Charles H. Miller
Citi’s ThankYou® series includes two cards, the Citi ThankYou® Preferred and Citi ThankYou® Premier, both of which are designed to reward the good times its owners have while using the card. The latter is a more premium product, but it comes with an annual fee of $95 (waived in the first year), while the former is “free to use” — it has no annual fee . Both cards also come with a number of shopping and travel benefits. Let’s take a brief look at the two cards…
Citi ThankYou® Preferred
This card offers double points on dining and entertainment purchases, and a single point on everything else. There’s a 0% intro APR on purchases and balance transfers for the first 15 months, after which APR goes to anywhere between 13.24% and 23.24%, based on your creditworthiness. Included are a number of shopping and travel benefits, such as trip cancellation and trip interruption coverage, extended warranty, Citi Private Pass and Citi Price Rewind. There is no annual fee, but you will be charged 3% on foreign transactions. (you can read our full review from here)
Citi ThankYou® Premier
This a more premium product that includes all of the bells and whistles of the Citi ThankYou® Preferred, plus the ability to earn 3x points on an array of travel services. Beyond airfare and hotels, Citi ThankYou® Premier cardmembers will also be earning triple points when paying for cruises, gas, car service, parking, tolls and railways. Also, this card has NO foreign transaction fee, and is thus more suited to be used when visiting other countries. Its APR starts at 14.24% and goes up to 23.24%, based on your creditworthiness. Annual fee is $95, but it is waived in the first year. (you can read our full review from here)
Head to Head Comparison
Which Citi ThankYou® Card Should You Get?
Generally speaking, Citi ThankYou® Premier is a better card, but it also includes an annual fee of $95 (waived in the first year). You have to do the math and see for yourself whether the extra goodies, and points you will be earning on paying for travel services with this card justify the cost. We think the cost makes sense and would love the Premier card even more if it also included some sign-up bonus. That, unfortunately, is not the case. Nevertheless, both cards are great and will turn your dining and entertainment purchases into a rewarding experience. That is why we like to call these two the “fun cards.”
The following two links provide a few additional details on the two cards. Check ’em out.
