Does the Forward Justify Citi?

[databender]

Citi Forward is still available to college students and still gives 5x TY Points at restaurants and on entertainment (presumably including Amazon). The normal Forward seems to be merging with the TYP, but who knows how long Citi will keep the Forward for College Students' current reward system intact. Since I'm trying to build a strong credit foundation, any cards I open now I plan to keep open inevitably to provide a strong AAoA. Citi appears to provide subpar customer service and be unforgiving should you bend their rules, so is it even worth starting a credit relationship with them at this point? For all I know the Forward for College Students could PC into a new card next quarter, but Citi seems to make up for some insufficiencies by offering solid rewards cards and programs so maybe opening an account with them would be beneficial instead of regretful. I'm going to apply for either Citi Forward, Chase Freedom, and/or Discover IT next month (and the Forward certainly looks like the most rewarding option), I just want to be careful about what I'm signing myself up for in the long run.

[CredittotheMax]

I don't think they are gonna PC the student forward in anytime soon. The fact that they're still accepting apps, but I could be wrong. Even if they PC in a year or two, Citi still offers other good reward cards. My only complaint is their CS, but they are very generous on CL tho.

[longtimelurker]

In my view, don't (over)-worry about the issuer, evaluate each individual card for your purposes (and possibly as part of a set of cards, Freedom/CSP/Ink, Forward/TYP/Premier/Prestige).  Each lender is generally going to have cards that are no real value to you, and others that may be very useful.

Yes, the Forward for Students might (and eventually probably will) morph into the Thank You card with reduced rewards, but any card you get can be downgraded at any time (BCP, Cash Plus etc).

[enharu]

Even with the subpar customer service, Citi seems somewhat generous with CLs, so why not.

[HiLine]

Citi doesn't need to be justified IMO. The Price Rewind feature alone makes Citi cards a must in any credit card portfolio.

[databender]

Price Rewind along with 5x ThankYou Points makes for a pretty powerful Amazon spending card, though the $25.00 minimum difference required for rewind is somewhat limiting.

I have bank accounts with Wells Fargo and Alliant CU, but no loans. Do you think it will be possible for me to repeatedly (as the points accrue) get loan payments for ThankYou Points and deposit them directly into a checking account without raising red flags? I won't be doing any manufactured spending, so the payments would not be enormous.

[Radek7752]

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@databender wrote:

Citi Forward is still available to college students and still gives 5x TY Points at restaurants and on entertainment (presumably including Amazon). The normal Forward seems to be merging with the TYP, but who knows how long Citi will keep the Forward for College Students' current reward system intact. Since I'm trying to build a strong credit foundation, any cards I open now I plan to keep open inevitably to provide a strong AAoA. Citi appears to provide subpar customer service and be unforgiving should you bend their rules, so is it even worth starting a credit relationship with them at this point? For all I know the Forward for College Students could PC into a new card next quarter, but Citi seems to make up for some insufficiencies by offering solid rewards cards and programs so maybe opening an account with them would be beneficial instead of regretful. I'm going to apply for either Citi Forward, Chase Freedom, and/or Discover IT next month (and the Forward certainly looks like the most rewarding option), I just want to be careful about what I'm signing myself up for in the long run.

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Citi is definitely a great issuer to have in your credit card line-up. The Forward is one of my favorite credit cards and I bring it everywhere with me. To get the most out of its rewards, I pair it with my TYPreferred. Also, it is true that Citi is generous with credit limits. They gave me a fairly high limit for a student card, however, I have had an existing relationship with them for a few years with the Simplicity.

As for their customer service, anytime I call I always get a U.S. based center and they are very friendly and effective. The only other banks that I receive better service from are Chase (CSP line) and Discover.

[databender]

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@Radek7752 wrote:

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@databender wrote:

Citi Forward is still available to college students and still gives 5x TY Points at restaurants and on entertainment (presumably including Amazon). The normal Forward seems to be merging with the TYP, but who knows how long Citi will keep the Forward for College Students' current reward system intact. Since I'm trying to build a strong credit foundation, any cards I open now I plan to keep open inevitably to provide a strong AAoA. Citi appears to provide subpar customer service and be unforgiving should you bend their rules, so is it even worth starting a credit relationship with them at this point? For all I know the Forward for College Students could PC into a new card next quarter, but Citi seems to make up for some insufficiencies by offering solid rewards cards and programs so maybe opening an account with them would be beneficial instead of regretful. I'm going to apply for either Citi Forward, Chase Freedom, and/or Discover IT next month (and the Forward certainly looks like the most rewarding option), I just want to be careful about what I'm signing myself up for in the long run.

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Citi is definitely a great issuer to have in your credit card line-up. The Forward is one of my favorite credit cards and I bring it everywhere with me. To get the most out of its rewards, I pair it with my TYPreferred. Also, it is true that Citi is generous with credit limits. They gave me a fairly high limit for a student card, however, I have had an existing relationship with them for a few years with the Simplicity.

As for their customer service, anytime I call I always get a U.S. based center and they are very friendly and effective. The only other banks that I receive better service from are Chase (CSP line) and Discover.

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Interesting, some mixed reviews in this thread about Citi's customer service. They seem like a company I would deal with for the outstanding rewards and unique benefits, but that I probably wouldn't open a checking account with.

Does anyone have experience with somewhat regularlygetting the minimum $25.00 thankyou points loan/mortgage checks succesfully deposited into an institution where you don't have any loans?

[databender]

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@databender wrote:

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@Radek7752 wrote:

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@databender wrote:

Citi Forward is still available to college students and still gives 5x TY Points at restaurants and on entertainment (presumably including Amazon). The normal Forward seems to be merging with the TYP, but who knows how long Citi will keep the Forward for College Students' current reward system intact. Since I'm trying to build a strong credit foundation, any cards I open now I plan to keep open inevitably to provide a strong AAoA. Citi appears to provide subpar customer service and be unforgiving should you bend their rules, so is it even worth starting a credit relationship with them at this point? For all I know the Forward for College Students could PC into a new card next quarter, but Citi seems to make up for some insufficiencies by offering solid rewards cards and programs so maybe opening an account with them would be beneficial instead of regretful. I'm going to apply for either Citi Forward, Chase Freedom, and/or Discover IT next month (and the Forward certainly looks like the most rewarding option), I just want to be careful about what I'm signing myself up for in the long run.

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Citi is definitely a great issuer to have in your credit card line-up. The Forward is one of my favorite credit cards and I bring it everywhere with me. To get the most out of its rewards, I pair it with my TYPreferred. Also, it is true that Citi is generous with credit limits. They gave me a fairly high limit for a student card, however, I have had an existing relationship with them for a few years with the Simplicity.

As for their customer service, anytime I call I always get a U.S. based center and they are very friendly and effective. The only other banks that I receive better service from are Chase (CSP line) and Discover.

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Interesting, some mixed reviews in this thread about Citi's customer service. They seem like a company I would deal with for the outstanding rewards and unique benefits, but that I probably wouldn't open a checking account with.

Does anyone have experience with somewhat regularlygetting the minimum $25.00 thankyou points loan/mortgage checks succesfully deposited into an institution where you don't have any loans?

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I am still very curious if anyone has attempted redeeming ThankYou Points for loan/mortgage checks (preferably at either Wells Fargo or Alliant CU) deposited directly into a checking account, having no loans or mortgages.