Update: the offer has been reduced to 50k points.
As first reported on Million Mile Secrets blog, the sign-up bonus on Citi Thank You Premier card is supposed to change tomorrow. Here are the details on the current offer:
- Earn 60,000 bonus ThankYou Points after you spend $4,000 in purchases with your card within 3 months of account opening.
- Bonus ThankYou Points are not available if you have had a ThankYou Preferred, ThankYou Premier or Citi Prestige card opened or closed in the past 24 months.
- Earn 3X Points on Travel including Gas Stations, 2X Points on Dining Out and Entertainment, and 1X Points on All Other Purchases.
- ThankYou Points are worth 25% more when redeemed for airfare through the ThankYou®Travel Center, as compared to gift cards redeemed from the ThankYou® Rewards collection.
- Enjoy no foreign transaction fees on purchases.
- The annual fee of $95 is waived during first year.
You will qualify to receive the bonus as long as you haven’t opened or closed a Thank You-earning card within the last 24 months (includes Citi Prestige and Citi Thank You Preferred). This card pays us commission. Thanks for your support if you choose to use our affiliate link!
To be clear, we don’t actually know what the changes will be like, but the assumption is that the bonus will be reduced tomorrow or eliminated altogether. Credit card offers come and go all the time, usually to come back at some point in the future. We don’t normally dedicate separate posts to these changes, and instead briefly mention them on our Facebook page.
So, what makes this one special? Short answer: Citi. With Citibank you never quite know what to expect, especially when it comes to their flexible points earning cards. Not long ago they pulled links for Citi Prestige, and there is some uncertainty on whether it will ever come back. Also, before disappearing, that card didn’t even offer any welcome bonus for quite some time. Is Citi looking to exit premium credit card market? Hard to say.
But you don’t have to worry about any of it because 60k Citi Thank You points are worth your credit pull regardless. You know the expression “follow the money”? I say follow credit card applications. In other words, look at the offers the bloggers are applying for themselves. As it stands, in May I’ve applied for 50k points offer on Citi Thank You Premier in mine and my husband’s names. Fortunately, I was able to match to 60k points offer, which made the deal even sweeter. So, obviously, I must think it’s worthwhile.
Speaking of, if Citi increases the offer tomorrow, you can always request a match. They are usually pretty good about it. If the offer is reduced (more likely scenario), you are out of luck.
Few things to keep in mind:
1) The points are officially worth 1.25 cents towards airfare, but you should be able to get this value towards hotels, car rentals and cruises.
2) You can redeem points towards Southwest flights by calling Citi Thank You travel center.
3) When I applied few months ago, there was an option to redeem 1,000 points towards $10 in statement credit. For some unknown reason, the ratio has worsened since then. Here is an example:
You can, however, redeem the points towards valuable gift cards like Target (2,500 points=$25):
In general, I recommend you try to burn points on travel related charges or transfer to partners, but gift cards are certainly an option. Definitely stay away from redeeming points towards cash, at least via current ratio.
4) If you like Jet Blue, be aware that Citi Thank You points now transfer to its frequent flyer program via 1:1 ratio. Jet Blue uses dynamic pricing, and points can be worth between 1.1 and 1.9 cents. On average, you can expect to get around 1.4 cents, which is similar to Southwest.
5) There are many lucrative bonuses on the market, and if you are new to miles and points hobby, you may want to concentrate on other cards first Only you can decide if this offer is worth pursuing, but it’s hard to argue with getting $750 towards flights, isn’t it?
There are some potentially lucrative mileage transfer options as well, like burning 25k Air France miles (plus mild surcharges) on one-way economy ticket to Tahiti.
Related posts:
Helping reader utilize Citi Thank You Points for flights to Europe
How (and Why) I Drained my Citi Thank You Points Stash on a Cruise to Bahamas
Click here to view various credit cards and available sign-up bonuses
Author: Leana
Leana is the founder of Miles For Family. She enjoys beach vacations and visiting her family in Europe. Originally from Belarus, Leana resides in central Florida with her husband and two children.
Ian says
Stop it. I don’t want to hear any more about this card. 😛 My wife and sister were both denied for this card, the former with <8 hard hits in 24 months and the latter with <5 hard hits. I hate Citi at the moment.
Just closed mine after a year. Transferred everything to Lifemiles.
Leana says
@Ian OK, I’ll stop! 🙂 Hmm, strange that Citi is getting so tough on approvals. The sky really is falling in this hobby, man. But just wait till recession hits, things will be back to normal. Well, unless one loses their job. Collecting miles and points via sign-up bonuses and “free” travel will be the least of your concerns.
Kacie says
I received an offer in the mail yesterday, spend $3k in 3 months for 60k points. I have until December to apply. Yay!
Leana says
Kacie, that’s awesome! I definitely recommend you consider getting it.