Is this a good offer for Citi Thankyou points?

[FlaDude]

I haven't used CITI TY points much, but it appears the points are worth about a penny, so $125 for $2k spend. 

Based on my math, this works out to be 6.25 cents per dollar spent, which seems like a good return. Any gotchas I'm not thinking of or other thoughts?

[K-in-Boston]

No gotchas other than a fairly short period to complete the spending.  Nice that it's not category-specific as TYP offers usually are.  FWIW the points can be much more valuable if you have Citi Premier or Prestige and they go to a combined TYP account.

[Citylights18]

If you don't have the Sears mastercard already 12,500 points is not that much to chase.

I wouldn't app for it either as they are closing their stores. For that matter, I wouldn't app for anything unless it also comes with strategic value (helping you pay down debt or enhancing point earning rates).

[K-in-Boston]

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@Citylights18 wrote:

If you don't have the Sears mastercard already 12,500 points is not that much to chase.

I wouldn't app for it either as they are closing their stores. For that matter, I wouldn't app for anything unless it also comes with strategic value (helping you pay down debt or enhancing point earning rates).

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That is a targeted offer that is not available to all cardholders, and definitely not to new applicants.  New applicants are eligible for a $40 statement credit when spending $50 or more, an astonishing 80% cash back... on the first $50.

[coldfusion]

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@Citylights18 wrote:

If you don't have the Sears mastercard already 12,500 points is not that much to chase.

I wouldn't app for it either as they are closing their stores. For that matter, I wouldn't app for anything unless it also comes with strategic value (helping you pay down debt or enhancing point earning rates).

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Moot point.  Citi stopped allowing PCs to the TYP-earning Sears Mastercard just about a year ago.

Even if OP has no intent on trying to go for the bonus he should still sign up for it as that tends to lead to followon offers as well, some of them are quite lucrative (I'll collect another 360 TYP + 9,000 bonus TYP on $360 spend for utilities again this month)

[K-in-Boston]

Ooh good point, I forgot the current version of the card no longer earns TYPs.

[Citylights18]

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@coldfusion wrote:

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@Citylights18 wrote:

If you don't have the Sears mastercard already 12,500 points is not that much to chase.

I wouldn't app for it either as they are closing their stores. For that matter, I wouldn't app for anything unless it also comes with strategic value (helping you pay down debt or enhancing point earning rates).

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Moot point.  Citi stopped allowing PCs to the TYP-earning Sears Mastercard just about a year ago.

Even if OP has no intent on trying to go for the bonus he should still sign up for it as that tends to lead to followon offers as well, some of them are quite lucrative (I'll collect another 360 TYP + 9,000 bonus TYP on $360 spend for utilities again this month)

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I don't chase a spending bonus unless I already have the intent to buy something online. Then I look to see what bonuses I have available.

It can be tempting though. I've been tempted to take up a couple of nights of Hyatt to help push up my status. But I'm better off not spending the money in the first place.

[coldfusion]

For many people it's not hard to spend $2K organically over a 60 day window especially since the timeframe covers most of the Christmas shopping season.

Given that the yield is up to 7.25% (2,000 earned + 12,500 bonus TYP for $2K spend) it may worthwhile for the OP to meet the spend requirement.   My classic redemption example is 2500 TYP yields a $25 Home Depot gift card, not every exchange yields a 1 TYP = $0.01 rate but a number of them do. 

[FlaDude]

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@K-in-Boston wrote:

No gotchas other than a fairly short period to complete the spending.  Nice that it's not category-specific as TYP offers usually are.  FWIW the points can be much more valuable if you have Citi Premier or Prestige and they go to a combined TYP account.

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No, I don't have either of those, but it still seems like there are a lot of 1cpp redemption options.

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@Citylights18 wrote:

If you don't have the Sears mastercard already 12,500 points is not that much to chase.

I wouldn't app for it either as they are closing their stores. For that matter, I wouldn't app for anything unless it also comes with strategic value (helping you pay down debt or enhancing point earning rates).

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This is my wife's card, she's had it for 35 years already, so no new app.

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@coldfusion wrote:

For many people it's not hard to spend $2K organically over a 60 day window especially since the timeframe covers most of the Christmas shopping season.

Given that the yield is up to 7.25% (2,000 earned + 12,500 bonus TYP for $2K spend) it may worthwhile for the OP to meet the spend requirement.   My classic redemption example is 2500 TYP yields a $25 Home Depot gift card, not every exchange yields a 1 TYP = $0.01 rate but a number of them do. 

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Even though I still need to spend $1k to finish the SUB spend for another card I just got, I don't think $2k should be hard, even if I limit it to things that aren't bonuses for other cards. I'll certainly keep Amazon and Lowes spend on their respective cards since they are 5%. Between Christmas and daughter buying and moving into a new house ("housewarming gifts"), $2k should be easy even without groceries or other categories that are bonus on other cards.

[FlaDude]

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@coldfusion wrote:

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Even if OP has no intent on trying to go for the bonus he should still sign up for it as that tends to lead to followon offers as well, some of them are quite lucrative (I'll collect another 360 TYP + 9,000 bonus TYP on $360 spend for utilities again this month)

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I haven't been paying as much attention to these emails because they are on my wife's card, but I do get cc'ed on them. I just checked and see that they had one (expired now) in August for 7,500 points on $750 spend, another that I missed on utilities (probably the one you are doing), and this one here that is good until 12/31:

I'll be watching these emails more closely going forward.