I’ve seen this offer come and go with some regularity but I just got an email with the latest code for this offer which is valid through March 31, 2015. If you are a Citi AAdvantage cardmember you can earn 30,000 American Airlines AAdvantage miles for opening a Citigold account and meeting the debit card & bill pay requirements, which are very reasonable. Here is the offer below:

In order to signup, you must use code DWBXLFT7VF. The terms and conditions state you must be a Citi AAdvantage cardmember and receive the email directly – I think as long as you are a Citi AAdvantage cardmember, you will be eligible for the offer. Per Citibank, here are the requirements:

1. Open a new checking account in an eligible account package by 3/31/2015.

2. Within 60 days after account opening, complete both of the following qualifying activities:
• Spend $750 on purchases using your Citibank® Debit Card AND

• One qualifying bill payment from the new checking account for 2 consecutive calendar months

3. The miles will be posted within 90 days from the statement close date of the month that all the qualifying activity is met. This will be important (read below).

In the past I’ve seen offers for earning AA miles in other types of Citibank checking accounts but this promotion is only for Citigold accounts. Here is a snapshot of the requirements and fees of the Citigold account.

Additionally, here is a summary of the various accounts on Citibank’s website.

Citibank states the miles should be awarded within 90 days of the month the qualifying activity posts so at minimum it will take 2 months (since you need 2 months of bill pay) plus up to 3 additional months though it could definitely happen sooner. My thinking is the AA miles are worth $450 to me so even if I have to pay 5 monthly fees of $30, I still net $300 on this offer. And I would be willing to bet the miles get posted in month 3 or 4 instead, so I could potentially only pay $90-$120 in fees instead of $150 (secure message them asking them to post the miles for you once you meet the requirements of the offer). All of this analysis is of course assuming you cannot get the fee waived with a $50,000 deposit – if you can get it waived, this offer is a no brainer to me. (Edit: Per ThePointsTraveler in the comments, Citibank actually waives the fee for the first 2 months automatically, making this an even better deal!)

Once the miles post, I would call Citi and ask to downgrade to the account in which I could safely meet the requirement to get any fees waived. There is nothing in the fine print that states how long an account has to be open so I interpret this that once the miles post, they will not be taken back if I downgrade or even close the account. If I can’t downgrade the account, I would simply close it once I see the miles post. 

If you are not interested in AAdvantage miles, there is also a similar offer for 40,000 Thank You Rewards points. While I prefer the AA miles over Thank You Rewards points, Doctor of Credit has a good writeup of that offer here and that offer might make more sense for some of you.

For those wondering about Citibank issuing a 1099 for the value of the miles, I thought Citibank stopped issuing them in 2013 so this shouldn’t be an issue. Maybe others in the comments can verify their experience.