Citi Driver’s Edge Credit Card

I’ve read lots of rave reviews about Citi Driver’s Edge Platinum Select card but never really gave it serious thought because of the restriction that you must spend the money on auto related charges. Then I saw that they’re now offering 6%, highest I’ve seen, on purchases at gas stations and grocery stores for 12 months ($600 cap, instead of $500), after which it drops down to a standard 1%. I’ve aggregated some of the thoughts other bloggers have had on it and wanted to get your opinion as well.

One of the pluses of owning a Citi card is that they offer you their Credit Protector Program, which, for diligent folks, means an easy $15 or so. I was able to get $250 in benefits for myself and my girlfriend in the form of two $100 gas certificates and five $10 giftcards. One thing to realize is that this is a pullback from their once almighty 5% off everything, as many of noted, but it’s still good. So to recap, they used to be 5% everything, then 5% groceries and gas, and then now 6% groceries and gas for a year.

It sounds like the redemption program for this card is pretty hassle-free. While the best is to get a check in the mail, Five Cent Nickel’s experience of simply faxing a receipt worked wonders. For 6% back on skyrocketing gas prices, I’ll fax in a receipt for car service for 6%. Finally, one thing I didn’t see on the offer but Nickel did mention was a program in which you get points for driving. He says that all you do is register a car, send in periodic service notices (oil changes) where your mileage is noted, and you get a point per 100 miles. I don’t know if this applies to this card but it sounds pretty sweet.

If nothing else, this card also offers a 0% Balance Transfer for 12 months (though that pretty standard nowadays too).

Citi has some of the most generous credit card offers out there and they’re usually very good about paying out. You won’t get the run around or have to jump through hoops, as Nickel explains in his posts. With rising gas prices, I think this 6% card is solid but I’m hesitant in that it’s only active for a year when there are 5% cash back cards (without the faxing in of a form) available where the cash back percentage is high (> 1%) indefinitely. Thoughts? Criticisms?