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I have been reading about how one can combine TY points from various Citi cards. Right now, I have only one card - a Citi Custom Cash. So there is no issue as of now. I have about 22,000 points there and it generally keeps building up by about 2,500 points every month.
As a result of my discussions elsewhere on this forum, I am thinking of getting the following in the coming months.
1. A Citi Rewards+ card - 200K/250K SUB after spending $1,500 (which adds 1,500 points, for a total of 21,500 or 26,500 points).
2. A Citi Premier card - 600K/800K SUB after spending $4,000 (which adds 4,000 points, for a total of 64,000 or 84,000 points).
Let's say I combine all 3 cards into a single TYP account with these point balances :
1. 47,000 points from CC
2. 26,500 points from CR+
3. 84,000 points from CP
Now, will all these points be commingled and I wouldn't even be able to see how many points came from where? Also, what if I PCed the Premier card to a CC after 1 year? What happens to the 84,000 points from the CP card then? And what if I closed the card instead? What happens to the 84,000 points in that case? If the points are going to go away in either case, would I be able to cash out specifically those 84,000 points before I do the PC or account closing?
I look forward to the Gurus' answers to the above questions.
Thank you!
@whirlaway wrote:
I have been reading about how one can combine TY points from various Citi cards. Right now, I have only one card - a Citi Custom Cash. So there is no issue as of now. I have about 22,000 points there and it generally keeps building up by about 2,500 points every month.
As a result of my discussions elsewhere on this forum, I am thinking of getting the following in the coming months.
1. A Citi Rewards+ card - 200K/250K SUB after spending $1,500 (which adds 1,500 points, for a total of 21,500 or 26,500 points).
2. A Citi Premier card - 600K/800K SUB after spending $4,000 (which adds 4,000 points, for a total of 64,000 or 84,000 points).
Let's say I combine all 3 cards into a single TYP account with these point balances :
1. 47,000 points from CC2. 26,500 points from CR+
3. 84,000 points from CP
Now, will all these points be commingled and I wouldn't even be able to see how many points came from where? Also, what if I PCed the Premier card to a CC after 1 year? What happens to the 84,000 points from the CP card then? And what if I closed the card instead? What happens to the 84,000 points in that case? If the points are going to go away in either case, would I be able to cash out specifically those 84,000 points before I do the PC or account closing?
I look forward to the Gurus' answers to the above questions.
Thank you!
I don't know if I can address all of that, sorry. As we have discussed previously, I had/have a DC and CC, then I added the R+. The DC and CC are the same 'type' of card and I was able to combine them easily online years ago. The R+ (and the Premier, I believe) are the same 'type' of card and can't quickly be combined with the DC and CC. And, they only cash out at .5cpp (or 1cpp for gift cards). I had to call to get my R+ combined and get my TYPs pooled with my DC/CC's. But, once combined, I can not only cash out the R+ TYPs at 1cpp (instead of .5), I can cash out all the pooled points at 1cpp and get the 10% multiplier at cash out. This essentially makes the CC and 5.55% CB card and the DC a 2.22% card for the first $1,000 in redeemed points per year (so, an extra $100 max per year). [cash out $100, earn $10. Cash out that $10, earn $1. Cash out that $1, earn 10c ] I don't see any harm in merging the cards but, from my understanding, you can not unmerge them, so keep that in mind. When you merge points, you can still see which card earned which points. If you apply for the card(s), meet the intro bonus requirements, those points are yours in my opinion. But I would perhaps cash them out before closing the card. As I said in the other thread, I am not a traveler and I don't have the Premier but what I have read is that, by having the merged TYPs and holding a Premier, you now have access to using your merged points for travel partners which can be worth more than 1cpp, while still having the benefits of the other cards (5% with CC, 10% multiplier with R+, etc.). This is why some call the CC (or DC) & R+ & Premier a 'citi trifecta'. But, for me, it's the DC, CC, & R+, lol. Good luck!
@ptatohed wrote:
@whirlaway wrote:
I have been reading about how one can combine TY points from various Citi cards. Right now, I have only one card - a Citi Custom Cash. So there is no issue as of now. I have about 22,000 points there and it generally keeps building up by about 2,500 points every month.
As a result of my discussions elsewhere on this forum, I am thinking of getting the following in the coming months.
1. A Citi Rewards+ card - 200K/250K SUB after spending $1,500 (which adds 1,500 points, for a total of 21,500 or 26,500 points).
2. A Citi Premier card - 600K/800K SUB after spending $4,000 (which adds 4,000 points, for a total of 64,000 or 84,000 points).
Let's say I combine all 3 cards into a single TYP account with these point balances :
1. 47,000 points from CC2. 26,500 points from CR+
3. 84,000 points from CP
Now, will all these points be commingled and I wouldn't even be able to see how many points came from where? Also, what if I PCed the Premier card to a CC after 1 year? What happens to the 84,000 points from the CP card then? And what if I closed the card instead? What happens to the 84,000 points in that case? If the points are going to go away in either case, would I be able to cash out specifically those 84,000 points before I do the PC or account closing?
I look forward to the Gurus' answers to the above questions.
Thank you!
I don't know if I can address all of that, sorry. As we have discussed previously, I had/have a DC and CC, then I added the R+. The DC and CC are the same 'type' of card and I was able to combine them easily online years ago. The R+ (and the Premier, I believe) are the same 'type' of card and can't quickly be combined with the DC and CC. And, they only cash out at .5cpp (or 1cpp for gift cards). I had to call to get my R+ combined and get my TYPs pooled with my DC/CC's. But, once combined, I can not only cash out the R+ TYPs at 1cpp (instead of .5), I can cash out all the pooled points at 1cpp and get the 10% multiplier at cash out. This essentially makes the CC and 5.55% CB card and the DC a 2.22% card for the first $1,000 in redeemed points per year (so, an extra $100 max per year). [cash out $100, earn $10. Cash out that $10, earn $1. Cash out that $1, earn 10c
] I don't see any harm in merging the cards but, from my understanding, you can not unmerge them, so keep that in mind. When you merge points, you can still see which card earned which points. If you apply for the card(s), meet the intro bonus requirements, those points are yours in my opinion. But I would perhaps cash them out before closing the card. As I said in the other thread, I am not a traveler and I don't have the Premier but what I have read is that, by having the merged TYPs and holding a Premier, you now have access to using your merged points for travel partners which can be worth more than 1cpp, while still having the benefits of the other cards (5% with CC, 10% multiplier with R+, etc.). This is why some call the CC (or DC) & R+ & Premier a 'citi trifecta'. But, for me, it's the DC, CC, & R+, lol. Good luck!
Thanks! I didn't know that some of the combining operations are straightforward but some others need customer service rep to do it. I'll know it when I try to combin R+ with my CC. I hope it is not too much of a hassle.
Consolidating TYP accounts isn't hard but you will want to confirm which card was the one that the 1 remaining TYP account was originally opened up against, so you can guard against the exact senario you're concerned about.
As an example I consolidated all of mine (I have 4 x TYP-earners) down to the account originally opened against my Premier If/when I ever decide to close that card I'll be able to reach out to Citi ahead of time and take whatever steps that are needed have been executed before I close the card.
@coldfusion wrote:Consolidating TYP accounts isn't hard but you will want to confirm which card was the one that the 1 remaining TYP account was originally opened up against, so you can guard against the exact senario you're concerned about.
As an example I consolidated all of mine (I have 4 x TYP-earners) down to the account originally opened against my Premier If/when I ever decide to close that card I'll be able to reach out to Citi ahead of time and take whatever steps that are needed have been executed before I close the card.
Thanks. In my case, the only card I have now is a CC (which is about 19 years old - used to be Citi TY Preferred until a PC 2 years ago). To this, I want to add a Citi R+ and Citi Premier (likely in that order). I would combine all 3 into a single TYP account. A year later, I would PC the Premier to a CC again i.e., CC #2.
If needed, I can just have the CC and R+ in the combined account, and let the Premier be on its own. And after I PC the Premier to CC #2, I could combine the CC #2 into the combined account. I am not sure if this would be needed or if there would be any advantages or disadvantages with this approach.
Thanks!