The Citi Thank You Premier [1] card is just what I’ve been looking for! For six months I’ve searched for a new credit card for a reader, Thomas.
I finally found a card that I think will work for his European vacation without paying foreign transaction fees [2]. And it has my favorite features, a sign up bonus and cash rewards!
It’s our double dose of Free Money [3] Friday today! Let’s take a closer look at the new Citi ThankYou Premier Card [1].
Citi Thank You Card Features
- Citi Rewards: The Citi Thank You [1] card offers a points program, redeemable for gift cards, cash, electronics and more.
- No foreign transaction fees: Thomas was looking for a card to take to Europe when he goes on vacation that won’t charge him any foreign transaction fees. Finally! I found one (the old card I used to recommend for foreign travel doesn’t accept new customers).
- No Annual Fee For First Year: The one drawback on this card is the $125 annual fee. However, the annual fee is waived for the first 12 months. To avoid paying the fee, I’d suggest that Thomas sign up for the card a few months before his vacation. Whenever I sign up for cards that waive the annual fee, I always put a note on my calendar to call after 11 months and ask for another free year. You would be surprised how often it works!
Earning Citi Thank You Points
The Citi Thankyou cards use the Citi thank you rewards network to earn points. There is no points cap and and points you earn in the Citi thank you points program don’t expire. Here’s a breakdown of the ways to earn ThankYou points.
- Earn 30,000 bonus ThankYou(r) Points after $2,000 in purchases within 3 months of account opening – enough for $300 in gift cards.
- 1 ThankYou point for every dollar you spend on purchases.
- Earn points for the miles you fly when you purchase a ticket with your Citi ThankYou Premier Card [1].
- Open a new Citi Thank You Premier Card [1] and make $2,000 in purchases within the first 3 months.
- Get 25,000 bonus points.
- Redeem your points for $250 in gift cards at thankyou.com or call 1-800-THANKYOU (1-800-842-6596).
Redeeming Citi Thank You Points
Redeeming Points. You can redeem your ThankYou points as soon as you have 100 points. Depending on which gift card or merchandise you choose, you can stretch your points up to $500 in gift cards. Most of my favorite retailers are included in the gift card list (Gap, Old Navy, Best Buy, Lands End) as well as restaurants, and various other stores.
Redeeming Points for Cash Back. You can also redeem your points for a check. The cash conversion ratio is $50 for every 8,000 points. You’re probably better off to reedem your points for gift cards to get a better conversion ratio.
$25 Sign Up Bonus
As an incentive to check out the Citi ThankYou Premier Card [1], Citi is offering us $400 in free money. And we all know that free money is a pretty good way to catch my attention.
Here’s how to get the 25,000 point bonus, which you can cash in for $250 in gift cards:
Citi Thank You Preferred Option
There’s also another option if you hate cards that charge an annual fee after the first year. You can get the Citi Thank You Preferred card [4] which also offers 25,000 bonus ThankYou Points after $2,000 in purchases (equivalent to a $250 gift card).
Citi Thank You Card Overall
It’s nice to finally see another credit card that earns cash rewards and offers no foreign transaction fees. And the Citi Thank You Premier Card [1] sign up bonus is a good one! Hopefully it will work for Thomas’ European vacation!
In addition, when I was looking into this card, I found out some new tips and tricks for the Thank You point network. Stay tuned and we’ll dig a little deeper into Citi Thank You points…