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I was eating a burrito at an obvious Chipotle knockoff in Bogota, Colombia (Sipote, it’s awesome), and when I moved my tray, I noticed I had been sitting at a Citi ThankYou Points sponsored table.
Generally we Americans have by far the best credit card and frequent-flyer-mile-earning options, but ThankYou Points and Membership Rewards are offered to people around the world.
The program here in Colombia looks remarkably similar to what Citi offers Americans.
First, I can clearly see the Citi ThankYou® Premier Card on the table, which was actually the card I bought my dinner with to earn 3x ThankYou Points on dining with no foreign transaction fees.
My Review of the Citi ThankYou® Premier Rewards Card
Second Citi offers Colombians “puntos de bienvenida” (sign up bonus) and “por cada dólar facturado” (for each dollar spent. Yes, it actually says “dollar.”) That’s the same as we get, though I doubt they have a 50,000 point bonus on the Citi ThankYou® Premier Card.
Third, Colombians have the same redemption options we do, including using their points to get things from the “catologo global en linea” (global online catalog, don’t do it, Colombians!) or “transferencias…a programas de lealtad de hoteles y aerolineas.”
In fact, here’s the rundown on the nine airlines and one hotel to which you can transfer ThankYou Points. Here are the best awards you can book with Flying Blue and Singapore Airlines, the best transfer partners.
How often do you see similar credit card offers around the world? Are the bonuses ever as good as we get?
We just traveled from the states to Bahamas and Turks back to the states. We used our Cit Executive Advantage at check in with our bags. (this is the card with the $495 annual fee). Imagine my surprise when I got my bill and was charged $25 for each bag, each way. When I called I was told that my card only gets me free baggage on DOMESTIC flights. The agent told me when I got my card in April it wasn’t an issue because American still gave free bags internationally. But now American has changed its policy and this change hasn’t been addressed with our very expensive Annual Fee mastercard. Can you help? (I’m unable to use the lounge benefits as much as needed to justify the costs so is there another card I should switch to that will get me free bags on American no matter where I travel?)
No, there’s no way I can help. If you complain enough, they might just give you a statement credit or points to placate you.