By rewarding 5% of every purchase, Citi Driver's Edge card had been probably the most generous reward card for 2004 and early 2005. As of last statement period, I earned more than $800 in rewards with a total purchase of less than $20,000 in six months. (To put into perspective, for the entire 2004, I only collected $804 in credit card rewards.)

Maybe because the 5%-off-everything promotion is too costly, Citi recently rewrote the rules. While I always recommend people to read the fineprints, here are the basics of the offer:

• 6% rebate on purchases at supermarkets, drugstores and gas for 12 months (3% on such purchases after that); 1% rebate on other purchases.
• Rebate the miles you drive at $0.01/mile, up to a cap of $500 during any 12 consecutive months.
• Rebates from both channels cannot exceed of $1,000 during any consecutive 12 months.
• Rewards can be redeemed for new/used car purchase, services, maintenance and repairs, or items in the Citi ThankYou catalog.
• 0% APR on balance transfer for 12 months with no transaction fee.
• No annual fee.

The new terms still make Driver's Edge a good card, but they are no longer as straightforward as the flat 5% rebate. In other words, you will need to know the details of the offer and know how to get the most out of it. So here comes the PFBlog Survival Guide:

• First thing first, you will need to have some regular auto-related expense to make use of the rewards. It is usually not a problem if you have two cars in the household or will be in the market for another car in 1-2 years.

• Take advantage of the 6% offer. If you have used Citi's Dividend Platinum, you know which outlets qualify for the 6% rebate. Usually, all grocery stores, all gas stations and all drug stores qualify. No Walmart, but Walmart supercenter qualifies too.

• For other purchases, the 1% rebate is probably not the best you can get. Don't bother to charge this card if you can manage multiple cards in your wallet.

• The reward for driving is the highlight of the card. While you can only register one car, you can still expect to receive $100-$150 in rebates based on your driven pattern. However, you will need to enrol to this extra reward after you receive your card, and submit proof of the actual mileage on your car (by a service slip usually).

• If you only put gas charges and groceries on the card, you don't need to worry about the $1,000 cap -- you will need to $14,000 on all these 6%-applicable purchases to the card to get $850 in rebates (and leaving some room for the driving reward). Otherwise, monitor your monthly statement and stop using the card when you are about to exceed the limit.

• When it comes to redemption, you have 60 days from the date of car purchase or service to submit redemption form. Take advantage of this and turn in the form as late as possible while you are still accumulating rewards.

• If Citi sends you an offer for the optional Credit Protector program, it can be another form of rebate that is worth about $100 a year.

Happy saving!