Citi is currently offering a promotion that will allow you to redeem 10% less ThankYou Points for gift cards from 13 different brands. Sounds like a great deal, right? Well, for some it might. Before cashing any points, though, it's best to ask oneself a question: Is this a good use of points?

The sale will continue until 31st October 2026. How it works, what the math is, and those who should (and shouldn't) benefit.

How the Sale Works

You'll be able to redeem 10% fewer Citi ThankYou Points for gift cards from 13 brands until October 31, 2026. That's a smaller list than before, as the promotion had 22 different brands, which was cut by 9.

Log in to your ThankYou Points account, and under the redemptions menu, select Gift Cards to find the sale. One could also directly navigate to the sale page on the ThankYou site. Then, search for the sale sign on brands that qualify. Citi also filters the list so that you will only see the brands on sale, cutting down on the amount of scrolling you do!

Note that Citi has gift cards from numerous brands, 13 of which are discounted. Always check the sale tag, don't assume that your favorite retailer is on the list. Just doing a preliminary check prior to any purchase can prevent you from disappointment.

The offer is available to all credit card holders who earn ThankYou Points on their cards, so they need not have a premium card or have any special requirements to participate. That allows you to try, even if you have a basic card in the Citi lineup.

A real life example with MGM Resorts

MGM Resorts gift cards are included in the deal. Each point is valued at 1 cent towards gift cards, which is the standard value. The price is lowered 10% during the promotion.

• $25 Gift Card: 2500 points at normal price, 2,250 points during the sale.
• Ten thousand points are required normally, 9,000 during the sale, for a $100 gift card.

Gift cards are also available in different denominations and the 10% discount is available for the brands with a sale tag. The savings are obvious when you're considering purchasing a gift card from one of these brands anyway. You have 1,000 points remaining in your account that you would not get if you were playing a $100 card.

Does This Deal Make Sense?

The tale takes a turn here. This is just over 1.11 cents per point, based on redeeming 2,250 points for $25. That's good enough by itself, but is far less than the average Citi point, valued at 1.6 cents per point.

In other words, it makes gift cards slightly less evil than they already are.It's making gift cards a bit less evil, after all. You still aren't getting the most value out of the best redemptions Citi offers. While this may seem like a huge number, it only raises the gift card price from 1 cent to just over 1.1 cents per point, which is still significantly lower than the average.

What causes the value gap?

ThankYou Points are far from the best thing to use, as gift cards are just one of the many options. There are numerous ways to redeem your points. Along with gift cards, you can use points to make online purchases, and you can even redeem points. But the most beneficial is to know about and use Citi's transfer partners.

It requires more effort to understand how transfers operate but the value that they can add is not to be underestimated. Hundreds or thousands of dollars can be spent on a flight, so redeeming them for a flight is worth thousands of times as much as redeeming them for gift cards during this sale.

Think about it this way. After a few minutes of orientation with one or two transfer partners, it's possible to get the same collection of points for a ride that would have cost a lot in cash. Gift cards, on the other hand, can only ever bring back about 10% of their original point value.

There are a number of instances when this promotion may be worthwhile to you:

• You're at the top of the mountain with an abundance of points that aren't ready for travel.
• You're at the top of the mountain with all sorts of points that aren't ready for travel.
• You have already planned for travel in the coming year.
• You were going to purchase gift cards from one of the brands you qualified for anyway

If they all apply to you, the 10% discount is an appropriate means to extend the balance. Otherwise, you'll probably spend more points a different way. The challenge is not to purchase gift cards that are on sale but that are not needed. Discounts are only a good deal if you were going to buy the product anyway.

Questions to ask Before Redemption

Always quickly review a list of items in your head before purchasing a point. But do you really need to get a gift card from one of the 13 brands? Maybe those points could be used for a portion of a journey rather? Will you score more points for some more in the near future or will that not matter?

If your answer is yes to the first question and no to the second, then it could be a good sale. If in doubt, hang on to your points. Promotions this good will come along in the future, so there's really no need to make hasty choices that you may regret.

The Bottom Line

Citi is offering a sale until October 31, 2026, where you would get 10% less ThankYou Points when redeeming for gift cards from 13 different brands. An interesting promotion can make sense for those who have a big points balance and no immediate travel plans.

But for the majority of people it's not the most savvy point allocation to make. Save points for transfer partners and travel redemptions as they provide significantly more value and use gift cards for last resort. Do note that if you do choose to take advantage of the sale, only buy what you'll use, and be sure to use your brand's sale tags before October 31.