. They start with asking your cell phone number. Once you tap on a link they sent your phone they seem to know all about me. Which was concerning because they closed my Cathay Pacific card due to cycling a ridiculously small credit line in order to spend enough to get the welcome bonus.
• But somehow they approved me for this card with a $10,000 credit limit.

30:11 US Bank: Time for More Leverage? (link)

• $750 when you spend $7500 in 120 days.
• 2% on your top 2 categories (essentially 2%)
• $0 AF in year one
• Might need to close before churning.  Sam holds on, Robert is >12 months from last app.

32:14 Amex Referral Cap Bumped to 100,000 Annually on Some Cards

• Seems targeted and mainly on Personal cards
• Complicated, not only because of personal referral penalty boxes but best offers bein NLL

35:41 Heightened Amex Delta Offers

• Available through referral
• Personal
  • Gold 70k
  • Platinum 90k
  • Reserve 50k + 10k MQMs (not heightened)
• Business
  • Gold 75k
  • Platinum 95k
  • Reserve 100k (no MQMs unfortunately)
• Offers do contain lifetime language, but check https://www.deltaamexcard.com/ to see if you might be targeted with no lifetime language offers.
• Pretty solid offers, plus new 15% off awards feature.

37:11  Delta 15% Off Awards for Gold/Platinum/Reserve Cardholders (T&Cs)

41:17 Managing Spousal Travel

• Sam: Work trip. Long beach with a stop or lax directly
  • Weather issues caused delays both ways. Nice to be at Long Beach outbound and just go home for the day
  • Return was direct (no plane change). Weather caused and issue and ended up having a connection and missing it.
  • $200 voucher and flight to LAX instead.
  • Tough but really impressed how well my P2 did navigating all of this. .
• Robert: Booking/cancelling AA flights booked with AA gift card and BofA Elite points

Discuss: How nothing went according to plan here. Nothing!

For context: Episode 64 of this very podcast.