Should I PC to Citi DC or?

[Anonymous]

I need some opinions here.

I currently have the Citi ThankYou Preferred Card. It is seeing little to no spend right now, as I hate the 0.8cpp redemption for cashback, the 2500 point minimum redemption (for $20 cash back), and that its points expire (granted, after 3 years they expire, but SERIOUSLY?! It's my only card with expiring points). To say the least, I find the rewards abysmal compared to the new cards I've added recently (I mostly spend on dining).

I've wanted the Citi Double Cash card for a long time. I also know it has a current $100 sign up bonus. I have no intentions to apply for cards for at least another 6 months. Question is, what should I do with my current card:

(1) Product change the TYP to DC, lose the SUB

(2) Sockdrawer the TYP, apply for DC in 6 months, get SUB

(3) Product change the TYP to something else, apply for DC in 6 months

I want the DC and its sign up bonus, but I also don't want a permanently sock-drawered card...seems like a waste to give up $100 SUB just to not sockdrawer a card though (by PCing the TYP to DC).

Any suggestions? Thanks!

[kdm31091]

---

@Anonymous wrote:

I need some opinions here.

I currently have the Citi ThankYou Preferred Card. It is seeing little to no spend right now, as I hate the 0.8cpp redemption for cashback, the 2500 point minimum redemption (for $20 cash back), and that its points expire (granted, after 3 years they expire, but SERIOUSLY?! It's my only card with expiring points). To say the least, I find the rewards abysmal compared to the new cards I've added recently (I mostly spend on dining).

I've wanted the Citi Double Cash card for a long time. I also know it has a current $100 sign up bonus. I have no intentions to apply for cards for at least another 6 months. Question is, what should I do with my current card:

(1) Product change the TYP to DC, lose the SUB

(2) Sockdrawer the TYP, apply for DC in 6 months, get SUB

(3) Product change the TYP to something else, apply for DC in 6 months

I want the DC and its sign up bonus, but I also don't want a permanently sock-drawered card...seems like a waste to give up $100 SUB just to not sockdrawer a card though (by PCing the TYP to DC).

Any suggestions? Thanks!

---

Is the points expiration a new thing? Last I heard, Thankyou points don't expire. If you redeem for gift cards (if they have any merchants you spend at anyway), those are 1 cent per point, full value. If you get a gift card to a place you'd eventually spend 25 bucks at anyway, it's as good as cash (IMO).

Regardless, it's not necessarily the best card out there. Since you already have it and don't use it, why apply for another new card to replace it? $100 is a nice bonus but not going to make or break anything. I would just PC your TYP to the DC and be done with it. Then you won't be stuck with any useless accounts.

[Matt9543]

I just applied and got the ThankYou Preferred card. Last time I checked in the Terms & Conditions pamphlet they sent me, it says that the rewards never expire. I just got approved last week and haven't received the card yet, but I guess a question for you from me would be do you see the value of the ThankYou points being very slim? My main reason I applied was to get a card other than Discover I could use at places Discover wasn't accepted.

[wasCB14]

Any interest in Dividend? 5% rotating categories, but the categories can be mediocre.

Costco (if you'd otherwise be a member)?

$100 isn't that big a bonus to miss out on via PCing to DC.

I find it better to app for something with a big bonus and then maybe in the future to PC to a low-bonus no-AF card. AA Platinum gave me 50k miles and I PCed it after a year to Costco. Prestige gave me 50k TYs (but there's no bonus these days) and I PCed to Double Cash after two years and a few retention offers.

Before you app for a Double Cash, consider applying for an AA card and converting either the TY Preferred or (in mid 2019) that AA card to a Double Cash.

[UpperNwGuy]

I vote for doing a product change now to the Double Cash.

[Anonymous]

---

@Anonymous wrote:

I need some opinions here.

I currently have the Citi ThankYou Preferred Card. It is seeing little to no spend right now, as I hate the 0.8cpp redemption for cashback, the 2500 point minimum redemption (for $20 cash back), and that its points expire (granted, after 3 years they expire, but SERIOUSLY?! It's my only card with expiring points). To say the least, I find the rewards abysmal compared to the new cards I've added recently (I mostly spend on dining).

I've wanted the Citi Double Cash card for a long time. I also know it has a current $100 sign up bonus. I have no intentions to apply for cards for at least another 6 months. Question is, what should I do with my current card:

(1) Product change the TYP to DC, lose the SUB

(2) Sockdrawer the TYP, apply for DC in 6 months, get SUB

(3) Product change the TYP to something else, apply for DC in 6 months

I want the DC and its sign up bonus, but I also don't want a permanently sock-drawered card...seems like a waste to give up $100 SUB just to not sockdrawer a card though (by PCing the TYP to DC).

Any suggestions? Thanks!

---

Certainly understand your frustration on the redemption of Citi "Thank You" points for less that at least a 1:1 value when today's world sees 2% plus cash redemption as more of the norm than not! Turned my Citi Card with "Thank You" points into a card that gave me better opportunities for cash. As we read on this forum many travelers leverage rewards points well utilizing many tools available related to travel and well exceed the 2% plus on cash. As a very small traveler today, I look for max on cash back

[Anonymous]

Thank you all for the responses! As far as expiring points go, I have always read on other websites that they expire in 3 years, as this Oct. 2015 quote says from NerdWallet:

Fine print:
Unless otherwise stated in your benefits statement, ThankYou® Points expire three years from the end of the year you earned them.

Regardless, I think from all these posts, compared to my other cards, I already receive more than 2% at restaurants & "entertainment", and I dislike the redemption system (Discover, UBER, and Cap1 have spoiled me  ). The TYP has gotta go!

How does this sound, taking suggestions from your guys' responses?

(1) Immediately PC to the DC, forgo the SUB, but get a useful card.

(2) In ~6 months, get the Citi AA Platinum to churn for 50,000-60,000 points and make myself feel better for missing the $100 SUB. Then convert to a Citi Dividend a year later.

Thanks again!

[wasCB14]

---

@Anonymous wrote:
How does this sound, taking suggestions from your guys' responses?

(1) Immediately PC to the DC, forgo the SUB, but get a useful card.

(2) In ~6 months, get the Citi AA Platinum to churn for 50,000-60,000 points and make myself feel better for missing the $100 SUB. Then convert to a Citi Dividend a year later.

Thanks again!

---

I see in your signature you have opened three cards this month. Waiting a few months will improve your odds.

I should say the future of Dividend is not clear. It may or may not be around in 18 months. Still, though, you will have a DC now and maybe some other no-AF card will interest you in late 2019/early 2020.

Looks good to me.

[kdm31091]

It seems kind of unlikely the Dividend would still be around for PCs in another 18 months from now. It has been dead for new applications for years now. That said, it's Citi; who knows?

[UncleB]

Something else that might be of concern regarding a PC do a Dividend, unless I'm mistaken there's a $50 minimum for rewards redemptions.

That might not matter to some, but it might to others.