When is the First Day for Card Minimum Spending Requirement

When I applied for Citi AA 100,000 bonus miles and Barclay Arrival 40,000 bonus miles cards, I was not sure when the first day for card minimum spending requirement.  Is it the day a new credit card application is approved, or the day I receive the new credit card?  The Barclay Arrival card arrived 10 days later and Citi AA card arrived 5 days later.  Total minimum spending requirement is $14,000 for the first 3 months.  For large minimum spending requirement, timing to use cards to pay/pre-pay my bills is important.

I emailed both Citi AA and Barclay:

From Barclay Bank

Dear Patrick Wong :

Thank you for contacting us regarding your Barclaycard Arrival World MasterCard. Welcome to the BarclaycardUS family of credit cards! We can certainly address your inquiry regarding the Bonus Miles on your account.

We show that you will earn 40,000 Bonus Miles for $3,000.00 spent on purchases in the first 90 days of your account being opened. Your account was opened on February 26, 2014, your promotion will end on May 27, 2014. The Bonus Miles will be awarded on the billing cycle closing date in which the requirements are met. We hope you find this information helpful.

If you have any other questions and concerns, please reply to this message. 

Sincerely,

Customer Service


From CitiBank

From:	me***********************om
Subject:	Re: When is the first date
Date:	March 21, 2014 4:14 EST
We appreciate the opportunity to assist you. You were enrolled on 02/27/2014 into our bonus offer for 100,000 miles after spending $10,000.00 within 3 months of enrollment (by 05/25/2014). Generally, please allow up to 2 billing cycles from meeting the spend requirement for the offer to appear on your statement. If there is any way we can be of further assistance, please feel free to contact us.

In both cases, the first day is the day my card application is approved, not the day I received my new credit cards.  My original thought was that I would have 10 more days for Barclay and 5 more days for Citi AA. Bummer.