Get your own bailout from Citibank

Here's a guide to letting you party like it's 2007, with Citibank footing the bill for your credit excesses.

Citibank should be bankrupt.  Not only because they made risky bets on the U.S. housing market, but also because they have stupid policies that let consumers rack up near limitless credit card rewards.  Let your conscience guide you in taking advantage of these rob deals.

Rob Deal #1: Open a bank account or CD with your credit card (up to your credit limit)

Usually when you open a new bank account, you can fund your new account by an electronic transfer from your old bank.  Some banks also let you fund an opening deposit with up to $1,000 of credit card funds.  Citibank lets you fund your new account with a Visa or Mastercard and puts no limit on the amount.  So if you have a Schwab card with a credit line of $50,000, you can fund a new account and earn $1,000 for doing so.  Then when your credit card is paid off, open a 3-month CD and repeat the process.  Then when your CD matures, repeat again.  More details on the Flyertalk thread and from View from the Wing.

Rob Deal #2: Open 3 Citibank AAdvantage credit cards every 2 months

In a practice known as churning, some card issuers in the past let you cancel your credit card and sign up for the same card a few months later and let you earn the same sign-up bonus.  Most issuers cut off this spigot.  Not Citibank.  They have numerous American Airlines AAdvantage cards that each pay bonus 30,000 miles when you spend $750 on the card.  Open three accounts at once to minimize your credit rating hit, and wait 2 months before cancelling and re-applying.  Yes, your math is right -- 540,000 miles per year.  Hit 1,000,000 miles, and you qualify for lifetime status on American Airlines.  Read about Frugal Travel Guy's experiences churning and of course the relevant Flyertalk thread.

A Citibank account doesn't pay such competitive rates (1.15% for its high-yield savings accounts), but you can usually make up for it with Thankyou points.