Earn Even More Cash Back With Citi Cards at Over 100 Merchants
Author: Nick
Category: Money
Topics: credit
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I bet a lot of you reading out there are already carrying some reward credit cards in your wallet to help you get 5% back on purchases like groceries, gas, and other everyday items. And chances are that if you have a plethora of cards that at least one of them was issued by Citi. Whether you have the Dividend Platinum Select, Diamond Preferred Rewards, mtvU Platinum Select, or another Citi card, your card grants you access to a slew of rewards from more merchants than you may realize.
Thanks to Citi’s ThankYou Network, your card can earn more than just the typical 1% cash back at a variety of stores even if they don’t fall under the bonus reward categories associated with your card. You can earn as many as 15 points for every dollar you spent on purchases with some of these places. And if you aren’t familiar with Citi’s reward structure, you can trade in those points for electronics, student loan rebate checks, and gift cards for many restaurants and shops. (Usually I stick with getting gift cards since you can trade in 5,000 points for a $50 gift card–the best ratio of points to reward value Citi offers.)
If you have a qualifying Citi card, you are automatically enrolled in the Citi ThankYou Network, and you can start earning even more bonus reward points at over 100 different places at which you may already shop. Here are some of my favorites along with their reward points per dollar spent…
- 1-800 Contacts (4)
- Apple iTunes (3)
- Ice.com (5)
- Kmart (2)
- Linens ‘n Things (4)
- Montgomery Ward (7)
- OfficeDepot.com (3)
- OldNavy.com (4)
- Overstock.com (5)
- Payless ShoeSource (3)
- Restaurant.com (15)
- Sears Home Center (4)
- Shutterfly (9)
- Target.com (5)
- Wine.com (4)

5 Responses »
1.
Joel
September 16th, 2006 at 12:58 am
Unfortunately, the Citi Dividend card is changing from a 5% card to a 2% card in October 2006.
These recent changes to the cash back rewards of the Citi Dividend MasterCard prompted me to do some personal analysis to find the best mix of cash back cards for my spending patterns.
That personal analysis inspired me to build a general-purpose tool to help anyone determine the single best card or mix of N cards that will maximize their cash back rewards. You just plug in how much you spend each month (broken out by categories for best results) and you’re presented with a list of recommended cards sorted from best to worst by your expected annual reward. If having more than one card and using each card to its strengths could yield a greater total reward, then each combination of the Best N cards is presented as well.
You can see the tool at http://www.creditcardtuneup.com/ .
2.
Ignatius
January 7th, 2007 at 4:20 am
True, receiving cash back on gas is really something fantastic.
3.
Bennie
October 7th, 2008 at 4:41 am
I have been a frequent visitor of this blog for some time now, so I thought it would be a good idea to leave you with my thanks.
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[...] The always lovely Caitlin over at Clutter2Cash has done a splendid job hosting this week’s Festival of Frugality which includes a shout-out to my post on maximizing Citi credit card cash back. [...]
Pingback by Punny Money — May 9, 2006 @ 11:11 pm
[...] I’ve mentioned a few times before that the Citi mtvU Visa card is one of my favorite credit cards, and it’s also a favorite of many people who have one. That’s because it offers 5% back in rewards on purchases at restaurants, book stores, music stores, movie theaters, and video rental stores. For a college student whose purchases consist largely of food, books, and entertainment, this card is golden. And that’s just what Citi was hoping college students would feel when it limited the mtvU Visa to students currently enrolled in an accredited institution of higher learning. [...]
Pingback by Punny Money — May 12, 2006 @ 1:55 am