Earlier this month, a Chase Sapphire $500 bonus was rolled out on their Preferred Card. This week, Citi is fighting back by offering a bonus on the Citi ThankYou Premier Card worth between $500-$665. This limited time promotion is very similar to the Chase Sapphire offer, though there are some notable distinctions worth exploring.

Both the Citi Thank You Premier and Chase Sapphire cards award 50,000 points to new applicants. With the Sapphire card, consumers need to spend $3,000 within three months to qualify for the bonus points. With the Citi ThankYou Premier Card, only $2,000 needs to be spent within three months, making this bonus easier to obtain for consumers who might not spend $1,000 a month and could be tempted to overspend in order to reach the higher spending requirement.

Apart from this spending requirement difference, the value of these points differ slightly when they are redeemed for airfare. With the Chase Sapphire card, the value of the 50,000 bonus points increases by 25% to $625 when travel is booked through Chase’s travel site. With the Citi ThankYou card, the 50,000 bonus is worth an extra 33%, or $665, when these points are used at Citi’s ThankYou travel center. You can compare these offers below:

There is a slight difference in the way rewards are earned with these cards. With Citi ThankYou Premier, consumers earn 1.2 points on every dollar spent at gas stations, supermarkets, drugstores, as well as on buses, railroads, subways and commuter parking lots. All other purchases earn 1 point. When it comes time to redeem, cardholders get a 33% point bonus when they use their ThankYou rewards to book travel in the Citi ThankYou travel center.

With Chase Sapphire, cardholders earn 1 point for every dollar spent and double points when they book travel through Chase’s Ultimate Rewards website. At the end of the year, cardholders get a 7% bonus point dividend on all points earned during that period.

Citi ThankYou Premier and Chase Sapphire Preferred are remarkably similar and the bonuses being offered on these products are extraordinarily good. As travel reward cards, they lag behind the Capital One Venture card in terms of overall earning potential, as consumers earn 2% for every dollar spent with that card. However, the massive sign up bonuses these cards offer are double what is offered on the Venture card and just about any other card out there.

Thus, consumers willing to pay an annual fee can make out handsomely with either offer, while those who want a lucrative bonus, but would prefer a no annual fee card may benefit more with the recently released Chase Freedom $200 bonus offer.

 

 

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