Mar 4, 2015, 9:42 am
Last edit by: dukerau
Citi ThankYou Rewards Program Information Guide
This wiki is intended to be a comprehensive guide to the most frequently asked questions regarding the ThankYou Rewards program offered by Citi. For ongoing discussions regarding the different ThankYou Credit Cards and their benefits, please refer to the specific product threads listed at the bottom of this wiki. For the complete ThankYou program terms & conditions, see the TYP website.
Program Overview
Citibank and Citicards offers a joint rewards program called ThankYou. Members can earn ThankYou points that can be redeemed for travel, mortgage payments, student loan payments, gift cards, online purchases, statement credits, or cash.
How to Earn
Banking
IMPORTANT CHANGES COMING THE END OF 2014:
Effective Dec 16, 2014
Only CitiGold and 'The Citibank Account' packages will earn TYP, and at a reduced rate at that. In addition credit card, mortgages and line of credit will no longer count for qualifying balances to waive the monthly fee for these checking accounts. See updated earning rates below.
Citi Basic Banking, Citi Student, etc will no longer earn any TY Points, period.
Effective May 1 2015
In addition, starting May 1 2015, Citi At Work customers (through relationships Citi has with your employer) will no longer automatically qualify for 'The Citibank Account' via direct deposit. This means you'll need to have combined average monthly balance of at least $10,000 to waive the monthly fee.
See here
Short version
If direct deposit is available to you, you can earn as little as 7800 points ($78)/year to as much as 19,200 points ($192)/year without paying fees and without any credit card / debit card spend requirements. Add in a top tier Citi credit card and multiply those numbers by 1.25 (Premier) or 1.6/1.33 (Prestige)* on travel benefits. These benefits are per signer, so adding a spouse can double the benefits.
Long version
Open and maintain a Citibank checking account with monthly direct deposit and bill payment. The complete ThankYou earning chart is located here, but below are some overviews:
The Citigold checking account carries a $30/mo service charge unless at least 1 of the following 3 conditions is met:
The Citibank checking account carries a $20/mo service charge unless at least 1 of the following 4 conditions is met:
The Basic Banking checking account carries a $10/mo service charge unless at least 1 of the following 2 conditions is met:
The Student checking account is eligible for the same rewards as the Basic Banking checking, and is completely free for students.
Important: Citi offers what is called "householding." This links multiple deposit accounts together under an umbrella household for the purpose of combining all the balances to meet minimum balance requirements. This is only allowed for people at the same address. However, for a family, this means one member can have $50K, or 4 members can each have $12.5K, and if they're properly household linked, entitles all parties to a Citigold account. This is NOT the case on investments and mortgages, only deposit balances.
FAQs about Earning through Banking
Q: Is there a minimum direct deposit amount to be eligible?
A: No, any amount once per month will work.
Q: Is there a minimum bill payment amount to be eligible?
A: No, any amount once per month will work.
Q: I don't want to set up bill payment; it's inconvenient to change my auto pays. What should I do?
A: Add yourself, a family member, or friend, and set up a recurring automatic monthly payment to them for any amount.
Q: Can I earn these points on multiple accounts?
A: One account is eligible per signer over the age of 18.
Q: Does a Paypal ACH (etc) qualify as a direct deposit?
A: No, only payroll.
Q: Does the direct deposit have to be intended for the account signer?
A: No. Details of the direct deposit are irrelevant.
Q: Can my spouse and I each have an account and earn points?
A: Yes, and you can merge TY accounts if you're married (this action cannot be undone).
Credit Cards
Citi offers numerous credit cards as part of the ThankYou program, listed here, but the most popular are listed below:
FAQs about the Citi Prestige
Q: Why does the authorized user cost $50 per person?
A: Authorized users receive their own annual international companion pass and global entry credit.
Q: How does the annual companion pass work?
A: Once per membership year per card holder and authorized user, you can purchase one airline ticket through Citi's travel partner, Spirit Incentives here, and pay only taxes and fees on the second traveler. Keep in mind, for many international flights, the majority of the final fare cost can be taxes and fees. The annual companion pass only covers the base fair of the companion.
Q: Can I buy any airline ticket with the companion pass?
A: Yes and no. While it is not limited strictly to one airline or one alliance, the Spirit Incentives matrix only pulls the cheapest, bottom of the bucket fares, often giving less-than-optimal routing. Online availability changes, based on what's available.
Q: What are flight points?
A: When you purchase all (or a significant portion: some report >$50) of an airline ticket with your Citi Prestige card, you earn flight points for the physical distance flown, which are accrued into a separate "bucket." These flight points accrue separately from ThankYou points, and you still earn your standard butt-in-seat distance miles with your frequent flyer program. Once you see your flight points on your statement, you can "transfer" them from your flight point bucket to your ThankYou point balance with every dollar you spend. If you have a 10K flight point balance, and you spend $1000 on every day purchases and $500 on dining, you will earn: 1000 (at 1x earning), 1000 (at 2x earning), and 2000 (flight point matching of monthly earning total). You will receive 4000 points into your ThankYou account, and have 8K flight points remaining to be converted.
NB: Flight Points are obsolete.
Q: How does the 1.6x/1.33x airfare redemption multiplier work?
A: See below under How to Use/Travel.
Q: What can I buy with the $200 airline statement credit?
A: Food, drinks, baggage, upgrades, gift cards, etc. Pretty much anything billed from the airline that is $100 or less. Note: You must opt in to this benefit. It only takes a 90-second call to a friendly, US-based CSR and you'll be good to go. My CSR even retroactively credited me when I failed to do this, but YMMV.
Q: Can I use the $100 Global Entry credit every year?
A: T&C state it resets every 5 years, just like the Global Entry membership.
Q: Any other benefits?
A: Three free rounds of golf a year, 15% discount on airfare purchased through Spirit Incentives, access to Airport Angel lounges, no FTF.
How to Use
Travel
When booking travel through the ThankYou website, you get a 1 cent-per-point redemption value on flights, hotels, car rentals, etc. If you have a ThankYou Premier card, you earn a 25% value increase when redeeming for flights, rental cars, or hotels.With a ThankYou Prestige, you receive a 33% value increase when redeeming for flights, rental cars, or hotels, or 60% * for flights on AA. Those bonuses apply to all ThankYou points in your account, not just points earned by the particular card. If you carry both cards, you receive the bonus for the higher one; they do not stack. See note below re: Prestige points value; it now receives a 25% value increase.
Note that travel may be booked using points or a combination of points and cash. Because the latter is classified as travel-related spending ("other travel: travel agency"), it is advantageous to use a credit card with corresponding bonuses.
Discussion thread: TYP flight redemptions: Prestige $0.0133 or $0.016/pt., Premier $0.0125/pt.
* But some Prestige benefits will soon go away, including that 1.6; see: Citi Prestige benefit and reward changes effective July 23, 2017
Gift Cards
There is some variance on the value for Gift Card redemption, depending on what credit card(s) you have tied to your ThankYou account. Generally, as long as there is a credit card tied to the account, it is a 1 cent-per-point redemption value, with $25/$50/$100 denominations.
Cash and Quasi-Cash
You can request mortgage or student loan checks 1 cent-per-point redemption values. Citi also offers statement credits, "select and credit" refunds for specific transactions, and VISA gift cards, at a horrible redemption rate. See below:
Mortgage: $100 = 10,000 TY points
Student Loan: $100 = 10,000 TY points
Select and Credit: $100 = 13,333 TY points
VISA Gift Card: $100 = 14,000 TY points
Cash & Statment Credit: $100 = 20,000 TY points
Point Transfers to Travel Partners
All Airlines below are 1:1 (1000 increments) unless noted otherwise
Avianca Lifemiles
Asia Miles
Etihad Guest
EVA Air Infinity MileageLands
Flying Blue (Air France/KLM)
Garuda Indonesia Frequent Flyer
JetBlue TrueBlue (1:1 for Premier/Prestige, 5:4 for Preferred)
JetPrivilege (Jet Airways)
Malaysia Airlines Enrich
Qantas Frequent Flyer
Qatar Airways Privilege Club
Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
Thai Airways Royal Orchid Plus
Turkish Airlines Miles & Smiles
Virgin Atlantic Flying Club
Hilton HHonors: 1000 TY = 1500 HH ended Dec 14, 2017
Note: Only points earned from Credit Cards are eligible to be transferred. Points from Banking are ineligible as are any "bonus points that may be awarded with no spend requirement."
Discussion thread: Citi ThankYou Points (TYPs): airline/hotel transfer partners
Transfer Bonuses
Citi does periodically offer transfer bonuses.
Etihad Guest:
10% Jun-Jul 2017
20% Oct 2016
**25% Nov-Dec 2015 and Jul 2016 offered by Etihad for all partner earn/transfer (excl SPG)
Flying Blue
30% Jul-Aug 2018
JetBlue TrueBlue:
30% Mar-May 2018 *note - at the time, the transfer rate was 5:4 for Premier/Prestige and 2:1 for Preferred, so the 30% made the ratios 25:26 (or 1000=1040) and 20:13 (or 1000=650) respectively
25% Sep-Oct 2017 *note - at the time, the transfer rate was 5:4 for Premier/Prestige and 2:1 for Preferred, so the 25% made the ratios 1:1 and 8:5 (or 1000=625) respectively
50% Mar-Apr 2017 *note - at the time, the transfer rate was 5:4 for Premier/Prestige and 2:1 for Preferred, so the 50% made the ratios 5:6 (or 1000=1200) and 4:3 (or 1000=750), respectively
Qantas Frequent Flyer
15%-30% Jun 2016 *tiered: 15% for < 100,000 transferred; 20% for 100,000-500,000; 25% for 500,001 to 1,000,000; 30% for 1,000,001+
Virgin Atlantic Flying Club
30% Sep-Oct 2018
25% Jan-Mar 2017
25% Mar-Apr 2016
25% Jun-Aug 2015
Sharing Points with Other TYP Accounts
For information on sharing points with other TYP accounts (including the expiration rules and annual cap on shared points), see ThankYou Point Sharing capped at 100,000 points per calendar year.
Points Expiration
For information on points expiration, including the order in which points are used for redemptions, see the wiki at Citi ThankYou points - cancel, downgrade & expiration considerations.
Shop with Points
Amazon: $100 = 12,500 points
Existing Threads
Prestigious Citi Card Tricks [Citi Prestige Card benefits]
How is the Citi ThankYou Rewards system in the current state?
Citi Prestige card companion ticket
Confirmed: Changes to Citi ThankYou and Premier cards 10.20.2013
New Citi Premier & Prestige 15% Off Travel when booked through Spirit Incentives
Innovative ways to earn Citi ThankYou flight points (Flight Points haven't been a thing for years)
Citi Prestige benefit and reward changes effective July 23, 2017
This wiki is intended to be a comprehensive guide to the most frequently asked questions regarding the ThankYou Rewards program offered by Citi. For ongoing discussions regarding the different ThankYou Credit Cards and their benefits, please refer to the specific product threads listed at the bottom of this wiki. For the complete ThankYou program terms & conditions, see the TYP website.
Program Overview
Citibank and Citicards offers a joint rewards program called ThankYou. Members can earn ThankYou points that can be redeemed for travel, mortgage payments, student loan payments, gift cards, online purchases, statement credits, or cash.
How to Earn
Banking
IMPORTANT CHANGES COMING THE END OF 2014:
Effective Dec 16, 2014
Only CitiGold and 'The Citibank Account' packages will earn TYP, and at a reduced rate at that. In addition credit card, mortgages and line of credit will no longer count for qualifying balances to waive the monthly fee for these checking accounts. See updated earning rates below.
Citi Basic Banking, Citi Student, etc will no longer earn any TY Points, period.
Effective May 1 2015
In addition, starting May 1 2015, Citi At Work customers (through relationships Citi has with your employer) will no longer automatically qualify for 'The Citibank Account' via direct deposit. This means you'll need to have combined average monthly balance of at least $10,000 to waive the monthly fee.
See here
Short version
If direct deposit is available to you, you can earn as little as 7800 points ($78)/year to as much as 19,200 points ($192)/year without paying fees and without any credit card / debit card spend requirements. Add in a top tier Citi credit card and multiply those numbers by 1.25 (Premier) or 1.6/1.33 (Prestige)* on travel benefits. These benefits are per signer, so adding a spouse can double the benefits.
Long version
Open and maintain a Citibank checking account with monthly direct deposit and bill payment. The complete ThankYou earning chart is located here, but below are some overviews:
- CitiGold Checking Account ($50K minimum deposit balance)-Direct Deposit and Bill Pay: 650 points/mo
-Auto Save: +125 points/mo
-Saving Account: +200 points/mo
-Credit Products: up to +625
-Max without Credit Products: 975 points/mo
-Max with Credit Products: 1600 points/mo
- There's a separate earning scale altogether if you don't have direct deposit available that involves 1 debit/credit transaction per month. See the earning chart for the full list.
- CitiBank Checking Account ($10K minimum deposit balance)-Direct Deposit and Bill Pay: 450 points/mo
-Auto Save: +75 points/mo
-Saving Account: +150 points/mo
-Credit Products: up to +325
-Max without Credit Products: 675 points/mo
-Max with Credit Products: 1000 points/mo
The Citigold checking account carries a $30/mo service charge unless at least 1 of the following 3 conditions is met:
- $50,000+ average daily balance in all linked deposit accounts (checking, saving, money market, CD)
- $100,000+ in investment account (401K/Citi Personal Wealth Management) OR Home Equity Line/Loan + average daily balance in all linked deposit accounts (checking, saving, money market, CD)
- $250,000+ mortgage balance + average daily balance in all linked deposit accounts (checking, saving, money market, CD)
The Citibank checking account carries a $20/mo service charge unless at least 1 of the following 4 conditions is met:
- $15,000+ average daily balance in all linked deposit accounts (checking, saving, money market, CD)
- $15,000+ in investment account (401K/Citi Personal Wealth Management) OR Home Equity Line/Loan
- $15,000+ mortgage balance
- Direct Deposit from one of Citibank's "Citi at Work" corporate partners. This one is tricky if you don't have a contact at the bank that really knows their stuff. If you work for a major corporation in a corporate environment (i.e. Starbucks Corporate, not Starbucks Barista), chances are pretty decent you may qualify. If you have branches, inquire with a banker. If not, huge YMMV on getting this setup correctly.
The Basic Banking checking account carries a $10/mo service charge unless at least 1 of the following 2 conditions is met:
- $1,500 average daily balance in all linked deposit accounts (checking and saving only)
- One Direct Deposit per month and one Bill Payment per month
The Student checking account is eligible for the same rewards as the Basic Banking checking, and is completely free for students.
Important: Citi offers what is called "householding." This links multiple deposit accounts together under an umbrella household for the purpose of combining all the balances to meet minimum balance requirements. This is only allowed for people at the same address. However, for a family, this means one member can have $50K, or 4 members can each have $12.5K, and if they're properly household linked, entitles all parties to a Citigold account. This is NOT the case on investments and mortgages, only deposit balances.
FAQs about Earning through Banking
Q: Is there a minimum direct deposit amount to be eligible?
A: No, any amount once per month will work.
Q: Is there a minimum bill payment amount to be eligible?
A: No, any amount once per month will work.
Q: I don't want to set up bill payment; it's inconvenient to change my auto pays. What should I do?
A: Add yourself, a family member, or friend, and set up a recurring automatic monthly payment to them for any amount.
Q: Can I earn these points on multiple accounts?
A: One account is eligible per signer over the age of 18.
Q: Does a Paypal ACH (etc) qualify as a direct deposit?
A: No, only payroll.
Q: Does the direct deposit have to be intended for the account signer?
A: No. Details of the direct deposit are irrelevant.
Q: Can my spouse and I each have an account and earn points?
A: Yes, and you can merge TY accounts if you're married (this action cannot be undone).
Credit Cards
Citi offers numerous credit cards as part of the ThankYou program, listed here, but the most popular are listed below:
- ThankYou Preferred: No annual fee, 2x on Dining and Entertainment
- ThankYou Premier: Starting April 19, 2015, annual fee $95; 3x earning on Travel including Gas; and 2x earning on Dining and Entertainment/. For details, see this discussion thread/wiki.
- Citi Prestige: $450 annual fee, 2x on Dining purchases, $200 statement credit on <$100 airline purchases,
flight points, 15% off airfare booked through Citi/Spirit, annual international companion pass booked through Citi/Spirit (This benefit is going away 10/18/14). 1.6x multiplier* on ThankYou points redeemed for US Airways and American Airlines flights. 1.33x multiplier on ThankYou points redeemed for all other flights - Citi Forward for Students
FAQs about the Citi Prestige
Q: Why does the authorized user cost $50 per person?
A: Authorized users receive their own annual international companion pass and global entry credit.
Q: How does the annual companion pass work?
A: Once per membership year per card holder and authorized user, you can purchase one airline ticket through Citi's travel partner, Spirit Incentives here, and pay only taxes and fees on the second traveler. Keep in mind, for many international flights, the majority of the final fare cost can be taxes and fees. The annual companion pass only covers the base fair of the companion.
Q: Can I buy any airline ticket with the companion pass?
A: Yes and no. While it is not limited strictly to one airline or one alliance, the Spirit Incentives matrix only pulls the cheapest, bottom of the bucket fares, often giving less-than-optimal routing. Online availability changes, based on what's available.
A: When you purchase all (or a significant portion: some report >$50) of an airline ticket with your Citi Prestige card, you earn flight points for the physical distance flown, which are accrued into a separate "bucket." These flight points accrue separately from ThankYou points, and you still earn your standard butt-in-seat distance miles with your frequent flyer program. Once you see your flight points on your statement, you can "transfer" them from your flight point bucket to your ThankYou point balance with every dollar you spend. If you have a 10K flight point balance, and you spend $1000 on every day purchases and $500 on dining, you will earn: 1000 (at 1x earning), 1000 (at 2x earning), and 2000 (flight point matching of monthly earning total). You will receive 4000 points into your ThankYou account, and have 8K flight points remaining to be converted.
NB: Flight Points are obsolete.
Q: How does the 1.6x/1.33x airfare redemption multiplier work?
A: See below under How to Use/Travel.
Q: What can I buy with the $200 airline statement credit?
A: Food, drinks, baggage, upgrades, gift cards, etc. Pretty much anything billed from the airline that is $100 or less. Note: You must opt in to this benefit. It only takes a 90-second call to a friendly, US-based CSR and you'll be good to go. My CSR even retroactively credited me when I failed to do this, but YMMV.
Q: Can I use the $100 Global Entry credit every year?
A: T&C state it resets every 5 years, just like the Global Entry membership.
Q: Any other benefits?
A: Three free rounds of golf a year, 15% discount on airfare purchased through Spirit Incentives, access to Airport Angel lounges, no FTF.
How to Use
Travel
When booking travel through the ThankYou website, you get a 1 cent-per-point redemption value on flights, hotels, car rentals, etc. If you have a ThankYou Premier card, you earn a 25% value increase when redeeming for flights, rental cars, or hotels.
Note that travel may be booked using points or a combination of points and cash. Because the latter is classified as travel-related spending ("other travel: travel agency"), it is advantageous to use a credit card with corresponding bonuses.
Discussion thread: TYP flight redemptions: Prestige $0.0133 or $0.016/pt., Premier $0.0125/pt.
* But some Prestige benefits will soon go away, including that 1.6; see: Citi Prestige benefit and reward changes effective July 23, 2017
Gift Cards
There is some variance on the value for Gift Card redemption, depending on what credit card(s) you have tied to your ThankYou account. Generally, as long as there is a credit card tied to the account, it is a 1 cent-per-point redemption value, with $25/$50/$100 denominations.
Cash and Quasi-Cash
You can request mortgage or student loan checks 1 cent-per-point redemption values. Citi also offers statement credits, "select and credit" refunds for specific transactions, and VISA gift cards, at a horrible redemption rate. See below:
Mortgage: $100 = 10,000 TY points
Student Loan: $100 = 10,000 TY points
Select and Credit: $100 = 13,333 TY points
VISA Gift Card: $100 = 14,000 TY points
Cash & Statment Credit: $100 = 20,000 TY points
Point Transfers to Travel Partners
All Airlines below are 1:1 (1000 increments) unless noted otherwise
Avianca Lifemiles
Asia Miles
Etihad Guest
EVA Air Infinity MileageLands
Flying Blue (Air France/KLM)
Garuda Indonesia Frequent Flyer
JetBlue TrueBlue (1:1 for Premier/Prestige, 5:4 for Preferred)
JetPrivilege (Jet Airways)
Malaysia Airlines Enrich
Qantas Frequent Flyer
Qatar Airways Privilege Club
Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
Thai Airways Royal Orchid Plus
Turkish Airlines Miles & Smiles
Virgin Atlantic Flying Club
Note: Only points earned from Credit Cards are eligible to be transferred. Points from Banking are ineligible as are any "bonus points that may be awarded with no spend requirement."
Discussion thread: Citi ThankYou Points (TYPs): airline/hotel transfer partners
Transfer Bonuses
Citi does periodically offer transfer bonuses.
Etihad Guest:
10% Jun-Jul 2017
20% Oct 2016
**25% Nov-Dec 2015 and Jul 2016 offered by Etihad for all partner earn/transfer (excl SPG)
Flying Blue
30% Jul-Aug 2018
JetBlue TrueBlue:
30% Mar-May 2018 *note - at the time, the transfer rate was 5:4 for Premier/Prestige and 2:1 for Preferred, so the 30% made the ratios 25:26 (or 1000=1040) and 20:13 (or 1000=650) respectively
25% Sep-Oct 2017 *note - at the time, the transfer rate was 5:4 for Premier/Prestige and 2:1 for Preferred, so the 25% made the ratios 1:1 and 8:5 (or 1000=625) respectively
50% Mar-Apr 2017 *note - at the time, the transfer rate was 5:4 for Premier/Prestige and 2:1 for Preferred, so the 50% made the ratios 5:6 (or 1000=1200) and 4:3 (or 1000=750), respectively
Qantas Frequent Flyer
15%-30% Jun 2016 *tiered: 15% for < 100,000 transferred; 20% for 100,000-500,000; 25% for 500,001 to 1,000,000; 30% for 1,000,001+
Virgin Atlantic Flying Club
30% Sep-Oct 2018
25% Jan-Mar 2017
25% Mar-Apr 2016
25% Jun-Aug 2015
Sharing Points with Other TYP Accounts
For information on sharing points with other TYP accounts (including the expiration rules and annual cap on shared points), see ThankYou Point Sharing capped at 100,000 points per calendar year.
Points Expiration
For information on points expiration, including the order in which points are used for redemptions, see the wiki at Citi ThankYou points - cancel, downgrade & expiration considerations.
Shop with Points
Amazon: $100 = 12,500 points
Existing Threads
Prestigious Citi Card Tricks [Citi Prestige Card benefits]
How is the Citi ThankYou Rewards system in the current state?
Citi Prestige card companion ticket
Confirmed: Changes to Citi ThankYou and Premier cards 10.20.2013
New Citi Premier & Prestige 15% Off Travel when booked through Spirit Incentives
Citi Prestige benefit and reward changes effective July 23, 2017
Comprehensive Guide to the Citi ThankYou Rewards Program
Jan 27, 2016, 6:58 am
#196
Moderator
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Miami, Mpls & London
Programs: AA & Marriott Perpetual Platinum; DL & HH Gold
Posts: 48,958
Citi's terms are unambiguous:
https://www.thankyou.com/partnerProg...oints-transfer
https://www.thankyou.com/partnerProg...oints-transfer
8. Taxable Points (defined below) and Points made unavailable for redemption due to signs of fraud, abuse or suspicious activity on your ThankYou Account or due to your failure to make the required minimum payment on the Card Account by the payment due date are not eligible for Points Transfer. "Taxable Points" are Points received for a Citibank checking relationship, Points obtained through activity unrelated to purchases made with your eligible Card Account, as well as bonus Points that may be awarded with no spend requirement.
Jan 27, 2016, 9:46 am
#197
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Providence, RI
Programs: AAEXP, BASlv, UAGold, Hyatt Diam, IHG Plt, SPG Plt, HH Diam, MR Plat, CC Gold, Nat ExecElite
Posts: 440
So in this scenario:
1) I don't have a banking relationship with Citi (only credit cards)
2) I did get welcome bonus points for a min spend on the Citi Prestige card in 2015
3) I redeemed ThankYou points for airfare totaling more than $600 in 2015
Will I get a 1099 for redeeming more than $600 worth of ThankYou points for airfare, or is that only for people with Citi checking accounts?
1) I don't have a banking relationship with Citi (only credit cards)
2) I did get welcome bonus points for a min spend on the Citi Prestige card in 2015
3) I redeemed ThankYou points for airfare totaling more than $600 in 2015
Will I get a 1099 for redeeming more than $600 worth of ThankYou points for airfare, or is that only for people with Citi checking accounts?
Jan 27, 2016, 9:59 am
#198
Moderator
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Miami, Mpls & London
Programs: AA & Marriott Perpetual Platinum; DL & HH Gold
Posts: 48,958
It is only when you redeem taxable points. Taxable points are defined in the underlined portion of my previous post. It is possible to receive some taxable points without a banking relationship, but likely not enough to elicit a 1099.
Jan 29, 2016, 2:51 pm
#199
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: SEA (previous locations: DTW, TLV, EWR, BOS)
Programs: AS: 75K; DL/NW: Plat; DL SC: Lifetime; Hyatt: Diamond; HH: Gold; SPG: Plat;
Posts: 3,383
So, I have about 130K points that I transferred to my account from my wife's account after she closed her TYP credit card. The 130K points are about to expire (it's been nearly 90 days since I transferred them in), so I need to act.
We're flush with frequent flyer miles, and don't have any concrete travel plans for the foreseeable future (have a new baby at home). Would love to take advantage of the $0.016 value for AA tickets, but just can't commit to any travel for the next 11+ months.
The only option that makes sense to me is a Mortgage check, at a $0.01 value per TYP. Would you redeem your points for anything more worthwhile that is not airline point transfers / travel tickets?
Just wanted to check in with those more in the know before I call TYP. Thanks!
We're flush with frequent flyer miles, and don't have any concrete travel plans for the foreseeable future (have a new baby at home). Would love to take advantage of the $0.016 value for AA tickets, but just can't commit to any travel for the next 11+ months.
The only option that makes sense to me is a Mortgage check, at a $0.01 value per TYP. Would you redeem your points for anything more worthwhile that is not airline point transfers / travel tickets?
Just wanted to check in with those more in the know before I call TYP. Thanks!
Feb 2, 2016, 8:23 pm
#200
Join Date: Feb 2008
Posts: 940
So, I have about 130K points that I transferred to my account from my wife's account after she closed her TYP credit card. The 130K points are about to expire (it's been nearly 90 days since I transferred them in), so I need to act.
We're flush with frequent flyer miles, and don't have any concrete travel plans for the foreseeable future (have a new baby at home). Would love to take advantage of the $0.016 value for AA tickets, but just can't commit to any travel for the next 11+ months.
The only option that makes sense to me is a Mortgage check, at a $0.01 value per TYP. Would you redeem your points for anything more worthwhile that is not airline point transfers / travel tickets?
Just wanted to check in with those more in the know before I call TYP. Thanks!
We're flush with frequent flyer miles, and don't have any concrete travel plans for the foreseeable future (have a new baby at home). Would love to take advantage of the $0.016 value for AA tickets, but just can't commit to any travel for the next 11+ months.
The only option that makes sense to me is a Mortgage check, at a $0.01 value per TYP. Would you redeem your points for anything more worthwhile that is not airline point transfers / travel tickets?
Just wanted to check in with those more in the know before I call TYP. Thanks!
), and it was still worth it.
Feb 6, 2016, 5:47 pm
#201
Join Date: Nov 2014
Location: USA
Posts: 1,084
How do you ensure that your banking TYP are redeemed at a lower rate? If you've combined your card+banking points you can't cherry pick which points are redeemed? so you will be forced to burn down the banking points first, right? (i.e. try not to book any AA flights at 1.6c)
I recently signed up for citigold (still awaiting the bonus to post) and have two different thankyou cards, which are combined.
So right now when i log into thankyou.com i have the option to click on:
A) Prestige+Premier ThankYou
B) Citigold checking ThaknYou
i am considering just leaving it separate. this way i can ensure it is redeemed as-needed and i can manage the 1099 threshold.
the downside, i think, is that without combining the checking TY with the Prestige I can only redeem the points at 1.0c, right? Or can i not redeem towards flights unless i combine them with the cards TY?
Feb 6, 2016, 6:40 pm
#202
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Phoenix, AZ, USA
Programs: DL, HH, Bonvoy
Posts: 204
I've got both a Premier and a Prestige card, and was planning on keeping the Premier for the 3x gas. However, running the numbers I'm not sure it makes sense, the 1.6 redemption is hurting my brain. Am I doing this right?
Assume: $126/month average in gas (per Mint.com), or $1,512.00/year.
Also assume: All flights are American Airlines (they're the big regional one here anyway)
Premier = 4,536 points * 1.6 redemption rate = 7,258 effective points
Points valued at $0.016/point = total flight value of $116.13
Prestige = 1,512 points * 1.6 redemption rate = 2,419 effective points
Points valued at $0.016/point = total flight value of $38.70
$116.13 - $38.70 = $77.43, less than $95 annual fee = drop the card.
Given these numbers, if the only real perk to the Premier over the Prestige is 3x gas, you'd need to spend about $150/month to break even over just using the Prestige (assuming of course you have no better gas reward card).
Assume: $126/month average in gas (per Mint.com), or $1,512.00/year.
Also assume: All flights are American Airlines (they're the big regional one here anyway)
Premier = 4,536 points * 1.6 redemption rate = 7,258 effective points
Points valued at $0.016/point = total flight value of $116.13
Prestige = 1,512 points * 1.6 redemption rate = 2,419 effective points
Points valued at $0.016/point = total flight value of $38.70
$116.13 - $38.70 = $77.43, less than $95 annual fee = drop the card.
Given these numbers, if the only real perk to the Premier over the Prestige is 3x gas, you'd need to spend about $150/month to break even over just using the Prestige (assuming of course you have no better gas reward card).
Feb 6, 2016, 7:31 pm
#203
Join Date: Nov 2014
Location: USA
Posts: 1,084
I've got both a Premier and a Prestige card, and was planning on keeping the Premier for the 3x gas. However, running the numbers I'm not sure it makes sense, the 1.6 redemption is hurting my brain. Am I doing this right?
Assume: $126/month average in gas (per Mint.com), or $1,512.00/year.
Also assume: All flights are American Airlines (they're the big regional one here anyway)
Premier = 4,536 points * 1.6 redemption rate = 7,258 effective points
Points valued at $0.016/point = total flight value of $116.13
Prestige = 1,512 points * 1.6 redemption rate = 2,419 effective points
Points valued at $0.016/point = total flight value of $38.70
$116.13 - $38.70 = $77.43, less than $95 annual fee = drop the card.
Given these numbers, if the only real perk to the Premier over the Prestige is 3x gas, you'd need to spend about $150/month to break even over just using the Prestige (assuming of course you have no better gas reward card).
Assume: $126/month average in gas (per Mint.com), or $1,512.00/year.
Also assume: All flights are American Airlines (they're the big regional one here anyway)
Premier = 4,536 points * 1.6 redemption rate = 7,258 effective points
Points valued at $0.016/point = total flight value of $116.13
Prestige = 1,512 points * 1.6 redemption rate = 2,419 effective points
Points valued at $0.016/point = total flight value of $38.70
$116.13 - $38.70 = $77.43, less than $95 annual fee = drop the card.
Given these numbers, if the only real perk to the Premier over the Prestige is 3x gas, you'd need to spend about $150/month to break even over just using the Prestige (assuming of course you have no better gas reward card).
I picked both Premier and Prestige recently and will be in your shoes at renewal. The reason why I would consider keeping Premier would be the broader definition of travel, beyond just gas: parking, tolls, public transit, cabs. etc.
But, depending on how much someone spends in these categories it maybe better to just use one of the cash back cards. Looking at my personal card portfolio I would consider a combination of Fidelity 2% and BofA 3% for gas. plus Freedom when it's paying 5x for gas.
I am optimistic at Citi retentions, compared to Chase and Amex, so we maybe able to score something that will incentivize to keep it open
Feb 7, 2016, 2:02 pm
#204
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Phoenix, AZ, USA
Programs: DL, HH, Bonvoy
Posts: 204
I didn't think about the full scope of travel not being on the Prestige. I spend another $100-$200 in train tickets per month for work, plus probably the same in Uber fare, so that'd be enough to push me over the edge if that's not included in Prestige. Looks like I'll have to read all these terms a little closer. Thanks!
Feb 7, 2016, 5:42 pm
#205
Join Date: Nov 2014
Location: USA
Posts: 1,084
I didn't think about the full scope of travel not being on the Prestige. I spend another $100-$200 in train tickets per month for work, plus probably the same in Uber fare, so that'd be enough to push me over the edge if that's not included in Prestige. Looks like I'll have to read all these terms a little closer. Thanks!
I hear you on uber. Do you collect Amex MRs? Uber bonuses you extra MR when you use Amex. So with my EDP I'm getting 3x for Uber. However this isn't rallied when abroad as uber doesn't bonus you abroad and EDP Has a forex fee.
My Premier worked like a charm for ubering abroad.
Lack of broad travel category on prestige is a big downer and it's the reason why this card is never in my wallet. When you're out and about the premier gets all the categories you need while the prestige can stay in the hotel safe along with the other backup cards. The same pattern works when you're back home and commuting to work, eating out, etc. the card isn't as sexy as the Ritz card for example but TYP > Ritz any day.
Feb 7, 2016, 6:54 pm
#206
Join Date: Sep 2012
Posts: 4,431
I don't know if everybody already knows this, so I wanted to provide a datapoint that may help someone.
ONe of the questions I had regarding transferring TYP from one account to another was whether the ones expiring will be used first. The answer is yes. I transferred 30K from my dad's account to mine and then transferred 35K to my SIN account. When doing the transfer, the 30K from his account were among the TYP redeemed.
One question I still have is if Citi will selectively use non-transferable points (from banking) before transferable points when redeeming toward flights or gift cards or mortgage.
ONe of the questions I had regarding transferring TYP from one account to another was whether the ones expiring will be used first. The answer is yes. I transferred 30K from my dad's account to mine and then transferred 35K to my SIN account. When doing the transfer, the 30K from his account were among the TYP redeemed.
One question I still have is if Citi will selectively use non-transferable points (from banking) before transferable points when redeeming toward flights or gift cards or mortgage.
Feb 7, 2016, 8:31 pm
#207
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: On strike
Posts: 8,135
The answer to this has been the same -- and documented in the wiki above (via link to the master thread) -- for a very long time.
Feb 8, 2016, 7:37 am
#208
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: SEA
Posts: 3,955
Chasing gas category bonuses is often not a good thing - your math above exemplifies it. Everyone should calculate it on their own as you did to see how it works, but in my experience, keeping a card for its gas category bonus alone has not made it worth its annual fee on gas spend alone. Now, the exception is manufactured spend, but in my case the Prestige is going to replace the Premier for me entirely. YMMV, but my point is, do your math like Zeromus-X did.
Feb 8, 2016, 8:36 pm
#209
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Phoenix, AZ, USA
Programs: DL, HH, Bonvoy
Posts: 204
). Thanks again.
Feb 13, 2016, 8:51 pm
#210
Join Date: May 2012
Posts: 514
Where is Points Share option?
I have two separate ThankYou accounts. The first one is linked to a Citigold checking account and the second one is linked to a Prestige credit card. I have 42K TY points in the former account (the Citigold one) and want to transfer it to (or in Citi wording: share it with) my other ThankYou account (The Prestige card). But I am not able to find the Points Share (or Share Points?) option in the ThankYou account that is linked to my Citigold account. Any comment, idea, or help is appreciated!