Downgrading Citi Credit Cards for Up to $300 Annual Cash Back and No Annual Fee
I learned previously from Rapid Travel Chai that you can make a product change on your Citibank credit cards and decided to try it myself. My mom and I both had regular American Airlines credit cards, but recently each got a new Citi Executive American Airlines credit when there was a 100,000 mile offer available (this increased bonus is no longer available). Given that the American Airlines credit card has an annual fee, we decided to look at our options.
The Citi Dividend card has 5% quarterly cash back categories that rotate every 3 months. This quarter (July – September), it’s Hilton hotels, car rentals, theme parks and movie theaters. Next quarter, it’s holiday shopping. The maximum one can earn in cash back annually is $300 (on $6000 in spending in the bonus categories). However, unlike the Chase Freedom® card and Discover it cards, it’s not limited to $1500 in a quarter. You can earn all $300 from just one quarter’s categories. This past January – March, the category was drugstores. Given drugstores sell merchant gift cards and Visa prepaid debit cards up to $500, it’s no trouble for me to earn all $300 cash back when the drugstore category comes around.
I don’t like canceling cards very much so I tend to go for credit cards where either the annual fee is worth it or I at least have the option to switch to a credit card without an annual fee. I also really like 5% cash back category cards and adding another one to my portfolio without an annual fee is always welcome.
For a full set of instructions on how to pull off the downgrade, read Rapid Travel Chai’s post:
Citi Downgrade Cards for $300 Cashback a Year
And for my discussion of other bonus credit cards with no annual fees, check out my post:
Thanks for this reminder. I have a vague memory of the RTC post and appreciate your take on it. When our family’s AA Citi cards came up for renewal and the waived annual fee was about to be charged, we got the fees waived with offers for promo points for small monthly minimum spends. But this is also a good idea, as I too like those 5% categories! We’ll certainly do some downgrading in the future.
Hmm! I have a Thank You Preferred card (and recently just got a Thank You Premier card). Would it make sense to convert the TY Preferred to the Dividend, or are there benefits to holding on to the Preferred?
@Adam
Do we still get the bonus on upgrading from Thank you Preferred card to Premier card?