Citi ThankYou points can be used towards a statement credit, previously when using this it wouldn’t charge the minimum payment required. Citi is now allowing points be used towards the minimum due as part of their COVID-19 relief program. When using this option you’re given 0.8¢ per point (better than the 0.5¢ standard rate but still not great. You can get 1¢ per point against your mortgage). It’s important to remember that you want to pay off the full balance whenever possible as the APR on credit cards is extremely high, the current rate is up to 23.99% on the Citi Premier for example.
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Transfer is instant and the eGCs are sent over email, the selections are quite good (walmart, ebay, southwest, etc). Better value and more convenient than “Mortgage” and most other non-travel redemption methods of TYP. Esp. during this period of reduced travel and with Premier losing its 25% bonus and most of its value soon.
Caveats:
1. Many eGCs only come in small face values, under $50, some manual work needed to cash out really big chunks of TYPs
2. It may be YMMV, they mentioned that SYW site is broken and not letting them redeem. But it did work for me and it is easy to try the whole process out for 167 thank you points (transfer into 2004 SYW pts and then redeem for a $2 apple gift card) before transferring larger amounts.
Yeah we’ve reported the same thing: https://www.doctorofcredit.com/shop-your-way-rewards-points-can-now-be-used-for-third-party-giftcards-10-bonus-for-some/
It would make sense if Citi offered redemptions at 1.25cpp for Premier card members, kind of like Chase does with Pay Yourself Back. 0.8cpp feels more like Citi is taking advantage of those temporarily unable to come up with min payment.
I have been redeeming for mortgage paymentS for many years. I would estimate $1000+. Wells Fargo mortgage works. It’s the best Citi TY redemption for me.
I want to do that…except the last time my mortgage company’s name was so botched on the check that I cannot believe they took it. The rep had me spell out the name, and I did so clearly. I thought for sure there would be no issues with it. The spelling was atrocious. They did take it though thankfully, b/c good luck getting it reissued!
Did you request a check from Citi payable to Wells Fargo, and went to a Wells Fargo branch to deposit to your own WF account? I also have a WF checking account and want to go this route. So just want to confirm. Thanks.
If you have Rewards+ do you get 10% points back when you do this?
They are offering 0.8 cpp for this option, not as good as 1 cpp options but better than the dismal 0.5 cpp statement credit option.
Easy way to cash out is to upgrade to the Prestige to get 1 cpp cash back/credit option, cash out at 1 cpp, then call back before the 51 day conversion is complete and say you changed your mind.
Dont they charge you the annual fee once you upgrade to cashout. Is the annual fee refundable within 51 days after cashout
Not during the conversion period, when it can be reversed with no charge. Annual fee is prorated if you downgrade back to something else after 51 days.
Is cash back for Citi Prestige thank you points redeemed at 1 cpp? I thought it was 0.5 cpp.
Is this at a .5 evaluation? I’ve been using these points at 1.0 toward my “mortgage”.
You have to call in the number provided on the thank you points site and they’ll send you checks to the bank at 1.0 to use toward your mortgage (they seem to round up too if you are moderately close to one of their cash out denominations, so let’s say you had 98,000 pts, they’d probably give you a 1000 check).. However the check does not have your name on it, only the bank. You can use toward your real mortgage of course, but I have them make out checks to PNC (pretending they hold my mortgage) and my local bank takes it without an issue. I did go to a supermarket PNC recently and they refused to cash for me so there is some risk I guess. You might want to check with your bank first.
Have been redeeming my points this way consistently. If your bank has a problem, you can always cancel your order with citi as long as the checks are not cashed out.
You can request either student loan check or mortgage. You need to write in the back pay to the order of your name and add your account number in the memo. I always do mobile deposit to deposit these and never had an issue
Try for the least amount denomination, someone noted $25. Ask even lower if you can. I might even get a Citi Rewards+ now that I know this is an option but I’m not sure how they will handle me cashing out minimum denominations for “mortgage” every month.
I don’t earn vast quantities of TYP, but I have redeemed them this way once. It worked fine. If I recall correctly, they issue checks in multiples of $25, so some of my points were left unredeemed at the time. I’ll just add ’em in next time since I don’t have any real use for them otherwise.
As it happens, I actually do have a mortgage with PNC, and I took the checks into the branch to have them applied to it. Since dollars are fungible, you could still say I “cashed” them out…
What is the risk? Can’t you always ask them to cancel the check and refund your points? Or, say you never got it and they will cancel it?
Thanks Wendy and Diomaiuti for your DPs.