Yesterday I covered 4 Citibank cards offering a 50K signup bonus. Between those offerings, the ability to transfer points to airlines, and the Double Cash card that offers 2% cash back with no annual fee, Citibank continues to ramp up their credit card portfolio in a big way,
Citibank has now launched a co-brand card with AT&T Wireless called the AT&T Access More Card and it’s actually a surprisingly rich offering.
With all of the major airlines and hotels locked up, it’s not a surprise that banks are looking for more co-brand partners. I never understood why the car rental agencies don’t have more robust point programs with co-brand cards. I’m sure that they’ll figure it out soon enough though.
Aside from airline and hotel cards though, co-brand cards aren’t usually great cards. They typically have mediocre signup bonuses and spend categories. That’s what surprising about this AT&T offering.
As for the telecom industry, the only question is which banks lock each one up for a deal. If this card was for Verizon, I’d be all over it!
When you signup for the new AT&T card you’ll get a unique link to use to buy a phone at full price with no contract. If you spend $2,000 within 3 months you’ll get a credit for the price of the phone, up to $650. Plus the $650 counts towards the $2,000 spend requirement even though it will be rebated back to you! Or you can save the $650 credit to purchase the phone later on if you don’t need a new one right away.
You must activate the phone with AT&T postpaid wireless service, keep the phone, and remain active and in good-standing for at least 15 days in order to get the $650 credited back to you.
The earning structure on the card is excellent:
You earn 3 ThankYou points per dollar on “Retail websites,” “travel websites,” and for products and services from AT&T.
“Retail websites are websites that sell goods directly to the consumer through an online website and include department store websites, specialty store websites, warehouse store websites and boutique websites.
Travel websites are websites that allow you to book travel and include online travel agencies, hotel websites and airline websites.”
The real question is how do they categories retail websites?
I’d assume Amazon is a retail website, but is eBay? I guess time will tell when people signup for the card and start experimenting.
You’ll also get 10K points every card anniversary when you spend $10K in the previous year, so if you spend $10K online you’ll have earned 4 points per dollar.
There is a $95 annual fee, though if you actually use the card, the anniversary bonus more than covers the fee.
This card can’t transfer points to airlines or hotels, but if you have a Premier or Prestige card then the points earned on this card will also be transferable.
If you have the Premier card you can also use the points for 1.25 cents towards paid airfare. If you have the Prestige card you can use the points for 1.33 cents towards paid airfare or 1.6 cents towards paid airfare on American or USAirways flights.
3-4 points per dollar that are worth 1.6 cents each means that you can get back 4.8%-6.4% on your online purchases, a most generous rebate indeed!
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26 Comments On "The Citi AT&T ThankYou Card Looks Sweet, Now Which Bank Will Come Up With Co-Brand Cards For Sprint, T-Mobile, Or Verizon?"
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As far as the aa citi business card it say you can’t get bonus if you ever had this card
You think a different business name would work?
@Thewiz23:
Unless it has the 18 month language you should get the miles.
There’s no guarantee yet that every phone will be included in that unique link they will send you upon approval…
Hmmpff…. I just (two days ago) upgraded to a samsung note 4 under their at&t next.
It doesn’t, i also still have my first aa business card opened- never closed it
So just use a different business name?
Thank you very much !
If the “retail” category is interpreted broadly, this could have tremendous implications for sites selling gift cards!
can the att iphone 6 or 6 plus work on verizon?
@buddy: nope
@Dan: Can I redeem the 50,000 points for cash back or statement credit? If so, how much money are 50,000 points worth?
Would the credit work for two phones that total $650?
how mugh is the cheapest postpaid plan? Would like to just sign up and cancel plan 16 days in to get myself a new iPhone to then use for my current tmobile plan. Is it that simple?
It says that u will have to buy the phones from there link I wonder if all phones will be available?
So i just got the citi prestige a few days ago, do i have to wait 8 days to get this AT&T card?
@yitzf:
That is exactly what I want to know. I am all over this if it applies to any phone located/shown on their website.
@Paul:
I don’t see any reason why you wouldn’t be able to choose from any phone.
I just called Citi, and after asking the question about which phones are available (a couple times), and the CSR going on hold multiple times, I was told that ALL AT&T phones are eligible. I wish I could find that in writing, so now it is about trial and error and hoping the individual was correct.
Would it really be possible to simply cancel the new wireless service after 16 days, without any penalty at all? If so- what happens to the phone after that? Does it remain carrier-locked to AT&T, or would it now work on any carrier in the world, such as Verizon or T-Mobile?
@CtownBin:
Yes, it would be easy to cancel because you would be using a month-to-month plan only. They cannot penalize you unless you get into a contract. Remember, the $650 is buying the phone outright without an obligation to a contract. The phone would then be good for GSM networks. With regards to the USA, that leaves two main carriers (AT&T & T-Mobile) but hundreds more if you use it outside of the USA. It is my understanding that the phone would NOT work with Verizon or Sprint (they are not GSM). I believe the unlock process may require some time (like 60 days) and must be requested (which is total BS and another reason our system is flawed).
@Paul is there any return warranty with Citi like AMEX? Maybe buy it and if there is an issue file a return claim?
@dan how long will citi premier offer be 50k?
@Mark:
I know certain Citi cards offer the extended warranty of 1 to +1 years. I have seen it on my other Citi cards, but I am not aware of whether or not this card offers it. I do not know enough about Citi to know if the warranty is on all cards or just specific cards.
You’ll probably have to get postpaid service and cancel as the top AT&T phones on prepaid are the HTC One ($660), the S-5 ($650) and the iPhone5 ($650). I hope these aren’t the top phones on the list that will be provided.
So I assume this will be good for existing AT&T customers too? any indication thats not the case?
I wonder if this will apply the the AT & T -Apple iPad
I am not an AT&T customer and do not wish to keep AT&T service – how do I unlock the phone ASAP? Terms on the unlock page claim that I have to have service for 60 days?
Is the offer still available online? I went to the link and this wasn’t listed on the Citi offers.