Citi ThankYou Preferred for Students Review: Take It Out on the Town
The Bottom Line
3.8
If you often eat out or go to movies or concerts, you’ll benefit from this card’s rewards program. But be aware that the way you redeem the points dictates how much they’re worth.
Rates, fees and offers
Annual fee
$0
Rewards rate
1 point per Dollar
Bonus offer
Earn 2,500 bonus points after spending $500 in purchases within the first 3 months of account opening (This offer is no longer available on our site)
Intro APR
0% intro APR on Purchases for 7 months
Ongoing APR
APR: 16.49%-26.49% Variable APR
Penalty APR: Up to 29.99%, Variable
Cash Advance APR: 27.24%, Variable
Balance transfer fee
4% of each balance transfer; $5 minimum.
Foreign transaction fee
3%
More details from Citibank
- Enjoy 0% Intro APR for 7 months on purchases from date of account opening; after that the variable APR will be 16.49% - 26.49% based upon your creditworthiness*
- Earn 2,500 bonus points after spending $500 in purchases within the first 3 months of account opening
- 2,500 ThankYou® Points are redeemable for $25 in gift cards, electronics and other great rewards when redeemed at thankyou.com
- Earn 2X Points on Dining Out & Entertainment
- Earn 1X Points on All Other Purchases
- No expiration and no limit to the amount of points you can earn with this card
- No annual fee*
Pros and Cons
Pros
No annual fee
Cons
None
Detailed Review
» This card is no longer available
The Citi ThankYou® Preferred Card for College Students is no longer accepting applications. See our best college student credit cards for other options. Below is our review from when this card was still available.
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If you’re a college student looking for your first credit card, the Citi ThankYou® Preferred Card for College Students isn't a bad place to start. It offers rewards on dining (yes, takeout counts) and entertainment, has a $0 annual fee, and offers some pretty good perks.
Citi ThankYou® Preferred Card for College Students: Basics
Annual fee: $0
Sign-up bonus: Earn 2,500 bonus points after spending $500 in purchases within the first 3 months of account opening (This offer is no longer available on our site).
Rewards:
2 ThankYou points per dollar spent on dining and entertainment.
1 ThankYou point per dollar spent on all other purchases.
Points are worth 0.3 to 1 cent apiece, depending on how you redeem, according to NerdWallet valuations.
Interest rate: 0% intro APR on Purchases for 7 months, and then the ongoing APR of 16.49%-26.49% Variable APR.
Foreign transaction fee: 3%.
Compare to Other Cards
Benefits and Perks
Bonus rewards for going out
The Citi ThankYou® Preferred Card for College Students offers 2X rewards on dining and entertainment:
The dining category doesn't just apply to meals in sit-down restaurants and fast-food joints, but also to restaurant takeout, cafes, bars and cocktail lounges.
"Entertainment" includes live entertainment (concerts, theater and sporting events), movie theaters, amusement parks (including zoos, aquariums, circuses and carnivals), tourist attractions (including museums and art galleries), record stores, video rental stores and on-demand internet streaming media.
Going out is a big part of many people's college experience, and it's nice to have a card that provides extra rewards for it.
0% intro APR offer
College life can include a few big-ticket purchases here and there — textbooks aren't cheap, and who doesn't want a nice, sturdy couch? The Citi ThankYou® Preferred Card for College Students includes an introductory 0% interest period, something relatively rare on student cards.
Sign-up bonus
This card offers a bonus to new cardholders to get them in the habit of using the card: Earn 2,500 bonus points after spending $500 in purchases within the first 3 months of account opening (This offer is no longer available on our site). It's not a huge bonus — the value of 2,500 points tops out at about $25 — but still, it's better than what many student cards offer (which is no bonus at all).
Drawbacks and Considerations
Weak redemption value for cash rewards
ThankYou points are worth only half a cent apiece when redeemed for cash back. So if you redeem for cash, your rewards rate on dining and entertainment is 1%, and on everything else it's a paltry 0.5%. There are much better options for cash back.
The Discover it® Student Cash Back offers the same rewards as Discover's regular cash-back cards. It pays 5% cash back in rotating categories that you opt into online (on up to $1,500 in spending each quarter), and 1% back on everything else. Discover offers new cardholders a unique bonus: "INTRO OFFER: Unlimited Cashback Match for all new cardmembers – only from Discover. Discover will automatically match all the cash back you’ve earned at the end of your first year! So you could turn $50 cash back into $100. Or turn $100 cash back into $200. There’s no minimum spending or maximum rewards. Just a dollar-for-dollar match." The annual fee is $0.
Foreign transaction fee
The Citi ThankYou® Preferred Card for College Students charges a 3% fee on all purchases made outside the U.S, which can really add up over the course of a semester abroad. The Discover it® Student Cash Back doesn't charge a foreign transaction fee.
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Methodology
NerdWallet reviews credit cards with an eye toward both the quantitative and qualitative features of a card. Quantitative features are those that boil down to dollars and cents, such as fees, interest rates, rewards (including earning rates and redemption values) and the cash value of benefits and perks. Qualitative factors are those that affect how easy or difficult it is for a typical cardholder to get good value from the card. They include such things as the ease of application, simplicity of the rewards structure, the likelihood of using certain features, and whether a card is well-suited to everyday use or is best reserved for specific purchases. Our star ratings serve as a general gauge of how each card compares with others in its class, but star ratings are intended to be just one consideration when a consumer is choosing a credit card. Learn how NerdWallet rates credit cards.
