Zombie Links
In yesterday’s post I reported that the 100K Citi Executive AAdvantage World Elite MasterCard offer was dead. Then, in the comments of that post, a couple of readers mentioned that “zombie links” were still available.
Zombie links are, apparently, links to signup offers that are still available after the bank has taken away the landing page showing the offer. With Citibank, at least, it is well known that such zombie links can still be used to signup and get the bonus.
It can be a bit scary to signup for a card without any written indication of the signup offer. So, because I care about you, my readers, I signed up yesterday with a zombie link to see if it would really work (true, I also care about 100,000 AA miles, but surely that wasn’t my prime motivation?). I was not approved instantly, but I was given an application ID and a phone number to call because they needed further information. In this case, all I was asked was if I was willing to move credit line from other cards to approve this one (you bet!). I then asked the phone agent to confirm the signup offer. As expected, she said that I would get 100,000 bonus miles after $10,000 spend in 3 months. And, I would get a $200 statement credit. Of course, there is a $450 annual fee, but I think it is well worth it for 100,000 miles and $200 back. Note that I already have an open Citi Executive AA card. As reported by many others, Citi doesn’t seem to mind when people open multiple accounts with this same card (but you can’t signup for more than 1 per day, and not more than 2 in a 65 day period).
After confirming that the Zombie link works, I updated my Best Credit Card Offers page with the working Zombie link.
Club Carlson’s revealing survey
Yesterday I received an email from Club Carlson asking me to fill out a survey in exchange for 3000 Gold Points. Usually I don’t bother with surveys but something motivated me to give it a go anyway. The text of the email said:
Dear Greg,
As a valued customer, Club CarlsonSM sincerely values your opinion and would like to offer you an opportunity to provide feedback about your Club Carlson Visa Rewards® card.
Because we understand how valuable your time is, we would like to offer you 3,000 Gold Points® if you qualify and complete the entire survey.
The survey should take about 20 minutes to complete and is open until July 9, 2014.
What I found most interesting about the survey was that they seem to be looking for ways to increase Club Carlson credit card usage. I’m guessing that many people, like me, have the card for it’s terrific perks (see “Club Carlson rocks our world… Again”), but they don’t use it much for day to day spend. From the questions asked, I gathered that they are considering the following changes to encourage card spending:
- Eliminating foreign transaction fees
- Offering top tier Concierge status after $30,000 annual spend
- Offering category bonuses for “everyday” purchases (maybe groceries and gas, for example)
- Offering bonus points for high spend
Of course, they won’t make all of the above changes. If I could pick one, I’d love to see the option to earn Concierge status with high spend. I’m not sure I’d actually go for it, but it would be nice to have that option. My fear, though, is that they’ll take away benefits too. In particular, I would hate to see the end of their Bonus Award Nights (Update: This benefit was removed as of June 1, 2015) where the last night of any multi-night award stay is free (Please keep that one Club Carlson!). Currently, the card offers up to 50 Bonus Award Nights per year. I could easily imagine them changing the deal to offer only a few per year, but with the option to earn more through high spend.
It will be very interesting to see what, if anything, Club Carlson does with these survey results. Will they really change the card benefits? And, if so, will it be for the better?
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I just cancelled my 1st AA Exec card last week. Applied for the new card using FM’s link today and was approved. I verified the 100K bonus with the Citi agent. Score!
based on what i read,,,I got the AA Exec via Citi back in April, can i get a 2nd card as well….and get the 100K bonus and etc….didn’t know you can get two personal AA Exec cards…?
Best
Magellan
Yes, Citi allows you to have multiple of the same cards
Applied using zombie link and was approved on 6/26. Confirmed 100k on the phone.
Just got an approval email this afternoon listing card benefits, which does not include the 100k. Does anyone know if this is standard?
Thanks!
UPDATE: Card arrived last night and letter noted the 100k offer.
Good call on the AA Exec zombie link. Confirmed today 6/28/14 that it is still working — 100,000 mile sign up bonus.
Many of the better Club Carlson properties are in Europe, yet if you use the Club Carlson Visa there you get hit with the 3% foreign exchange fee. They should really get rid of that.
Hi- Following your lead, I managed to convince myself to apply for another Citi 100K AA credit card. I got the response to call them up and the rep shifted some credit around from another card and I was approved. The rep read back the terms and the 100k offer for 10k in spending is indeed still alive as of my application last night. Thanks very much for applying because I would not have had you not done it the other day and confirmed the sweet deal was still possible.
I love Club Carlson… 5x is great already, but, alas, much of my current spending is sending the love to Citi. So many cards to boost the points balances on… sigh…
Hi – just used your \zombie\ link and got approved (again) for card #2 for this deal (did they other back in late April). They confirmed it was for 100K after 10K spend. THANKS!
Hi FrequentMiler,
I want to apply Lufthansa, SW and SPG cards using your affiliate links so can you …….but before that, please tell me how do I meet the minimum spending to get the sign up bonus since we cannot load Vanilla gift cards into BB at WM anymore. I checked around my area and all the Office Depot and Staples are out of the $200 fixed about Visa gift card, only the $100 one available but I don’t want to buy a lot of $100 visa gc because it’s a hassle to load them one by one at WM (besides amazon payment and evolve, since I want to pay my credit card bill with bluebird)……I don’t want to be stuck with many GC that cannot be liquidated……..please advise so I can use your link to apply before the offer expires.
FM,
Please respond if you still want us to use your affiliate links for SPG and Chase freedom that will be over soon. We cannot apply if you don’t guide us how to meet the minimum spending since vanilla gc cannot be loaded into BB anymore at WM.
Have you tried looking for $500 Visa or MasterCards at your local grocery stores? Or, look for non Vanilla cards at other drugstores or even some gas stations. I can’t tell you what to do since it depends upon what is available in your area. Also, this post might help: https://frequentmiler.com/2014/03/31/9-ways-to-cope-without-reload-cards/
In case the 100K offer dies, would you recommend a 75K offer with the same benefits but a $100 credit instead of $200 to be a good option?
At this point I think it would be better to look at the 50K AA offers with first year fee waived
I live about 35 miles from her resting place…..but midnight–don’t think so.
As of 4pm 6/26, the offer still stands at the site from this site! I had to call & the rep confirmed it was for 100k.
Thanks for the extra data point. I expect it will be alive (undead) for a while
I am also curious if you have kept each card and paid the annual fee. I have 3 of these and decided to keep them all as I don’t want to upset Citi. I realize a lot of people are cancelling, but I am not sure that’s a smart long term move. I am happy to pay $250 for a 100k miles.
I’d drop the club Carlson card right away if they end the last night free benefit. I spend a lot of money on that card too.
I heard you can get the aa card, meet minimum spend in the 1st month then cancel when the points hit, keeping your points and getting a refund on the annual fee. Thoughts? Have you done it (fm or others)?
I believe that’s true, but I think that $250 is a small price to pay for 100,000 miles so I plan to keep my cards until the annual fee is nearly due