I found out about this awesome card in June and applied for it in July. It’s really a great card. Sure, I enjoyed the $225 cash signup bonus after spending $1500, but that’s just one part of it.
Here are some of the special offers I’ve received in the last four months:
In September, spend $1000 online in 30 days for a $50 statement credit
In October, spend $1000 online in 30 days for 200k points (which I used for a $200 Visa gift card)
In November, I just got another offer for a $75 statement credit after spending $1000 online in 30 days
For October, November, and December, spend $1000 or $2000 on groceries, gas, or restaurants each month to get $150 or $250 statement credit each month
For November, December, and January, each month, earn 10% statement credit (up to $40) on a minimum $350 utility spend
For November and December, earn 10% statement credit (up to $100) on travel spending
I believe I can meet all of these offers, planning on doing about $1000 of my spending at grocery stores for Amazon or Target gift cards.
Totaling it up, besides the signup bonus and regular points (around 1.5 to 2% on average), these offers add to $1320 for a $12000 spend, giving me an extra 11% cashback.
I really hope Citi keeps sending me these offers in the future and that they remain easy to achieve like the current ones.
Brennan said:
I think this card is managed by someone who doesn’t have anyone above them in the company, and none of the higher-ups at Citi know it still exists
I think it’s more likely they get a lot of people to overspend, especially with the interest rates over 30%. You have to consider how many people don’t really think things through.
@Cherlie
I’ve had the card for three months and haven’t received any offers. What do I need to do to start getting these offers? Should I keep using it for grocery, gas, and restaurant purchases, or not use it at all? I have other cards that give me the same or better rewards in these categories, and I’m unsure how long to keep using this card sub-optimally.
@Oakes
Just give it some time. It took me about six months from getting the card to see any offers start. I opened mine in October, and the offers began in March. You might want to keep the card stored away until the offers start appearing.
The Citi Sears MasterCard was just as amazing, and they offered a version that provided ThankYou Points instead of Shop Your Way points. The benefit of ThankYou Points is that you could transfer them to other ThankYou cards.
Last year wasn’t great, and I’m curious if the deals are cut back now that Sears and Kmart are pretty much gone. For a while, I was getting regular offers for 15-20% off at grocery stores, gas stations, and restaurants. Since grocery stores were included, it was easy to use manufactured spending to maximize the offer.
I don’t think they offer that card anymore, but those who have it can still use it.
@Tracy
Yeah, that card hasn’t been available for years. If that card has had fewer offers, it’s probably just because it’s an older card that isn’t being offered anymore, instead of being due to Sears/Kmart’s status. The Shop Your Way card is still great, and if anything, the offers this year have been better than the last three years. There are tons of stacking offers. Just recently, I received:
$100 credit for a $1000 or $200 credit for $2000 spent in grocery, gas, or restaurants
250,000 points ($250) for spending over $1000 online
150,000 points ($150) for spending over $1500 on anything
10% back on all entertainment and travel, up to a maximum of $100 in credits, with no minimum spend required
I primarily use this card for groceries (even at Walmart in-store I get 3%), gas, and dining. My spouse and I have made this our everyday card. It just works for us. We use the points to buy gift cards for Christmas. I can’t believe how great it is.
I really enjoy this post! Welcome to the Shop Your Way fan club!
I was just calculating how much I saved on my last online grocery pickup, and I ended up with a fantastic 46% plus a $50 credit as total cashback!!
— 1% base points (I’ve spent over $10k on groceries this year)
— 10% cashback on groceries
— 25% bonus points on online spending
— 10% bonus points on all spending
— $50 bonus credit for the 5th $75+ transaction
EDIT: I found on DoC that they do indeed stack. That’s amazing!
Yes! As long as the purchase meets the offer requirements, they stack! That’s why the online spend promo and the grocery, gas, and restaurant promo are great when combined for things like grocery pickup or ordering food online through services like DoorDash or pizza delivery.
The offers I shared aren’t even all I have going right now; they’re just the ones the online grocery orders qualify for. I also have 10% off travel and entertainment, plus 10% off utilities. The online spend offer and the bonus points for all spending and the $50 bonus credit stack with those offers as well.
*The online spend offer may not always trigger for utilities, but I can still get the benefits without issue.
Alby said:
Are you making enough money to regularly spend $1k online each month? Or is it mostly manufactured spending?
Not the person who posted this, but we live in an area with high costs and spend about $800 a month on groceries. We can pick up groceries online without any extra charge, so we can take advantage of both the grocery cashback offer and the online spend offer, giving us a total of 35% back. We also spend more to hit the $1000 online spend every month with purchases from Chewy and other product subscriptions, plus various online shopping.