Pre-order a PS3 for just $46,000
by Kyle Orland 
{ Oct 20th 2006 at 10:25AM }
No, the eBay markups haven't gotten completely out of control. The culprit behind the latest over-priced next-gen pre-order is Citibank, which is offering PS3s through their ThankYou network for just 46,000 reward points. With most CitiCards offering one reward point per dollar spent on the card, you're only a Cessna 172 Skyhawk away from earning a "free" pre-order of Sony's next-gen system. Citi hasn't forgotten the Sony-haters either -- an Xbox 360 is only 56,500 points, easily earnable by purchasing a small home in Idaho.A smart spender can earn bonus points by shopping at preffered merchants or banking at CitiBank, but getting enough points for a pre-order still requires thousands of dollars worth of transactions. It's enough to make those free PS3 pseudo-pyramid schemes look like a good deal.
(Thanks to Eric Hikade, who was apparently crazy enough to actually do this!)
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Lunker @ Oct 20th 2006 10:51AM
This ... is completely normal, and makes perfect sense. There are plenty of people who actually have reward points saved up in their accounts, you know.
I just got married, so I've got tens of thousands of reward points on my AmEx. I typically redeem them for gift cards to clothing stores and what-not, but if I could use it straight-up for a gaming system with no cash involved, I'd do it in a heartbeat.
If you haven't cashed in points in months or years, you'd easily have 46,000 points set up. Way to overreact, though.
Gizmondo_hater @ Oct 20th 2006 10:48AM
Maybe I'll just wait for the PS4
ShortFuse @ Oct 20th 2006 10:52AM
I think you're getting this wrong. I don't think points are equivalent to dollars. My AMEX Reward Points are each about half a cent. So 100,000 points is like $500
unimental @ Oct 20th 2006 10:55AM
Don't forget to pay off that Cessna (or house in Idaho)... the first month's interest payment will be a killer.
But in all seriousness, for folks who can pay down their credit balances each month, there's plenty of good reasons to use cards with some type of reward system.
Justin c @ Oct 20th 2006 11:03AM
this isnt such a scam. I have this same card, and use it for most of my monthly purchases. gas and food earn five points to the dollar, some specials earn as much as 12 points to the dollar. To me it sounds like a good deal to get a free ps3 for a year of ordinary purchases you would make anyhow. Just because most people use credit cards unwisely doesnt make this a scam. I easily earned 40000 points last year—without carrying a balance.
Matthew @ Oct 20th 2006 11:06AM
This is actually, a really good deal for Citi's "Thank You Rewards". Normally, they run $100 gift card / 10000 points, so if you used this same amount of points for Best Buy gift cards, a PS3 would cost you 50000 points at least. Normally, they upcharge dramatically for the items rather than just a gift card, as you can see with the XBox at 56500 points rather than just 40000 points for $400 worth in gift cards. 56500 points could net you $565 in Best Buy gift cards (assuming you had 60000 points), or if you actually only 56000 points you can get $550 of gift cards (6000 points / $50).
WTFmate? @ Oct 20th 2006 11:07AM
Joystiq sure can act stupid sometimes. This is the equivalent of stating that the toy that comes in a box of cereal cost three dollars. It was the cereal that cost the money, the toy was a FREE bonus. I would have to say no one is going out and buy stuff on a credit card to earn a PS3.
Pulse @ Oct 20th 2006 5:15PM
Ehy is it Joystiq made it sound as if another person was trying to rip us off? Its only when I read the article did I realise how different it was to the title they put up.
idesignit36 @ Oct 20th 2006 11:11AM
I have a citicard and use it religiously to pay for almost everything. To put this in the same conext as a scam is really poor "reporting". Credit cards are a means of extending...well, credit. As an incentive to promote the use of one card over another lenders offer reward points. Of course it takes a lot of points to purcahse items through them as they have to make money and they cannot do that by returning all the profits they make.
I pay on my card twice a month and always in full. You would be surprised how quickly you can rack up points and at the end of teh month I have a log of every transaction
nightwng2000 @ Oct 20th 2006 11:25AM
Pah! Now if Pogo ( www.pogo.com ) let you spend, say, 1 million tokens to pre-order a PS3, Xbox 360, and/or a Wii, then that'd be something to look forward to (not to mention miss a LOT of sleep playing on Pogo).
:)
nightwng2000
NW2K Software
Platbr @ Oct 20th 2006 11:24AM
This isn't a scam at all. I just wish I'd known they have this kind of deal. I've put $76,000 on my credit card this year alone (and none of it was my money... fixing up after a flood with insurance reimbursed funds). Would have been nice to score a PS3 or Xbox 360 out of the deal. Instead, I only have 3 free airline tickets.
Oh well...
hehehhehe @ Oct 20th 2006 11:24AM
Geez, kind of a misleading post (nice way of saying stupid and ridiculous) isn't it? It's not like people are going to spend that much just to get the PS3 through miles. If someone does spend $46k, they're going to have $46k worth of stuff AND a PS3, not to mention people have points sitting in their accounts already.
Miles are about $0.01 per dollar usually, so 46k points is like $460 dollars. It's actually a deal.
Zequel @ Oct 20th 2006 11:36AM
Citibank customer here. I use the cash back card. Usually get about $300 a year (maxed out), don't pay any interest, no complaints here. I *do* think the cashback plan is better though, 1% of purchases (5% for in-network vendors) can be redeemed for cash which doesn't limit you to a list of rewards. Though I've heard of cards with higher percentages. Stay away from Discover though, talk about a scam...
Robotic House Plant @ Oct 20th 2006 11:42AM
This is basically just like every other rewards card. I happen to have a Citibank card, and have amassed quite a few reward points over the years, which incidentally do not expire to my knowledge.
The PS3 reward actually seems like a really great deal. In comparison, if you were to select a 30GB Apple iPod from the Thank You Network it's 37,800 points.
Be aware that not all points are awarded per dollar. If you purchase from select retailers, you can receive additional points per dollar spent. Plus you can earn bonus points, for opening or linking accounts, etc etc.
The easiest way to gain points, at least for me, is travel. Anytime my company sends me anywhere, instead of using the corporate card, I use my own card, gain points, and then just turn in an expense report to pay off the travel expense.
IceBurgh @ Oct 20th 2006 11:47AM
Actually thanks for the heads up. I didn't know the PS3 was available as a reward. I just ordered it. With any luck I'll get one before Christmas and sell that sucker for a bundle.
This isn't a ripoff at all. First of all you have to assume you were going to buy whatever it is you bought with your card to get the points in the first place. The points are just a bonus. I use my card for everything and then just pay it off every month so the points are just freebies. I'd still be using a card for convenience anyway.
Secondly, they have a lot of preferred merchents that I already shopped at that give you multiple points per dollar spent.
So this is cool, free PS3 for me!
crazedcow @ Oct 20th 2006 11:53AM
jesus christ, it is a joke. i don't think anyone is going to buy a house in idaho to get a ps3. chill out.
32_Footsteps @ Oct 20th 2006 11:56AM
Am I the only one wondering why it's apparently less points to get the PS3, which isn't out yet and will be in extremely limited quantities when it is out, than it is to get the Xbox 360, which costs less, is already out, and is readily available in most locations?
B. Waite @ Oct 23rd 2006 3:13PM
Is this supposed to be news, or tongue-in-cheek commentarty? Either way, I'm wagging my finger in your direction, Joystiq.
For what it's worth, I paid for my Wii preorder with credit card points. Since I pay my card off every month (and pay no monthly interest), I essentially got it for free.
Twilight Princess @ Oct 20th 2006 12:01PM
I wouldn't want to live in Rupurt Idaho, this house is way below market. The comparision made me laugh. When I bought my house, in Idaho all I got was a lousy pen!
glitched @ Oct 20th 2006 12:19PM
along with everbody else' comments about not beign a scam, neither are those free sites. I have gotten over a grand worth of goods from them. maybe the one you linked to as Ive never heard of it, but there are legit ones out there... Ive gotten a PSP, gameboy micro, an Ipod, a LCD, and also a PS3, just got to wait till next year when it ships... DOH!
DouggyD @ Oct 20th 2006 1:14PM
You would think that this would be a news item that Joystiq would report favourably on, instead of calling it a scam. I mean you get to pre-order a PS3 or an XBOX 360 using credit card points! How many companies allow you to do that? And not only that, but the points cost for the PS3 seems to be very good compared to most items the points can be redeemed for, not a bad deal if you ask me...
Tim @ Oct 20th 2006 1:13PM
I've got that card and it's no ripoff. In the last year I've gotten giftcards that have allowed me to buy a DS Lite, plus I have enough to get a Wii when it comes out. If I used cash for my purchases, I'd get nothing. Plus they give you 10,000 points ($100) to signup and 5% back (in points) for gas and grocery purchases for the first year, 1% back for everything else. It's a great deal since I pay off the card every week (plus it's convenient to use a credit card).
Eric @ Oct 20th 2006 1:47PM
46,000 points isn't that tough to get. You can get 11,000 or so for signing up when they have special offers. Then, you get 5 points per dollar at gas stations and grocery stores (shop at super wal-marts or a meijer type store to make the most of that). You only need another 35,000 points to get it, so that's $7000 at a meijer or wal-mart. Not impossible to do. I've probably racked up close to 45,000 points since I got my card, and I'm just a lowly college student. If you've got a small business or a family to run, you might already have that much saved up if you haven't redeemed your points already.
I save most of my points, since I don't really need the gift cards. Only time I used them was to get a cash rebate on my statement, which is a rip off. For 10,000 points you get a $100 gift card, making the points worth $.01 each. I think it was 17,000 points for a $100 rebate though. Sucks, but when you gotta pay down the statement and you have no cash, it's your only option.
epobirs @ Oct 20th 2006 1:30PM
A much better deal for console gamers is the Toys R Us Visa.
This gives a real 1% back on most purchases and 4% back on purchases at Toys R Us itself. So by comparison, you'd only have to buy $16,000 worth of stuff within TRU to score a free Xbox 360.
Most people are unlikely to spend so much within TRU (although new parents could easily drop some serious coing within the also qualifying Babies R Us) but it does turn into a nice discount. for instance, there is, according to www.cheapassgamer.com, a Buy Two Get One Free sale start this coming 10-22-2006. (They always do this to free up shelf space for the flood of Xmas season titles.) I have about $50 in accumulated TRU gift cards just waiting for the occasion. Using them in combination with the B2G1 sale should get me a lot of value.
Even the 1% adds up under the right circumstance. In the months leading up to the xbox and GameCube launches I had a LOT of expenditures made for my job that were quickly paid back. Picking up the tab temporarily for a couple of hotel suites made for a $80 discount off my hardware purchases in fell swoop.
If you live in a TRU region and you know you'll be spending money there, the TRU Visa works out pretty well.
epobirs @ Oct 20th 2006 1:38PM
#23
Wow, you'd never know how late I was working last night from the complete and utter lack of mistakes in that last message, would you?
mooo @ Oct 20th 2006 4:03PM
You guys only mentioned this briefly but the nice thing about Citi ThankYou points is you also get them for just keeping some money with them, no purchase necessary. These points can be combined with the credit card versions. There are plenty of places that show you how to get the maximum points out of the banking with no money spent.
I only use cash back cards rather than points but I can easily see this being a good deal for some.