Almost two years ago Citi launched the Thank You credit card series, which is their latest lineup for the rewards category. But is the “Preferred” the best version for you or not? This review will take you through the benefits as well as the drawbacks.

Right now for a limited-time, you can apply and earn up to 25,000 bonus points, enough for $250.00 in gift cards! But before we get into the nitty-gritty about the rewards program, let’s go over some of the Citi Thank You card benefits that go under the radar, but are nonetheless extremely valuable…

Cardmember Benefits

Complimentary Concierge: You have access to a 24/7 phone concierge service free of charge. They can help you with all sorts of requests – restaurant reservations, gift advice, locating that hard-to-find item, travel plans, and more. To be honest normally I don’t use concierge services myself, but I find that when I’m on the road or just don’t have time to research something myself, concierge service is a valuable benefit to have at your disposal.

Trip Interruption/Cancellation Coverage: This benefit provides you with up to $1,500 of reimbursement for eligible trips that are interrupted or have to be cancelled due to covered reasons, assuming you paid for the trip using your Citi Thank You Preferred.

Here’s what it says in the fine print about what’s covered: “due to accidental injury, sickness, or death of yourself, an immediate family member or a traveling companion, which results in medically imposed restrictions as certified by a Physician at the time of loss.” Once you get the credit card consult the benefits guide for additional details, rules and exclusions but at least that statement gives you the gist of it.

Lost Luggage Coverage: This benefit covers you for lost/stolen/damaged checked luggage via travel by “common carrier” (like being a passenger on an airline). Your amount of coverage is up to $3,000 ($2,000 for New York residents).

Automatic Travel Accident Insurance: If you’re a ticketed passenger on eligible “common carrier” travel, there is automatic coverage for death or dismemberment assuming you purchased the ticket using your credit card. However as you know, any insurance benefit is complex because it involves all kinds of rules, so for the details and exclusions please contact Citi directly.

Auto Rental Insurance: This is secondary coverage, meaning it only kicks in after your existing car insurance pays out (if you don’t have any, then this benefit will kick in). As with all credit card rental coverage, please note there plenty of rules and not all types of vehicles or damage is covered (the coverage is namely for collisions and theft, not weather damage or vandalism). So make sure you study your benefits guide before using this perk.

Price Protection: Now this is a benefit that I’m really impressed by, because very few credit cards offer it. Not even AmEx’s premium cards give you this! Consult Citi for details/rules but in a nutshell, if you buy something with the card and within 60 days it is advertised for less, you may receive the difference – up to $250. As expected, online purchases and a few other categories are excluded but overall, this is a very useful and rare benefit.

Extended Warranty: If you’re not taking advantage of this benefit, you’re definitely missing out! It extends the warranty coverage on eligible purchases up to 1 extra year (if the item has a U.S. warranty of 1 year or less). This is a lifesaver for covered electronics, because most tend to have very short manufacturer warranties to begin with.

Retail Purchase Protection: You get up to $1,000 in coverage per incident (subject to maximum yearly/cardmember cap) for eligible purchases that are stolen, damaged by fire, or incur accidental breakage within 90 days from date of purchase. Just make sure you review the rules so you know what is and isn’t covered.

Rewards Program

The Citi Thank You Preferred credit card offers you some advantages over the predecessors for the following reasons:

• You earn 1 Thank You point for every dollar spent, with no cap on the number of points that can be earned.
• You have the ability to earn additional points at over 600 online retailers when you click through to their stores using the Citi Thank You Bonus Center website. This makes it possible to earn more than 1x points for online spending.
• Your points don’t expire as long as you make a purchase at least once per year.
• You get an anniversary points bonus at the end of each year your account is opened and that amount increases the longer your Citi Thank You Preferred card is open:

(By the way just to clarify, each year begins/ends on the date you open your account)

As most credit cards offer these days, your points can be redeemed for all sorts of things, ranging from gift cards, merchandise, charity donations, etc. But as a Citi Thank You cardholder myself, I will let you in on a little secret… you will get the best value per point when you spend them on $100.00 gift cards from their retail/dining partners. For example, not too long ago I cashed out 10,000 points for a $100.00 gift card and that means I’m getting a full $0.01 per point.

Drawbacks

Since there is no annual fee, it’s tough to say the Thank You Preferred comes with drawbacks since it already gives you a lot more than most other no fee credit cards. However if I had to pinpoint something, I would say it would be enhanced if Citi gave bonus points for certain categories of spending, like gas. However for the vast majority of purchases this is a good choice.

Verdict?

The Citi Thank You Preferred is an excellent value for a no annual fee card. There is the higher-tier Citi Thank You Premier but it has a $125 annual fee and is mainly geared towards travelers. I would say for the vast majority of people, the no annual fee Preferred version is the better choice.

Best Signup Offers

As a sponsored advertiser of Citi, CreditCardForum has some killer signup promotions right now. Here they are:

Offer #1: 25,000 Bonus Points
All you have to do is spend $2,000 within your first 3 months (sounds high, but that’s an average of only $667/month) and you will score 25,000 bonus points. You can cash out those points for $250.00 worth of gift cards. Apply for this special 25,000 points offer!

Offer #2: 15,000 Bonus Points + 5x Points For Grocery/Gas/Drugstores For 12 Months
With this promotion you get a smaller points bonus up front, but you will get a full 5x points for spending at grocery stores, gas stations, and drugstores for the first 12 months. Depending on your spending patterns, this may be better in the long run even though you are getting fewer points at the start. For example, if you spend $500 per month in those categories for a full year, you will have earned an extra 24,000 in points (not counting the 1x you would have gotten anyway). Apply now for this limited-time 5x points promotion! To get the bonus points all you have to do is spend at least $1,000 during the first 3 months.