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Citi Forward / Restaurant.com

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nomoore
Contributor

Citi Forward / Restaurant.com

I was just researching the Citi Forward rewards (Thank You rewards) and just realized you can get a $25 Restaurant.com gift card for 1000 ThankYou points. Foodies REJOICE!!!!

 

Correct me if I'm wrong but I figure that is a whopping 12.5% redemption!!!

 

At 5 points per dollar (with the Forward card) I would spend $200 eating to get 1000 points. With 1000 points I can get $25 towards restaurant coupons.

Then to figure out the percentage: 25 / 200 = 0.125 (12.5%)

 

Then the savings still aren't done because you buy coupons at a discounted rate to save you more money eating. 

 

Maybe they should change the name to Citi FOODIE instead of Citi Forward?

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Message 1 of 6
5 REPLIES 5
cdtotten
Established Contributor

Re: Citi Forward / Restaurant.com

Restaurant.com is not a gift certificate... in example:

 

You pay $10 to get $25 off at a restaurant (with a minimum of $35-50 you must spend on the order). Additionally you must tip 20% on the full amount and no coupons can be used.

 

The savings are nowhere comparable to a groupon, as there is a minimum you must spend that is well above the amount of the gift certificate. Think of it as a glorified coupon.


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Message 2 of 6
nomoore
Contributor

Re: Citi Forward / Restaurant.com

 


@cdtotten wrote:

Restaurant.com is not a gift certificate... in example:

 

You pay $10 to get $25 off at a restaurant (with a minimum of $35-50 you must spend on the order). Additionally you must tip 20% on the full amount and no coupons can be used.

 

The savings are nowhere comparable to a groupon, as there is a minimum you must spend that is well above the amount of the gift certificate. Think of it as a glorified coupon.


Correct! The gift card you would get from Citi Thank You Rewards is to buy the coupons from restaurant.com. I've never used groupons so I don't know how it compares. I would recommend that anyone who is considering this should be familiar with restaurant.com coupons so they know what they are getting.

 

Usually when eating out without a coupon my wife and I  will just get a main course. With the minimum spending amount of a restaurant.com coupon we often have to buy a dessert and/or appetizer to meet the minimum spending amount. But with the coupon we end up paying the same as we would for just the main course without the coupon. So we look at restaurant.com coupons more as free dessert and appetizer rather than cheap dining.

Open Credit Cards:   Target Visa/5900CL    |    AMEX BCP/6000CL
Latest Credit Scores:   780 TU (2011-08-01)
Credit Score History:   708 EQ (2011-07-01)    |    682 TU (2011-06-30)    |    693 EQ (2010-05-21)
Message 3 of 6
LisaPA
Regular Contributor

Re: Citi Forward / Restaurant.com

Fantastic! I just got my Citi Forward and haven't really had a chance to poke around much yet. That is a far better conversion rate than most of their other redemptions.

 

Yes, it is a $25 coupon - which is the point. You're using your credit card anyway, getting points and redeeming them for $25 of free food. And if you use your card at a restaurant, it's 5 points per dollar. Pretty similar to spending $25 to get $50 of food from Groupon.

Message 4 of 6
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Citi Forward / Restaurant.com

I realize this thread is more than a week old, but you all are forgetting that restaurant.com regularly has 70-80% off sales on the majority of their "coupons".  Typically you can get a $25 certificate that usually costs $10 for $3-4.  If you wait around for these 70-80% off deals (again, they are very frequent) you save quite a bit more than with groupon.

Message 5 of 6
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Citi Forward / Restaurant.com

i'm with PTR.  your math might be correct but you should NEVER pay more for a $25 restaurant.com GC than $3.  a minimum of 70% off runs probably 4 days a week, 80% off 2 days a week.  i've never paid more than $2 for a $25 GC from them and a couple times over the last month they ran a day of 90% off meaning it was only $1 for a $25 certificate.

 

using TYP for this is throwing away money when you can spend $2-$3 for the discount straight up AND still get rewards on those if you use a good credit card.

 

 

also, if you click through discover mall and/or chase shops and/or whatever, you can prolly get like 20 bonus points/$1 when you buy a GC too.   so not only are you paying $2 but you're getting 20% if you click through on top of that.

Message 6 of 6
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