Thank You Points RewardsCitibank Thank You Points:  The Guide They Don’t Want You Reading

Citi’s Thank You Points are worth between 1-1.33 cents each if you use them carefully, but there are plenty of ways you can fall short leaving those points worth only about half a cent.  Citi has a tempting array of options, but redeeming for travel comes out on top, behind gift cards and paying off other loans (student or home loans). Here’s a list of what not to use your points for:

Citibank Thank You Point Mall 

While there are hundreds of choices through the Citbank Rewards Mall site, you’re almost guaranteed to fall short in point value if you go that route.  Here’s how the point value shakes out for a few items:

A Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS8 Digital Camera (Value $160):  22,400 Thank You Points = .007 cents per point

The Dewalt Heavy-Duty Compact Cordless Drill - 0.5 Chuck: 27,100 Thank You Points (value $200)  = .007 cents per point

Weber Weber Baby Q-100 Portable Gas Grill (value $127): 23,100 Thank You Points = .005 cents per point

Cash

Everyone likes cold hard cash, but Thank You Points just aren’t worth the trade.  You’ll only see .625 cents for every point going this route.  You’d be much better of buying gift cards or redeeming your points for travel.  If you’d rather have cash, you’d be much better off using the Blue Cash Everyday Amex Card where you can earn 1 back

Prepaid cash cards

Depending on how many points you cash in for a cash card you’ll only end up getting between 0.63 cents per point ($25 card) to up to 0.70 cents ($100).  Again, you’re better off with choosing a good cash back card

Other not-so-great choices:

  • Travel Partner Certificates (Avis, Mariott, Royal Carribean)  - 1 cent per point value, but you have to book directly with the partner company.  Better deals are usually available elsewhere (Travelocity, Kayak, Hotels.com etc.)
  • Charities of your choice - .7 to 1 cent per point.  Redemption values vary but as long as you find the 1 cent per point options it wouldn’t be so bad.
  • ‘Your Wish Fulfilled’ program – A unique program to Citicard Thank You points, you can choose whatever you want and a Citi rep will figure out how to get it to your in exchange for points.  At face value it sounds like a fun idea, but reports are that Citi requires extra points to compensate for the research/live service.

What to spend your points on:

Now you know what to avoid, here is where the value is when redeeming Thank You Points:

1. Gift Cards - Almost like cash you can get a 1 cent per point value for a wide variety of gift cards (Amazon, Sears, Walmart etc.)

2. Music Downloads – Assuming you find music from Sony Music Entertainment and Universal Music Group artists you like since the selection is somewhat limited, you’ll score 1 cent per point.

3. Student Loan or Mortgage Payment – Flexible with the number of points you redeem, you’ll get 1 cent per point and feel good about getting rid of a bit of debt at the same time.

4. Social Games ­– If you’re into social games, you can feed your Farmville, Mafia Wars or other game addictions by exchanging points for game credit.  You’ll get a full 1 cent value per point

5.Travel – You’ll get full 1 cent value per point when booking travel through the Thank You Point Travel Center.   Bookings are made through a company called Connexions Loyalty Travel and based on our experience most of the time the prices are competitive, but occasionally you’ll  find a better deal by booking through other websites. (Although you’ll obviously pay with cash instead of points that way)

How to hack the system:

Now that you know where to spend the points, it’s important to know the best way to get them.  Here are a few ways to hack your way to points:

1.     Signup Bonuses – By far the best way to rack up points.  Right now the Thank You Premier citicard is offering 30,000 Thank You Points for signing up.  If you understand the risks to your credit score, you can try cancelling the card and then we’ve heard several reports that reapplying 18 months later will get you another bonus.  

2.     Use the Citi Thank You Point Bonus Center and Special Offers – Especially as you ramp up online shopping for the holidays or for birthdays etc., you can bump up your Thank You Points this way.  For example shopping at Target.com you’ll earn 3 points per $1 spent.  At Sears you’ll earn 6 points per $1 spent.  For example:

Buying a swanky 70” TV at Sears.com for $2000 would get you 12,000 Thank You Points!  And who doesn’t want another excuse to get a 70” flat screen.

3.     Earn Points with a Checking Account – Previously we posted on how to get up to 90,000 Thank You Points with the combination of a credit card signup bonus and a Citi Checking account.

 

Citi ThankYou℠ Premier Card - enough for $300 in Gift Cards

citi premier thank you points premier

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
  • Earn 30,000 bonus ThankYou® Points after $1,500 in purchases within 3 months of account opening – enough for $300 in gift cards.
  • Earn 1.2 ThankYou Points per $1 spent – that's 20% more points – when you use your card at gas stations, supermarkets, drugstores, commuter transportation and parking merchants.
  • Earn 1 ThankYou Point for every $1 you spend on all other purchases.
  • No points cap or expiration.