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There are lots of promotions out there for different banks, airlines, credit cards and other offers.  Consider this your friendly reminder to always (I mean ALWAYS) get these promotions in writing and/or screenshots of offers.  This goes doubly true for limited-time offers or ones that may be technically targeted

CC license from Flickr https://www.flickr.com/photos/caitlinator/2826079915/

A case study in targeted promotions: Citigold 50K offer

A few months ago, Citibank offered a promotion giving 50,000 American Airlines AAdvantage miles (or 50,000 ThankYou points) for opening up a Citigold checking account

Many people (myself included) signed up for the deal and fulfilled the promotion requirements (some direct deposits, some bill pays, etc).  Then we waited… and waited…citibank

Then Citibank backed out

Fast forwarding a few months, people started getting responses from Citibank that they were NOT going to offer

(SEE ALSO: Why do companies give away free money then act surprised when everyone wants it?)

I had previously sent a secure message to Citibank about the promotion and they had replied back confirming that I had been enrolled, so I called into Citibank, showed them my secure message, and I then got a letter saying that they were (at least in my case!) honoring the promotion

And then a few weeks later, my 50,000 American miles finally posted!

A recent comment on the Citigold offer

I got a comment on my Citigold blog post the other day

I applied online December 2015 by myself for this promotion, before I applied, I did call citi bank, they say yes you can apply you will get the promotion miles. But now they say i m not targeted. I must receive an email or mail from citi for this promotion.
I can’t remember where I see this promotion. Could anyone give a clue, or anyone with the same situation get the promotion?

While it’s possible I’m misunderstanding the commenter, it sounds like she only got verbal confirmation and nothing in writing.  At that point, if Citibank says she wasn’t targeted, her only recourse would be to fill out a CFPB complaint, but with no written confirmation, I think the odds of a successful claim are low!

Same thing goes for signing up for credit cards, especially on limited time offers – take a screenshot of the landing page, and then confirm via secure message the offer details.

(SEE ALSO: How I lost a $400 credit card signup bonus 🙁)

So remember, always get those promotions in writing!


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