Redeemed $450 in credit card rewards

[ShawnaC123]

Finally got around to redeeming my Citi Thank You points. I got them in the form of checks to pay on my student loans.

My question is this: They sent me two checks for some reason, totaling to the $450 amount. Should it be okay to send them to Sallie Mae both in one envelope or should I do them separately?


Also last month I redeemed $100 from Discover and $50 from HSBC (now Capital One) to help pay off a 0% balance transfer I had on one of my cards that had an expiring promo. This is why I like to save up my rewards. So when something comes up I have a little extra cushion to help me out. Usually I redeem Discover for gift cards to American Eagle, which is where about 80% of my clothes come from. They offer a $50 gift card for $40 rewards cash. So I kind of lost out on $20 redeeming the cash from Discover, but in this case I think it's worth it since I don't really need any clothes for awhile.

[neatdesign]

Finally got around to redeeming my Citi Thank You points. I got them in the form of checks to pay on my student loans.

My question is this: They sent me two checks for some reason, totaling to the $450 amount. Should it be okay to send them to Sallie Mae both in one envelope or should I do them separately?

I realize this isn't exactly the same, but when I worked at a credit card company we always advised customers to send ONE check. It's too easy for the checks to be separated, leading one to be lost and/or applied to the wrong account.

If you're not able to deposit these rewards checks into your own bank account first and then write a single check to Sallie Mae, then you should probably mail the checks separately, each including a copy of the statement stub.

[disneysteve]

My question is this: They sent me two checks for some reason, totaling to the $450 amount. Should it be okay to send them to Sallie Mae both in one envelope or should I do them separately?

I wouldn't do either. I would deposit the checks into your account and then write your own personal check to Sallie Mae.

[ShawnaC123]

I wouldn't do either. I would deposit the checks into your account and then write your own personal check to Sallie Mae.

I wish I could, but they will only mail you a check already made out to your student loan servicing company. I think to prevent people from just keeping the money for themselves, since Thank You points cost more to redeem as a check made out to you or a statement credit. I'm just glad they even give me the option to get a student loan check because it allows my Citi Forward card to actually function as a 5% back card in the entertainment categories. If you redeem as a statement credit/check then you have to spend 2 points to get 1 cent, leaving it as only a 2.5% card. Your other option would be to redeem for one of the gift card options that gives you 1 cent for 1 point.

[ShawnaC123]

I realize this isn't exactly the same, but when I worked at a credit card company we always advised customers to send ONE check. It's too easy for the checks to be separated, leading one to be lost and/or applied to the wrong account.

If you're not able to deposit these rewards checks into your own bank account first and then write a single check to Sallie Mae, then you should probably mail the checks separately, each including a copy of the statement stub.

Thanks for the advice. I don't get statements so I don't actually have a statement stub to send them so it would just be the checks with the account number written on them anyway. I think I will go ahead and mail them in separate envelopes, cause it seems like it would be a hassle, if not impossible to get Citi to reissue them if one got lost.

[neatdesign]

I wish I could, but they will only mail you a check already made out to your student loan servicing company.

In that case, you should mail in each check separately -- and be sure to include a copy of the statement stub with each check to help ensure that they will be properly applied to your loan account.

[disneysteve]

I wish I could, but they will only mail you a check already made out to your student loan servicing company.

That's neat. I didn't realize there was a rewards credit card specifically to earn cash back towards your student loans.

[ShawnaC123]

That's neat. I didn't realize there was a rewards credit card specifically to earn cash back towards your student loans.

You can get a check to pay your mortgage as well, if that's more to your liking.

[cardtrick]

I just redeemed my Citi points too. I tried on a pair of Ray Bans this weekend and absolutely loved them. I don't wear sunglasses because they don't look good on me and they're not comfortable. The pair I tried on were absolutely amazing. $220 + tax at the store. Found them for $140 at Amazon so I bought 2 pairs with my rewards points.