The Citi AT&T Access More credit card, jointly issued by Citi and AT&T, was once considered a superstar card because it earned 3x points on online shopping. However, this morning Citi sent an email to all cardholders with the following notice.
The categories eligible to earn 3x ThankYou Points for purchases made with your AT&T Access More card are being updated. Beginning July 22, 2017, you’ll only receive 1 point, not 3x points, for every $1 spent online on the purchase or reloading of gift cards or on rental and real estate payments.
Please note, you’ll still earn 3x points on every $1 spent on purchases made online at eligible retail and travel websites, including department and warehouse websites, online travel agencies and airline websites.
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Changes to 3x Points
According to the terms, starting with purchases made on July 22, spending on gift card purchases, as well as using a credit card to pay rent or a mortgage, will no longer earn 3x ThankYou Points and will instead earn the standard 1x points. Citi is likely referring to purchases such as MileagePlus X and Giftcardmall when it comes to gift cards. As for rent and mortgage payments, this likely refers to Plastiq. Plastiq’s fee is often around 3% (and there are frequent promotions) , so since this card earned 3x points, using it to pay rent was not a bad deal. Once this new policy takes effect, we will likely see more data points on which gift card purchases will not earn 3x points. My view is that gift cards sold directly by most stores will probably still be relatively safe, as long as the transaction posts under the store’s name rather than a specialized gift card seller such as Cashstar.
Pay Your Rent Now!
Since the policy does not take effect for another month, you can still use Plastiq to pay rent now (and if you do not already have an account, you can register through our link). The one thing to keep in mind is that the credit card transaction must be completed before July 22, so we recommend leaving yourself some extra time just to be safe.Keep It or Cancel It?
So, is this card still worth keeping? For many people, if you spend a lot online, there still is not really a better replacement, since cards that earn 3x points on online purchases are basically nonexistent. But if you mainly used this card to pay rent or buy gift cards through MPX, then its future points-earning value is much more questionable. On top of that, the value of ThankYou Points themselves is also declining, since the 1.6 cent/mile redemption for AA tickets will end later this year. Be sure to consider your own situation before deciding what to do.