| by Mr Credit Card |
Card holders of the Citi Mastercard have this “cash back” feature called the “Citi Extra Cash” program which is not really publicized by Citicards at all. Being the nosy chap that I am, I decided to do some investigation into this to find out what the fuzz is all about. Aiding me was a reader Eric, who has the card and emailed my screenshots inside the program page. I also had a half hour call with the folks at Extra Cash and so here is a look at this program. (Turns out this could be a gem for some).
Extra Cash is a reward program that is separate from Citi and only eligible presently for the Citi MasterCard. Once you are enrolled in the program, you can earn 10% rebates or 10 extra cash points for every dollar that you spend on your card. The reward points are good for two years.
How to redeem points? – The way you redeem your reward points for the extra cash program differs from from a regular reward program. For example, for travel, most reward program either allow you to exchange points for miles, use points for travel or you book your own travel and then you claim a statement credit using your points. For merchandise, you simply use the required points to redeem for a merchandise rewards.
For the Citi Extra Cash, it works differently. You cannot get a reward for free, but you can use your points to get a discount (some great, some not so good). These discounts could be on merchandises and gift cards.
Unique Rewards – There are a couple of unique rewards on the Extra Cash Program that is simply not on any other reward program. Firstly, the rewards for airline tickets are actually international airline tickets and flights. Hence, the reward program will give discounts on the airline tickets.
The Extra Cash program also has also a hotel program where they have many hotels as their partners. When I was on the phone with the Extra Cash representative, she said that they guaranteed the lowest hotel prices, even lower than if you booked directly with the hotel! I thought this was pretty unique. Unlike the airline rewards, most of the hotels are all US based.
Below are screen shots of the program.
Verdict – I find the Citi Extra Cash to be a unique reward program. But it is a little different from other programs is that you cannot use your points and get something for free. Instead you still have to spend money and you will get a discount. For example, I think this is a great program for gift cards.
Extra Cash also makes the promise that you will have the lowest hotel prices when you book with them. So for those who stay at hotels, this might be a good additional card to have.
Most folks who get the Citi MasterCard do so for its low rate, its’ 0% introductory APR and perhaps because they give you a separate number to use in place of your credit card number when you shop online. Most folks who have this card aren’t even aware of the Extra Cash Rewards because Citi does not make a lot of noise about it.
If you have this card, please make use of it. For those on the fence about the Citi MasterCard, this may be a reason to get it if you feel you could make use of the rewards in a meaningful way.
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December 13th, 2009 at 05:09
Glad to help out!
April 21st, 2010 at 16:18
It’s really a lame reward program. You never really want anything they have to sell anyway.
May 9th, 2010 at 09:14
It should be illegal for them to use the term “cash” because there is no way to get cash, just discounts on bad items. I’m gonna get a new credit card.
May 15th, 2010 at 21:22
I’ve never used it but was thinking of starting. They have a Staples gift card that I could get at a 10% discount. My plan was to buy a set of phones at Staples Starting Sunday there’s a rebate on the phone set I want but I put it off and don’t figure I’d get the card in time. It could save some money IF you plan ahead.
May 19th, 2010 at 09:28
This program sucks and does not do as advertised. I booked a 5 night stay at a hotel and later found out that i could have gotten it cheaper off of travelocity. it would have saved me over $150. Called the citi extra cash program and got the run around. ended up spending over 45 total minutes on hold, only to be told that they could not guarantee prices after booking, as prices fluctuate from season to season. I found out that there was a difference in price because it was a family reunion and my brother’s family stayed in the same hotel, getting the exact same suite for $150 cheaper for the duration. Poor explanation of policy on Citi’s site and they do not stand by their guarantee… Paid off my card and closed my account. Never again…
May 21st, 2010 at 13:15
This program is terrible – DO NOT get this card for this program. Every time they offer anything of any value (or anything anyone wants) they only offer a few of them and they become available at mid-day. This causes everyone to log in and crash their servers. In other words, they are bait and switch tactics… has anyone EVER gotten anything good from this program??
May 21st, 2010 at 13:36
That program is the worst cash back program I’ve ever seen. Today it said that at 1PM EST they will have Shell 25$ gift cards for 10$ so I went there at 1:05, seems like tons of traffic and I can’t even go there. By the time, I could login at 1:15 it said all sold out. Sorry, Citi now I’m not surprised why you are begging bill out from government. Full of crap, just so lame.
May 26th, 2010 at 13:49
I think the only thing that is worth anything on their site is the movie tickets and I might even be stretching that because AMC gives you discounts at the concession and you eventually earn free movie tickets. Okay, never mind, maybe getting the movie tickets from Citi is not such a deal after all, getting 20% off your popcorn from the theater it’s self is!!
July 2nd, 2010 at 09:52
This program is a scam. CAsh rewards are not allowed.
As to other rebates: I travel and use the web for purchases frequently so “comparison shopping” was easy. In virtually every case I found the prices fo goods and services inflated so that the “discounted” prices available through the “extra cash” program were in fact more then what could be obtained at the “regular price…..
Shame on you Citi
August 4th, 2010 at 23:58
I FREAKING HATE THIS PROGRAM. I WOULD CANCEL MY CARD IF IT WASN’T FOR THE FACT I HAVE ESTABLISHED MY BEST CREDIT HISTORY WITH THEM BECAUSE IT WAS THE FIRST CREDIT CARD I GOT AS A STUDENT IN HIGH SCHOOL. YOU USED TO GET NOTHING BUT AN ACTUAL CASH REBATE ON YOUR ANNIVERSARY DATE. NOW IT JUST SUCKS. HATE HATE HATE IT. THEY SELL OUT OF EVERYTHING THAT IS WORTH THE TIME AND I CAN GET BETTER DEALS ON GIFT CARDS ON SWAP SITES. WHAT A PIECE OF CRAP. I DEFINATLY TOOK THEIR SURVEY AND GAVE THEM A PIECE OF MY MIND. COME TO THINK OF IT MY DISCOVER CARD GIVES ME AN AWESOME REBATE PROGRAM AND IT IS ACTUAL CASH I CAN PUT TOWARDS MY BALANCE, GET A CHECK, OR SHOP THROUGH THEIR MERCHANTS. DISCOVER IS WHERE IT’S AT. DUMB CITI. I HATE YOU.
October 8th, 2010 at 08:45
Thanks for the review! We just signed up for this card last week and are just learning of the rewards program. I don’t know…it seems like getting 10% off gift cards would be a pretty nice reward considering that if you plan in advance (for birthdays and the holidays) you could essentially save 10% off most of your gift shopping. I’m a coupon shopper, so I would then use those cards in conjunction with sales, coupons and/or rebates to save even more. This assumes of course that you’re still in your 0% period or paying it off as you go. That’s actually a pretty nice reward if you ask me, and I don’t need to necessarily get something free, especially since they’re carrying us for 15 months at 0% anyway. 10% off as a discount is better than the 1% with most cards that takes forever to accumulate and actually use anyway.
October 12th, 2010 at 10:41
I know this might be minor to some people but it seems the only good thing about this progam is the 10% off gift cards. Well it irks me that you must pay a 60 cent shipping fee for each card. Does it really cost double to ship two cards? Come on, give me something. I wish I could transfer my points to another rewards program.
October 13th, 2010 at 21:41
Here’s the problem with their gift cards…they are very limited! No Wal Mart, no Target, no grocery stores, no gas stations etc. Mostly just department stores and crap restaurants like Friday’s.
October 17th, 2010 at 22:21
The rewards program sucks. The only thing i have only gotten from them is a few local hungry howies certificates (they are all right deals, but can only be used once each), i’m thinking about going with the payless shoes 10% off gift cards, but idk if its worth it…
October 28th, 2010 at 16:27
I agree with the other comments, Citi Extra Cash is by far, THE WORST REWARDS PROGRAM out there! Almost every discount they have available I could find somewhere else online without using any of my “cash” that I earned. Go with American Express Blue to get real cash back, or basically any other credit card with a rewards program, it has to be better than this!
October 28th, 2010 at 17:13
90% of the reviews it the nail right on the head. It is the worst reward program I have ever seen. I have over 1800 dollars (if you can call them that) and by the time I did a trip to Cancun I had
more $$ into it then I could have bought it out right for at a better
hotel, 5 star. I had to give them 500 of my citi dollars on top of it. Don’t laugh I know I got —- with out a kiss. Time to give up that card.
October 29th, 2010 at 00:07
The program is horrible as others have stated. Yes, you can add to a discount of something you were already planning to buy if they happen to have a gift card to a place you were already going to shop at, but that is rare. In the meantime you accumulate thousands of “dollars” that you will never be able to use up. You are also required to use your Citi card to make the “rewards” purchases which means you just break even or add more to the balance after completing your transaction. If you actually net usage, you barely make a dent. For example, if you get a $50 gift card, you use $5 of “extra cash” but you “earn” $4.50 (10% of the $45 you had to pay). I stopped charging anything to this card other than the occasional “rewards” purchase and I have over $1,000 in “cash”. I already planning on canceling the card soon, but even more so that I didn’t even get everything I ordered! I had to PAY for this stuff and now they’re not sending it to me? My order consisted of many items. They sent me one. The cheapest one. When I ask them about it, they tell me it already shipped and should arrive soon. They refuse to listen when I tell that yes, it already already, but with only ONE item. Sigh. The only reason I got this card in the first place was because at the time I need the year of 0% APR. The year is up and fortunately I don’t need to keep charging anything and can actually afford to get a few “rewards” but this has been anything but rewarding. It has been frustrating and has become infuriating. I’ll stick to the cards I already had that offer real cash. Goodbye Citi. You’ve lost another customer.
November 7th, 2010 at 09:38
It somewhat baffles me as to the level of hatred and vitriol permeating this discussion about Extra Cash. Yes, this is not a traditional cash-back program, but it never claimed to be. I got the Citi credit card in the first place because of the competitive APR and a good-standing relationship with Citi. Extra Cash was simply a welcome surprise that I found out about down the road. While some of the items are not particularly appealing value-wise, many of them are. The good certainly outweighs the bad by a large margin.
While some of the daily deals can sell out early, many of them are available for a reasonable number of hours. I got a nice heart-rate monitor ring for only $6 net, which never drops below $24 on Amazon. I also purchased a quality backpack fully loaded with brand name school supplies for $14 net. Even the regular items have some gems. There’s some excellent $.99 DVD titles, some of which are 2-disc collector’s editions. I was able to get an Azzaro Chrome men’s cologne gift set for $15 net. My wife spent over $40 for the exact same set at Macy’s the prior Christmas. Even shipping costs are reasonable and not a long-con. Free for some items, $.99 for others, never more than $4.99.
The real deals are on hotel rooms. I can’t say how many times the Extra Cash has made my day. When my wife and I saw 311 in concert in Orange County, CA, we were able to stay the night at a new hotel less than 5 minutes from the venue in a large suite with a kitchen. The net price from Extra-Cash was only $55. I tried endlessly to duplicate this deal either direct or through one of the many travel sites and no one could touch the Extra Cash price. As an added bonus, sometimes you can secure a room through Extra Cash when everyone else is “sold out”.
Anyways, just wanted to interject a sense of civility in this thread before it devolved further.
November 23rd, 2010 at 13:51
Extra cash is misleading and largely useless. 1) It is not that you get cash back. Instead you can use the amount to make purchases on their website and most of the time, you can use your extra cash to pay 5-10% of the price. For most of items, you can save more if you do price comparison from other websites. 2) I had multiple problems in printing the coupons. It says it is going to print it but never does so. And, it immediately takes away money from my account. But, I am not sad. The money is just useless. 3) Customer service is horrible. They know nothing.
December 5th, 2010 at 16:37
This is the worst program that I’ve ever seen. I have been a Citicards member for over 10 years and this program convinced me to leave Citicards. It’s essentially a legal scam – you can’t really get any good deals and you have to purchase stupid things with your points to actually use them. You can’t “cash out” any points for real cash. This is a terrible card and a terrible program — if you’re thinking of signing up for this card, don’t do it. There are hundreds of other cards that have reward programs that actually have rewards that you can use. I spend thousands of dollars a month on my credit card — now thanks to Citicards Extra Cash, I have no rewards to show for it.
December 6th, 2010 at 17:44
I had no idea what this was and I’ve had this card for 4 years. Turns out I have over $5800 worth of “Extra Cash.” I was shaking I was so excited to get over $5k!
Turns out, it will take a lifetime to spend it all. $5 here, $10 there. Everything is overpriced junk that Citi gives you a big discount on. Marked up to be marked down. Typical BS.
I just went thru the site for 2 hours trying to figure out a way to spend this reward. NOTHING!!! For instance, Omaha Steaks was $10 cheaper on the Omaha Steak site for the same deal on the Extra Cash site.
This is useless. I have a great APR which is the only reason I keep the card.
$5800 would have been nice. Instead I get $5800 worth of coupons.
December 30th, 2010 at 15:46
For “Haters Gotta Hate” who posted on November 7th, 2010 at 09:38:
Are you serious?
The Extra Cash from Citi Program is a complete joke! If you think otherwise, you must work for the Extra Cash from Citi Program.
January 7th, 2011 at 20:05
Worst yet…your “extra cash” expired every two years and I have given up “cashing” the points. Same reason as one of the posters that I am keeping the card because it’s the first credit card since college.
January 23rd, 2011 at 15:05
Citi has the worst customer service, worst product offerings and the highest fees in the business. I have had cards form them for years and this “rewards” program (which they likely actually profit from” is just another of their scams to dupe customers into spending more with them and get less. I refuse to do business with Citi for the rest of my life and will instruct my children to avoid them as well.
American Express has the best rewards cards, IMO
January 28th, 2011 at 17:46
Rewards are all crap”.” When you get discount its not worth it. Its vicious cycle you are entering into. Crappy people and crappier ideas.
February 2nd, 2011 at 15:58
citi thinks they can fool customers. As a result, they only fooled themselves. Look how many customers hate this program. Shame on you, citi! Time to bring some real deals on the table.
February 2nd, 2011 at 17:53
This is definitely the worst program out there. I only joined for the 0% APR for 12 months deal as I had a major purchase to make. Will be paying this off during month 12 and will not be using this card again, even miles programs are better than this and that is not saying much
February 10th, 2011 at 20:23
The rewards program is so stupid, it is unbelievable.
Nothing on the website is for a good price, even after you apply this idiotic “rewards” rebate. Sorry like hell I took a citi card. will hopefully discontinue soon, once I get approval for another card.
February 14th, 2011 at 18:21
This rewards program is a joke.
You can get 10 % off anywhere, if you ask for it.
February 15th, 2011 at 00:27
The only time I have used this program was to get a buy one get one free quesadilla from taco bell, and I had to fight them at taco bell to take the coupon hahahaha! I haven’t seen anything else on there worth getting, not to mention the site is one of the worst designed sites I have seen. Well I’ve spent 5 out of 800 of my ever-accumulating points, where do we go from here…
February 23rd, 2011 at 21:41
This is the worst rewards program. I’ve accumulated about 10K in “cash rewards” and there is nothing worth using it on. 10% off a bunch of frigging gift cards I don’t want and I know citi probably got for 15-20% off face value. You have to love a “rewards” program that tries to make money off its rewards. The travel section of the rewards site is just a freaking travel site without any discount. Taking my business to Amex.
February 23rd, 2011 at 21:45
Nobody wants the darn Omaha Steaks. Nobody has ever wanted them.
February 25th, 2011 at 04:38
The rewards are sooooo dumb. One had a get one museum entry for free after you buy one. One problem— I found it out that the museum no longer charges a fee to get in. Second problem… hotel prices are cheaper if you look online. Third, most of the good deals are in the afternoon and have limited stock. No cash rewards? why call it a citicash rewards card… so you have to keep spending. Only good things are magazines are cheap, but that’s only once a year- so I guess I will only be purchasing mags every year, and have all these left over balance. who needs the crap they sell
March 1st, 2011 at 16:28
I use it to get a discount NOW, not MONTHS later like i have to with my chase card.
But I’m also financially responsible and use my credit card wisely and pay off what I buy right away so i don’t get hit with interest charges.
I always check out their jewelery, giftcards, hotels and local offers. Sometimes the merchandise isn’t amazing but other times they have stuff that really are great deals.
The #1 thing I would have to say that makes the program worth it is the hotels.
I have to be in a hotel literally everyother weekend for school (iknow crazy right) and out of all of my classmates I always get the best rates, and usually get 2 nights for under $100 and the hotels are nice. I’ve been in my academic program for 2 1/2 years and i have saved hundreds booking my hotels through the extra cash program.
Hate all you want but I’m saving money using their rewards program.
March 29th, 2011 at 20:30
I will stop using all my Citi Cards. Why use them when all the other cards I have offer at least 1% cash back. I spent over $300,000 with the Citi cards this year, and had no idea they would pull this type of scam. They should be ashamed of themselves. My $30,000 Citi Cash is useless. I would need to spend $300,000 buying junk at retail price to use it LOL. They are stupid to think that the big spenders can be fooled.
April 20th, 2011 at 16:34
Embarrassing. When are we going to group together and file a joint action against Citi for flat out false advertising? How can they legally call it cash when it is anything but? Seriously, this is outrageous.
May 4th, 2011 at 04:18
So I was checking my online statement and found out that Citi offered this rewards program. When I checked it, I was excited to see that I had $1,725 (which is more than enough for a new MacBook Air). The website doesn’t even sell electronics, and even if they did, I can only get a 10% discount, which I can already get if I use the Apple’s student discount. This is a garbage program. Don’t waste your time with it.
May 12th, 2011 at 15:15
See comment from “Haters gotta Hate.” How much you want to bet they work for Citi?????
May 25th, 2011 at 15:13
This program is garbage. Not only are the deals terrible, but the points expire. I have had this card for 3 years and have never made a purchase. As others have said, travel deals are better on Expedia without even using points. Magazine deals better on random magazine sites, again with no points. This shouldn’t even classify as a “rewards program”, everything is marked up anyways so your reward is you use your points to get all prices of items back to what they are everywhere else. Pass on this one.
May 27th, 2011 at 00:45
Citi Reward program is pure hot garbage. I was so excited to see over 300 cash points when I logged on into the reward program website for the first time. Thinking that I could actually redeem 300 dollars worth of legitimate gift cards, I frantically searched for all the gift to buy and ultimately figured out that I had to buy these cards with my money when it asked me for my credit card information. I also fell for this trickery into buying crap that I wouldnt have ever considering buying. This is the worst program out there, an easy contender for the number one garbage program
July 24th, 2011 at 12:48
I just want to say that yes the program sucks but I was able to call in to citi and they chaged my card to a Thank you card and now I get thank you points you dont get as many points per daller but you can redeem them for gift cards and traval and not have to pay for any of it I am much happier so for thoses of you who have had this card forever you can keep you credit history and get a card that dose something for you. I got a thank you card but they also offered me a divadend card and it gives 1% cash back but has a cap of 300 per year so I would have met that way early in the year!
August 8th, 2011 at 20:21
this is the worse card ever. i have $1700 cash but unable to use them all. someone defending this card need to tell me how to use up all those cash reward. buying $100 gift card will only reduce that by $10. I have to buy 170 pieces of $100 gift card to reach that $1700. but that’s not the end. It costs $15300 to burn that $1700 extra cash. then $15300 will earn you more extra cash. buying Omaha steak at 50% discount is a rip off as well. I can go to omaha steak directly and get the same discount and point with my Amex card. I have 8000 points on my Amex card that I can use them all without costing me more money. closing this citi card now. junk card.
December 25th, 2011 at 19:29
This program it’s un insult to normal honest humain intelligence…I totally agree with your comments….Can get better deals yourself printing coupons and buying things online without waisting you time in log in sss. close that card if you have not balance. BIG SSS card.
December 27th, 2011 at 19:36
Revision to previous comment:
Coupons for several closed restaurants remain on the web site. I called the number on the coupon for a refund and was told I needed a UUID. I requested that from Extra Cash on 12/14, and haven’t heard from them. They say they reply within 3 business days.
December 28th, 2011 at 19:52
I normally do not post or join in on this kind of thing, but this has got to be the worst excuse for a rewards program I have ever witnessed. I agree with fran, “This program is an insult to normal honest human intelligence”. It would take you many years to even put a dent in using your so called “Extra Cash”. Many of the dining coupons are only good for 14 days, oh that makes a fine gift. A 5% or 10% discount on overpriced items really makes my day – how about you? My points can not expire soon enough.
January 12th, 2012 at 15:32
This program is AWFUL. No question. There are no advantages and as others have pointed out this is hardly a deal…you end up often paying more for hotels/rental cars than you do if you check out Expedia, Hotwire or Priceline. Also, you supposedly have all this Citi Cash, but it isn’t like you can apply it all to anything, so what is the point? LAME with ZERO “benefit.” Oh and want to book a flight, well, only if its international, nothing offered for domestic air. Even lamer.
January 12th, 2012 at 17:41
Like Rick, I normally don’t post to this kind of thing, but I wish I had been warned. This program is worse than awful. I have $1200 in my account and can never use it for anything. Every now and then I spend $5 to get 50% of my dry cleaning (with a $5 max- of course). Will absolutely never use this card again!!
January 24th, 2012 at 15:13
Unfortunately I have nothing but BAD things to say about Citi Cash. I am currently in a fight with the Destination Rewards Program over a credit that should be issued to me on a cancellation. What Destination Rewards (Citi Cash) does not inform you is that they use a third party to book your activities. Because Destination Rewards cannot get their money back from the third party, I then in turn cannot get my money back from Citi Cash. NO WHERE WAS IT STATED A THIRD PARTY WOULD BE INVOLVED.
I followed their cancellation agreement to a T and have been waiting one month for the credit. I have contacted the company at least five times. One time the representative told me it wasn’t her problem and I should contact the third party on my own! This third party company is not answering their telephone.
Today I talked with a supervisor from Citi Cash and she informed me that they have sent several emails to the third party with no response. I asked if they have tried calling and they too can not get anyone to answer the telephone.
I do not think it is right that I am stuck with a payment of $399.00 for a activity that was cancelled per the specification of the voucher. I also feel it is not my responsibility to be stuck with a bill for a company that made a poor decision in using this third party company.
Then to top it all off Citibank MasterCard told me there was nothing they could do to help me. They obviously do not stand behind their Citi Cash program either.
January 29th, 2012 at 21:22
The only thing worthwhile is the $50.00 WalMart and Target gift cards they offer for $25.00. Of course even if you are sitting at the computer at the moment they are offered the system crashs, so forget about ever scoring one.
Somebody is benefitting big time from this rip off but not the card holders.
Mariott rewards is a real deal card, that’s what I’m using now for everyday.
January 31st, 2012 at 22:13
I just wanted to thank all of you who have tried the Extra Cash Program and saved me the time of finding out for myself that you don’t get something for nothing. I was excited to see I was over $1000 bucks. What a bummer!!