Review: Digital Camera Rewards by Citibank's Thank You Network rewards

Citibank's Thank You Network (formerly Thank You Merchants) rewards program features 18 digital cameras that you can redeem your earned points for. So are they a good deal? Let's take a look!

Samsung S630, 14500 points

Olympus FE115, 20400 points

Sony S650 (I think), 22600

Fuji A820, 23900

Philips 7" digital photo frame, 28500

Casio EX-Z1000 (10mp), 32500

Canon SD1000, 32700

Samsung S8x0 (8mp, 3x, 2.5" LCD) 32900

Sony W55 (model name not mentioned, my guess based on specs, 7mp, 3x, 2.5" LCD, LiIon, 58mb internal memory), 36300

Canon A550 + photo printer bundle, 36600

Samsung NV3, 36800

Casio EX-Z (not sure, maybe 1050?), 10mp, 3x, 2.6" wide LCD, 37900

Nikon L5, 39300

Panasonic FZ-8 (according to the picture), 41500

Fuji E900, 45600

Canon EOS Rebel XT (350D) 8.0 MP Digital SLR Kit with 18-55 EF-S lens, 113100.

Canon® 10MP EOS Digital Rebel XTi (400D) with 18-55 EF-S lens, 167300

Nikon D80 with 18-135 lens, 167300

Analysis: So how do you evaluate these as rewards options? One way is to compare them to the other available rewards offered by Thank You Network. For example, with 10,000 points you can get $100 gift card at a number of major electronic stores such as Circuit City, Best Buy, J&R, Staples. To make it an apples and oranges comparison, convert the points for each camera to dollars, by diving them by 100. So for example, the Nikon D80 with 18-135 lens will cost you the equivalent of $1673 in equivalent J&R World gift cards. This camera is now available at J&R for around $1150. Of course you do have to factor in shipping & handing and sales tax if you purchase from J&R, Best Buy, Circuit City, etc, instead of taking the reward. The camera rewards are shipped free and no sales tax is collected from them. But as it is shown in this case, there is a big difference.

Another way to look it however, is that the rewards are earned at the 1% and 5% level. So a camera that is worth 15000 points is the equivalent of $30 (if you only buy 5% reward items) instead of $150 if you use the flat 1% cashback rate most other credit cards offer. This is not the most financially-savvy choice but it's the more fun! You get an actual camera in your hands as a reward, instead of a gift card.

The logical decision is to compare the camera price in points (divide by 100) with the prices at your favorite retailers (eg Best Buy, J&R, Circuit City, Office Depot, etc). Do factor in the cost of shipping and handling and sales tax in each case. S&H will be more important in cheaper cameras, sales tax will be a bigger factor for more expensive cameras. And the logical choice is to go with the lower cost in points :)

The fun decision is to forget about the math, and just pick up the camera you want from the list. Not the most prudent use of points, but you still come out ahead if you compare them to the 1% flat rate of most other credit card rewards program. Take the Samsung S630 for example. It costs 14500 points ($145 equivalent). Most retailers sell it for $100. If you use the card for only 5% items, then the equivalent price compared to a flat-rate 1% card is $29. So you are getting this camera at the equivalent of $29 in cashback bonus from a generic credit card. If you have a balance of 1% and 5% purchases, it averages to 3%. So you are getting a $100 camera for the 1% equivalent of $50. Still good!