When it comes to sign-up bonuses for credit cards, I am selective in my picks (concerning the value of the bonus). When a cashier at any particular store tries to get me to sign-up for a credit card for that store, I am always amused when I hear the bonus. I have had such “offers” as a free $20 gift card for signing up, free 6-pack of Coke, a $25 credit, etc. In the miles and points game, we know that such an offer is not nearly enough to get us to sacrifice a hard credit pull for. As such, many of us stick to the big travel bonuses.
But, I sometimes like to see a credit card bonus that offers a great bonus without having travel ramifications. The reason is this – the Chase Ink Plus gives a 50,000 point bonus that is worth a straight $500 cash or worth much more in travel redemptions. So, it is a no-brainer – do not use such a card for the cash. But, that is still $500 cash to use for anything which can be hard to say no to.
Free Phone With The Citi AT&T Access More Card
*Note: I do not receive a commission for this card.
With a card like the new offer from the Citi AT&T Access More card, you do not have to make that decision. It has a potentially large sign-up bonus but it cannot be used for travel! Is that a good thing? If you would like to take advantage of a new phone and you don’t want to touch your valuable travel points to do so, it is a great deal!
– AT&T Access More Card From Citi Application Link
The Offer
The offer is simple – spend $2,000 in 3 months and receive a credit back to your account for buying a full-price, no-contract AT&T. The phone can be any cost but the card bonus will reimburse you up to $650 towards the price of the phone.
To make it even sweeter, the $650 spent on the phone can actually count towards the $2,000 minimum spending requirement! That is a great way to help meet the minimum spending requirement.
Offer Details:
Spend $2,000 in purchases with your AT&T Access More Card within 3 months of account opening.
• Use your card, now or later, to buy a new phone from AT&T, at full price and with no annual contract.
• Make your phone purchase using your unique phone offer link (which will be provided to you), activate and maintain service with AT&T for 15 days. If you buy a new phone now it will count toward the $2,000 in qualifying purchases!
• Citi will then credit your AT&T Access More Card account for the cost of the phone up to $650 (exclusive of taxes, shipping, fees & wireless service).
The Card Details
Even after you take advantage of the card bonus, you can still get some great value from the card itself. It has a pretty great earning structure for spending done on the card (bolding mine).
- Earn 3X ThankYou® Points for every $1 you spend on purchases made online at retail and travel websites.
- Earn 3X points for every $1 you spend on products & services directly purchased from AT&T.
- Earn 1X points for every $1 you spend on other purchases.
Being able to earn 3X points on purchases made online at retail stores is tremendous! That is going to be a big plus to this card and thank you to Citi for providing such an earning structure. In addition to the earning of points, there is also an anniversary bonus of 10,000 points after spending $10,000 in the prior card membership year. Given how lucrative the earnings for this card can be, spending $10,000 per year should not require a lot of extra work.
Annual Fee
There is an annual fee of $95 that is not waived the first year. So, in reality, that $650 sign-up bonus will end up being more like a bonus of $555 in value – still a tremendous bonus!
The Points
Another nice thing about this card is that the points earned go into the ThankYou network. So, you can redeem them for travel or other items or, if you have a card such as the Citi Prestige or Citi Premier, they can be transferred to any one of several airlines (and hotel). With the earning structure of the card, it makes this card a great card to use to accrue the points and then keep the Prestige or Premier card for the purpose of transferring the points to a travel provider that makes sense for you.
Summary
I really like this card offer. Sure, if you are not an AT&T customer you will have to activate some cheap plan for 15 days, but the ability to get a high-end phone off contract is a big plus. I will likely get this card later on this year and time it around the release of the new iPhones to upgrade my wife’s phone.
In the meantime, if any of you are interested in the new Google cell plans (which include international data), this may be a great way to grab a Google Nexus 6 phone so that you are able to take advantage of that plan. It is an expensive phone but this card offer makes it cheaper than a flip phone. Not only that, but having played with the phone a bit, I can say I think it is a great piece of hardware as well.
Thanks for this post. But how does Citi know that I have maintained an active account with AT&T for 15 days? I am wondering what kind of cheap plan with AT&T with no contract or termination fee that I can cancel within 15 days and get the prorated monthly fee refunded. Appreciate any advice. Thank you!