Best Point Earning Credit Cards

Citi Stepping Up With Category Bonuses

Citi
Written by Charlie

Once you receive a credit card and have earned the sign-up bonus, it becomes all about which card will give you the most miles or points for your purchases. For many of us, there are several cards that have a permanent/semi-permanent spot in our drawers as they do not do that much for us with the earning. Whenever we see movement by a card issuer with category bonuses, it is always a good thing, and Citi is doing that.

Citi Stepping Up With Category Bonuses

E-mails went out this week from Citi regarding category bonuses. The e-mails do have targeted links for enrolling for the category bonuses, so make sure you check your e-mail for these notices! Those who wish to participate must enroll in the offer to get the bonuses.

3X AAdvantage Miles

Citi

This bonus is for my AAdvantage Platinum Select card and offers 3 miles per dollar on all purchases at these categories:

  • Grocery Stores
  • Gas Stations
  • Drugstores
  • Restaurants
  • Commuter Transportation Locations

This category bonus is limited to only 2,500 miles from spending (so, $833 in actual spending), but it is still better than nothing! That spending must be done by March 31, 2015 and the card must be enrolled by February 28, 2015. To find the e-mail in your inbox, try searching for Earn 3X American Airlines to find the e-mail.

The fact that you must spend $833 by the end of March to get the maximum bonus miles is that it is not that hard to do. Most grocery stores carry gift cards so you can just buy gift cards to use in the future or at other locations to nail your spending. Quick and easy!

5X ThankYou Points

Citi

The other offer in my e-mail is for my Citi ThankYou Preferred card and is for earning 5X ThankYou points. The bonus is for the following categories:

  • Clothing Stores
  • Electronics and Computer Stores
  • Toy Stores
  • Department Stores

This category bonus is also limited to 2,500 points, which in this case translates to $500 in spending. This spending must also be done by March 31, 2015 and the card must be enrolled for the offer by February 28, 2015. To find the e-mail in your inbox, try searching for Earn 5X ThankYou Points.

The fact that this is for electronic and computer stores makes the $500 spending too easy. I can buy that much (and flip it) in one visit without trying too hard. So, if you are interested in this offer, check out for good deals at those locations as wel.

Summary

While neither of these offers are huge game changers, it is nice to see Citi extending some category bonuses. Hopefully, we will see more consistent category bonuses that will make it more worthwhile to use the Citi AA cards, because for AA miles, the best card to use is really the SPG Amex card!

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About the author

Charlie

Charlie has been an avid traveler and runner for many years. He has run in marathons around the world for less than it would cost to travel to the next town - all as a result of collecting and using miles and points. Over the years, he has flown hundreds of thousands of miles and collected millions of miles and points.
Now he uses this experience and knowledge to help others through Running with Miles.

4 Comments

  • The small print says “Earnings associated with this program will equal 2 AAdvantage® bonus mile(s) per $1 spent on eligible purchases and may overlap with other special offers in which you are currently enrolled. AAdvantage® miles earned with this offer are subject to a maximum of 2,500 AAdvantage® bonus miles.”

    My interpretation is that you could spend up to $1250 instead of $833.

  • So, I’m a little confused. At the top of the e-mail I have little icons like you do with pictures of a monitor (electronics & computer stores), what looks like a shopping bag (??), what looks like a suitcase (travel?) and clothes on a coat hanger (clothing stores). However, further down the page it says:

    Use your Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World MasterCard® to earn 3 AAdvantage® miles through 03/31/15 for eligible puchases¹ you make:

    and then it shows a shopping trolley and says “Online”.

    I’m wondering why the wording seems different from the icons at the top for mine, whereas the offer you’re getting seems to be about the icons at the top of the page. Any idea?

    I also wonder if the “earn up to 2500” applies to just the bonus (the additional 2x to get to 3x), so for $1250 spend?

  • It’s for $1250 in spending. I have received similar offers from Citi in the past and wound up getting 2500 bonus miles (as a separate line item on my Aadvantage statement) on top of the 1250 for regular spend.