Citi Premier Card Review: 60,000 Bonus Points Plus 3x Points on 5 Different Spending Categories

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Citi Premier® Card

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Rates & Fees

• Our Rating 4.5/5 How our ratings work
• APR20.99% - 28.99%(Variable)
• Annual Fee$95
• 60,000 60,000Citi ThankYou Points More Info

  Earn 60,000 bonus ThankYou Points after making $4,000 worth of purchases during the first three months of account opening. Dollar Equivalent: $1,080 (60,000 Citi ThankYou Points * 0.018 base)

The Citi Premier® Card, from our partner Citi, is worth considering if you’re looking for accelerated travel rewards but don’t want to pay a huge annual fee. It’s easy to quickly rack up lots of points on this card. While you can redeem ThankYou points for gift cards, you’ll get more value when you redeem points for flights and hotels, and potentially even better value when you transfer points to travel partners.

A Strong Rewards Card for Everyday Purchases

If you’re looking for a versatile rewards credit card with a generous sign-up bonus and accelerated points earning in diverse spending categories, then you should know about the Citi Premier® Card, from our partner Citi.

This credit card offers its members a range of incentives, such as bonus points, gift cards and 1:1 point transfers with airline partners. One of the more unique features of the Citi Premier Card is that it offers 3x ThankPoints for every dollar spent at supermarkets, gas stations, restaurants and travel purchases. Plus, new cardholders can earn 60,000 ThankYou Points after spending $4,000 during the first three months of account opening.

We’ve highlighted a few reasons why opening a Citi Premier Card may be able to help you save and earn more rewards on hotels, your next air-travel trip and more.

Rewards Rate

With the Citi Premier Card, you’ll earn 3X ThankYou Points for every dollar you spend at restaurants, supermarkets, gas stations, air travel and hotels.

Let’s say your car is a gas guzzler, and you typically spend at least $60 on a full tank of gas. When you spend more on gas, you’ll earn more rewards and get to your points goal three times faster. These points can ultimately help set you up for your next road trip with family and friends, or they help you shop for wishlist items using the gift cards you’ve earned.

And, for a limited time, the Citi Premier Card earns a remarkable 10X ThankYou Points per dollar spent on hotels, rental cars or attractions booked using the Citi Travel℠ Portal through June 30, 2024. Especially for frequent travelers, this is an excellent way to rack up rewards quickly, as it offers significantly more points per dollar spent than this card's other rewards categories. Even compared to similar cards, this offer is incredibly strong. However, air travel is excluded from the promotion, which is a little disappointing.

For all other qualifying purchases, you will receive 1 point.

Imagine getting rewarded for the places you already visit on a frequent basis. If you’re a daily commuter, you’ll get rewarded for what you already do on a regular basis as well. With the Citi Premier Card, you can earn rewards faster for those simple, everyday purchases at the supermarket or ordering takeout at your favorite restaurant.

Sign-Up Bonus

Citi Premier's sign-up bonus awards new cardholders with 60,000 ThankYou Points after they make $4,000 worth of purchases during the first three months of account opening. Additionally, you can transfer Citi ThankYou Rewards to any of the program's multiple transfer partners.

The Citi Premier Card “makes the everyday more rewarding” and gives you three months to reach the $4,000 spending requirement to earn those 60,000 ThankYou Points. Once you earn the sign-up bonus, your Citi ThankYou Rewards could go toward funding a trip to Hawaii with the family or shopping for some new clothes at any of Citi's retail partners.

Annual Fee

The Citi Premier Card has a $95 annual fee.

About Citi ThankYou Points

The Citi ThankYou Rewards program allows its members to earn points when they use an eligible credit card for everyday purchases. These points, known as ThankYou Points, are flexible — meaning they can be redeemed for gift cards, travel, merchandise, and even cash back or statement credits. Points can also be transferred to Citi's travel partners and then redeemed for flights and hotel stays.

In addition to the Citi Premier Card, several Citi products also earn ThankYou Points, including:

• Citi® Double Cash Card
• Citi Rewards+® Card
• Citi Custom Cash℠ Card
• Citi Prestige® Card
• Citi Rewards+℠ Student Card

While these credit cards all earn Citi ThankYou Rewards, the rewards rates vary depending on the card and the purchase category.

Furthermore, you'll only earn points for eligible spending. You will not earn them when using the Citi Flex Plan to pay down your account balances overtime or to tap your credit line for cash.

Redeeming Points

The more you spend, the more ThankYou Points you can earn toward future travel, gift cards or other purchases from qualifying online merchants directly through thankyou.com. Your ThankYou Points cover three main categories: purchases, statement credits and gas purchases. However, to get the most from your Citi Premier Card, consider transferring points to Citi's multiple airline partners.

Transferring Points

In many cases, the transfer ratio between travel partners is a 1:1 ratio. Depending on the airline partner, your points may transfer instantly or take upwards of 14 days.

Furthermore, if you also carry other Citi credit cards such as Citi® Double Cash Card or Citi Custom Cash℠ Card, then you can transfer rewards to your Citi Premier account to pool ThankYou points for future travel.

Citi ThankYou hotel transfer partners include:

• Choice Privileges
• Wyndham Rewards

Citi ThankYou airline transfer partners include:

• AeroMexico ClubPremier
• Air France KLM Flying Blue
• Avianca LifeMiles
• Cathay Pacific Asia Miles
• Emirates Skywards
• Etihad Guest
• EVA Air Infinity MileageLands
• JetBlue
• Jet Airways Inter Miles
• Qantas Frequent Flyer
• Qatar Privilege Club
• Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
• Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles
• Virgin Atlantic FlyingClub

Gift Cards and Shopping

If there’s an air fryer or tech gadget that you’ve been wanting for your new apartment, you can use your ThankYou Points through participating online merchants like Amazon or Best Buy. Or you can hold on to those points a little longer and wait until you reach a bigger reward.

For instance, the ThankYou Points you’ve collected from past purchases can go toward redeeming gift cards for popular brands, like Maggiano’s, Albertsons, Sephora and others. You can also redeem your ThankYou Points at participating gas stations, such as BP, Amco and Shell.

And if you’re thinking of sending flowers to that special someone on Valentine’s Day, you can use your ThankYou Points to cover some or all of the cost with online merchant 1-800-flowers.com.

To shop with your points, select from Citi’s participating online-partners list and link your ThankYou account. The second step is to browse through the partner websites and start shopping. According to Citi, you can specify the amount of ThankYou points you want to use for your purchase upon checkout.

Do ThankYou Points Expire?

One additional perk of the Citi Premier Card is that there is no expiration or limit to the amount of points that you can earn, as long as your account is open and in good standing. This means that you can watch your rewards grow the more you spend on trips and everyday purchases.

Benefits

In addition to 3x ThankYou Points per dollar spent on travel, grocery stores, restaurants and gas stations, the Citi Premier Card also offers cardholders ongoing benefits.

Annual Hotel Savings Benefit

Citi is giving customers the chance to save on hotels with a new offer of $100 in annual hotel savings. Just book a hotel stay of $500 or more through thankyou.com or 1-800-THANKYOU to earn the discount. According to Citi, this deal will be available once per calendar year.

No Foreign Transaction Fees

Planning an international trip? You won’t have to deal with the hassle of any foreign transaction fees if you tend to splurge on gifts for loved ones back home during international travels.

Point Transfer to Airline Partners

Fortunately, Citi also makes it easy to transfer the points to other airline loyalty programs, like JetBlue TrueBlue, Virgin Atlantic, Flying Club and Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer with no fee attached.

Apply for the Citi Premier Card

With the Citi Premier Card, you can earn thousands of ThankYou Points to help you redeem more perks. The annual fee for this card is $95. All you have to do is input your personal and financial information through the secure application process.

In 2023 (and beyond), the sky's the limit for earning more rewards on things you already purchase every day or on rare occasions. If you’re ready to earn more rewards points for the purchases you already make on a daily basis, you might want to apply for the Citi Premier Card.

Editor's Pick

Ready to apply for the Citi Premier? Start here.

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Rates & Fees

Frequently Asked Questions

• Is the Citi Premier Card a Mastercard or Visa Credit Card?

  The Citi Premier Card is a Mastercard, not a Visa. According to its website, Mastercard is accepted at over 60 million retailers in more than 210 countries. While there are some differences between Mastercard and Visa, for the most part — both are electronic payment solutions that provide a similar selection of basic features.

• Which Cards Compete with the Citi Premier Card?

  Several cards compete with the Citi Premier Card, most notably the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card and the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card. With similar annual fees and rewards rates, all three travel credit cards offer accelerated rewards earning in common household spending categories. Though, the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card earns double points for all purchases — which potentially makes quickly earning lots of points easier — it does not offer annual hotel credits like the Citi Premier Card and Chase Sapphire Preferred. Additionally, the Chase Sapphire Preferred provides access to the Chase Ultimate Rewards program, which many believe to be the best rewards travel program in the credit card world.

• How do I use Citi ThankYou Points?

  You can use Citi ThankYou Points by redeeming them for gift cards, as cash back or statement credits, travel, shopping with retail partners, and making donations to charitable organizations. You can also transfer your ThankYou Points to any of Citi's multiple travel partners and then redeem for flight and hotel stays. ThankYou Points are generally considered to be flexible and allow cardholders a variety of redemption options.

• Does the Citi Premier Card have foreign transaction fees?

  There are no foreign transaction fees with the Citi Premier Card. This means that you will not be charged an additional currency conversion fee when you use your card to make purchases outside of the U.S. You will be able to use your card, without worry, with over 60 million authorized retailers in any of the 210 countries that accept the Mastercard payment platform.