Citi ThankYou Points

We estimate that a Citi ThankYou Point is worth about 1 cent if you redeem it for gift cards, and in a few other select categories. Trading them in for merchandise, cash or a prepaid debit card gets you significantly less, however. For more information, please check out our take on how to get the most out of your Citi Thank You Points. The value of a Citi ThankYou Point varies widely, based on how you decide to redeem it. Take a look at our comprehensive table below, or read on for an in-depth look at your options.

Gift cards: We used to strongly dislike ThankYou points because you had to accrue 10,000 of them before you could trade them in at the full 1 cent value, but recently that’s changed. You can exchange as few as 2,500 points for a $25 gift card to big-name retailers like Ann Taylor, Chili’s, Best Buy and Barnes and Noble. Since it’s fairly easy to redeem for these gift cards, we give ThankYou points an overall 1 cent valuation.

Merchandise: Through the Citi ThankYou Points online mall, you can redeem your points for books, electronics, clothes…think of it like an Amazon-type marketplace. The value depends on the vendor, because Citi’s BFFs will probably give you a discount. A few examples:

• The Game of Thrones boxed set costs $19.77 on Amazon and 3,900 TY Points. Value: 0.5 cents
• A Circle Honey king bedskirt costs $135 on Bambeco.com and 22,400 TY Points. Value: 0.6 cents
• A king-size duvet cover (I’ve been furniture-shopping lately) costs $715 from Bambeco and 88,400 TY Points. Value: 0.8 cents

As a rule of thumb, the more points you redeem at once, the more value you’ll get from them.

Music downloads: You can redeem your points at a flat 1 cent per point value for a promo code to Sony Music Entertainment that lets you download MP3′s.This requires the fewest points to redeem, and also gives value. Sony’s probably one of those BFFs we were talking about.

Prepaid debit: In general, you won’t get a good value out of redeeming your points for prepaid debit. The values are pretty miserable:

• $25 for 4,000 points. Value: 0.625 cents
• $50 for 7,500 points. Value: 0.66 cents
• $100 for 14,000 points. Value: 0.71 cents

Cash: Another fairly substandard option. You can get $50 for 8,000 or $100 for 16,000, for a flat rewards rate of 0.625 cents per point. Meh. You’re better off with a prepaid debit card at that point.

Charity: This is one of the best options, as long as you’re okay with donating to Citi’s charities of choice. If you want to donate to your own, your points’ value will fall by 25%-50%. If you donate to Citi’s featured charities (right now, it’s the Red Cross) your points are worth 1 cent.

• $10 to the charity of your choice costs 1,900 TY points. Value: 0.52 cents
• $100 to the charity of your choice costs 12,800 TY points. Value: 0.78 cents
• $25 to the American Red Cross costs 2,500 TY points. Value: 1 cent

Mortgage or student loan payments: This is actually a pretty good deal, especially if you don’t want to wait till you’ve earned a ton of points or give to charity (I mean, you do, but…). You get a 1 cent per point rate across the board, no matter how many points you redeem for, whether it’s good toward a mortgage or student loan. This is far better than cash or prepaid debit.

Travel certificates: The partner principle comes back: certain privileged retailers will give you better rates. You can book travel or cruises through the ThankYou travel center, but you may prefer a discount site like Kayak.com or Hotels.com. If you redeem for travel certificates, your value ranges widely:

• A $25 credit to Avis, the car rental service, costs 3,500 points. Value: 0.71 cents
• A $50 Hyatt gift certificate costs 6,000 points. Value: 0.83 cents
• A $100 Ritz-Carlton gift card costs 10,000 points. Value: 1 cent.

Expiration

Points expire after 3 years, in most cases. Some cards offer points that don’t expire, as long as you actively earn or redeem rewards every 12 months. These cards include the Citi ThankYou Premier and Preferred.