Hi guys,
I have a citibank signature card which i spend about $10k per month on and always pay it off straight away, the rewards points i usually get a coles or perpaid card which is about 90000 points for a $500 card. the annual fee on the card is $149 as i am a long term customer and previously they have upgraded my card without increasing the annual fee but after calling them they wont do it to the next level prestige card which has a better rewards program but with a $700 annual fee
Have been with citibank for 20 years and usually found their service and insurance pretty good using the overseas insurance more then once and finding it very good but now the rewards program is being cut back and they have changed their insurer to allianz instead of zurich which makes me nervous as i have had a extremely bad experience with allianz CTP insurance after being involved in a both parties at fault car accident.
This is what citibank is offering
Card type Current Earn Rate per $1 for Eligible Transactions
Citibank Rewards Credit Card - Signature
1.5 Points, up to $20,000 per statement period on eligible Domestic Spend
1.5 Points on eligible International Spend
New Earn Rate as of 15 June 2017 per $1 for Eligible Transactions*
2 Points for selected purchases made and booked directly from a range of major restaurants and restaurant chains, major hotel chains and flights directly booked with major airlines^
1.5 Points for selected purchases made at major petrol outlets, major supermarkets and major national retailers
1 Point everywhere else on eligible Domestic Spend
2 Points on eligible International Spend
So time to look at a new card. Whats the best card to get that has the best overall package of good rewards and low ongoing fees?
Am i best to get it in my name or my business?
Thank you brains trust.
Hi!
I know you are looking for a simple answer, but it is not a simple subject… First of all, using your points on gift cards is a very low returns on your points. 90,000 points used to purchase a $500 gift card is about 180 points to $1 meaning a point is worth $0.0055 or 0.55c. A much better use for the points would be flights, see here:
Flights, gift cards or toasters? Why I always use my points for travel – and for Economy flights
If you want to read more about the worth of points there's a very lengthy article on the subject linked in that post.
Now your Earning Rate is no less important than the worth of your points. In the above citibank example you gave up until now you earned 15,000 points per $10,000 spent. At 0.55c a point that equates to about $83 worth of rewards (0.83% of your spend).
Obviously this will change in June but there is no easy way to know by how much. The best way is to wait a month (or ideally 3 to get an average) to find out, but you will be losing rewards in that time.
So the first most important thing for you to figure out is what do you want to use your points for. If you are persuaded they will be better used for flights then great - that is a pretty normal usage scenario (you still need to decide who you would like to fly and where to, but can also opt to choose a flexible rewards program otherwise). But if you are dead set on redeeming your points for gift cards, you just need to go and compare the options out there (following my example above to work out earn rate + redeem rate). Not a simple undertaking and I don't think you'll find an easy answer from somebody else unfortunately.
Most of us here at Ozbargain have 2 cards: An Amex such as Edge (x3 points in supermarkets and x2 points in petrol) or Explorer (effectively x1.5 points for everything) plus a visa or mastercard. I personally use the Woolworths Platinum as it earns Qantas points at a 1:1 ratio and has pretty low fees (that can be talked off every year). It serving also as a Woolworths Rewards card is a convenient bonus.
Further Reading:
Earning points – First Principles: Earning from Credit Cards
Ultimate set of Beginners Guides to Points, Rewards and Frequent Flyer Programs
What’s the dollar value of points? Our latest valuations - How and why to value your frequent flyer/credit card points
Frequent Flyer Credit Cards Table
Good luck!