What is the value of the points from the Signature card now? I got it from the fee free for life promo., back then you got 2 points per dollar spent and exchanging for obscure gift cards like Bunnings. You would come with a value of 0.7% return.
Now points needed to buy $100 gift card has gone up from about 13,000 to 21,000. Also you only get two points at supermarkets and some other stores. Some places don't even have points. It's becoming confusing.
What about converting to Velocity points and then selling those points? Standard rate is 2 Reward points = 1 Velocity point. And going by the forums, 1 Velocity points = 1.0 - 1.3? cents/point.
So even worst case if you do sell it at 1 CPP, you'd still get 0.005 dollars per point which is slightly better than giftcards, albeit more troublesome.
The best case is wait until they have 20%-30% bonus points from velocity and sell it at 1.2 CPP, then you can potentially get 0.078 dollars per point.
Is the Qantas program for $49 better?
It's free through many ways. Search here for past deals.
@TarquinOliverNimrod: no I mean you can move from citi signature program to Qantas signature program for $49. Needs to be done by phone I think
@grasstown: What's the earn rate on Qantas signature program? If it's $2 = 1 QFF then it's not better than converting to Velocity points
@grasstown: Is that converting existing points, or converting the card for earning on future spend?
Edit: Details here for future spend: https://www.citibank.com.au/aus/credit_cards/cards_signature…
@Domingo: converting the card for future spend. You have to empty you existing points as they get wiped on converting . I think it is same as the link you posted above. But as it's free for life (other than $49 each year), best to check it's the same
Awesome, wasn't sure what the airline point options were, this looks good! Although transferring to Qantas FF points would be good if possible as per grasstown's comment.
That is why many have ditched the Citi Signature card, including myself.
If you need to spend $21000 , earning 1 point per dollar (most common), to get a $100 gift card, then the return is 0.47% per dollar spent. There should be better options around.
Curious to know what you are currently using that gives a better return
Flybuys is an easy one, with minimum 1% per dollar spent if you get a coles mastercard and shop at coles
If you got Citibank Signature card in the "free for life" deal, then it is pointless ditching it.
OK, the earn rate for points is pretty rubbish, but most earn rates on c/cards are rubbish, especially the zero annual fee ones.
There are some good reasons for keeping the CB Signature, which are the free travel insurance, the free purchase protection insurance and perhaps best of all, the additional (up to 12 months) warranty period when you buy stuff. Example, a washing machine with 2 year warranty then has 3 year warranty if you use Citibank card to buy.
More on that here
Perhaps the best reason to keep the card?
For a lot of Ozbargainers it was free - so that alone is a good reason to avoid cutting it up.
As above, plus Priority pass. For chasing points, look elsewhere. Currently Westpac.
As above, and above, plus the travel insurance only needs to be for the outbound flight.
Yeah I agree the value of use has decreased a lot since first getting it. Wont cut it up since it's free though. I find myself using the Coles Mastercard more because of the price protection (grandfathered policy before they changed it) and Flybuys points has better dollar return if you shop at Coles. I transferred CB points to Velocity and am still searching for a card with a decent earn rate for Velocity. There's the basic red Amex Velocity card that's free, but no other free options for Visa/MC.
Does anyone know if the earn rate of this Citibank Signature card is better or worse than the Bank of Melb Amplify Visa card?
I'm on the same promo and going through this myself at the moment - currently the most straightforward options seem to be:
You can also convert to airline points (Singapore, Emirates, Virgin), or book travel which might be okay as well. I'm leaning towards the Coles cards at the moment as the most efficient points per dollar option, unless the travel options turn out to be good.
They really annoyed me recently cancelling my card and then sending the replacement to an old residential address against my instructions, so I'm looking at no longer using it and just keeping it for the priority pass membership.