Originally Posted by
fiedler77
If you fly more than 7,500 miles per year (possible, depending on your destinations) I would definitely look at the Premier Pass - Elite (Citi) ($75/yr fee, but a "base" redemption of $0.01/Thank You point on gift cards, so the 7,500 flight points will pay for the annual fee. If you redeem for flights, you can get a much better redemption rate (fixed flight awards)). You also earn 2 pts/$ on certain categories of merchant, plus you can get bonus points through the shopping portal. Thank You is an alternate award currency, but many people are very happy with it and you can rack up a bunch of points quickly if you keep an eye out for bonuses.
This week I am upbeat about TY rewards. I used 31,400 TY points to buy a Tumi briefcase. The bag would cost $335 + tax in the store OR 47,000 DC points OR 35,000 MR points. Considering that I earn 2 to 6 TY points per $ on my Chairman Card, this is an awesome reward. (In case anyone is wondering why I spend points on merchandise, I have tons of airline and hotel points. I don't need additional free travel. The way I see it, this reward just paid the annual card fee.) Heck, I earn 10,000 points per year just for banking with Citi.