Citi ThankYou Card Offer for 5x At Drugstores/Supermarkets/Gas Stations at the Local Bank Branch
A few weeks ago, I wrote about how I am earning 5 points per dollar at drugstores, grocery stores and gas stations with the Citi ThankYou Preferred card for the first 12 months. I applied and was instantly approved for this card in my recent round of credit card applications. Recently, Frequent Miler (where I found the link; thanks FrequentMiler!) announced the link to be dead. Well, I have good news! The offer is still available… you just have to go to the bank to get it.
Overview
For many families and individuals, gas, groceries and drugstore purchases add up to a ton of spending so the bonus itself is incredibly valuable. Here are some examples of expenses where I can now earn a bonus with my Citi ThankYou card.
- Regular grocery shopping (probably about $100 a week for typical families)
- Gas stations ($50 a week for typical families?)
- Household supplies such as paper towels, cleaning supplies, shampoo, etc. I know I spend quite a bit ordering at drugstore.com every month!
- Buying gift cards to other merchants at supermarkets, gas stations and drugstores (Amazon gift cards, Sears, Marshall’s, Macys, Sephora, to name a few) and then using them at the merchant.
- Buying Visa/MasterCard/Amex gift cards to give others as gifts instead of money. These are as good as cash at many locations.
- Buying Vanilla Reloads at drugstores, loading them onto the American Express Bluebird and then paying your bills with it such as mortgages, utility or tuition bills. These expenses don’t generally earn points, but this is a way to use your credit card to pay them. This detailed in my post: The Bluebird and Vanilla Reload s: Earn Miles Paying Bills. I would caution not to do this very much as it can be considered abusing the perks by the banks and accounts have been shut down as a result.
These everyday purchases can add up to many ThankYou points usable for airfare very quickly:
- For every $1000 you spend, you earn 5,000 Citi ThankYou Rewards points.
- If you spend $5,000 a month (I know that’s high, but some people do have lots of these expenses) will earn 25,000 ThankYou points every month valued at up to $250 a month towards travel and airfare.
- If you also have the Citi ThankYou Premier card, you can link the two accounts and the points become worth 1.33 cents each towards airfare through the Citi ThankYou Rewards Travel Center. (Meaning spending $5,000 a month on a combination of groceries, gas, a few merchant gift cards can earn close to $300 a month towards airfare.)
Important!!! At Citibank, the offers I found were not advertised anywhere in plain sight nor did the bank tellers know about them. I specifically talked to the bank account manager and asked for the current Citi ThankYou Rewards credit card offers. There are no pamphlets or brochures. They should have an internal list of offers or be able to print one out for you in an account manager’s office. I emphasize this because people are reporting going into the branch and looking for advertisements. It’s not quite that easy or we’d all have known about this a long time ago. ;)
Citi ThankYou Card Offer at the Bank Branch
The Citi ThankYou Preferred offer I applied for offered 6,000 ThankYou points after spending $300 plus 5 points per dollar for purchases at drugstores, supermarkets and gas stations for the first 12 months. However, since my post publication, the link to that offer has been removed.
The best available offer I can find on the internet right now for the Citi ThankYou Preferred card is for 15,000 points after spending $1,000 within 3 months. Although this 15,000 point deal was available when I applied, I chose to forgo the additional 9,000 points for the chance to earn 25,000 points every month with the drugstore 5 point bonus. This card has no annual fee.
It turns out that there’s an even better offer than the one I got and those that didn’t get in on my offer don’t even have to make the choice between 9,000 additional points or 5 points per dollar with drugstore, supermarket and gas stations category bonus. At my Citibank local bank branch, I found the following offer and the account manager even printed it out for me!
- 15,000 bonus ThankYou points after you spend $1,000 in your first 3 months
- 5 ThankYou points for every $1 spent at drugstores, supermarkets and gas stations for 12 months
- The card has no annual fee. Ever.
As you can see, it does say Citi ThankYou card rather than Citi ThankYou Preferred card. I actually called the Citibank application department to check on this and they told me that these are the same ThankYou points earned by both cards. They are redeemable through the Citi ThankYou Rewards Travel Center and can also be linked to the Citi ThankYou Premier account. Being able to link the Premier account makes sense as, of course, any Citi card can be linked to it. As far as redemption options without a Premier account, I cannot verify 100% as I do not have this card so please do youw own research and share if you learn otherwise.
One encouraging piece of information is that on the Citibank ThankYou Card information page, they do not differentiate between the Citi ThankYou and Citi ThankYoou Preferred card. It actually links to the same application for the Preferred card.
I spoke to two different phone reps and they said the only difference between the two cards (Citi ThankYou Card vs. Citi ThankYou Preferred Card) is the offer… which of course makes sense why the “wrong” offer for the Citi Thank You Preferred card was pulled online.
I confirmed at the bank that a Citibank bank account is not required to be eligible for this offer. I also don’t know whether it is available only in certain states or certain branches. If you are interested in this card, I strongly recommend heading to your local Citibank branch, checking whether they have it and applying in person.
As I mentioned earlier, there are also other ways to take advantage of the 5x at drugstores. FrequentMiler does have some excellent resources on available gift cards at drugstores, gas stations and supermarkets, among other places.
Summary
- The local Citibank branch has an offer for the Citi ThankYou card offering 15,000 ThankYou points after spending $1,000 in 3 months and 5 points per dollar at drugstores, supermarkets and gas stations for the first 12 months.
- To the best of my knowledge, this offer is not available anywhere online and the link I knew about was shut down last week.
- ThankYou points can be redeemed for airfare at 1 cent each or 1.33 cents each for those that also have the Citi ThankYou Premier card.
I was looking at the Amex and vanilla reload sites and according to the vanilla page they say that they must be bought with cash. Is this just like a guideline or something? What’s the deal? Thanks!
That is still a guideline at this point. And while some Walgreens and CVS are now only taking cash, there are still lots out there that will take credit cards.
When I was out of town a few weeks ago, I even found a RiteAid taking cash for Greendot Moneypaks and, if you read the back, those are really meant to be bought with people who want to use Paypal and don’t have credit cards/bank accounts. There was also a CVS a few miles away taking credit cards for Vanilla Reloads! :)
Awesome thanks for the info! I hope this offer goes online sometime. There aren’t any Citi branches in my area :(
How was it advertised at the bank? A pamphlet? A sign? Does the written offer contain language re 5x?
In my branch, there was no advertisement in plain sight. I specifically asked the bank account manager for offers for the Citi ThankYou cards.
My post has a shot of the written offer outlining in bright red the relevant language re 5x.
Thanks MP. So, did the written offer come in the form of an application pamphlet or an advertised offer without an attached application….? Thanks
I had to ask the bank manager to print out the offer. She was able to print out the offer details (which I uploaded to the post) and had an application that also printed out that you can fill out at the bank and apply. These are all very good question and I should include the complete details on how exactly to get the offer; those going to the bank and snooping around without knowing what to ask for specifically may return empty-handed. :(
This offer seems like a good deal for effectively getting a 5 percent rebate at supermarkets, drugstores, and gas stations.
When I stopped by the Citibank branch a few weeks ago, the only credit card offer available required opening a Citibank account with direct deposit.
There was a citigold offer promotin for 40,000 points in April and the offer I refer to above for the Citi ThankYou Premier card with additional potential bonus for up to 50,000 ThankYou points, but that was a different offer and advertised in plain sight.
Did you talk to the account manager directly about their Citi ThankYou card offers and none was available? I did have to ask for an offer for this card specifically.
Have you had any issues with CITIBANK treating the vanilla reloads as a cash advance?
I haven’t had any issues with any purchases at drugstores being treated as a cash advance.
One question about the Thank You vs Thank You Preferred. Are the points earned on the Thank You “lower value”, like those on the Forward? If you also have a higher level card (Preferred/Premier/Prestige) all points earned on any become full value, but I wonder if that really is the difference between these two cards.
Excellent question! Unfortunately, as I don’t have this particular card and have the ThankYou Preferred Card, I cannot give a 100% definitely answer on this guaranteeing the points are the same. The Citi website does group these cards together, implying the reward redemption options should be the same. A few phone reps have confirmed this (who may or may not have the most thorough knowledge) and I can’t find any contradicting information (not to say it doesn’t exist, my research skills may be lacking). If you do learn otherwise, please do share the info :)
Do you think you could add another person to the card after you get approved?
Yes. I added another user after I got approved. They don’t even need the Social Security number. I just called customer service and gave the name and address where to send it.
Yes, there are no problems adding Additional Users to these cards at any time. Some, like the Premier, currently charge for AU even in the first year if you don’t add them early enough, but not the Thank You or Thank You Preferred.
hmm very interesting information.
I currently have a Citi ThankYou Preferred card and I wonder whether I can call in and ask the CSR to convert it into the flat Thank You card and still be eligible for the 5x bonus…
Maybe I am missing something. Is there a reason you want regular Citi ThankYou card and not Preferred?
Because I missed out on registering the preferred card for the 5x bonus and the registration is no longer available.
There wasn’t a registration available for the 5x bonus. It was actually a completely different sign-up offer. From my previous experience, some banks would sometimes match better sign-up offers if you find one within 90 days of opening the card account. I don’t know of any reports of anyone trying this with the current offer so I can’t report on experiences.
Went into the branch and applied! Now the hard part is waiting for approval. Thanks for letting us know :)
Glad it was useful. Good luck with approval! :)
I’m bad at math. So, $5000 spend per month for vrs is $39.50 for 2500 points. Is that 15¢ per point? 39.59 divided by 2500? I see point collecting as a travel bank because it is not free. It’s figuring out if its worth it after all the fees, time, travel. So far, I say Yes, but like I said, I need math help. Thanks in advance!
I know what you mean. I have a “$125 Rule”. If a strategy does not earn me at least $125 an hour, it’s not worth doing. $500 spending is 25,000 Citi ThankYou points. This is worth $250 towards airfare (5 cents per point) or $333 if you have the Citi ThankYou Premier card (6.66 cents) as well. Subtract from that $39.50 in fees.
It’s easier to think of how much you’re making per trip to CVS. If you spend $1000 at CVS each time you go there, this will get you $50 in airfare (or $66 if you have the Premier card as well) and subtract from that $7.90 for the fees. So $42 or $58 for each trip to CVS. Depending on how long it takes to visit CVS, it’s up to you whether a trip is worth it for $42 or $58, depending on which card you have.
Thanks. That was so helpful!
I tried to purchase a VR with a Citi AA cc at a CVS in Waukegan IL on June 13 2013. It wouldn’t go through. The cashier asked the manager, who said that VR’s can not be purchased with a cc.
What am I doing wrong?
Unfortunately, not all CVS locations accept credit cards for these anymore. You sometimes have to check a few; I haven’t been able to find any in NYC that do, for example, but had no problems using credit cards for them in the DC area.
After reading the posts on the benefit from loading up with Vanilla cards yesterday I signed up for the Amex Bluebird card. I stopped by a CVS store in Fort Lauderdale Florida this morning to make a purchase. The cards were available but the signage was more than explicit CASH ONLY for all reload cards etc. Deciding to play dumb, I took 2 over to a cashier along with some miscellaneous items. She rang up the other $17 worth of goodies and then we got to the cards. “These are cash only” she says to me with a smile. My next stop is at a 7-11 to see what I can find there.
Good luck with the 7-Eleven. Unfortunately, finding locations that take credit cards can be a bit of a task.
Any idea if they are still offering the 5x bonus at local branches? There are no local branches by me, so I would have to fly somewhere… and I don’t want to waste my time if they are not offering it anymore.
I haven’t checked since the end of May. But my parents are about to apply in the next month or two at their local branch and I can update. You can also try calling potential bank branches and see if they have the offer. I certainly would not fly somewhere without knowing first whether you can get the offer :)
Just tried one branch and they didn’t have this offer…
They seem to be disappearing, from what I’ve heard. I will post once I heard any news.
Any news lately on the availability of the 5x citi TY offer?