[Repost] Citi card-number replacement after fraud can also affect eligibility for a bonus on another card in the same family (but it can be fixed)

Today I came across a rather interesting data point. This blogger applied for the Premier card and was approved, but a week later received a letter saying he was not eligible for the welcome bonus. The reason given was that he had opened or closed a Thank You family card within the past 24 months. As we know, Citi Thank You family cards have a welcome-bonus restriction: if you received a welcome bonus, opened one, or closed one within the past 24 months, you are not eligible for the welcome bonus.

Bonus ThankYou Points are not available if you received a new cardmember bonus for Citi Rewards+, Citi ThankYou Preferred, Citi ThankYou Premier/Citi Premier or Citi Prestige, or if you have closed any of these accounts, in the past 24 months.

What makes this especially interesting is that the blogger had not actually opened or closed any of the above cards within the past 24 months. He had only replaced his Prestige card once during that period because of fraud, and the card number changed as well (a replacement due to fraud always comes with a new card number). So he contacted Citi customer service, and after understanding the situation, the representative submitted a case for him. In the end, he received a letter saying Citi had resolved the issue and that he was indeed eligible for the welcome bonus.

If you recently applied for the Premier card with its all-time-high welcome bonus and received a letter denying the bonus because of a similar situation, you should definitely call and get it fixed. This also suggests to some extent that a card-number change may be an important factor in how Citi determines this 24-month rule. It is also possible that previous reports of product changes resetting the 24-month clock were related to card-number changes as well.