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Note: This deal is now expired.
Amazon has been extremely generous with its credit card promotions over the last year, with discounts currently available for American Express, Chase and Discover card holders. But just for Amazon Prime Day this year — which is officially underway — Citibank card holders who earn ThankYou points can also potentially join the bandwagon.
Now through June 22, Amazon shoppers with targeted Citi ThankYou credit cards can get $20 off their Amazon purchases of $50 or more when they pay for a portion of their purchase with ThankYou points.
Just as with the Amex, Chase and Discover discounts, not everyone will be eligible for this promotion, and there are several steps you’ll need to follow to find out if you’re targeted — and then to use the discount if you are. But we’ve put it all into a step-by-step guide to make it easier to save money on your next Amazon purchase.
Step 1: Determine if you have an eligible Citi credit card
Citi issues many different credit cards, but for this promotion, you need a card that specifically earns ThankYou points, which are most often used for travel, but can be redeemed in other ways as well. One of those alternate redemption options is Amazon’s “Shop With Points” tool, which allows you to pay for your purchases at Amazon with ThankYou points instead of cash.
There are several Citi credit cards that earn ThankYou points, including the Citi Premier? Card and the Citi Prestige? Card. But those cards come with annual fees, so if you don’t already have a Citi ThankYou card, you might want to consider the Citi Rewards+? Card, which has no annual fee and earns 2 points for every dollar you spend at supermarkets and gas stations up to $6,000 a year (then 1 point thereafter), and 1 point on all other purchases.
The Citi Rewards+ card also automatically rounds up to the nearest 10 points on everything you buy, so it’s a great choice for small purchases. And for new card holders, the Citi Rewards+ also currently comes with a sign-up bonus of 20,000 ThankYou points after you spend $1,000 on purchases in the first three months after opening the account. And, for a limited time, you’ll also earn 5 points per dollar spent at restaurants, up to $6,000 in the first 12 months (then 1 point thereafter).
Related: Read CNN Underscored’s review of the Citi Rewards+ card.
Step 2: Enroll your Citi ThankYou card in Amazon’s Shop With Points
In order to be able to use ThankYou points to pay for your Amazon purchases (and to use this $20 discount if you’re targeted for it), you’ll need to enroll your Citi ThankYou credit card in the Shop With Points program. You can enroll by clicking on this link, or by choosing “Shop With Points” under the “Your Account” tab at Amazon’s website.
You’ll also need to add your Citi credit card as a payment method at Amazon (if you don’t have it as one already) in order to link it to the Shop With Points tool.
Step 3: Check if you’re targeted for the $20 discount
Once your Citi ThankYou card is linked to Amazon’s Shop With Points, click on this link to see if you’re eligible for the $20 discount. If you are, you’ll see the offer appear along with a “Click to activate” button. Make sure you click the button to save the offer to your account.
If, on the other hand, you see a message that says “Thank you for your interest in this offer. Unfortunately, you are not eligible for this invitation-only offer” then it means you’re not currently targeted for this particular promotion.
However, these promotions appear regularly on Amazon, so make sure you keep your Citi ThankYou card enrolled in Shop With Points so that you can potentially be targeted the next time an offer comes down the road.
Step 4: Add items to your Amazon cart
If you got the offer, you can start shopping at Amazon as you normally would, though you must put your items in the Amazon cart rather than buying through the “1-Click” option.
Also, only items sold by Amazon itself are eligible for the discount — products from third-party sellers won’t get $20 off. That means you’ll want to look for items marked “sold by Amazon.com” or “sold by Amazon Digital Services LLC” on the product detail page to be sure they qualify.
Step 5: Use at least one Citi ThankYou point to pay at checkout
When you’re ready to pay for the items in your cart, you need to do two things. First, you need to select your Citi ThankYou credit card as your payment method. And then, you also need to apply Citi ThankYou points to pay for at least part of your purchase in order for the discount to appear.
If you want, you can use ThankYou points to pay for your entire purchase, but that might not be the best choice. Citi ThankYou points are only worth 0.8 cents each when you use them to pay at Amazon, but when you redeem them for travel, you can get a lot more out of them.
In fact, frequent flyer website The Points Guy values Citi ThankYou Rewards at 1.7 cents apiece because of the value you can get for them from travel, so you’re getting less than half of that when you redeem them at Amazon instead.
However, you don’t need to redeem ThankYou points for your entire Amazon purchase in order to trigger the $20 discount. In fact, you can apply just 1 point and pay for the rest with your Citi ThankYou card, and you’ll still get the discount on all the eligible items in your cart.
In order to use 1 point, enter “$0.01” in the box where it says “Apply Citi ThankYou Points.” You’ll see both the discount and the redeemed point reflected in your order totals on the right side of the checkout screen.
$20 off retailer gift cards too
While the $20 discount doesn’t apply to Amazon gift cards, it does apply to many other third-party retailer gift cards that Amazon sells. And Amazon literally has hundreds of options, including retailers that might be useful right now such as Netflix, DoorDash, Safeway and more.
So even if you don’t have anything you need at Amazon at the moment, you can buy a gift card for yourself using the discount and bank the savings for later.
What should you do if you’re not targeted?
If you’re not targeted for this particular Citibank credit card promotion, similar offers re-surface throughout the year, so there’s a chance you’ll be able to receive savings at some point. Also, if you have an American Express, Chase or Discover card, you can see if you’re eligible for similar promotions that Amazon is currently running for those card holders.
And if you don’t have any of these credit cards, make sure you check out our guide to be sure you’re at least using the best credit card for your Amazon purchases, even if you can’t get any discounts right now.
With Amazon being a go-to shopping site right now, this promotion is the perfect way to save money if you’re eligible. So make sure you take a look if you’re a Citibank credit card holder, and if you’re targeted, get your $20 discount when you buy from Amazon today!
Check out our list of all the Amazon Prime Day 2021 deals to add to your cart now.
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