Question
Just got off the phone with a Citi CSR and I was told that 5% rebates (on gas, grocery, & drug store) card is only available for new applicants. I converted AA MC card to Citi Dividend and was getting only 1% rebate. Gee, why wasn't I told when I requested the convert. (Or did I just got wrong info?)
Answer
I converted a card earlier this year to Dividend Platinum and was getting the 5%. This was in the June/July timeframe. But I later converted that card to the Diamond Preferred Rewards card (5 ThankYou pts/$ for gas/groceries). Unbeknownst to me, the card I received actually only got the bonus 5 TY pts/$ for the first year and would revert to 1 TY pt/$ after that.
I called them up and said the perpetual 5 TY pts/$ offer was on the web page. They said they couldn't switch me over to that offer. So I guess I'll cancel the card after 1 year. And now the offer for new cardmembers is the same one I got (expiration of the bonus offer after 1 year).
So yes, I think Citi is starting to do some shady things with card conversions. Chase now offers a similar 5% back card, so it may be worthwhile to show Citi how unhappy you are with this by walking to their competition.
Answer
I applied for my Dividend card and cancelled my Citi AAdvantage card the same time that I activated the Dividend card. Transferred the balance at that time too.
Answer
I converted a card earlier this year to Dividend Platinum and was getting the 5%. This was in the June/July timeframe. But I later converted that card to the Diamond Preferred Rewards card (5 ThankYou pts/$ for gas/groceries). Unbeknownst to me, the card I received actually only got the bonus 5 TY pts/$ for the first year and would revert to 1 TY pt/$ after that.
I called them up and said the perpetual 5 TY pts/$ offer was on the web page. They said they couldn't switch me over to that offer. So I guess I'll cancel the card after 1 year. And now the offer for new cardmembers is the same one I got (expiration of the bonus offer after 1 year).
So yes, I think Citi is starting to do some shady things with card conversions. Chase now offers a similar 5% back card, so it may be worthwhile to show Citi how unhappy you are with this by walking to their competition.
Thanks, I mean to look into these options for myself. (But is it some kind of scrip or credits one gets, "TY pts/$," are real cash rebates, "5% back." Less interest in the former, very much in the latter.)
NYT (or WSJ?) columnist recently disparaged cards giving miles, saying there was much better value to many cards with actual cash rebates, such as those alluded to here. It may work out better to get $s back and buy those airline tickets, charging them to credit cards, than to earn miles and redeem for awards.
And yes about being wary of the "shady," even with reputable institutions like Citi and Chase. (I referred to "sharp practices" by credit card issuers on the United forum a few days ago and was reproached for thinking that the banks ought not take advantage of us by any means legally permitted them.)
Answer
Thanks, I mean to look into these options for myself. (But is it some kind of scrip or credits one gets, "TY pts/$," are real cash rebates, "5% back." Less interest in the former, very much in the latter.)
NYT (or WSJ?) columnist recently disparaged cards giving miles, saying there was much better value to many cards with actual cash rebates, such as those alluded to here. It may work out better to get $s back and buy those airline tickets, charging them to credit cards, than to earn miles and redeem for awards.
I believe the Chase program gives you 5 pts/$. 5000 points can be redeemed for a $50 check or a $50 GC. I've heard reports that the checks are often "out of stock." YMMV.
Personally I would rather have the 5 ThankYou pts/$ rather than 5% back because at a minimum, a TY point is worth 1 cent (in gift cards). But I find that redeeming TY points for flights is a very good proposition. 25k points for a domestic ticket which earns miles and has fairly generous capacity controls can definitely be worth more than $250.
Answer
I believe the Chase program gives you 5 pts/$. 5000 points can be redeemed for a $50 check or a $50 GC. I've heard reports that the checks are often "out of stock." YMMV.
"Out of stock"?! Chase tells card holders who want their rebates they cannot have them because Chase is out of checks with which to issue them?!?! C'mon, you gotta be kidding. (If that is true and they can get away with it, then lets start telling our creditors that while they are entitled to their money and we would love to give it to them, we are out of checks for the time being.
Personally I would rather have the 5 ThankYou pts/$ rather than 5% back because at a minimum, a TY point is worth 1 cent (in gift cards). But I find that redeeming TY points for flights is a very good proposition. 25k points for a domestic ticket which earns miles and has fairly generous capacity controls can definitely be worth more than $250.
I looked at these offers on the web but didn't get a very clear understanding about what can be done with those TY points. I did see that they could be redeemed at a few specified merchants, like Home Depot, but that option holds no appeal for me. (Why would one take scrip instead of cash? Do these redeeming merchants give stepped-up value for the scrip, e.g., 5 TY points will get $10 of merchandise?)
I would like to know more about redeeming points for travel, though. 1 TY point is like 1 mile for airline award travel? Which airlines? If you can earn 5 TYs for $1 purchase of gas, groceries, etc. and redeem those TYs like miles on a 1-for-1 basis, then great. Details?
Answer
Regarding out of stock checks with Chase, you can see this FatWallet thread here:
http://www.fatwallet.com/t/52/524032/
Though I will say Citibank is not exactly great in this regard either. One redemption offer they have is to get a check as payment towards a student loan. This usually takes about 6 weeks to receive from time of order. Not sure why that long...
You can see the full range of redemption options here:
https://www.thankyouredemptions.com/pdfs/catalog.pdf
Domestic flights are 25k points, Europe is 50k, etc. These flights do earn miles (from everyone's experiences) and, at least on AA, they book into a fairly high fare class (V). The downside is that you can't really choose a specific flight or airline. You can request it, but there's no guarantees. It seems they may try to go for the cheapest flight available. You can redeem TY points for GCs at essentially a 1 TY point = $0.01 in GC value. You can get a check but the redemption rate is pretty poor (half a cent maybe?).
For more details, there are two Citi PremierPass threads floating around here and a thread on Global Impact (the agent Citi uses for flight redemptions--though sadly that thread is a bit bare at the moment).