AwardWallet receives compensation from advertising partners for links on the blog. The opinions expressed here are our own and have not been reviewed, provided, or approved by any bank advertiser. Here's our complete list of Advertisers.
Offers for the American Airlines AAdvantage® MileUp® Card, AT&T Access More Card from Citi, AT&T Points Plus Card, Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World Elite Mastercard®, Citi® / AAdvantage® Gold World Elite™ MasterCard®, Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Elite Mastercard®, Costco Anywhere Visa® Card by Citi, Citi Custom Cash® Card, Citi® Dividend Card, EXPEDIA®+ VOYAGER CARD from Citi, Citi Prestige® Card, Citi Rewards+® Card, Citi Strata Elite℠ Card, Expedia® Rewards Card from Citi, Chase Freedom Flex℠ and Citi ThankYou® Preferred Card are not available through this site. Some offers may have expired. Please see our card marketplace for available offers
Thinking about changing one of your Citi credit cards? You’re not alone. Whether you're aiming to downgrade a card to avoid an annual fee or hoping to upgrade to unlock better rewards, product changes can be a smart way to manage your account without affecting your credit history. Here’s what’s possible when it comes to Citi product changes — and why you might want to consider it.
Page Contents
Citi Product Change Rules
Here are the general rules and restrictions for a Citi credit card product change:
- Your account must have been open for at least 12 months to be eligible for a product change.
- You cannot product change a personal card to a business card — or vice versa.
- You cannot product change within business cards; product changes apply only to Citi's personal cards.
Related: Citi Credit Card Offer History: Best-Ever Offers and When You Should Apply
Things to be aware of before you request a Citi product change
With those basic rules covered, here are a few additional things you should be aware of before requesting a Citi product change:
- You will not be eligible for a welcome bonus on the new card.
- Product changes may take up to 51 days, but conversions should process quickly. Previously, conversion between card “families” could take quite a while.
- As soon as you see the new card in the online account management, the new card terms are in effect, including the earning rates.
- If your card number has remained the same, you can continue to use the old card until you receive the new one.
- Citi's welcome offer eligibility typically counts 48 months from earning the bonus on the original card before you're eligible again. You aren't earning a welcome bonus during the product change, so this shouldn't affect your eligibility for sign-up bonuses. However, other rules for bonuses will still be in place.
- Citi will charge you a prorated annual fee and offer a prorated refund of your old card's annual fee, based on the conversion date and annual fees of the cards involved.
Changes between card families
Citi's product change rules have flip-flopped over the years. You used to be able to request a product conversion to most cards, even if they didn't earn the same rewards currency. Then, Citi tightened the reins, only allowing product changes within the same family. In other words, you couldn't convert a card that earns American AAdvantage® miles to one that earns ThankYou® Points, and vice versa.
However, it appears that Citi is loosening these restrictions, at least according to recent reports. You might not be able to request a product change between all Citi products, but you can move between AAdvantage cards and ThankYou Points-earning cards with ease. It's on a case-by-case basis — you might not be offered a product change to every available card.
For instance, if you have the Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Elite Mastercard®, you might be able to change to the Citi Strata Elite℠ Card but not the Citi Strata Premier® Card (Rates & Fees).
This is still hugely beneficial for cardholders, especially considering banks like American Express or Chase only offer product changes within a card family.
For example, American Express allows product changes between its personal Hilton credit cards. With Chase, you can upgrade from a Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card (Rates & Fees) to the Chase Sapphire Reserve® (Rates & Fees). Additionally, you could downgrade to a Chase Freedom Flex℠. That's because all of these cards earn Ultimate Rewards points. What you cannot do is convert a Hilton card to a Delta card (with American Express) or a Sapphire card to a United credit card (with Chase). That's because these cards aren't in the same families.
Citi is allowing “out of family” conversions for many of its cards, which means that its product change rules are the most flexible of any major bank.
Related: How to Earn Citi ThankYou Points
When to Consider a Citi Product Change
There are several reasons you may want to consider a Citi product change. One reason is that several Citi cards are attractive from a points-earning perspective but lack a sign-up bonus. Applying for another product, earning a bonus, and then product changing a year later becomes an attractive option if you're willing to wait.
Another reason to product change to a different Citi card is to give yourself additional earning potential. The Citi Custom Cash® Card is a great example. The card earns 5% cash back on the first $500 in purchases in the bonus category where you spend the most. If you have another Citi credit card you no longer need, you can product change to the Citi Custom Cash, giving yourself 5% spending potential to complement your earnings on other cards.
You can also upgrade a Citi credit card to one that offers more valuable benefits. Say you have the AA Platinum Select but have a lot of travel coming up. Maybe the Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World Elite Mastercard® makes more sense for the lounge access it provides. While you won't earn a sign-up bonus, you can still do a Citi card upgrade to the AA Executive Card and enjoy its perks. This is also helpful if you're unable to get approved for a new card but you really want to take advantage of its benefits.
List of Product Change-Eligible Citi Credit Cards
Here are the personal credit cards you have historically been able to product change to or from, some of which are discontinued or closed to new applications:
- Citi ThankYou® Preferred Card
- Citi Strata℠ Card (Rates & Fees)
- Citi Strata Premier® Card (Rates & Fees)
- Citi Strata Elite℠ Card
- Citi Double Cash® Card (Rates & Fees)
- Citi Custom Cash® Card
- AT&T Points Plus Card
- Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World Elite Mastercard®
- Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Elite Mastercard®
- Citi® / AAdvantage® Gold World Elite™ MasterCard®
- American Airlines AAdvantage® MileUp® Card
- Costco Anywhere Visa® Card by Citi
- Earn 2% on every purchase with unlimited 1% cash back when you buy, plus an additional 1% as you pay for those purchases. To earn cash back, pay at least the minimum due on time.
Plus, earn 5% total cash back on hotel, car rentals and attractions booked with Citi Travel.
- 10X on Hotels, Car Rentals, and Attractions booked through CitiTravel.com
- 3X – Earn 3 Points per $1 spent on Air Travel and Other Hotel Purchases
- 3X – Earn 3 Points per $1 spent on Restaurants
- 3X – Earn 3 Points per $1 spent on Supermarkets
- 3X – Earn 3 Points per $1 spent on Gas and EV Charging Stations
- 1X – Earn 1 Point per $1 spent on All Other Purchases
- 12X – Earn 12 Points per $1 spent on Hotels, Car Rentals, and Attractions booked on cititravel.com.
- 6X – Earn 6 Points per $1 spent on Air Travel booked on cititravel.com.
- 6X – Earn 6 Points per $1 spent at Restaurants including Restaurant Delivery Services on CitiNights℠ purchases, every Friday and Saturday from 6 PM to 6 AM ET. Earn 3 Points per $1 spent any other time.
- 1.5X – Earn 1.5 Points per $1 spent on All Other Purchases.
Here is a list of discontinued cards that you can no longer product change to:
- Citi® / AAdvantage® Bronze Mastercard®
- Citi® Dividend Card
- AT&T Access More Card from Citi
- Expedia® Rewards Card from Citi
- EXPEDIA®+ VOYAGER CARD from Citi
- Citi Rewards+® Card
- Citi Prestige® Card
Another thing to note is that to convert to Citi Costco Visa, you must have a Costco account. This is a requirement of opening the card, as well. As long as you maintain a Costco membership, there is no annual fee on the Citi Costco Visa card.
However, understand that converting a Citi card to the Citi Costco Visa is a one-way street! You can convert another card to the card, but you cannot convert the Citi Costco Visa to a different card.
Related: Build a Winning Combo of Citi ThankYou Rewards Cards
How to Product Change or Upgrade a Citi Card
Call the number on the back of your card to request a product change. Once you've verified your identity with the Citi representative, you can request a product change or to “convert” your card to another Citi card. You can also now complete a product change via chat with a Citi rep.
Make sure you ask if the card number will change. If your card number changes, you won't be able to use that account until the new card comes in the mail and you activate it. Typically, as a conversion will be within a given card family, the number should no longer change.
Related: Tips for Managing Your Credit Score
Final Thoughts
Citi offers the greatest flexibility of any major bank. Many people have taken great advantage of Citi's broad rules over the years, converting cards to discontinued products or to another family entirely. A product change is still a great way to pick up a card you want that doesn't offer a lucrative sign-up bonus, such as the Citi Double Cash.
If you're looking to pay down debt or finance a larger purchase, this card also comes with one of the best available introductory APR offers on balance transfers.
- Earn $200 cash back after you spend $1,500 on purchases in the first 6 months of account opening. This bonus offer will be fulfilled as 20,000 ThankYou® Points, which can be redeemed for $200 cash back.
- Earn 2% on every purchase with unlimited 1% cash back when you buy, plus an additional 1% as you pay for those purchases. To earn cash back, pay at least the minimum due on time.
Plus, earn 5% total cash back on hotel, car rentals and attractions booked with Citi Travel. - Balance Transfer Only Offer: 0% intro APR on Balance Transfers for 18 months. After that, the variable APR will be 17.49% - 27.49%, based on your creditworthiness.
- Balance Transfers do not earn cash back. Intro APR does not apply to purchases.
- If you transfer a balance, interest will be charged on your purchases unless you pay your entire balance (including balance transfers) by the due date each month.
- There is an intro balance transfer fee of 3% of each transfer (minimum $5) completed within the first 4 months of account opening. After that, your fee will be 5% of each transfer (minimum $5).
- Earn 2% on every purchase with unlimited 1% cash back when you buy, plus an additional 1% as you pay for those purchases. To earn cash back, pay at least the minimum due on time.
Plus, earn 5% total cash back on hotel, car rentals and attractions booked with Citi Travel.
For rates and fees of the cards mentioned in this post, please visit the following links: Citi Strata Premier® Card (Rates & Fees), Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card (Rates & Fees), Chase Sapphire Reserve® (Rates & Fees), Citi Strata℠ Card (Rates & Fees), and Citi Double Cash® Card (Rates & Fees)
The comments on this page are not provided, reviewed, or otherwise approved by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser's responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.
