Today, Citi rolled out a number of changes to the Citi ThankYou Premier Card, including an improved signup bonus, lower annual fee and changes to its rewards categories. On the whole, the changes represent a significant upgrade from the previous offer.

What has changed?
Under the prior offer, you earned 20,000 points after spending $2,000 in your first 3 months, then an additional 30,000 points after spending another $3,000 within the first 3 months of your second year of cardmembership. So, while the total bonus was 50,000 points, you couldn’t even earn most of it until the second year, and had to pay the annual fee at least once.

Under the new offer, you’ll earn 50,000 bonus points after spending just $3,000 within the first 3 months of opening your account. That means that not only will you get your points sooner, but you’re also required to spend less to get them.

The annual fee has also been decreased from $125/year to $95/year. Both the old and current offers waive the annual fee for the first year.

As for the reward category changes, the card now earns 3x ThankYou points on travel, including gas. In addition to airfare, hotel and travel agency purchases–which were previously included–the new 3x points travel category has also been expanded to include car rental agencies, gas stations, commuter transportation, taxi/limousine service, passenger railways, cruise lines, bridges and tolls, parking lots/garages, campgrounds and trailer parks, timeshares, bus lines, motor home and recreational vehicle rental, and boat leases and boat rentals.

On the downside, restaurant and entertainment expenses, which previously earned 3 ThankYou points per dollar spent, now earn 2 ThankYou points per dollar. All other purchases continue to earn 1 point per dollar.

Other features of the card remain unchanged–including no foreign transaction fees on purchases and the ability to transfer points to a variety of travel loyalty programs.

What are 50,000 ThankYou points worth?
50,000 points can be redeemed for $500 in gift cards or $625 in airfare when you take advantage of the 25% redemption bonus using the Citi ThankYou travel portal. With a little ingenuity, it is also possible to convert 50,000 points into $500 in cash by using the mortgage payment or student loan rebate options. (See this post for details.)

Churners should note, however, that you are not eligible to earn the ThankYou points bonus if you have had a Citi ThankYou Premier card opened or closed in the past 18 months.

For more information or to apply for the card, see the following link:
Citi ThankYou Premier Card