Citi ThankYou Premier Changing January 28, 2016 – Should You Apply Now?
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Update: The card offer in this post is no longer available. Check our Hot Deals for the latest offers.If you’ve been thinking about applying for the Citi ThankYou Premier card, you may want to do so soon.
Because One Mile at a Time reports the sign-up bonus on the Citi ThankYou Premier will change on January 28, 2016 (next Thursday). But it’s not known if the bonus will increase or decrease.
Currently, you’ll earn 50,000 Citi ThankYou points with this card when you complete the minimum spending.
Let’s review what you’ll get with this card and if it’s a good idea to sign-up before the change takes effect!
What’s the Deal?
Link: Citi ThankYou Premier
Link: My Review of the Citi ThankYou Premier
One Mile at a Time suggests the sign-up bonus will decrease after January 28, 2016. But I have no information to confirm that.
Currently, when you sign-up for the Citi ThankYou Premier card and spend $3,000 on purchases in the 1st 3 months of opening your account, you’ll earn 50,000 Citi ThankYou points. (EXPIRED.)
And you can transfer those points to airline and hotel partners like Singapore Airlines, Air France / KLM, and Hilton.
With this card, you’ll also get:
- 3 Citi ThankYou points per $1 you spend on travel (includes gas stations, airfare, hotels, car rental, cruises, tolls, and more)
- 2 Citi ThankYou points per $1 you spend on dining and entertainment (includes amusement parks, sporting events, movies)
- 1 Citi ThankYou point per $1 you spend on other purchases
- Transfer Citi ThankYou points to airline and hotel partners
- Use Citi ThankYou points at 1.25 cents per point toward paid travel (airfare, hotels, rental cars, and cruises) through the Citi ThankYou Travel Center
- No foreign transaction fees
The $95 annual fee is waived for the 1st year.
I like this card because the points you earn are flexible. You can transfer them to airline partners and Hilton hotels for Big Travel, or use them to book paid flights, hotels, and more at 1.25 cents per point through the Citi ThankYou Travel Center (and you’ll earn miles and points!).
| Citi ThankYou Points Airline Transfer Partners | ||
|---|---|---|
| Avianca | Asia Miles (Cathay Pacific) | EVA Air |
| Etihad | Flying Blue (Air France/KLM) | Garuda Indonesia |
| Jet Airways | JetBlue | Malaysia Airlines |
| Qantas | Qatar Airways | Singapore Airlines |
| Thai Airways | Turkish Airlines | Virgin Atlantic |
| Citi ThankYou Points Hotel Transfer Partners | ||
|---|---|---|
| Hilton Hotels |
At 1.25 cents per point, the 50,000 Citi ThankYou point sign-up bonus is worth $625 toward paid travel. That’s a good deal!
Many folks like transferring Citi ThankYou points to Singapore Airlines. That’s because you can book award flights on Singapore Airlines and their Star Alliance partners, like United Airlines, Lufthansa, and Air Canada.
And sometimes, using Singapore Airlines miles to book United Airlines flights can be a better deal than using United Airlines miles!
If you want to splurge, you’ll have almost enough Citi ThankYou points after completing the minimum spending to transfer to Singapore Airlines for a 1-way First Class award ticket between New York and Frankfurt in a suite!
So you’ll have lots of terrific travel options with this card. And because the annual fee is waived for the 1st year, you can try it out and see if you like it without any cost!
What If the Sign-Up Bonus Increases?
If (as folks suggest) the sign-up bonus decreases, you’ll be in good shape if you apply for the Citi ThankYou Premier now.
But the bonus could increase. For example, there was briefly an offer for 60,000 Citi ThankYou points after meeting a slightly increased spending requirement this past summer.
That said, there are no guarantees. But it’s always worth a try!
I’ll update y’all as soon as I have more information about the changes coming to the Citi ThankYou Premier.
Bottom Line
It may be a good time to apply for the Citi ThankYou Premier card. Because One Mile at a Time is reporting that on January 28, 2016, the sign-up bonus will change, likely to a lower offer.
Currently, you’ll earn 50,000 Citi ThankYou points (worth $625 in paid travel or potentially more when transferred to airline and hotel partners) after you complete the minimum spending on the card.
We don’t yet know if the sign-up bonus will increase or decrease. If it decreases, folks who signed-up before January 28, 2016, won’t lose out.
If it increases, you could miss out on a better bonus. That said, Citi will sometimes match new cardholders to the better offer if they ask. But there are no guarantees.
I’ll update you as soon as I have more information!
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