If you live in or near New York, CitiGold checking account is awesome

[tenant13]

First of all, they now pay bonuses for opening the account. Starting from $200 for depositing 10k. To avoid fees you need 200k in combined checking, savings or investment accounts (it can be self-investing brokerage or IRA). And for opening an investment account you'll get 500. https://bankbonus.com/promotions/citibank/

But that's not what I like about it. There's a free access for two to major museums: https://citigold.citi.com/culturepass/. Free Citibike membership (https://citigold.citi.com/experiences/lifestyle.html). 200 credit that you can apply towards Amazon Prime, Costco, Global Entry/TSA, Spotify or Hulu. https://subscriptions.citi.com/ And access to Citi lounges - not the airport lounges, I'm not sure what they are tbh: https://citigoldlounges.citi.com/

It took 10 minutes to open the accounts online. A few days to transfer cash and equities. I love free stuff!

 

[njhowie]

But that's not what I like about it. There's a free access for two to major museums: https://citigold.citi.com/culturepass/.

BofA also gives a lot of free museums the first full weekend of every month for all BofA credit/debit cardholders. No special account or status required. Includes Intrepid in NYC - that ticket, non-discounted out of pocket is $36. Also includes Liberty Science Center in Jersey City, which is a $30 ticket. We went to LSC a few years ago and weren't impressed. Still, can't complain with free tickets.

https://about.bankofamerica.com/en/making-an-impact/museums-on-us-find-locations-map

 

[tenant13]

BofA also gives a lot of free museums the first full weekend of every month for all BofA credit/debit cardholders. No special account or status required. Includes Intrepid in NYC - that ticket, non-discounted out of pocket is $36. Also includes Liberty Science Center in Jersey City, which is a $30 ticket. We went to LSC a few years ago and weren't impressed. Still, can't complain with free tickets.

https://about.bankofamerica.com/en/making-an-impact/museums-on-us-find-locations-map

I’m more into art so pass on the LSC - which I think is geared towards kids - but I do have BofA KLM card and use for the The Met. Since I live in Jersey City it’s not free for me, like for real New Yorkers. But weekends are crazy there so it’s not that much fun. With CitiGold you can go to MoMA whenever you want, including members only Mondays.

 

[The Cosmic Avenger]

Does the card also give cash back? We got over $1,700 cash back over the past year from our Fidelity Visa. I'd prefer to get cash back and use that to pay for the things I want, generally, since it feels like perks are a way of disguising the actual value you're getting, and they make me feel like I'm being steered towards certain things I might not buy if they weren't free, even if I do use them. With cash back, it's dead simple to figure out. But maybe that's just me, I've always had a strong aversion to advertising and marketing.


EDIT: Note, I'm not saying it's a bad deal. I might buy a museum pass once I'm retired, as I'm only a 3 hour train ride/4 hour drive from NYC, and I will probably go to see my old friends at least 3-4 times a year. I just like to be able to compare the value between perks and cash back.

 

[tenant13]

Does the card also give cash back?

No, it does not. The perks you receive with CitiGold are unrelated to any spending - all they want is a balance of 200k kept at Citi. So you can keep using your Fidelity (or any cash back paying credit card).

 

[james7]

Thanks for the heads up. I also like freebies, but before I join such a program, I want to know exactly what my investment options are. Their freebies are nice, but if their CDs and money markets are paying less than what I am now getting, I would be better off keeping my money where it is and paying for those things out of my pocket.

From what I have been able to research, Citi's yield on CDs is lower than Fidelity and TRowe Price money markets. So I would be tying my money up to get a lower rate. Maybe Citigold clients get a higher rate?

 

[tenant13]

Thanks for the heads up. I also like freebies, but before I join such a program, I want to know exactly what my investment options are. Their freebies are nice, but if their CDs and money markets are paying less than what I am now getting, I would be better off keeping my money where it is and paying for those things out of my pocket.

Absolutely. It needs to make financial sense first. All I did was peeling off some equities from my brokerage account and moved them to Citi. Which I wanted to do anyway as a way of avoiding writing a will. I'll just split my accounts into chunks and assign beneficiaries to them.

 

[james7]

Sounds like you made a good move. I also don't like to keep all of my eggs in one basket. I don't have that much in equities right now, just CDs and money markets. Maybe I will do the same when I get rid of a couple of rental properties. I would assume that Citi also has free stock trading, in case you want to sell anything? There are still a few brokerages out there that still charge a fee for transactions.