Citi ThankYou Preferred: Decent for a year, unremarkable after

The Citi ThankYou Preferred card is a basic no annual fee rewards credit card. You earn a base of 1 point for every $1 you spend, and can use the points for airfare, gift cards, and other options — usually with a value of $0.01 for every point — so 100 points = $1. This is like most basic reward credit cards, but unremarkable.

5x points in first year on select categories worth consideration

The ThankYou Preferred does offer you a special bonus of 5x points per dollar on all gas station, supermarket, and drug store purchases for the first year you use the card. This makes it a solid no annual fee choice for the first year, but afterward we have trouble recommending it above more powerful choices like the Chase Sapphire Preferred or Capital One Venture Rewards. Citi also offers a higher end Citi ThankYou Premier, but we find the earning power to be unremarkable as well.

Features

• $150 gift card – When you redeem the 15,000 bonus ThankYou® Points received after $1,000 in purchases within 3 months of account opening.
• Earn 5 ThankYou^® Points for every $1 you spend on gas station, supermarket, and drug store purchases during the first 12 months; 1 point for every $1 you spend thereafter
• No annual fee
• Bonus of 1-3% of your annual earned points each anniversary of your card membership