topic Re: Citi Forward rewards question: in Credit Cards

Citi Forward rewards question:

ztnjpv — Tue, 18 Dec 2012 15:07:54 GMT

I am currently eligible to convert my citi diamond preferred into any citi card. I am taking a good look at the Citi Forward vs. a thank you card. I see on the website that you can create a unique reward. It says:

"It's called Your Wish Fulfilled and if you can dream it, we will try to make it happen. If you can't find the right reward, let us know and we'll come up with a unique one just for you"

Sounds interesting. How does this work? Anyone have any luck getting something useful with this feature? Examples?

Re: Citi Forward rewards question:

flowfaster — Tue, 18 Dec 2012 15:55:54 GMT

It's probably an ipod nano for 790,000 points.

Re: Citi Forward rewards question:

jsickz32 — Tue, 18 Dec 2012 16:00:34 GMT

Lol. I have the forward and its not that great...

Re: Citi Forward rewards question:

Duncanrr — Tue, 18 Dec 2012 16:04:13 GMT

@jsickz32 wrote:
Lol. I have the forward and its not that great...

I plan on apping for it in June. The rewards on eating out are nice and I plan on using it for extra payments to student loans which have a pretty good rate of return.

Re: Citi Forward rewards question:

ztnjpv — Tue, 18 Dec 2012 16:12:26 GMT

Duncanrr,

Is that student loan thing only the college student version of the card? How does that work anyway? How many points per dollar? How do you set up payments to a student loan? Does it matter who holds the loan?

Re: Citi Forward rewards question:

Duncanrr — Tue, 18 Dec 2012 16:23:07 GMT

@ztnjpv wrote:
Duncanrr,

Is that student loan thing only the college student version of the card? How does that work anyway? How many points per dollar? How do you set up payments to a student loan? Does it matter who holds the loan?

Its both versions of the card. I believe you can setup savings account or pay to a qualified student loan. (I have Sallie Mae and I know they are eligible. I havent checked others). You get 5 points per dollar spent and the exchange rate is 1:1 I think for them (the point programs have a low rate of exchange on most categories.) My understanding is that the points can be transfered over to your SL account for payments.

Not sure of the exact mechanics as I havent gotten the card yet.

Re: Citi Forward rewards question:

jsickz32 — Tue, 18 Dec 2012 16:34:54 GMT

Oh yeah you rack up points fast. I eat out every day so thats breakfast, lunch and dinner evryday. Im very close to 10k points again but i havent been using this card much lately.

Re: Citi Forward rewards question:

flowfaster — Tue, 18 Dec 2012 16:47:27 GMT

I have heard even if you don't have a student loan they will send a check to your bank of choice..... shhh

Re: Citi Forward rewards question:

ztnjpv — Tue, 18 Dec 2012 17:25:15 GMT

Well, It's in motion. I am converting from a Diamond Preferred to a Citi Forward. Granted, I am not overly THRILLED with this simply because I find Citi's cards rather unimpressive from a rewards standpoint. But at least, I'll have a card that may be useful once in a while as opposed to a card that sits in my sock drawer collecting dust.

I guess the clincher for me was simply the restaurants at 5 points. I currently have restaurants as one of my 5% categories (along with the glorious BILL PAY) on my US Bank Cash + card. By having the Forward, I can switch that 5% choice from restaurants to something else useful that I currently don't have at a premium cash back rate...probably department stores. And having the forward at 5 points for electronics makes in-store Best Buy visits a no-brainer as to which card to use. And besides, the US Bank Cash + separates normal restaurants from fast food and cafes. Two different categories. Now, they'll be one.

Some unclear points however, if anyone knows the answers:

The Forward gets 5 points for bookstores, music stores and electronics stores. Does that hold up online as well? I'm particularly curious about Amazon. My Spark Biz Visa lists Amazon (and Amzn marketplace) as a bookstore on my statement. Does that mean you get 5 points at Amazon.com? That would be great. And what about iTunes? The Citi CSR says it shows up as "record store". Any experience to share here? Thanks!

Re: Citi Forward rewards question:

distantarray — Tue, 18 Dec 2012 19:43:44 GMT

@ztnjpv wrote:
forward at 5 points for electronics makes in-store Best Buy visits a no-brainer as to which card to use.

was Electronics always a Citi Forward category? I thought it was movies, bookstores, music, dining.

Re: Citi Forward rewards question:

ztnjpv — Tue, 18 Dec 2012 19:57:16 GMT

Oh? Yeah. That's right. My bad. Scratch that.

Re: Citi Forward rewards question:

FutureBillionaire — Tue, 18 Dec 2012 21:41:44 GMT

Amazon counts as a bookstore. I'm not sure how folks could not like this card. It is perfect for folks that eat out and subscribe to music and movie services.

Re: Citi Forward rewards question:

Anonymous — Tue, 18 Dec 2012 23:17:37 GMT

@FutureBillionaire wrote:
Amazon counts as a bookstore. I'm not sure how folks could not like this card. It is perfect for folks that eat out and subscribe to music and movie services.

A lot of the negative stuff you will find on the web is to do with the changes Citi makes to TYP redemption values. Over the years, they change value from time to time, and if you have a lot and they get devalued, well, naturally you have to post a gripe! And of course the Forward has the lowest redemption rate of the TY cards, adding to the pain.

Not saying it is bad, explaining why some don't like it (or rather TYP and CIti).

Re: Citi Forward rewards question:

flowfaster — Tue, 18 Dec 2012 23:22:44 GMT

Once or twice a year they will have a sale on Amazon gift cards. Just wait for that or use them for travel.

Re: Citi Forward rewards question:

nickn86 — Tue, 18 Dec 2012 23:26:23 GMT

Citi Forward gets a full 5% in booking flights. This is really what the rewards should be used for if you ever fly at all and are not using it for student loans/mortgage.

If you get a ThankYou family card as well you can bring the redemption rate for all gift cards up to 1:1, but the statement credit and direct deposit options are still weak. Travel also goes up to 1.25:1 if you get the ThankYou Premier.

EDIT: I think a lot of people complain about this card because of the TYP system, which is legitimate. But keep in mind you are getting 5 PTS per dollar, so even with the weaker redemption value on gift cards (which can be cured by getting another Thank You card) you are still getting 4% back on purchases from Amazon and all restaurants. Few cards offer such generous rewards.

Re: Citi Forward rewards question:

FutureBillionaire — Tue, 18 Dec 2012 23:33:39 GMT

I tend to only fly southwest. I recently redeemed 10k points for a $100 Macy's gift card. If I had another TY card, how many points would it take to get the 100 reward?

Re: Citi Forward rewards question:

Anonymous — Tue, 18 Dec 2012 23:40:00 GMT

@FutureBillionaire wrote:
I tend to only fly southwest. I recently redeemed 10k points for a $100 Macy's gift card. If I had another TY card, how many points would it take to get the 100 reward?

Well, you got one-to-one, which could be because you had a special offer on your Forward card, or there was a gift card special. I have seen posts by people with Forward cards who always get one-to-one, but this isn't the usual case.

Re: Citi Forward rewards question:

FutureBillionaire — Wed, 19 Dec 2012 00:14:48 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@FutureBillionaire wrote:
I tend to only fly southwest. I recently redeemed 10k points for a $100 Macy's gift card. If I had another TY card, how many points would it take to get the 100 reward?
Well, you got one-to-one, which could be because you had a special offer on your Forward card, or there was a gift card special. I have seen posts by people with Forward cards who always get one-to-one, but this isn't the usual case.

Hmm. It seemed as if my options were 1 to 1. I will keep my eye out for the Amazon special that was reference earlier.

Re: Citi Forward rewards question:

nickn86 — Wed, 19 Dec 2012 00:32:24 GMT

Macy's 100 card is one of the few cards that gets 1:1 value for me with just the Forward. I'm not sure that one would change.

If you want to see what the best redemption rates are, go to thankyou.com on a different browser (one you haven't logged-in with before) and browse the reward rates without logging in.

Re: Citi Forward rewards question:

FutureBillionaire — Wed, 19 Dec 2012 00:53:42 GMT

Looks like restaurants and certain department stores get the best redemption rates. It's worth it to me to keep this card in full rotations.