Signup bonuses for travel rewards credit cards are one of the best ways to rack up a mountain of points quickly, and Citi is now dangling a boosted bonus on the ThankYou Premier Card. If you're into free flights—and who isn’t?—it's definitely worth a look.
Starting today, the ThankYou Premier Card is offering a 60,000-point bonus after spending $4,000 in the first three months from account opening. Those 60,000 points could get you $600 in gift cards to places like Amazon, but you’ll get even more bang for your buck by redeeming for airfare through the ThankYou Travel Center, Citi's equivalent of Expedia or Kayak. Booking through ThankYou Travel offers a 25 percent bonus on your points, meaning you’ll get $750 in flights or hotel stays. Redeeming any other way is just turning down free money.
Like many of the best travel rewards credit cards, the ThankYou Premier offers more flexibility than an airline-specific card, like, say, the Southwest Rapid Rewards Priorty Card, since you can use your ThankYou points on any airline. Redemptions don’t have blackout dates, meaning that if there are seats available, you can get ‘em with points. That's especially helpful with airlines like American, where award tickets can be scarce, or Delta, where the point redemption chart is a well-kept secret.
As far as earning power beyond the signup bonus, the ThankYou Premier racks up extra points in a few key categories:
- Three points per dollar on “travel,” which includes gas stations, parking, tolls, taxis, commuter transportation, hotels, airfare, and car rentals.
- Two points per dollar on dining and entertainment, which includes restaurants, coffee shops, cafes, bars, lounges, concerts, museums, and movie theaters.
- One point per dollar on all other purchases.
That compares favorably to the Chase Sapphire Reserve, the best travel card available right now, which earns three points per dollar on travel and dining, but only one point per dollar on entertainment. Another big difference: The Citi ThankYou Premier has a $95 annual fee that's waived for the first year; the Chase Sapphire Reserve by contrast has a hefty $450 annual fee. (The ThankYou Premier Card also has no foreign transactions fees, but that’s thankfully become an industry standard on most rewards cards worth getting these days.).
With its low annual fee (waived in the first year), strong earning categories, and no foreign transaction fees, the ThankYou Premier Card is already a solid everyday card. But the potential to earn $750 in free flights makes it worth a close look for anyone, particularly those new to the points-and-miles game.