Citi ThankYou Premier Review (before October 2013)
Last updated September 17, 2013. Please see our current review here.
The Facts
The Math
This card is great if you are a frequent flyer and are able to charge airfare to the card. The trick is to have just enough "flight points" to be matched with "purchase points". For example, if you annual spending is $30K with $10K goes to the 1.2x categories, you annual purchase points are 32K. Then in order to maximize rewards, you need to fly at least 32K actual miles, say 3 non-stop round trips between Los Angeles and Tokyo.
ThankYou Premier vs. Fidelity Amex: Assuming you have sufficient flight points to match, this card gets you 2.4 or 2 points per dollar spent. Using the most valuable redemption option - airfare through TY, you get 33% bonus, essentially returning 3.19% or 2.66%. Thus if your annual spending is $19K, you are canceling out the $125 annual fee ($19,000 x 0.66% = $125) and getting extra bonus through 1.2x categories. The annual points booster is just icing on the cake. Of course, if you can make use of the companion ticket or 15% discount to at least offset the annual fee, ThankYou Premier is a much better card.
The Conclusion
If you fly sufficiently to match your annual spending, ThankYou Premier is a very valuable card to carry. The recently added Hilton transfer feature adds more flexibility. The companion ticket and 15% discount may save you quite some money if used wisely. The waived foreign transaction fee is also a big plus for international travelers.
The Facts
- Annual Fee: $125 for primary card holder and $50 for each additional user, waived for Citigold customers.
- Signup Bonus: 25,000 points
- Rewards: 1.2 x gas, groceries, drugstores, commuter transportation, and parking, 1x everywhere else. You also earn 1 point for 1 mile you fly when you purchase airfare with this card. The catch is that the "flight points" that you earn through airfare purchase will only be available when you have the same amount of "purchase points" through spending. You also earn 1~5% annual points booster depending on how many years you have the card.
- Best Use of ThankYou Points: ThankYou (TY) is the rewards program run by Citi and the points can be redeemed for merchandise, gift cards, and travel, returning up to 1 cent per point. However, better than the regular TY cards such as ThankYou Preferred, ThankYou Premier and Citi Prestige offer two additional options: one is to redeem for flights through ThankYou - you get 33% more value, making 1 ThankYou point = 1.33 cent; the other is to transfer ThankYou points to Hilton HHonors points at 1:1.5 ratio. The second option, added in January 2013, was the first time a transfer feature (to frequent traveler miles/points) was available in the ThankYou program, and we certainly hope that Citi continues to make this program more competitive since both Amex and Chase have great programs that allow points to be transferred to frequent traveler miles/points.
- Other Benefits: Waived foreign transaction fees. You receive one annual complimentary domestic economy class companion ticket through Spirit Incentives - note that it can only be used in the contiguous U.S. (i.e. excluding Hawaii and Alaska) and you need to pay taxes and charges on the companion ticket . You also receive unlimited 15% discount on airfare (before taxes) when booking through Spirit Incentives. Spirit Incentives only shows the cheapest fare on the dates you travel, so the choices are limited. Even with restrictions, the free companion ticket and 15% discount can still be useful to some people.
- Other Facts: You may choose between Visa and MasterCard when you apply. Citi announces in mid-2013 that ThankYou Premier will be overhauled: as of October 20, 2013, both the new and existing cardholders will have the new features listed in the new review; old features including flight point earning, 33% more value when redeemed for airfare, and 1.2x on gas, grocery, drugstores, parking, and commuter transportation, will be discontinued as of October 20, 2013; for existing cardholders, anniversary bonus feature will be discontinued on the next anniversary date after October 20, 2013; for existing cardholders, annual companion ticket and 15% saving on airfare will be discontinued on the next anniversary date after October 20, 2013 and you must book your flight by this date.
The Math
This card is great if you are a frequent flyer and are able to charge airfare to the card. The trick is to have just enough "flight points" to be matched with "purchase points". For example, if you annual spending is $30K with $10K goes to the 1.2x categories, you annual purchase points are 32K. Then in order to maximize rewards, you need to fly at least 32K actual miles, say 3 non-stop round trips between Los Angeles and Tokyo.
ThankYou Premier vs. Fidelity Amex: Assuming you have sufficient flight points to match, this card gets you 2.4 or 2 points per dollar spent. Using the most valuable redemption option - airfare through TY, you get 33% bonus, essentially returning 3.19% or 2.66%. Thus if your annual spending is $19K, you are canceling out the $125 annual fee ($19,000 x 0.66% = $125) and getting extra bonus through 1.2x categories. The annual points booster is just icing on the cake. Of course, if you can make use of the companion ticket or 15% discount to at least offset the annual fee, ThankYou Premier is a much better card.
The Conclusion
If you fly sufficiently to match your annual spending, ThankYou Premier is a very valuable card to carry. The recently added Hilton transfer feature adds more flexibility. The companion ticket and 15% discount may save you quite some money if used wisely. The waived foreign transaction fee is also a big plus for international travelers.