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Is there a good Citi rewards card?

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amakol
Regular Contributor

Is there a good Citi rewards card?

As you can see I currently have the TYP. Got it for the sign-up bonus and a relationship with Citi, but it hasn't been as useful as I thought with the 2x points on dining/entertainment.

 

This got me thinking - if I were to PC is there anything else that's better? Dividend catches my eye but I've read that the categories aren't anywhere near as good as Freedom or Discover. Citi keeps them hidden so I don't know what they are. Might be better to stick with TYP. Diamond Preferred and Simplicity have no rewards. I don't have a use for AAdvantage since I don't fly often.

 

It seems like they're more of a BT / 0% intro APR bank.

EQ 740 FICO, 4 INQ | EX 736 FICO, 5 INQ | TU 745 FICO, 5 INQ | CL $175K | AAOA 4 Years
Message 1 of 23
22 REPLIES 22
H4LO
Established Contributor

Re: Is there a good Citi rewards card?


@bonehead88 wrote:

As you can see I currently have the TYP. Got it for the sign-up bonus and a relationship with Citi, but it hasn't been as useful as I thought with the 2x points on dining/entertainment.

 

This got me thinking - if I were to PC is there anything else that's better? Dividend catches my eye but I've read that the categories aren't anywhere near as good as Freedom or Discover. Citi keeps them hidden so I don't know what they are. Might be better to stick with TYP. Diamond Preferred and Simplicity have no rewards. I don't have a use for AAdvantage since I don't fly often.

 

It seems like they're more of a BT / 0% intro APR bank.


Seeing as the TYP aren't really that great rewards wise... There is no real good card. 



Total CL - 60K // Util. ~1.6%

772 TU - 6/5 ///// 705 EX - 5/5 ///// 664 EQ - 4/29
Message 2 of 23
ztnjpv
Established Contributor

Re: Is there a good Citi rewards card?

I PC'd to the Hilton Reserve last year. You get a free room at any Hilton property with $10k spent in a year. That can be worth a few hundred $$ when you use it on a high end brand in a high price area. 

 

I put $10k on it via mostly Amazon payments transfers to my wife. It's very deliberate. I stopped using it when I hit the $10k mark. The anniversary is coming up. Almost time to start using it again....

Start (Sept 2011): low-mid 600s. NOW: TU FICO: 801, EQ FICO 808, EX FICO 798 (PSECU). Goal: Achieved! Now Maintain!
Message 3 of 23
red259
Super Contributor

Re: Is there a good Citi rewards card?


@H4LO wrote:

@bonehead88 wrote:

As you can see I currently have the TYP. Got it for the sign-up bonus and a relationship with Citi, but it hasn't been as useful as I thought with the 2x points on dining/entertainment.

 

This got me thinking - if I were to PC is there anything else that's better? Dividend catches my eye but I've read that the categories aren't anywhere near as good as Freedom or Discover. Citi keeps them hidden so I don't know what they are. Might be better to stick with TYP. Diamond Preferred and Simplicity have no rewards. I don't have a use for AAdvantage since I don't fly often.

 

It seems like they're more of a BT / 0% intro APR bank.


Seeing as the TYP aren't really that great rewards wise... There is no real good card. 


My girlfriend uses this TYP card and it drives me up a wall. 

;
Starting Score: EQ: 714, TU 684
Current Score: EQ: 725 7/30/13, TU 684 6/2013, Exp 828 5/2018, Last App 8/5/17
Goal Score: 800 (Achieved!) In garden until Sepetember 2019
Message 4 of 23
longtimelurker
Epic Contributor

Re: Is there a good Citi rewards card?


@red259 wrote:

@H4LO wrote:

@bonehead88 wrote:

As you can see I currently have the TYP. Got it for the sign-up bonus and a relationship with Citi, but it hasn't been as useful as I thought with the 2x points on dining/entertainment.

 

This got me thinking - if I were to PC is there anything else that's better? Dividend catches my eye but I've read that the categories aren't anywhere near as good as Freedom or Discover. Citi keeps them hidden so I don't know what they are. Might be better to stick with TYP. Diamond Preferred and Simplicity have no rewards. I don't have a use for AAdvantage since I don't fly often.

 

It seems like they're more of a BT / 0% intro APR bank.


Seeing as the TYP aren't really that great rewards wise... There is no real good card. 


My girlfriend uses this TYP card and it drives me up a wall. 


I was surprised to see people using it in its old form, where there wasn't a 2x category!   Very mediocre card.

Message 5 of 23
CreditScholar
Valued Contributor

Re: Is there a good Citi rewards card?


@ztnjpv wrote:

I PC'd to the Hilton Reserve last year. You get a free room at any Hilton property with $10k spent in a year. That can be worth a few hundred $$ when you use it on a high end brand in a high price area. 

 

I put $10k on it via mostly Amazon payments transfers to my wife. It's very deliberate. I stopped using it when I hit the $10k mark. The anniversary is coming up. Almost time to start using it again....


+1. The Hilton Reserve is one of Citi's best products IMO, along with it's AA cards. I have a feeling that they will be releasing new cards once the AA/US merger finishes, but until then I'd look to Hilton or AA. The rest of their rewards cards are quite lackluster for the majority of people out there.

EX 798, EQ 789, TU 784
American Express Platinum (NPSL) || Bank of America Privileges with Travel Rewards Visa Signature - $23,200 CL
Barclays American Airlines Aviator Red World Elite Mastercard - $20,000 CL || Chase IHG Rewards World Mastercard - $25,000 CL
Chase Sapphire Preferred Visa Signature - $12,700 CL || Chase United MileagePlus Club World Elite MasterCard - $26,500 CL
Citibank Hilton Reserve Visa Signature - $20,000 CL || J.P. Morgan Ritz Carlton Visa Signature - $23,500 CL
Message 6 of 23
H4LO
Established Contributor

Re: Is there a good Citi rewards card?


@CreditScholar wrote:

@ztnjpv wrote:

I PC'd to the Hilton Reserve last year. You get a free room at any Hilton property with $10k spent in a year. That can be worth a few hundred $$ when you use it on a high end brand in a high price area. 

 

I put $10k on it via mostly Amazon payments transfers to my wife. It's very deliberate. I stopped using it when I hit the $10k mark. The anniversary is coming up. Almost time to start using it again....


+1. The Hilton Reserve is one of Citi's best products IMO, along with it's AA cards. I have a feeling that they will be releasing new cards once the AA/US merger finishes, but until then I'd look to Hilton or AA. The rest of their rewards cards are quite lackluster for the majority of people out there.


Seeing as how the Hilton points have been devalued as well..... AA are their best cars. 



Total CL - 60K // Util. ~1.6%

772 TU - 6/5 ///// 705 EX - 5/5 ///// 664 EQ - 4/29
Message 7 of 23
CreditScholar
Valued Contributor

Re: Is there a good Citi rewards card?


@H4LO wrote:

@CreditScholar wrote:

@ztnjpv wrote:

I PC'd to the Hilton Reserve last year. You get a free room at any Hilton property with $10k spent in a year. That can be worth a few hundred $$ when you use it on a high end brand in a high price area. 

 

I put $10k on it via mostly Amazon payments transfers to my wife. It's very deliberate. I stopped using it when I hit the $10k mark. The anniversary is coming up. Almost time to start using it again....


+1. The Hilton Reserve is one of Citi's best products IMO, along with it's AA cards. I have a feeling that they will be releasing new cards once the AA/US merger finishes, but until then I'd look to Hilton or AA. The rest of their rewards cards are quite lackluster for the majority of people out there.


Seeing as how the Hilton points have been devalued as well..... AA are their best cars. 


I still see some value in Hilton points, but for standard redemptions it doesn't look so good. International C&P can still regularly get 0.7-0.8cpp, which isn't too bad. Given 3 points per dollar spent, that equates to 2.1-2.4% return.

 

If you spend exactly 10k for the annual night, you'll get 30k points plus the free weekend cert. Assuming a value of $250 for that free night (which is conservative compared to the prices of some of their properties), you're getting a total of $460-490 return on that 10k spend. That's 4.6-4.9%, which is fantastic.

 

Whether or not it's worth spending beyond that initial 10k is another story...

 

 

EX 798, EQ 789, TU 784
American Express Platinum (NPSL) || Bank of America Privileges with Travel Rewards Visa Signature - $23,200 CL
Barclays American Airlines Aviator Red World Elite Mastercard - $20,000 CL || Chase IHG Rewards World Mastercard - $25,000 CL
Chase Sapphire Preferred Visa Signature - $12,700 CL || Chase United MileagePlus Club World Elite MasterCard - $26,500 CL
Citibank Hilton Reserve Visa Signature - $20,000 CL || J.P. Morgan Ritz Carlton Visa Signature - $23,500 CL
Message 8 of 23
clocktick
Valued Contributor

Re: Is there a good Citi rewards card?

This will give you an idea of the Dividend's categories in previous years.  I also have the Diamond Preferred.  They both offer decent BT offers but other than that, not so much.  Once in a while the Diamond Preferred has a category or two for a small amount of time.  I have 6 Citi cards and the best, to me, is the Citi Reserve.

 

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11/30/08 TU 648 EX 672 EQ 656 SEPT 2014 TU 787 EX 789 EQ ???
Amex BCP $24.1K/Clear $8.5- Sallie Mae $27.5 -Cap One QS $7.5 - Chase Freedom $7.5/United $5k/CSP $20k/Ink- Citi DP $9.5/Dividend $13k/HHHx2 $15k/16.4/Reserve $4.5k Best Buy $1940 HD $1701- Discover IT $15k - Elan $8k GEMB Lowes $20k - Macy's $2k - Kohl's $800




Starting Score: 648
Current Score: 736
Goal Score: 765


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Message 9 of 23
red259
Super Contributor

Re: Is there a good Citi rewards card?


@H4LO wrote:

@CreditScholar wrote:

@ztnjpv wrote:

I PC'd to the Hilton Reserve last year. You get a free room at any Hilton property with $10k spent in a year. That can be worth a few hundred $$ when you use it on a high end brand in a high price area. 

 

I put $10k on it via mostly Amazon payments transfers to my wife. It's very deliberate. I stopped using it when I hit the $10k mark. The anniversary is coming up. Almost time to start using it again....


+1. The Hilton Reserve is one of Citi's best products IMO, along with it's AA cards. I have a feeling that they will be releasing new cards once the AA/US merger finishes, but until then I'd look to Hilton or AA. The rest of their rewards cards are quite lackluster for the majority of people out there.


Seeing as how the Hilton points have been devalued as well..... AA are their best cars. 


Not necessarily. The citi hilton card has a great bonus with the two free weekend nights. Granted the Hilton devaluation means long term points earning is not the greatest but you get another free weekend night each year if you have 10k annual spend, although if you are redeeming points for lower cat hilton stays the redemption rate is still fairly decent. Each person's needs are different and I'm sure an AA deval is on the way. 

;
Starting Score: EQ: 714, TU 684
Current Score: EQ: 725 7/30/13, TU 684 6/2013, Exp 828 5/2018, Last App 8/5/17
Goal Score: 800 (Achieved!) In garden until Sepetember 2019
Message 10 of 23
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