TRAVEL / FREQUENT FLYER TIPS

NOTE: Citi is no longer offering the Citi Thank You Premier card – you can apply instead for the Citi ThankYou Preferred card which has similar benefits but no annual fee and a 15,000 ThankYou Point signup bonus. However, please note that the Preferred card does NOT offer the flight points or 1.33% bonus on flight redemptions.

Apply Now for the Citi Thank You Preferred card and get 15,000 bonus ThankYou Points

———————————————————————————————————————-

Guest writer: Lynne Mullins, talking about the Citi ThankYou Premier card.

Busy travelers who want to get the most out of a travel rewards credit card will want to keep reading to understand how to use the Citi ThankYou Premier Card to gain additional returns and more rewards for your money. By simply choosing how you book your travel, you can earn much more than the standard one point per dollar on eligible purchases that is typical of most credit card reward programs.

The Citi ThankYou Premier Card is a credit card that at face value, earns one point per dollar spent on all qualifying purchases that are made with the card. For heavy credit card users, these points can add up quickly. For example, if an airline ticket is purchased with the Citi credit card, you earn points for both the purchase and for the miles flown on the trip. On a side note, the Citi program offers travel benefits with no blackout dates.

• Earn additional reward points for miles flown with the Citi ThankYou Premier Card
• Points can be used above and beyond face value when redeemed for airfare
• No blackout dates

By purchasing airline tickets through the ThankYou Travel Center with your accrued points, you can gain an additional 33 percent in value. For example, if you want to redeem your points to buy a $333 airline ticket, it will only cost you 25,000 points, whereas if you were buying this ticket through another points-based program, the redemption point total would typically be around 33,250 points. When used in this manner, the card functions as a 2.66 percent cash back card. There is no limit to the number of points that can be accrued, and there is no expiration date for points.

Citi has just put out a new offer on an existing card.  Whereas you would normally get some bonus points for a new card, this offer gives you double points on *everything* for two full years.

So while a bonus offer of say 15,000 points is great – if you spend high volumes and can get 2x points for 2 years, that could be worth way more in the long run.

Remember you can redeem points for airfare with a 33% bonus. So 100,000 points is redeemable for $1,332 in airfare. With double p0oints on all spend, you’re only spending $50,000 to accumulate that $1,332 in free airfare – making this card worth MORE THAN 2% effective cash back.

Want to apply? Here’s the application

If you live in the USA and travel around the world, you may be notice an increasing problem with using your US-based credit card to pay for things internationally, especially in automated situations like train ticket machines and at gas stations.

This is because the US still mostly uses “swipe” credit card technology – that magnetic stripe – while most of the world has gone to the “Chip and PIN” style, where a small chip on the side of the card is inserted into a reader and you enter a PIN to confirm purchase.

In a majority of situations, a human with a swipe reader can process the transaction for you “old school” with a swipe reader, but increasingly I’m noticing situations where a chip is required. Bike shares in Europe are one instance.

In the US now, we are seeing the introduction of what is called “Chip and Signature” credit cards. They have no PIN, but will work in almost all Chip-card required situations as long as the amount is under $50. Or with a human taking your card with no limit (you just sign).

When I was in Amsterdam recently, I wanted to buy a train ticket from the airport into town but the machine would not take a card without a PIN. I was able to use my card at a ticket window, but if it had been a bit later and that window was closed, I’d have been out of luck.

Here are two credit cards that offer a “Chip and Signature” version. Just apply for either card and then call up to request a “Chip and Signature” version.

And now a third:

The Citi Hilton HHonors Reserve card

(Two free weekend nights and HHonors Gold Status!)