Capitalizing on Citi Premier Changes for Disney World Redemptions
Many of you have read about last week’s changes to the Citi Premier card. Perhaps some of you are still making sense of the good and bad news – I know I still am! Historically, my primary use of Citi ThankYou Points has been for Walt Disney World redemptions. I plan to continue doing so, at least for the next year. I am tweaking my earning and redemption strategies, though. While I am centering the discussion on Disney World redemptions, please understand that what I describe will apply to most travel redemptions via the online Citi ThankYou portal and, specifically, Cruises and Tours Department bookings. Let’s talk about it!
RELATED: My Game Plan For Maxing Out The Citi Rewards+ This Year
Refresher: Citi Premier Changes
Here are the primary Citi Premier changes DDG described which affect ThankYou point earning and redemptions. First, the good news:
- Earn 3X ThankYou points on every $1 spent at supermarkets and restaurants (including takeout).
Now, sit down for the bad news:
- Starting August 23, 2020 for new cardmembers and April 10, 2021 for existing cardmembers, the 3X ThankYou point benefit on all other travel such as cruises, toll, and parking and 2X ThankYou point benefit on entertainment will change to 1X ThankYou points on other travel and 1X ThankYou points on entertainment, respectively.
- In addition, as of April 10, 2021, points redeemed for airfare, hotels, cruises, and car rentals through the ThankYou Travel Center will no longer receive 25% more value as compared to gift cards. (Emphasis mine.)
My Initial Thoughts on the Citi Premier Changes
I first considered these changes to render the Premier useless to my family for redemptions long-term. Due to our current travel style, I have no need to redeem ThankYou points with Citi’s air partners. And without the 25% increased value for portal bookings which the Premier has provided, I can get comparable or better values out of cash back mechanisms with the Discover it Miles, Amex Blue Business Plus, and Chase Freedom/Ink Cash cards.
After a bit more thought, I considered the news not to be as bad as it could have been. Here are the bright spots:
- I have about one more year to book ThankYou point-subsidized trips with 25% more value. Citi could have instituted a much nearer-term deadline.
- I still have the ability to transfer to solid partners for air travel. I need to look closer at this option, considering that I could get outsized value here when Disney redemptions aren’t as lucrative.
- Citi did not change the excellent 1:1 ratio of Double Cash to ThankYou point transfers.
- Starting August 23, 2020, I will have over seven months to accrue 3x ThankYou points at grocery stores and redeem with 25% more value.
ThankYou Point Earning
As I mentioned in a previous Disney redemption article, I value Citi ThankYou points at ~1.38 cents each when I take into account the 25% elevated value the Premier provides and the 10% points back feature of the Citi Rewards+. From now until August 23, 2020, I will continue earning 3x at gas stations by using the Premier for gift card purchases. Also, I am refocusing spend on my Citi Double Cash cards that I was previously putting on flat 2% cash back cards.
Effective August 23, 2020, I will heavily focus grocery spend on the Premier. Based on Citi’s announcement last week, there’s no cap to earning on grocery spend. As great as the 4x on the Amex Gold is at grocery stores, this is capped at $25,000 annually. Citi Premier grocery spend effectively will become worth ~4.1% for Disney World redemptions. Premier will automatically become my primary card for grocery spend if/when my Amex Gold 4x grocery capacity disappears. Of course, I will continue my Citi Rewards+ 2020 earning strategy, as well.
An artifact of these Citi changes is that we are reassessing my wife’s second year with the Premier. We had originally considered a product change if she got no retention offer, but now there is more incentive for her to keep her Premier account with the latest changes. Stay tuned for an update on how her retention call goes!
ThankYou Point Redemptions
I continue to fine-tune my exact redemption strategy from its previous version. But I do plan to follow the general ThankYou point redemption I laid out for Disney World tickets and also resorts. Rather than cashing out Citi Double Cash rewards, I’m planning to transfer those rewards to ThankYou points just before redeeming with the Cruises and Tours Department.
Also, one area I plan to focus more is redeeming at least 100,000 ThankYou points in both 2020 and 2021 to ensure I maximize the 10,000 points back feature of the Citi Rewards+ for each calendar year. If I have any remaining ThankYou points just prior to the April 10, 2021 deadline, I plan to make speculative Disney World bookings which are refundable. Worst case, I can cancel these bookings and have the points refunded to my ThankYou account, but they will be valued at the post-April 10, 2021 rate.
The Great Beyond
Over the next year or so, I need to better assess the Premier’s viability in my credit card portfolio. What solid redemptions are there for our family beyond Disney World? Do we truly want to redeem that way, or would I be rationalizing continued investment in ThankYou points? Will there be other options and developments in Citi’s credit card products over the next year? So much can happen between now and then, but I need to refocus my efforts to find more niche value for ThankYou points sooner rather than later.
Citi Premier Changes – Final Thoughts
The Citi Premier changes may be leading to a long-term devaluation for my situation, but short-term options have improved! For the next year, I will be focusing on ThankYou point earning and redemption. Beyond April 2021, there are more questions than answers regarding ThankYou point utility for my family. But discovering those answers is one of the fun parts of this hobby! What’s your take on the Citi Premier changes? What are your near- and long-term plans for your Citi ThankYou points?
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Nobody seems to be mentioning earning on TRAINS. If Planes are going to still be 3X, I would think Trains as well. Any knowledge on this?