Citi ThankYou Points (TYP) Card Family Guide

About the ThankYou Points card family

Citi’s lineup is similar to Chase’s, and the product structure is fairly clear. There are several cards that earn ThankYou Points (TYP). No-annual-fee cards cannot transfer TYP to airline miles or hotel points, while cards with annual fees can. You can also redeem TYP at a value of 1.25c/p. In terms of earning speed, the TYP card family is still very strong, and the spending categories on the different cards can complement each other.

• No annual fee: ThankYou Preferred (not available), Rewards+, AT&T Access, Double Cash, Citi Rewards+ Student Card
• Annual fee: ThankYou Premier, Prestige, AT&T Access More (cannot transfer points, not available)

At the moment, both ThankYou Preferred and AT&T Access More are unavailable, and Citi’s website no longer has any related information. However, they should still be obtainable through product changes (AT&T has not been available for product changes recently). Double Cash is a bit special: once you have it, you can transfer TYP and cash back 1:1, but you still cannot transfer to airline miles.

Recommended combinations

Rewards+, Double Cash, ThankYou Premier

This combination gives you flexibility on offense and defense, and the only annual fee is the ThankYou Premier’s $95. Rewards+ can use its round-up feature to cover small purchases. It also provides an annual 10% TYP redemption rebate. Double Cash’s 2% cash back plus 1:1 TYP transfer lets all spending earn 2x TYP, and with the extra 10% points rebate, that becomes 2.2x TYP on all spending. Premier, meanwhile, offers 3x TYP on gas, airfare, hotels, car rentals, public transit, cruises, and booking fees, which boosts travel spending rewards. In addition, Premier lets you redeem TYP in the TYP travel portal at a value of 1.25c/p for flights and hotels, which is also very beginner-friendly. You can also transfer TYP to Virgin Atlantic Flying Club (VS) or Avianca LifeMiles (AV) to book Delta and Star Alliance flights. If you think transferring miles or using points at 1.25c/p is too much hassle, you can also convert TYP back to cash 1:1 and simply use the cash.

Because of Double Cash, there is no need to add the other no-annual-fee cards to the family, since their extra earning rates are only 2x anyway.

Rewards+, Double Cash, Prestige

If you replace Premier with Prestige, the annual fee jumps significantly, from $95 to $495. Since Prestige offers a $250 travel reimbursement and is fairly easy to use, the net cost of this combination is around $245. Of course, the extra benefits are plentiful. Prestige gives 5x ThankYou Points (TYP) on airfare, third-party booking sites (Priceline, Orbitz), and dining; and 3x on hotel bookings and cruise purchases. That greatly improves your ability to earn multiple TYP. Another major perk is that when you book hotels through Citi Travel with points or cash, the fourth night is free on stays of three nights (limited to 2 times per year), which is effectively 25% off any hotel. This card also includes Priority Pass airport lounge access plus free entry for two accompanying guests. Overall, if you have relatively high travel spending and like the Priority Pass benefit, keeping this card can be very worthwhile.

Adding AT&T Access More

If you already have Double Cash, AT&T Access’s 2x is basically meaningless. But if your online shopping spend is especially high, you may want to add AT&T Access More to the mix. Although this card cannot be applied for directly right now, you may be able to product-change any Citi card you’ve held for more than a year into this card (recently, product changes have not been available, so more successful DPs are needed). This card earns 3X points on online shopping (including Amazon, eBay, walmart.com, Target.com, and many others, so the range is very broad); 3X points on travel-related websites (official explanation); and 3X on AT&T purchases. If your online shopping volume is high enough, paying $95 to get one extra x of TYP can still be worthwhile. In theory, if you already have Double Cash, you would need more than $10,000 in online shopping spend before this card makes sense. Another very important point is that if you spend more than $10,000 each year (over a 12-month period starting from the card opening date), you get 10,000 TYP, which by itself is enough to cover the annual fee. So if possible, holding this card is still a good option.

Rewards+, Double Cash

If you prefer no-annual-fee cards, this combination is also very good, effectively giving you 2.2x TYP on all spending. If you think you need to transfer to airline miles, you can then pick up another Citi card (for example, Citi AA) and product-change it to Premier in order to transfer points or redeem TYP at 1.25c/p.

Application strategy

First, here are a few relevant policies:

• Citi product-change policy: after holding a card for more than one year, you can product-change any card into another card.
• Restrictions on the TYP family: if you have received Citi Reward+, ThankYou Preferred, Premier, or Prestige within the past 24 months, or closed any of these cards within the past 24 months, you will not be eligible for the sign-up bonus.

Based on these two points, the best approach is to first apply for the card in the family with the highest sign-up bonus, which is currently Premier’s 60,000. Then apply for a card like Citi AA, and after one year, product-change it to Double Cash or Rewards+. If it’s November, applying for Prestige, taking the travel reimbursements three times, and then downgrading to Premier is also a good option.

Points system overview

• Point value: Average value is 1.5c/p, 100 TYP = $1.5 (Point value and analysis)
• Direct redemption: Redeem at 1c/p for Statement Credit
• Point transfers: 1:1 transfer to AA (good for U.S.-China and U.S.-Europe redemptions, especially premium cabins); 1:1 transfer to Virgin Atlantic miles (good for Delta One nonstop awards and ANA round-trip first class between the U.S. and Japan); 1:1 transfer to Avianca miles (good for U.S.-China business class, ANA and Asiana first class between the U.S. and China, with no YQ on ticketing); 1:1 transfer to Qantas Airways (QF) miles (good for nonstop U.S. domestic awards and U.S. East Coast to Western Europe). You need to hold the ThankYou Premier or Prestige to transfer TYP to airline and hotel points.
• Program features: You can pool all TYP points into one account and use them together. TYP points on each card expire separately, so it’s best to use up the TYP from a card before closing it. You can transfer up to 100k TYP per year to a friend’s account.
• My quick take: For TYP airline partners, just keep AA, AV, and VS straight. Hilton as a hotel partner is also not really worth transferring to. Redeeming for cash/gift cards is only worth 1 cent per point. So the value is about 1.3c, and a few of the more niche airline partners still make it interesting.
• Detailed analysis: ThankYou Points guide>>

Cards in the family

Related card family guides

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• Citi ThankYou Points card family guide
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