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Frequent Sears shoppers have the option of getting a Sears Credit Card or a Reward Card like the Citi Diamond Preferred Rewards Card. Which is the better deal? We explore this issue in this article.
Summary - The Sears Credit Card is issued by Citibank and actually has a reward program (which includes travel rewards) and obviously the option to redeem reward points for Sears gift certificates. The reward program actually resembles the Citi Thank You Redemptions Network quite a bit. In fact, the Sears Rewards Choice Program is perhaps one of the best reward programs out there for a "retail store".
However, before you go out rushing to get your Sears credit card, you should also consider the Citi® Diamond Preferred® Rewards Card because it has a slightly reward program and also allows you to earn 5 points for every dollar you spend at standalone supermarkets, gas stations and drugstores. You can also exchange your reward points for Sear gift certificates. The Citi Diamond Preferred Rewards Card reward program is based on the Thank You Redemptions Network reward program.
We will now compare these two reward program side by side to help you make a better informed decision.
Sears Gift Certificate - First, let us look at how many points it requires to get a Sear gift certificate from both cards.
| Sears Choice Rewards |
Citi ThankYou Redemptions |
| Points |
Gift Card Value |
Points |
Gift Card Value |
| 2,500 |
$20 |
3,000 |
$25 |
| 5,000 |
$50 |
5,000 |
$50 |
| 10,000 |
$120 |
10,000 |
$100 |
| 15,000 |
$200 |
|
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| 25,000 |
$300 |
|
|
| 35,000 |
$500 |
|
|
| 50,000 |
$750 |
|
|
| 65,000 |
$1,000 |
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As you can see from the table above, the Sears Choice Rewards gives cardholders a lot more choices to redeem points for Sears Gift Card. In fact, the more points you use, the better "value" you get. The Citi ThankYou Redemptions Network only allows you to earn in 3 values.
However, the Citi Diamond Preferred Rewards Card allows you to earn 5 points for "everyday purchases" while the Sears Credit Card does not
The Sears credit card and the Sears Choice Rewards gives cardholders the better deal than the ThankYou Redemptions Network as far as Sears Gift Certificates goes. However, the Citi Diamond Preferred Rewards Card has one advantage over the Sears Credit Card, and that is that it allows you to earn 5 points for every dollar you spend at standalone supermarkets, gas stations and drugstores. The Sears credit card allows you to earn only one point for every dollar you spend on the card.
If you spend say $333 every month on groceries and gasoline (very realistic number which equals $4,000 a year), you will earn 20,000 points from those spending. Then is enough to get you a $200 Sears gift certificate with the Citi Diamond Preferred Rewards Card.
With the Sears credit card, you need to spend $15,000 on your card before you can get a $200 Sears gift certificate from the Sears Choice Rewards.
Which is the better card? - It really depends on your spending on groceries and gasoline. Though the Sear credit card and reward program gives you a better deal if you want to exchange points for Sears gift certificates, the Citi® Diamond Preferred® Rewards Card
allows you to earn 5 points when you spend on "everyday purchases" and this will result in having to use less points to get an equivalent dollar amount in gift certificates.
If you hardly charge your groceries or gasoline to your credit card, then the Sears Credit Card is probably the better choice. If you charge your grocery and gasoline expenses to your credit card, you are better off with the Citi® Diamond Preferred® Rewards Card .
Both the Sears Choice Rewards and the Thank You Redemptions Network have other travel and shopping rewards which you should compare if you do not just want to earn points and exchange them for Sears gift certificates only. The ThankYou Redemptions Network has probably more reward items and is slightly better reward program than the Sears Choice Rewards program.
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