You both bring up great points, and I agree this card is not worth a 5/24 slot on it's own. One thing that has me concerned, and has yet to be addressed, is whether this card will be part of Citi's 24 month Thank You bonus restriction.

As far as I know Citi's terms states that you can only get one Thank You bonus every 24 months, and some have reported that product changes reset the clock. In my case, I got the Prestige in May, 2019, converted to the Double Cash, June, 2020, and am planning to wait until summer 2022 to apply for the Premier to collect another 60,000 bonus, depending on what is offered at the time.

If someone applies for the "Custom Card" to get the $200 bonus, which is actually 20,000 Thank You points, they may be locking themselves out of a bonus on the Premier/Prestige and not even realize it. Of course, someone that got the Premier/Prestige within the last two years, could potentially apply for the "Custom" card and not be eligible for the $200 bonus, and not realize it until the application is already processed, since Citi won't notify you ahead of time.

Getting this card as a product change is the best strategy, since the signup bonuses on the AA/Premier/Prestige are substantially larger. I'll keep my Double Cash for large non-bonus spend and for everything else that I don't have a card for, but this is nice option to have for Gas, Groceries, or Restaurants if I decide to cancel any Amex cards that have annual fees.

In my mind, the "Custom" card makes the Rewards+ card less valuable, but I won't consider getting either, until after I earn my next Thank You bonus next year.