$150 in Gift Cards and $26.5K Balance Transfer for One Year

Last month I realized that the 2 0% Balance Transfers that I was taking advantage of to earn interest in savings accounts were expiring and needed to be paid back in full. However, I was in the middle of purchasing my next property and didn't want to risk problems with obtaining financing by signing up for any new balance transfers until after the deal was complete.

As soon as I closed on my new property I started the process of signing up for a new balance transfer. I had been stock piling credit card mailings to review to see if I could find a good offer - there were plenty to choose from. However, one caught my eye that seemed very lucrative.

I discovered that my existing Citi Diamond Rewards Credit Card (from a previous balance transfer) offered a 5,000 point bonus (5,000pts = $50 gift card) to refer a friend to sign up for the card. The offer was include on the last page of the statement with my referral code.

The Citi Diamond Rewards Credit Card offered 10,000 points with your 1st purchase on the card and a 0% Balance Transfer for 12 months with no balance transfer fees.

So I began to think that I could try and refer myself to take advantage of all the potential bonuses. I used the referral code on my credit card statement to refer my self to the card. I then filled out the credit card application and sat around and waited for several days.

The new credit card showed up with a $10,000 credit limit. Not bad. I immediately activated the card and went to the store and made a small purchase with it. I then added the card account to my online Citi account so I could see the card activity and make payments online.

About 3 days later the transaction showed up on my account and I immediately made a payment to my card to pay off the amount I charged (yes, even without waiting for the bill). I hope this will qualify me for the 10,000 bonus points (10,000pts = $100 gift card) with my 1st purchase.

2 days later my payment cleared. I called up the Citi customer service and requested they move $16,500 of the credit limit from my old card to my new card which put the new credit limit at $26,500.

I then went back online to my Citi account and requested a balance transfer check for $26,500. The check showed up about 1 week later.

Things are looking good, I am still waiting for all the points to show up so I can redeem them for the gift cards. As long as all the points show up this will be my most profitable 0% Balance Transfer deal yet!

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Comments (13)

DATE: 10:19 AM
Let me know if you still get the points. I waited until I got the first bill to pay it off (.75c :P). This was to make sure I got the points, but my wife recently applied and qualified so I would rather pay it off right away. Keep us posted!

Posted by franky | September 10, 2006 3:17 PM

DATE: 10:26 AM
So wait, you filed an application for the exact same card you already had, referred yourself (using different contact information?), got said new card, and didn't have a problem combining your two identical cards back into one?That just sounds amazing, and makes me think Citibank really just sin't on top of things. However, that said, awesome! Glad it worked out for ya, and hope the points show up.

Posted by ChippingAway | September 10, 2006 3:17 PM

DATE: 10:40 AM
Just to clarify - I used the same contact information and transfered most of the credit limit from the old card to the new card, I didn't combine the 2 accounts (but I guess I could have).

Posted by 2million | September 10, 2006 3:17 PM

DATE: 1:00 PM
2million,I looked for this card on the Citi web site. This is what I found: Citi® Dividend Platinum Select® MasterCard®Is this it? In the terms and conditions for this one it lists a 3% balance transfer fee with a $5 min and $75 max. Did you have to pay the $75 to get the check? You were able to request a check to yourself on line? It is not a cash advance when you do this? Thanks!

Posted by j | September 10, 2006 3:17 PM

DATE: 1:39 PM
No I used the Citi Diamond Preferred Rewards Card.In the fine print it should say- "The transaction fee for balance transfers is 3% of the amount of each balance transfer, $5 minimum, $75 maximum. However, there is no balance transfer transaction fee on balances you transfer in response to this offer."

Posted by 2million | September 10, 2006 3:17 PM

DATE: 2:54 PM
I wish I had your guts to do this - I just get so nervous with this kind of thing. I keep listening to all you guys out there doing this and I think I am getting ready!

Posted by D | September 10, 2006 3:17 PM

DATE: 3:33 PM
I have an existing Discover Cashback Bonus Plan card with a 10k Limit and recently opened a new Discover Miles card with a 5K limit with 0% transfer for 12 months.Does that mean I can tranfer the 10K balance from the old card to the new card and increase my credit limit to 15K in the new card

Posted by Bob | September 10, 2006 3:17 PM

DATE: 3:57 PM
You can certainly try - I have only done it with Citi so I don't know if Discover will do it. If you wanted to transfer the entire 10K limit they would probably close you old account. I transferred $16,500 out the $18,500 limit so I could keep my old card/account for normal purchases.

Posted by 2million | September 10, 2006 3:17 PM

DATE: 5:22 PM
Thanks 2 Million.I just transfered 7K from the old card to the new card increasing the credit limit to 12K.I am planning to tranfer the 7K to my HSBC direct account.

Posted by Bob | September 10, 2006 3:17 PM

DATE: 2:25 PM
Just a question on this, how do you get them to issue a check to you to act as a balance transfer, don't they have to send it to a bank? I don't have any outstanding debt....

Posted by drewbegga | September 10, 2006 3:17 PM

DATE: 8:51 AM
I received by 10,000 point (=$100 gift card) the other day, but I am still waiting on my 5,000 points for the referral.

Posted by 2million | September 10, 2006 3:17 PM

DATE: 7:08 PM
This sounded really good to me as I keep balances on cards to keep my credit rating up but only when I can do it without paying interest. However, in the terms and conditions for this card it states "Please note you cannot transfer balances from other accounts issued by Citibank USA N.A., Citibank (South Dakota) N.A., or their affiliates." and also " Balance transfers, cash advances, convenience checks, . . .do not earn ThankYou Points unless otherwise specified." So I'm wondering how you managed to get points when it violates both of these card member conditions? As a side note, I attempted to transfer a balance this week from my AT&T Universal card (a Citi affiliate) to my Citibank card and was refused.

Posted by PreciousToy | September 10, 2006 3:17 PM

Update - I don't ever think I got the 5,000 bonus points for referring myself - perhaps Citi figured me out.

Posted by 2 million | October 24, 2006 10:27 PM