Citi Premier Thank You Points

[marcforza1]

I took a look at the updated points that Citi will be doing for the Premier Thank You card this month and it's looking quite interesting. It does cover most the categories that I do most of my spending on. I do have a few questions about the Thank You points to those who has or use to have the card since I'm not too familier with them. 

1. Can the points be transferred to any airlines and hotels? I saw an article about the points being transferrable to Hilton Honors but the article was a few years old. 

2. I think the points are $0.01 per point but I may be wrong. Is this still the case?

3. I know that lenders tighening up on lending at the moment, but what typical scores other than your normal, "payment on time, no derogs and low util" credit profile do they look at for approval? 

4. What are you likes/dislikes about the card. 

It'll be some time before I app for a new main card since I had my eyes set on the Hilton Honors for awhile now and waiting to be comfortably above 700 soon. But I want to get a feel on what people like and don't like about the Premier card so I can be prepared when the time for me to decide. 

[kdm31091]

I think given the $95 fee, and the 1 cent per point value (unless you transfer to partners), it could be a hard sell for 3% back on categories. That said, if you can maximize Thank You points, it could definitely be a good contender.  As far as I know, they have no hotel partners anymore, only some airlines, and no direct transfers to any domestic ones. So it really depends on how much work you want to do maximizing the value. At 1 cent per point I'm not convinced it's worth the $95 for everyone. At more than 1 cent, it could make more sense.

The $95 can be offset with a $100 purchase on the Thank You travel portal, I believe, so if you can utilize that, it would change the math too.

[wasCB14]

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@kdm31091 wrote:

I think given the $95 fee, and the 1 cent per point value (unless you transfer to partners), it could be a hard sell for 3% back on categories. That said, if you can maximize Thank You points, it could definitely be a good contender.  As far as I know, they have no hotel partners anymore, only some airlines, and no direct transfers to any domestic ones. So it really depends on how much work you want to do maximizing the value. At 1 cent per point I'm not convinced it's worth the $95 for everyone. At more than 1 cent, it could make more sense.

The $95 can be offset with a $100 purchase on the Thank You travel portal, I believe, so if you can utilize that, it would change the math too.

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They do have JetBlue transfers.

Hilton transfers rarely made any sense when points are so cheap to purchase.

I had Prestige for two years. I might get a Premier or Prestige again sometime but mostly just for SUB chasing. The value for me is with Amex.

[K-in-Boston]

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@marcforza1 wrote:

1. Can the points be transferred to any airlines and hotels? I saw an article about the points being transferrable to Hilton Honors but the article was a few years old. 

2. I think the points are $0.01 per point but I may be wrong. Is this still the case?

3. I know that lenders tighening up on lending at the moment, but what typical scores other than your normal, "payment on time, no derogs and low util" credit profile do they look at for approval? 

4. What are you likes/dislikes about the card. 

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1. Aeromexico Premier Points, Asia Miles, Avianca LifeMiles, Emirates Skywards, Etihad Guest Miles, EVA Air, Flying Blue (Air France, KLM), JetBlue TrueBlue, JetPrivilege, Malaysia Airlines Enrich, Qantas Points, Qatar Privilege Club, Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer, Thai Royal Orchid Plus, Turkish Airlines Miles & Smiles,  and Virgin Atlantic Flying Club are all air partners.  JetBlue is the sole domestic airline you can transfer directly to, but since all airline transfers are 1:1 with Citi, that can be better for a JetBlue flyer since Amex is not 1:1 to TrueBlue. 

Virgin Atlantic can be great for business and first class direct flights, not only on Virgin but also Delta.  Flying Blue can be all over the map (depending on the day and date, it may cost more in points to take a 1 hour flight from Boston to New York in economy than to fly that same flight in business class and to continue onward to Israel in business class and back; it can be quite quirky) but there are some great deals to be had when booking partners with Air France or KLM, and sometimes on AF or KLM themselves.  There are no hotel transfer partners; Hilton is usually a bad transfer partner for any points program.  Points can also be transfered to Sears Shop Your Way at a 1:12 ratio, the sole non-airline partner.

2. Completely depends on what you are using them for.  Fly direct from the US to London in Upper Class on Virgin or in DeltaOne on Delta (using VS miles) and you might be able to get 8-10 cents per point.  Book through Citi's travel portal and they're 1.25 cents until April.  Any other redemptions will be 1 cent or less.

3. Citi looks for the usual criteria for approval on this card.  Those with a fair amount of recent credit seeking have been sadly disappointed with the starting lines (myself included).

4. Most of my likes about the card are going away soon, or will not apply to you when you get it.  With the changes in earning structure and travel portal no longer having a 25% bonus (which I stack with the 10% rebate from Rewards+), myself and others are already exploring product change options.  SP CLIs have been consistent every 6 months, though.  Dislikes would be the not quite generous credit line, new earning structure, and getting rid of the travel portal bonus.  I will say that for those without a wallet-full of credit cards already earning good rewards on the updated categories of the Premier, it is likely an excellent card.

[K-in-Boston]

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@kdm31091 wrote:

The $95 can be offset with a $100 purchase on the Thank You travel portal, I believe, so if you can utilize that, it would change the math too.

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That starts later this month.  Once-per-year $100 credit for booking a $500+ pre-tax/fees single stay at a hotel through thankyou.com  Unfortunately for many of those of us with elite status, our loss in points on such a stay for booking through an OTA would outweigh the dollar amount of the credit, not to mention loss of status recognition and benefits 99% of the time.

[marcforza1]

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@kdm31091 wrote:

I think given the $95 fee, and the 1 cent per point value (unless you transfer to partners), it could be a hard sell for 3% back on categories. That said, if you can maximize Thank You points, it could definitely be a good contender.  As far as I know, they have no hotel partners anymore, only some airlines, and no direct transfers to any domestic ones. So it really depends on how much work you want to do maximizing the value. At 1 cent per point I'm not convinced it's worth the $95 for everyone. At more than 1 cent, it could make more sense.

The $95 can be offset with a $100 purchase on the Thank You travel portal, I believe, so if you can utilize that, it would change the math too.

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The way I calcuated my spending in each category, I estimated it to be somewhere around 10000 to 12000 points. But since I may end up doing more traveling next year, it may be higher. 

[wasCB14]

OP, your signature shows a few Chase cards. Are you eligible for a CSP or CSR SUB?

[Loquat]

I have the Premier and it's a pretty solid card and if you can take advantage Citi's transfer partners. I know it's been mentioned that they don't have any domestic partners with the exception of JetBlue but I would make the argument that even if they did, it's hardly worthwhile (with the exception of Delta) to transfer directly to a domestic carrier anyway. One can often get the same product for less points/miles by utilizing a transfer partner.

While Citi doesn't have any direct transfer they do have access to OneWorld, SkyTeam, Star Alliance, and Turkish if Hawaii means anything to you.

You can get most of their bonus categories without paying an annual fee with the exception of maybe the 3x on grocery. If memory serves me right the best of their categories can be had for $0 AF via something like the Wells Fargo Propel.

For what it's worth, the $95 fee doesn't make any more or less sense for someone who pays the same $95 for the Amex EveryDay Preferred that doesn't cover nearly as many categories as the Premier and the grocery cap on the EDP is $6k/year.

Amex just gets a pass even when their product is lacking due to the perceived prestige behind their name (i.e. Amex Platinum).

In my opinion the Citi Premier in its current fashion is better than its direct competitors (EveryDay Preferred/Sapphire Preferred) for the same cost. Yes the CSP has the 25% bonus but let's face it, if Chase was to lose Hyatt then they really don't have anything going for them on the CSP other than the travel protection. All of their other offerings can be had elsewhere.

Southwest and United are direct transfer partners of Chase but rarely is it ever a good idea to transfer to utilize them. Southwest points are so close to 1cpp in value that you'd probably be better off using the Citi portal and at least you've gain some tractions as it'd be considered a revenue flight versus and award.

Citi has access to Avianca and other Star Alliance partners so booking on United can be done elsewhere and usually with less points.

One other plus to the Citi Premier is if one is to entertain another Citi card down the line like the no AF Rewards+ one can get 10% rebate on up to 100k ThankYou points redeemed each calendar year.

On the surface the Premier may not seem like it has much to offer but if one is to dig in a little and learn their program, portal, and how to use transfer partners in general, the TYP ecosystem. And it's a World Elite Mastercard if that means anything to you.

[wasCB14]

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@Loquat wrote:

I have the Premier and it's a pretty solid card and if you can take advantage Citi's transfer partners. I know it's been mentioned that they don't have any domestic partners with the exception of JetBlue but I would make the argument that even if they did, it's hardly worthwhile (with the exception of Delta) to transfer directly to a domestic carrier anyway. One can often get the same product for less points/miles by utilizing a transfer partner.

While Citi doesn't have any direct transfer they do have access to OneWorld, SkyTeam, Star Alliance, and Turkish if Hawaii means anything to you.

You can get most of their bonus categories without paying an annual fee with the exception of maybe the 3x on grocery. If memory serves me right the best of their categories can be had for $0 AF via something like the Wells Fargo Propel.

For what it's worth, the $95 fee doesn't make any more or less sense for someone who pays the same $95 for the Amex EveryDay Preferred that doesn't cover nearly as many categories as the Premier and the grocery cap on the EDP is $6k/year.

Amex just gets a pass even when their product is lacking due to the perceived prestige behind their name (i.e. Amex Platinum).

In my opinion the Citi Premier in its current fashion is better than its direct competitors (EveryDay Preferred/Sapphire Preferred) for the same cost. Yes the CSP has the 25% bonus but let's face it, if Chase was to lose Hyatt then they really don't have anything going for them on the CSP other than the travel protection. All of their other offerings can be had elsewhere.

Southwest and United are direct transfer partners of Chase but rarely is it ever a good idea to transfer to utilize them. Southwest points are so close to 1cpp in value that you'd probably be better off using the Citi portal and at least you've gain some tractions as it'd be considered a revenue flight versus and award.

Citi has access to Avianca and other Star Alliance partners so booking on United can be done elsewhere and usually with less points.

One other plus to the Citi Premier is if one is to entertain another Citi card down the line like the no AF Rewards+ one can get 10% rebate on up to 100k ThankYou points redeemed each calendar year.

On the surface the Premier may not seem like it has much to offer but if one is to dig in a little and learn their program, portal, and how to use transfer partners in general, the TYP ecosystem. And it's a World Elite Mastercard if that means anything to you.

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EDP could use an overhaul, compared to a BBP+Gold combo. I don't plan to keep mine past a year. OTOH, it is nice that Amex offers re-upgrade bonuses.

I wouldn't call Platinum lacking. But then again my travels (when they resume) take me by SkyClub/Centurion/Escape lounges, and I have limited hotel/rideshare spend. I'll take perks over a broad travel category. I also get 3.5% cash on that with BofA PR on other travel/dining with an easily offset AF. *Misunderstood at first. I agree with you.*

Amex Green seems the more relevant comparison as a no-FTF travel/dining card, though it is $150.

I've not looked at TY promotions for a while. Are their transfer bonuses as good as those of Amex? Last I checked Chase was far behind on those.

I've had some awful experiences with Citi's CS, though.

[marcforza1]

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@wasCB14 wrote:

OP, your signature shows a few Chase cards. Are you eligible for a CSP or CSR SUB?

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I looked at the CSP a year ago but a Chase rep that I friends with told me that it's a good card if you travel a ton and use it as your primary. In my case I travel to hotels about 4 times a year (5-6 nights on a trip to Vegas or Reno and 1-2 nights on the other three trips), so it could be a bit difficult if the 1x covers everything else including gas, groceries and online orders. Adding Rakuden to the mix was thought as well. Main reason for using the points are for the hotel stays, even if covers at least one or two free nights that I don't have to worry about paying. Other cards I've looked at were the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless (free night every year sounds really good) and Amex Hilton Honors (easier to get, better shot at the SUB and I like their hotels).