Chase Sapphire Preferred Vs. Citi ThankYou Premier Card

Which is the best card?

Not much has changed on the best credit card landscape for June 2011. So instead of writing a new best credit card roundup post for June, I decided to put the two best current (and similar) offers head to head to see which is the better offer if you can only sign up for one.

If you can sign up for both of these two credit card applications, you’ll end up with over $1,165 worth of airfare (after subtracting the Citi annual fee) or $875 worth of gift cards.

However, not everyone can meet the minimum spend on both cards so…

Citi ThankYou Premier Credit Card Vs. Chase Sapphire Preferred

Here are the key points with the Citi Premier card:

• Limited time offer through June 30th, 2011. Expired.
• Get a  50,000 point sign up bonus (previous offer was 20,000 points).  Now 25,000 points can translate into $250 worth of gift cards or $332.50 worth of airfare (not hotels or car rentals) if booked through the ThankYou Travel Center.
• After approval, you need to spend $2,000 in 3 months to get the bonus.
• Earn 1 point per dollar spent.
• No foreign currency exchange fees.
• Annual fee of $125 not waived.

You can get more details here.

Here are the key points for the Sapphire Preferred card:

• Get a 40,000 point sign up bonus. The 40,000 points can translate into $400 worth of gift cards or $500 worth of travel (including airfare, hotel, or car rentals) if booked through the Ultimate Rewards booking site.
• After approval, you need to spend $3,000 in 3 months to get the bonus.
• Earn 1 point per dollar spent.
• No foreign currency exchange fees.
• Annual fee of $95 is waived.

You can get more details here.

Key Considerations When Comparing the Two Cards:

1. The after annual fee value. With the Sapphire Preferred card, you’ll end up with $400 worth of gift cards or $500 worth of travel.  With the Citi Premier card, you’ll end up with $250 worth of gift cards or $332.50 worth of airfare.
2. The frequency of Chase promotions. Chase has had (and I suspect will have) a string of really good promotions.  In the last year, these include two Southwest round trip flights, 50,000 continental miles, and 100,000 British Airways miles.  What this means for consumers is that they are also more likely to have another promotion.  While you can have more than two Chase cards, you do need to spread out your applications.  I suggest waiting over 30 days to get your second Chase card and over 90 days for getting your third Chase card.  If you’ve had too many recent Chase applications then, of course, you should lean towards the Premier card.
3. Flights, hotels, or cars. As you can see from point number one, if you want points for hotels or cars you’ll get a lot more value ($250) out of the Sapphire Preferred card.
4. Limited time offer. The Citi card is a limited time offer that expires on June 30th (expired).  Chase recently increased the Sapphire Preferred bonus to 40,000 but has not indicated if it is here to stay or will be reduced back to 25,000.  If you plan to do both, it seems like you should do the Citi promotion first and then the Sapphire Preferred card.

For now, the Chase Sapphire Preferred card will remain on the top of the best current credit card offer list.  However, in second place is the Citi ThankYou Premier Card.

To get the Sapphire Preferred card, click here.

To get the Citi ThankYou Premier card, click here.

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