The current sign-up bonus end date of July 9 (today)
The conversion of the Sears variant of the card to a ThankYou card a few months ago
… it’s easy to draw a conclusion that the writing is likely on the wall and the card will be pulled for new applicants shortly. My normal advice is to not apply for credit cards on blogger’s timelines, but this might be an exception. If you want the card, I think there’s a decent chance that you need to apply for it today. (Thanks to Derthsidious)
The Citi Shop Your Way Rewards Mastercard card was an overlooked value machine for years, and it was the first MEAB Unsung Hero card too. I think churners know the card’s value machine status now though, so proselytizing at this point is passé.
But, questions often come up around the card, so let’s answer ’em like a boss:
[Q] When do I start getting offers? [A] Usually 3-5 months after getting the card
[Q] What’s the offer cadence? [A] Citi sends offers on the 1st and the 15th of each month via email, and sometimes earlier via snail-mail
[Q] What’s the sign-up bonus? [A] I dunno, but it’s crap, and it’s always been crap – that’s not why we get the card
[Q] How long until the sign-up bonus posts after hitting spend? [A] Forever, it probably won’t post (unless you’re really lucky or you bug Citi)
[Q] When do semi-monthly spend offers post? [A] For points usually within a week. For statement credits, either (a) a few weeks after the statement close, or (b) the middle of the next month depending on the offer
[Q] Can I have multiple Shop Your Way Rewards cards? [A] Historically yes, but now now (since about mid-2023)
[Q] What counts as an online purchase? [A] ymmv, but: some floosie things, your online utility payments, and probably whatever counts on the AT&T Access More card which would also be an Unsung Hero if you could still get it
[Q] Can I product change to this card? [A] No
[Q] Can I switch to the ThankYou Points version of this card? [A] Not since 2021
[Q] What’s the best redemption of Shop Your Way Rewards points? [A] Almost always Visa gift cards
[Q] What’s an unknown feature of the card? [A] It has special payment-fu, and lacks the Big Bank Energy™ that Citi’s known for
[Q] How do I get a credit line increase? [A] They award them automatically on most card anniversaries
[Q] I don’t see any offers in the ‘Offers’ tab on the account dashboard [A] That’s not a question, but sounds about right for this card. Don’t worry, no one else sees their offers either
[Q] What’s this card’s annual expectation value? [A] Almost as much as a maxed American Express Resy Platinum sign-up bonus
Good luck, and Happy #CitiGonnaCiti day.
[Bonus Q] In the year 2025, I get this message while trying to log into the card’s dashboard, what’s up? [A] #CitiGonnaCiti
I finally got a kick in the pants to write this post after Rocky emailed and asked why I keep talking about the Citi Shop Your Way Rewards card but haven’t ever posted any real information about it. Why haven’t I posted anything when I clearly love the card? Well, I guarantee you don’t want to know what’s going on inside my head at any given moment, so let’s skip the why and jump into the what. The what:
This no-annual fee card will pay you $700 or more a year, seemingly in perpetuity.
I think it’s obvious to about everyone in the known universe that if you could choose to earn ThankYou Points or Shop Your Way Rewards, you’d choose ThankYou Points. Unfortunately, the only way to get the ThankYou Point version of the card is to call in and ask to convert your Shop Your Way Rewards earning to a ThankYou Point earning version, but I haven’t heard of anyone having any success doing that since 2020. So, if you’re like me, you’re probably going to be stuck with the Shop Your Way Rewards version.
What do you do with Shop Your Way Rewards? You can redeem ten of them for a penny toward merchandise like toilet paper, iPads, or neoprene dumbbells at shopyourway.com, or you can cash them out for a gift card to resell. I definitely do the latter.
Value
Here’s why this card is really valuable: After you’ve had the card for two to three months and it’s been sock-drawered, you’ll start getting spending offers in your email inbox and those offers stack. And unlike everything else about Citi and Sears IT, they post automatically every-time. For example, I have the following spend offers all running concurrently and all from within the last 30 days:
$70 statement credit after spending $2,000 anywhere
10x points at Best Buy (lol) and home improvement stores up to $1,250 in spend
10% back in statement credits on utilities every month through January 2022 (min spend $400, max earn $50 per month)
All of these offers obviously pair really well together. For simplicity, I’ll buy 3x$500 BestBuy gift cards at BestBuy for resale and send a $500 “utility payment”. After those two transactions I’ll earn $120 in statement credits plus another $125 worth of Shop Your Way Rewards points, all from a no-annual fee card.
And while not all months have offers stack as nicely as this month, it happens a lot. A lot.
MS Hint: This card is like other Citi Mastercards in many ways, but it does a few things better than other Citi cards too so don’t forget to probe.
ZOMG Wha??
Circling back to the introduction: this no-annual fee card will pay you $700 or more a year through targeted spend offers. Why? The rumor I’ve heard is that the Sears Shop Your Way Rewards card is one of the most valuable cards in Citi’s portfolio because it’s typically held by older generations that grew up with Sears, and those cardholders typically carry a monthly balance which earns Citi plenty in interest and fees so they want to encourage more spending and bigger balances. The story sounds truthy, but I have no independent confirmation so let’s just call it a likely possibility.
How come you haven’t heard of this card before? Well I’m sure the main reason is Sears, though I don’t think it pays a commission to affiliates so there’s not a financial incentive to write about it. Finally, the Shop Your Way Rewards program isn’t exactly on-par with AAdvantage or Hyatt, so there’s that.
(Special thanks to Garth for introducing the card to me.)
What’s going on in my mind at any given moment: trying to get one of these stupid wheels to turn.
Chase had a few other categories that weren’t mentioning to, but clearly I do want to mention that I didn’t mention them.
Do this now (if you have a Chase United card): Check for targeted spend offers. Most are an extra 2x, 2.5x, or 3x up for between $2,000 and $10,000 in spend.
– A Kate Spade churner shopping spree (buying miles at 0.4 cents each is a steal; and oh yeah, you get a bag too) – A quick examination of Kate Spade return policies – Some happy P1 and P2 Kate Spade fans – Sadness, when the portals actually tracked at 2x-4x
If you’re stuck holding both the literal and metaphorical bag, I’d suggest first opening a case with the portal, but know that it probably won’t go anywhere. Next, I’d reach out to Kate Spade directly, which also probably won’t go anywhere. Finally, either consider whether the miles are worth your time to pursue even further, or just return your purchase. If you want to chat with others about the issue, I’ve created a Telegram group for discussion, it’s open to all churners but meant to be specific to this issue, not a long lived general room.
The Citi ThankYou Mastercard, which has been nominated as a MEAB Unsung Hero but is still stuck in committee, sent year long spend bonuses for the third year in a row. We saw:
– $160 back on $2,000 spend at gas, grocery, or dining (monthly) – $150 back on $1,500 spend at gas, grocery or dining (monthly) – $120 back on $1,200 spend at gas, grocery or dining (monthly) – 5% back on up to $1,600 spend at lots of places with lots of merchant codes (monthly)
A few notes: $160 * 12 months = $1,920, and you also earn ThankYou points. Also, unfortunately no you can’t apply for this card. (Thanks to Matt M, Michael, and K)
– Business: Orlando, Montreal, St. Martin – Premium Economy: Chicago, Seattle, and Mexico City – Economy: New York, Houston, Miami, Atlanta, and Las Vegas
There are business class opportunities in my spot checks on some of the economy and premium economy cities too, but they’re sparse.
Happy Monday!
Pictured: The MEAB Unsung Hero committee in deep deliberation.
MEABNOTE: I’ll be going on a blogging vacation at the end of the year and there won’t be any daily posts between December 15 and December 31, at least none from me. We may have guest posts during that period, but that depends on you sending me some. On January 1(ish), we’ll celebrate with the 2025 version of Travel Hacking as Told by GIFs (also, jifs is wrong way to pronounce that word – also known as the Bonvoy way).
They mention transfer partners like SAS Eurobonus, British Airways, FlyingBlue, Accor and Radisson, but transfer ratios and mechanics are currently unknown. Also the “Max” tier’s card comes in either rose gold or bro’s gold (aka rose gold), your choice. The T&Cs exclude lots of things from earning, but… (Thanks to C-MontgomeryChurns)
The Citi AAdvantage Executive Mastercard has a heightened sign-up bonus of 100,000 AAdvantage miles after $10,000 spend in three months. The card’s main utility after its sign-up bonus is in AA lounge membership for the card holder and its modest loyalty point boosts. You can also add up to three authorized user cards with their own AA lounge access for $175 total. I suggest you don’t add up how many cheese cubes you need to eat to offset the annual fee though.
There was a glorious time in the mid-2010s where you could apply for 12 of these cards back-to-back, get approved for all of them, hit all the spend, get the bonuses, and then close the card before the annual fee hit. Those games are long gone though, at least with Citi.
There are a few short lied airline shopping portal bonuses:
SoFi accounts are churnable and Swagbucks has a referral bonus so use another player or a friend’s referral link.
The Citi ThankYou Mastercard, the card issued to replace Citi Shop Your Way Mastercards, sent out targeted offers over the weekend, continuing in its predecessor’s path:
– $75 off of $750+ in online spend through December 14 – $100 off of $1,000+ in online spend through December 14
You can’t currently apply for this card as far as I can tell, but there is hidden code on the dashboard with an application link. It’s probably vestigial, but there’s a 🤏 chance that you’ll be able to apply in the future.
American Express now requires social security numbers at application time for personal authorized user cards. I confirmed the news on my accounts, but I can tell you that they’re still not once in a lifetime. Also, business employee cards are still “same as it ever was, same as it ever was, … water dissolving, and water removing” though (sorry about the ear-worm).
Articles were everywhere because it was great content-monster food, but I’ll try and keep it as short as possible here so you don’t waste your time elsewhere:
Hilton added a new Diamond Reserve tier that requires $18,000 of qualifying spend at Hilton properties with 40 stays or 80 nights, there’s currently no other way into it. They also lowered the requirements for other tiers slightly, but credit card jockeys need not care. The benefits for the Diamond Reserve tier are lukewarm at best (automatic 4PM late checkout, a suite upgrade certificate, a concierge, and premium club access at the ~10 properties that offer it.)
The Citi Shop Your Way Rewards card sent out beginning of month offers via snail mail and email over the last week. Each offer is valid once a month for September, October, and November, and some have bonuses for getting all three months’ bonuses:
– $25 monthly credit on $750 monthly, and a bonus $50 for hitting all three – $40 monthly credit with five $75+ transactions monthly – $50 monthly credit on $1,500 monthly, and a bonus $50 for hitting all three
Yes, these stack with both of last month’s offers. No, this card isn’t available for new applications any more, sorry. (Thanks to birt, Jared, and K)
American Express has new online for adding new employee cards, limit five per primary card:
– Reduced earning on tickets booked in September (LATAM) or September – December (Singapore) for travel through December 31 through any channel – No new Singapore award bookings starting on October 1, ditto with LATAM – No points earning unless tickets are booked directly via Alaska starting in 2026 for Singapore – No points earning regardless of booking channel on LATAM starting October 1
This was bound to happen when Alaska joined oneworld, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t sting.
– 1,500 Bonvoy points and 1,000 United MileagePlus miles for a stay after August 31 – 500 United MileagePlus miles per stay at Marriott properties – 750 Bonvoy points per United flight
Afterward for masochists, consider how many United flights you’d have to take to earn a free night at a Marriott Courtyard.
– $125 statement credit with $750+ spend or $200 statement credit with $1,500+ spend monthly in gas, grocery, or restaurants through December – $100 statement credit with $500+ spend or $150 statement credit with $1,000+ spend in monthly in gas, grocery, or restaurants through December
Those who didn’t have that type of offer seem to already have a prior monthly version. (Thanks to Peter, bktran, TeddyH, and K).
The Sapphire Reserve business card only has charities as an option, and only at 1.25 cents per point. At least you still can buy a $50 Lululemon gift card for free twice a year I guess, which works out approximately 0.63 pants per year.
– Business Gold: 90,000 SkyMiles after $6,000 spend in six months, waived annual fee – Business Platinum: 100,000 SkyMiles after $8,000 spend in six months – Business Reserve : 110,000 SkyMiles after $12,000 spend in six months
The personal cards still have regular lifetime language in their offer terms.
