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Why I signed up for the Citi Thank You Premier Card
I actually had this card a few years ago when cardmembers received a fixed rate per point that could be redeemed at their travel site which was powered by Expedia. I earned 3x on every point for the first year on my MasterCard and 2x for 2 years on my Amex. I earned a lot of points and flew all over the country using their Travel Center. Then I became more interested in how I could redeem points at a far greater rate than what the Thank You Travel Center would give me. So I gave up the card and last year reopened some different Citi accounts.
- Citi Aadvantage Executive Card – 100k bonus
- Citi Aadvantage Platinum Card – 50k bonus
- Citi Aadvantage Business Platinum Card – 50k bonus
I gave up the Executive card in April because it carries a $450 annual fee and at this point still have the other two. More than likely I’ll be giving up both of them unless they give me a great retention offer. Also, you can sign up for these cards again after 18 months, so the sooner you relinquish them, the sooner the clock starts. So I was looking to take advantage of some Citi products that added great value.
The Citi Thank You Premier card has a great sign up bonus and outstanding earning structure with a waived $95 annual fee the first year! A great way of testing the product.
The ability to earn 3x points on all travel related expenses including gasoline is Huuuge.
I will probably be loading all of my travel purchases on this card for the foreseeable future to rack up Thank You points. Also, to match the Sapphire Preferred Card, Thank You gives you 2x points on all dining and entertainment. These two categories earning rates are incredible incentives for using this card, and are specifically targeted at people who use Chase Ultimate Reward products. IMO, Ultimate Rewards are still slightly more valuable ( I love the ability to transfer into Hyatt, Korean, United, and Singapore) than these Thank You points, but Thank You has shot up the ladder with their earn rates and their new transfer partners.
The ability to earn points faster and then transfer them in the travel program of your choice makes Citi Thank You a much more attractive product.
Citi Thank You points now have incredible transfer partners = Fly like a BALLER
- Hilton
- Cathay Pacific ( One World )
- Eva ( Star Alliance )
- Etihad ( Non-alliance: American, Air France, Garuda, Korean, etc Full List )
- Air France ( Sky Team )
- Garuda ( Sky Team )
- Malaysia ( One World )
- Qantas ( One World )
- Qatar ( One World )
- Singapore ( Star Alliance )
- Thai ( Star Alliance )
- Virgin Atlantic ( Sky Team )
These Transfer partners are the biggest reason I signed up.
These partners give great access to the 3 major airline alliances: Star Alliance, Sky Team, and One World. Having the ability to now use a Citi Card that accumulates points that can transfer into these various airlines gives me the ability to top up accounts by transferring Thank You points in addition to Amex Membership Rewards, and Chase Ultimate Rewards. These are 3 of the 4 best flexible currency programs (Award Programs that allow you to transfer into partner programs.) Meaning, my flexible currency account balances can grow faster through sign up bonuses and I can travel on their partner programs more often by transferring smaller amounts from each flexible account. This strategy keeps more points in flexible currencies rather than having to empty out those accounts for an award redemption. Let’s take a look an an example of what I’m referring to.
I want to take a trip to Russia later this year…I want to fly Singapore Airlines Business or First. Well…who doesn’t?!
Clearly I wouldn’t be paying cash for this trip. But both of these are very attainable with just ONE sign up!
Singapore is a transfer partner of Citi Thank You, Chase Ultimate Rewards, and American Express Membership Rewards. I have balances in all three accounts. Cha-Ching.
Taking the flight in business (discount 15% for online bookings) is 48,875 points.
Just this sign up alone would fly me over in business class on Singapore Air!
Or…17000 points from each of the 3 flexible currency accounts, leaving my options a lot more flexible in the future.
And here is what I will be flying! Not. Bad.
Get your perm done and your pants pressed ya’ll:
International First is within reach!!!
Discount of 15% = 57375 points
- 20000 Thank You Points
- 19000 Amex MR
- 19000 Chase UR
If you did your minimum spend in bonus categories you’d have enough from this sign up alone to fly Singapore First. If not…buy some Singapore Points to make up the difference.
The additional benefits of this card are great too:
- EMV Chip
- Citi Private Pass ( exclusive access to tickets to events, etc )
- Car Rental Insurance
- Lost baggage protection
- Emergency Medical Travel Insurance
At the end of the day, it’s too hard to pass up the ability to earn points at this rate with transfer partners that are as valuable as Citi Thank You. Word.
Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
Welcome Offer
60k Points after $4k spend in 3 months
Annual Fee
$95
Points Earned
Transferrable Chase Ultimate Rewards
- 60k points after $4k spend in 3 months
- Worth $750 in Chase Travel℠ and way more if you maximize transfer partners
- 5x on all travel purchased through Chase Travel℠
- 3x on dining, including eligible delivery services for takeout & dining out
- 3x on select streaming services
- 3x on online grocery purchases
- (excluding Target, Walmart and wholesale clubs)
- $50 Annual Chase Travel Hotel Credit via Chase Travel℠
- The begins immediately for new cardmembers and after your account anniversary for existing cardmembers
- 2x on all other travel
- 10% Anniversary Bonus
- Every year you keep the card, your total spend will yield a 10% points bonus. If you spend $10k in a year, you’ll get 1k bonus points
- Chase Sapphire Preferred continues to redeem at 1.25c in the Chase Travel℠ and the slew of other benefits remain in tact including Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver ( primary ), purchase protections, etc.
- Points are transferrable to 14 Ultimate Rewards partners
- Redeem in Chase Travel℠ for 1.25 cents per point
- No foreign transaction fees
- Suite of Travel and Purchase Coverage
- Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver is my favorite
- Get complimentary access to DashPass which unlocks $0 delivery fees and lower service fees for a minimum of one year when you activate by December 31, 2024
- $95 Annual Fee
We keep an up to date spreadsheet that lists the best ever offers: You can find that spreadsheet here.
Historically 80k is a very, very good offer and hit in both 2022 and 2023. In 2021, we saw the offer hit an all time high of 100k. Who knows if that will ever come back.
Main Cast:
Cards that earn flexible points and should be used on the bulk of your purchases.
Supporting Cast:
Cards that earn fixed points in the currency of the airline/hotel and can not be transferred at attractive rates. These cards yield benefits that make it worth keeping, but not necessarily worth putting a lot of your everyday spend on.
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® is exceptional starter card and offers transferrable Ultimate Rewards, and pairs well with other Chase cards.
If you carry this card alongside Chase’s cashback cards like the Chase Freedom Flex℠and Chase Freedom Unlimited® or the business versions: Ink Business Cash® , Ink Business Unlimited® you can combine the points into Preferred account and transfer into hotel and airline partners
Annual fee is quite low at $95 a year + you get a 10% anniversary bonus on points + $50 hotel credit in Chase travel.
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