Using Citi credit cards comes with cashback in the form of ThankYou points. When you earn Citi ThankYou points you should be aware of how they work, what they are worth, and how to redeem the rewards.
How to earn Citi ThankYou points?
Some Citi credit cards earn ThankYou Points as cashback. The fastest way to earn a substantial amount of points is to get a signup bonus when you open a Citi card like Citi Custom Cash with an intro offer of $200 worth of points when you spend $750 within the first 3 months. The Citi Premier card offers 80,000 bonus points when you spend $4,000 within 3 months. The 80,000 points are worth $800 when you redeem their gift cards. Other cards like the Citi Reward card earn you points as well.
| Citi Card | Bonus | How much you have to spend? |
|---|---|---|
| Citi Custom Cash | $200 | Spend $750 within the first 3 months |
| Citi Double Cash | not any more | Spend $1,500 within the first 6 months |
| Citi Rewards | 20,000 points | Spend $1,500 within the first 3 months |
| Citi Premier | 80,000 points | Spend $4,000 within the first 3 months |
How much are Citibank ThankYou Points worth?
The value of these points depends on how you use them. The list of options is long. Gift cards Travel Rewards, you can use points for shopping at participating online partners, use them as a statement credit, or direct deposit, send yourself a paper check, transfer points to partners, and make charitable contributions. With these many possibilities, it is a challenge to choose.
How to Redeem Citi ThankYou Points?
To redeem the rewards you have to login into your Citibank account and find a section with ThankYou points and the amount of your accumulated points. Click on it brings you to a rewards center. There you can choose how you want to spend your points. Citibank offers ThankYou Points Catalog where you can make your final decision.
What are the best ways to use Citi ThankYou points?
I prefer to redeem it as a direct deposit or as a statement credit. Direct deposit as cold cash can be used to buy gift cards in the same way as using ThankYou points. The flexibility of cash beats all other options. The benefit is that cash doesn’t expire. Statement credit reduces your debt which is almost always a good option.
You can redeem the Citi ThankYou points as gift cards for a number of stores and restaurants. For example, you can take a Play Store gift card, Walmart gift card, Target gift card, and many others.
Using points to shop on Amazon is a fine choice as well. You have to link your rewards account to pay for purchases. If there are not enough points to make the purchase you can use your Citi credit card to pay for the difference.
As an alternative, you can transfer Citi ThankYou points to its partners. For example, if you have an American Airlines membership, you can transfer Citi ThankYou Points to American Airlines. On the other hand, you can prefer to transfer Citi ThankYou points to Jetblue airlines. This option makes sense only if you convert it to more valuable points.
The last option is to donate Citi ThankYou points to a charitable organization. I believe it is a bad option as well. Why? When you donate points, you cannot deduct them from your income.
What are Citibank ThankYou points worth?
In the case of direct deposit or statement credit points are worth 1 cent. Gift cards may be worth a little bit more if you use them to buy gift cards on sale. In the gift cards section there are almost always cards that you can buy for less than they are worth. The offers are highlighted with a red label.