Today I called Citibank and asked them to convert my American Airlines AAdvantage Platinum Select MC to the Costco Anywhere VISA card.
I've had the AAdvantage MC since early 2016 and frankly don't use it much. That's because I mainly fly United Airlines and use my Chase cards (especially the Sapphire Reserve) for most travel.
However, we shop at Costco every week, so I figure I'll use the Costco VISA card a lot more. Over the past couple of years, I've applied several times for the Costco card but Citi has consistently denied my applications because I have too many inquiries and new accounts.
So I figured I'd try getting the Costco card via a product change instead. Approved! I spoke with a Citi CSR who was very helpful, took our Costco membership numbers, and arranged the product change. There was no HP needed and any balance on my AA card will transfer automatically over to the Costco card when it's issued. Our new Costco cards won't arrive until early February; apparently it takes them a month and a half to make the change...
But no matter, I'm just happy to be able to convert a card I really wasn't using much to one that I'll probably use every week, especially for gasoline, tires, etc. From time to time, Costco has some great promotions that involve using the card. Here's an example: 15% back on qualifying electronics and appliances when you use your Costco Anywhere VISA card.
The motto of this story: If you've had trouble getting approved for the Costco card outright, you might want to ask for a product change from one of Citi's other cards. Since there's no sign-up bonus associated with the Costco card, you're not really losing anything by obtaining the card via PC.
Nicely done, congratulations!
