I saw a report today about a blogger who opened a Citi Premier card at the end of February. In theory, that account should have qualified for Citi’s additional three-month extension. But after recently completing the required spending, he still did not receive the sign-up bonus. When he contacted customer service, the representative said they were unaware of any such policy, which left him in a very awkward situation.
We previously shared that Citi would extend the time to meet minimum spending for cards opened between December 1, 2019 and May 31, 2020. That information originally came from FrequentMiler, and other websites also reported it, including CNBC, NerdWallet, and OMAAT. However, Citi never officially published this announcement.
For new cardmembers eligible for a bonus offer if they meet minimum spend within a certain period of time after opening an account between December 1, 2019 and May 31, 2020, we are extending the timeframe to make eligible purchases and earn the bonus offer for an additional three months.
A reader of this site contacted Citi and obtained confirmation. Thanks to reader Zhang Sijie
My view is that one possibility is that his statement has not yet closed, so the sign-up bonus has not posted yet. The more troublesome possibility is that Citi never actually extended the time required to meet the minimum spending requirement in the first place. Either way, I would suggest that if you are able to do so, it is still best to complete the spending within the original time frame given when you applied for the card. If you truly cannot finish it, be sure to contact customer service and get a definite answer, preferably by email or secure message. If problems come up later, you will at least have something to argue with.
If you are unable to complete the required spending, you can check out this article for some ideas: