topic Re: Apply for Citi AAdvantage Platinum from France in Credit Card Applications

Apply for Citi AAdvantage Platinum from France

villemiami — Thu, 08 Sep 2022 12:04:44 GMT

I am American, but right now, I'm in France for 6 months. I still have my house in the USA.

I'd like to apply for the Citi AAdvantage Platinum and then use it online right after approval. I read that right after approval, I would get a temporary card number that I could use online. With this, I would make a purchase over $2500 so I can get the 50,000 American Airlines AAdvantage® bonus miles. My neighbor would put my mail inside my home so when I receive the physical credit card, it would be inside my home. But I would be unable to use it until I come back to USA in 6 months. Do people have to activate their physical credit card? If yes, if it's not activated within 6 months, what would happen? Is there a risk that I would not get my 50,000 American Airlines AAdvantage® bonus miles?
I trust my neighbor, but I don't like to ask him to mail my new credit card to France.

Re: Apply for Citi AAdvantage Platinum from France

coldfusion — Thu, 08 Sep 2022 12:57:24 GMT

You should in theory be able to get your card number and temporary CVV via mobile app after approval until you get the physical card.

As this is a new account, using the mobile app while in France whether using cellular or wifi to access the Internet in conjunction with an immediate large purchase may trigger a red flag as Citibank takes a fairly aggressive positioning with their anti-fraud unit.

In addition you risk a Catch-22 since you won't be able to use that temporary CVV indefinitely and using the card once without activating it for 6 months after it was sent can make you appear like a bonus-chaser, which wouldn't endear you to Citibank either.

Noted that my suggestion really isn't something you want to do, but if you trust your neighbor that much it might be a good idea to have them send you the unopened letter in a FedEx envelope via FedEx international Economy.

Re: Apply for Citi AAdvantage Platinum from France

pizzadude — Thu, 08 Sep 2022 13:37:56 GMT

Good advice above, also I'll add that while applying you might have to jump through some hoops with security / verification as it's possible that applying for a credit card from an international IP address might flag you for additional scrunity.

I think you'll be fine without activating the card for 6+ months, at least I don't think this will trigger them to shut down your account but you might continue to get emails / notifications about it.

Re: Apply for Citi AAdvantage Platinum from France

YogurtFan — Thu, 08 Sep 2022 15:19:32 GMT

For another card that came while I was traveling, my brother got the envelope, opened it and photographed the front and back of the card. I activated it online and added it to my Google Pay. Slight snafu. I had to call the bank and speak to a human to finish the Google Pay activation. They asked me for the expiration date/CSC and that was it.

Re: Apply for Citi AAdvantage Platinum from France

arifjk — Thu, 08 Sep 2022 15:45:36 GMT

@villemiami wrote:
I am American, but right now, I'm in France for 6 months. I still have my house in the USA.
I'd like to apply for the Citi AAdvantage Platinum and then use it online right after approval. I read that right after approval, I would get a temporary card number that I could use online. With this, I would make a purchase over $2500 so I can get the 50,000 American Airlines AAdvantage® bonus miles. My neighbor would put my mail inside my home so when I receive the physical credit card, it would be inside my home. But I would be unable to use it until I come back to USA in 6 months. Do people have to activate their physical credit card? If yes, if it's not activated within 6 months, what would happen? Is there a risk that I would not get my 50,000 American Airlines AAdvantage® bonus miles?
I trust my neighbor, but I don't like to ask him to mail my new credit card to France.

Theoritically, it may workout. If you have Citibank bank accounts and its app, after the approval, the credit card account will show up automatically in the app. Then you just need to activate it via the app by entering the CVV code. That's what happened to me. However, all of this was happening still in the US. I applied the card in Chicago though I reside in CA. I am able to use the card for up to a temporary limit. I activated the card while away from home since my wife opened and took the picture of the card. Then I am able to use the card anywhere, but again, this is still in the USA.

Another thing you can do is to use VPN while you are apping as well as activating the card. Set the server to United States. Choose a reputable VPN and non-blacklisted USA Server from their options. NordVPN is a good VPN. This is just my take and I am not responsible for the outcome of your decision. [Mod: please cut anything from the above paragraph if this violates any TOS, thanks]

Re: Apply for Citi AAdvantage Platinum from France

SouthJamaica — Thu, 08 Sep 2022 16:58:18 GMT

@villemiami wrote:
I am American, but right now, I'm in France for 6 months. I still have my house in the USA.
I'd like to apply for the Citi AAdvantage Platinum and then use it online right after approval. I read that right after approval, I would get a temporary card number that I could use online. With this, I would make a purchase over $2500 so I can get the 50,000 American Airlines AAdvantage® bonus miles. My neighbor would put my mail inside my home so when I receive the physical credit card, it would be inside my home. But I would be unable to use it until I come back to USA in 6 months. Do people have to activate their physical credit card? If yes, if it's not activated within 6 months, what would happen? Is there a risk that I would not get my 50,000 American Airlines AAdvantage® bonus miles?
I trust my neighbor, but I don't like to ask him to mail my new credit card to France.

If you're not willing to have your neighbor send it to you, I think you should wait until you return to the States.

I assume you have no interest in your neighbor learning your full account number, expiration date, and CVV code.

Re: Apply for Citi AAdvantage Platinum from France

villemiami — Thu, 08 Sep 2022 17:17:13 GMT

You are right. I could ask him to send the envelope without opening it, but I'm not sure which one it would be. I'm not sure it would be written Citi on the envelope.

Re: Apply for Citi AAdvantage Platinum from France

nytokyobred79 — Fri, 09 Sep 2022 04:13:47 GMT

I think you've gotten some good advice upthread. I've been in a similar situation as I spend many months out of the US for work. And I've had my family send the card unopened via secure mail. But I completely understand the situation as this is your neighbor. As others have said, if you have the Citi app, you can perhaps just activate the card in your account. I have a citi checking acct but no card. But in the case of Chase, I was able to activate my newest card via the mobile app and didn't have to go through additional security protocols. Perhaps, and hopefully Citi's mobile app activation is similar to Chase's.

Re: Apply for Citi AAdvantage Platinum from France

ptatohed — Fri, 09 Sep 2022 22:09:00 GMT

@villemiami wrote:
You are right. I could ask him to send the envelope without opening it, but I'm not sure which one it would be. I'm not sure it would be written Citi on the envelope.

It will likely be a plain white envelope that you can feel the card through.

Re: Apply for Citi AAdvantage Platinum from France

learningcredit54 — Sun, 11 Sep 2022 20:55:01 GMT

@ptatohed wrote:
@villemiami wrote:
You are right. I could ask him to send the envelope without opening it, but I'm not sure which one it would be. I'm not sure it would be written Citi on the envelope.

It will likely be a plain white envelope that you can feel the card through.

You can have your neighbor courier the card to you. as @ptatohed stated - your neighbor will feel the card with ease.

Re: Apply for Citi AAdvantage Platinum from France

805orbust — Mon, 12 Sep 2022 11:52:12 GMT

+1 on the VPN suggestion. 8 years ago when I applied for PPC while out of the country, they rejected it twice. Got back to the states a few days later and reapplied and instant approval. It seems Sync didn't like the foreign server (Aruba). Ymmv of course, but it sure cured me of applying while out of country.

Re: Apply for Citi AAdvantage Platinum from France

villemiami — Fri, 16 Sep 2022 08:37:17 GMT

This is what happened. I planned to use my Amex rewards points converted to Air France miles, to get almost free round trip tickets France-USA for my 2 kids to see their mother in USA for Xmas vacations. To my surprise, the Air France employee told me that I cannot use my miles for unaccompanied minors because from Paris to Detroit, it's operated by Air France, and from Detroit to Indianapolis, it's operated by Delta. So I would have to pay for it. So I finally decided that I would travel with my kids to Indianapolis using the free Air France miles, leave the kids to their mother, then go back to Florida and stay there 8 days and apply for Citi AAdvantage Platinum there.