Just signed up for the bonus points, but its pretty silly. I can buy Amazon GC's for $.01 per point (2500 points = $25). I just looked and my ~23,000 ThankYou points for my ThankYou Premier is only showing $180 worth of Shop With points credit ($.007 per point). Why would I do that instead of just buying a GC and applying it to my account?
Been discussed in the ThankYou Point Thread, its good to cash out small balances prior to canceling a card or of that nature, so you don't lose the points.
lotusgardener said: Been discussed in the ThankYou Point Thread, its good to cash out small balances prior to canceling a card or of that nature, so you don't lose the points.
The same goes for cashing out small AMEX Membership Rewards point balances before cancelling a card -- MR points are also worth $0.007 each.
workindev said: Just signed up for the bonus points, but its pretty silly. I can buy Amazon GC's for $.01 per point (2500 points = $25). I just looked and my ~23,000 ThankYou points for my ThankYou Premier is only showing $180 worth of Shop With points credit ($.007 per point). Why would I do that instead of just buying a GC and applying it to my account? Because there are enough people that would loose $0.003 per point for the simplicity, I am not one of them. Consider the actions of the majority and realize this is a smart offer for Citi.
mikefxu said: workindev said: Just signed up for the bonus points, but its pretty silly. I can buy Amazon GC's for $.01 per point (2500 points = $25). I just looked and my ~23,000 ThankYou points for my ThankYou Premier is only showing $180 worth of Shop With points credit ($.007 per point). Why would I do that instead of just buying a GC and applying it to my account? Because there are enough people that would loose $0.003 per point for the simplicity, I am not one of them. Consider the actions of the majority and realize this is a smart offer for Citi.
You can use 1 point to get $0.01 off of each Amazon order. The value still gets rounded enough so you are getting the same amount of points for the purchase, but it costs you a penny less. Yes, I am a penny pincher.
elph31337 said: You can use 1 point to get $0.01 off of each Amazon order. The value still gets rounded enough so you are getting the same amount of points for the purchase, but it costs you a penny less. Yes, I am a penny pincher. Incorrect sir! Again I only got penny a point after I got the Citi ThankYou Preferred and linked the Thank You Rewards account, prior it was $0.008 per point redemption.
Sounds like it may be worth unlinking any accounts that are linked. You may get an eventual offer this way. As pointed out, paying with points is only useful for very small balances, and there is a risk that you will accidentally use points (this their offer is like the Discover card where you get $.01 for each point used).
mikefxu said: elph31337 said: You can use 1 point to get $0.01 off of each Amazon order. The value still gets rounded enough so you are getting the same amount of points for the purchase, but it costs you a penny less. Yes, I am a penny pincher. Incorrect sir! Again I only got penny a point after I got the Citi Diamond Preferred and linked the Thank You Rewards account, prior it was $0.008 per point redemption.
He means you can redeem 1 point for 1 cent off EACH order since they round the $0.008 to $0.01. This defines a penny pincher IMHO.
workindev said: Just signed up for the bonus points, but its pretty silly. I can buy Amazon GC's for $.01 per point (2500 points = $25). I just looked and my ~23,000 ThankYou points for my ThankYou Premier is only showing $180 worth of Shop With points credit ($.007 per point). Why would I do that instead of just buying a GC and applying it to my account?
That's weak. I just checked and the fine print says that Amazon/Citibank can change the conversion rate at any time, so you are better off buying the GCs the traditional way. It appears to be a better deal with Chase as it specifically says 100 points = $1, but with Chase, you can also use that same conversion to cash out and apply to your bill, so I don't see what you gain from doing the Amazon thing.
dukerau said: mikefxu said: elph31337 said: You can use 1 point to get $0.01 off of each Amazon order. The value still gets rounded enough so you are getting the same amount of points for the purchase, but it costs you a penny less. Yes, I am a penny pincher. Incorrect sir! Again I only got penny a point after I got the Citi Diamond Preferred and linked the Thank You Rewards account, prior it was $0.008 per point redemption.
He means you can redeem 1 point for 1 cent off EACH order since they round the $0.008 to $0.01. This defines a penny pincher IMHO.
Can you do 2 points for 2 cents? Would $0.016 round up to $0.02?
beatme said: dukerau said: mikefxu said: elph31337 said: You can use 1 point to get $0.01 off of each Amazon order. The value still gets rounded enough so you are getting the same amount of points for the purchase, but it costs you a penny less. Yes, I am a penny pincher. Incorrect sir! Again I only got penny a point after I got the Citi Diamond Preferred and linked the Thank You Rewards account, prior it was $0.008 per point redemption.
He means you can redeem 1 point for 1 cent off EACH order since they round the $0.008 to $0.01. This defines a penny pincher IMHO.
Can you do 2 points for 2 cents? Would $0.016 round up to $0.02?
BAM! I just doubled your conversion speed.
Oh snap! Yeah, that probably would work. But don't go to 3 points. Worst conversion rate of all.
Seems like the gift card method may be going away soon. I got a pamphlet in my most recent Citi bill that indicates the terms will change on 6/15/2013. Says if there is no sponsor account, they can close your account at any time. Also, authorized users of consumer Card accounts may ONLY redeem Thank You Points in the associated Thank You accounts using the Shop for Points feature. Anyone else get this? I could use a second interpretation of it.
mikefxu said: Just note you get better conversion if you also have the Citi ThankYou Preferred card and link your accounts: http://www.fatwallet.com/forums/finance/1256660/ mikefxu said: elph31337 said: You can use 1 point to get $0.01 off of each Amazon order. The value still gets rounded enough so you are getting the same amount of points for the purchase, but it costs you a penny less. Yes, I am a penny pincher. Incorrect sir! Again I only got penny a point after I got the Citi ThankYou Preferred and linked the Thank You Rewards account, prior it was $0.008 per point redemption. I incorrectly noted Citi Diamond Preferred instead of Citi ThankYou Preferred. Citi ThankYou Preferred is correct and I corrected my previous posts.
After a year or so of getting Amazon gift cards from my citi TYPs, I just noticed that I can no longer get them. Under "Retail Store Gift Cards," Amazon.com is gone. This is the first month that this has happened.
I was thinking it might be nice to remove the pay with points option on Amazon, both to prevent accidentally taking it, and to increase the chance of receiving such an offer.
Thanks OP! After cashing out a ton of points on the 4,500/$50 Home Depot gift cards I was down to 3,9xx points. I grabbed another 1k with this to take me to 4,9xx Was planning on spending just over $50 to hit 5k points and cash out a gift card/close my credit card. Then Citi e-mails me today with a free 100 points if I redeem an award...which puts me at just above 5k! Perfect!
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