Citi ThankYou® Premier Card - Changes coming in October!

[IcEWoLF]

From their website:

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Great news! On October 20, 2013, exciting changes are coming to the Citi ThankYou Premier Card. While these changes are underway, we are not offering the option to apply online.

We invite you to come back on October 20, 2013 to apply for the enhanced Citi ThankYou Premier Card.

Or you can see all of the Citi cards that are available now by visitingwww.citi.com/credit-cards.

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https://www.citi.com/credit-cards/credit-card-details/detail.do?ID=citi-thankyou-premier-credit-card

I wonder what they are going to do.

Maybe they are upgrading the rewards structure that can compete with the Chase Sapphire Preferred card.

[john398]

what was the difference between the Thank You Premier and the Thank You Prefered?

[IcEWoLF]

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@john398 wrote:

what was the difference between the Thank You Premier and the Thank You Prefered?

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Well, the last time I checked the Thank you Premier card does not have FTF.

I am not sure what are the other benefits besides that.

I think that's probably why they are enhancing the product this October.

EDIT: After doing some research I found this over the FT forums:

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Hey FT,

There are some changes coming to the Citi ThankYou and ThankYou Premier cards, effective on new applications on July 28th, 2013. Existing cardmembers will receive notification in late August, and changes will go into effect October 20th, 2013.

ThankYou Premier

Positive changes:

• 3x TY Points/dollar at restuarants

• 2x TY Points/dollar at travel (airfare/hotel)

• No annual fee for adding an AU

• 400 TY points for enrolling in Paperless

Negative changes:

• No more flight points

• No more companion airfare through Spirit

• No more anniversary bonus

• 1.25x rather than 1.33x bonus on airfare purchases with TY points

• No 20% bump on everyday spend (1 pt/doller)

Regular ThankYou

Positive changes:

• 2x TY Points/dollar at restuarants

• 200 TY points for enrolling in Paperless

Negative changes:

• No more anniversary bonus

You will earn flight points on any tickets PURCHASED by October 19, 2013. 
You will have access to booking through Spirit for the companion airfare through October 19, 2013. 
Any flight points you have will remain until you convert them with matched spend.

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http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/credit-card-programs/1485116-confirmed-changes-citi-thankyou-premier-...

[john398]

thanks I just have the regular thank you card

[longtimelurker]

They are NOT enhancing it, it is a major nerfing! 

The Premier today has some  very useful benefits:

1) 15%  of the non-tax price of airline tickets (for you and up to 3 others travelling together), unlimited number of times per year

2) One domestic companion ticket per year

3) Flight points.  When you buy a ticket, you get TY points as with any purchase, but you also get "Flight Points", 1 per mile flown  (In addition to any FF miles).  These flight points convert to TY points, 1:1, as you buy things.  This equates to 2.66% cash back if used in balance.

4) Thank you points redeemed for travel are worth 1.33 cents each

With the change: 1-3 simply go away.  All that is added is some 2x and 3x points categories.  Which might be OK, but the AF is $125, the points are only transferable to Hilton, so looks really bad compared to the cheaper CSP.

Edit: I see the edit of the post I was replying to.  Yes I forgot they were getting rid of the 1.2 category as well!

[enharu]

Citi TY points are transferable to Hilton at 1:1 ratio right? And aren't Hilton points worth less than 1ccp? How is this a good deal? :/

[IcEWoLF]

It's a terrible deal, I am sure Citi will recognize this and hopefully they will make changes again next year.

$125 AF, this card is not worth it.

[CreditScholar]

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@enharu wrote:
Citi TY points are transferable to Hilton at 1:1 ratio right? And aren't Hilton points worth less than 1ccp? How is this a good deal? :/

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It's 1:1.5, so 1 TY point = 1.5 HH point.

It's not a good change at all for those who are relying only on the Premier card. However if you have a collection of cards then there might be some value in this still. For example I can see the Prestige, Premier and Forward cards working together for certain kinds of spenders.

It seems as if the trend is to encourage multiple products within the same bank. This reminds me of the PRG's 3-2-1 structure, only it's definitely not as good as MR on a point-for-point basis. Combine the cards though and the result can actually be quite competitive.

[Shock_]

Can anybody comment on a minimum credit score needed for a Thank You card? I know it varies and is different from everybody, but if there was a soft number set, what would it be? I would assume maybr 730?

[longtimelurker]

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@CreditScholar wrote:

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It's not a good change at all for those who are relying only on the Premier card. However if you have a collection of cards then there might be some value in this still. For example I can see the Prestige, Premier and Forward cards working together for certain kinds of spenders.

It seems as if the trend is to encourage multiple products within the same bank. This reminds me of the PRG's 3-2-1 structure, only it's definitely not as good as MR on a point-for-point basis. Combine the cards though and the result can actually be quite competitive.

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Not sure how much value the Premier brings if you also have the Forward and Prestige.  The major "enhancement" is 3x on entertaiment, which is already covered at 5x on the Forward (for most areas).  So that leaves the 2x airfare/hotel.   I would think normally you would want to put airfare on the Prestige, to get flight points, rather than just double TY points, so hotel is the area left.  And I guess if you spend enough on hotels, the double points might make up enough for the $125 AF  (I think the magic figure is $12.5K a year, that would earn you 25K TYP, leaving you with $125 after AF, breaking even with using a 1% card.  If you redeem for travel, then the figure needed is less). 

So yes, but not hugely compelling I think!