Citi premier card
$95
None
Signup Bonus Chart3x Restaurants (≈4.5%)
3x Airfare, Online Travel Agencies, and Hotels (≈4.5%)
3x Groceries (≈4.5%)
3x Gas (≈4.5%)
1x Everywhere Else (≈1.5%)
No Foreign Transaction Fee
For anyone who is comfortable redeeming their points for frequent flyer tickets, the Citi Prestige card offers the highest reward rate on Restaurants and Online Travel Agencies, as well as a great reward rate on Airfare. You'll receive 5x ThankYou points per dollar, worth at least 7.5% on these purchases. It also offers free cell phone protection and aiport lounge access (with unlimited guests).
The Prestige or the less-expensive Premier card can be used in conjunction with the no-annual-fee Double Cash card to earn 2x transferable reward points on your everyday purchases, which is potentially more valuable than the 1.5x Ultimate Rewards points you earn with the Chase Unlimited combo.
The Prestige card has another potentially valuable benefit—it gives you your 4th night free on hotel reservations made through Citibank's travel site, up to two times per year.
Because it is hard to use credit card travel benefits during the pandemic, Citibank has made some temporary changes to their cards.
- Purchases at supermarkets and restaurants count towards the Citi Prestige card's $250 travel credit until the end of the year. Since the Prestige card has the most valuable reward rate for restaurant purchases, it should be easy to get full value from your credit.
- The Citi Prestige card earns 5x ThankYou points on the first $1,500 of online purchases made during June, July, and August.
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Citi ThankYou Card Options
There are four cards in the core Citi ThankYou family.
- Citi Prestige. The premium member of this credit card family has an annual fee of $495. A $250 automatic travel credit lowers the effective annual cost to $245. Citigold customers get an additional $145 off, lowering the effective cost to $100. If any of these Citibank cards is interesting for the long term, it is likely to be the Prestige version, for its fantastic dining and airfare reward rates, airport lounge access, and unique (and potentially valuable) 4th night free benefit.
- Citi Premier. The "regular" member of this credit card family has a $95 annual fee. It doesn't come with the 5x dining and airfare reward rate or the premium benefits of the Prestige card, but it does earn bonus rewards on some purchases where the Prestige card does not (gas and any type of travel purchase). Most people are better off paying a more for the Prestige version to get the super high reward rates and the extra benefits. But, if you are primarily interested in the signup bonus, you may be better off with the Premier version. Official Webpage. Signup Bonus Chart.
- Citi Rewards+. The no-annual-fee member of this family is primarily interesting as a temporary conversion option for people who want to stop paying the Prestige or Premier's annual fee and don't want their ThankYou points to expire. However, once associated with this card, you will no longer be able to transfer your points to airline programs. You'll need to convert back to one of the other annual-fee cards, if you want to get good value from your points. This card gives you a 10% rebate when you redeem your ThankYou reward points (up to 100,000 per year), making all your points more valuable. Official Webpage. Signup Bonus Chart.
- Citi Rewards+ for Students. Nearly identical to the regular Rewards+ card, but with a lower signup bonus.
- Citi Preferred (discontinued). This earlier no-annual-fee card (and its corresponding student version) is not available for new signups. Like the Reward+ card, you can't transfer your points to airline partners unless you have the Prestige or Premier cards, but it doesn't offer a 10% rebate. It does have a somewhat 2x reward rate on Entertainment purchases. Official Webpage
Introduction to ThankYou Points
ThankYou Rewards is the name of Citibank's own rewards program. ThankYou Rewards Guide.
- ThankYou points can be transferred to many different frequent flyer programs. his gives you the flexibility to take advantage of award space on over a hundred different airlines. In many cases, you can choose to book a flight through one of several different partner programs, allowing you to take advantage of whichever program requires the fewest miles and fees for your trip.
- ThankYou Rewards occasionally offers promotional transfer bonuses. When the promotion is active, you'll get extra airline miles when you transfer your ThankYou Reward points to a specific airline. For example, if Citibank is offering a 40% bonus for British Airways, you'll receive 14,000 British Airways points for every 10,000 ThankYou points you transfer. See Take Advantage of Transfer Bonuses to Get More Value from Your Reward Points for more information or visit Frequent Miler’s Current Transfer Bonuses page for a list of current (and past) promotions.
- You can also "cash out" your points at 1 cent each. Citi Premier and Prestige customers can very easily convert their points to cash.
- If you have the no-annual-fee Citi Rewards+ card, you get a 10% rebate on your points redemptions. This is capped at to your first 100,000 points of redemptions each year. For example, if you transfer 50,000 points to British Airways, you'll get 5,000 points back. This gives you an easy boost of 11% to point values, regardless if you convert your points to frequent flyer tickets or cash them out.
- We value ThankYou points at 1.5 cents each. Because you can take advantage of award space and "sweet spots" from many different frequent flyer programs and the occasional transfer bonus, ThankYou points are generally worth more than any single type of airline miles. If you highly valuable premium-cabin award tickets, ThankYou points are worth even more. But because Citibank has a weaker set of airline partners, ThankYou points are typically somewhat less valuable than Membership Rewards points. On the other hand, if you expect to be able to take advantage of Turkish Airlines awards for domestic and Hawaii travel on United Airlines, they may actually be more valuable the other types of bank points. How Much are Points Worth?
- If you aren't comfortable using your points for frequent flyer tickets, they are only worth 1 cent each. Unlike Chase's Ultimate Rewards, transfer rates for hotel programs aren't very attractive, there are no fixed-value airline partners (like Southwest), and there is no cash out option for greater than 1 cent per point.
Collecting the Signup Bonus
- Citibank has removed the normal signup bonuses for these cards; but promotional offers are sometimes available. A typical promotional offer would be for 50,000 points, valued at $750 (at 1.5 per point). In addition, the Prestige card comes with a $250 travel credit, and because the credit is available every calendar year, you can use it twice during your initial year.
- The Premier Version of the card currently has a 60,000 point signup bonus. After factoring in the opportunity cost of using the card for $4,000 worth of spending, the net sign-up value is $800 (20 cents per dollar spent).
- You can't collect another signup bonus within 24 months of signing up for, or cancelling, any of these different versions of the ThankYou card. For example, if you collect the signup bonus on the Citi Prestige card, you won't be eligible for the signup bonus on the Citi Premier card, until two years later. And if you cancel the Prestige card during that time, the clock resets.
Because of this rule, you'll generally want to avoid signing up for the Reward+ version (15,000 w/$1,000 initial spend). Since it is part of the same family, it blocks you from getting the much more generous offers available from the Prestige / Premier cards.
Citibank Card Synergy
The four ThankYou cards work together. The Prestige gives you the highest reward rates, the Premier gives you the option of redeeming at 1.25 cents per point (rather than 1 cent), the Reward+ gives you a 10% rebate on your redemptions (up to 100,000 points per year), and the Double Cash card gives you a higher everyday reward rate.
Having the Premier and Reward+ versions of the ThankYou cards maximizes your point redemtpions. Having the Prestige and Double Cash cards maximizes your point earning.
If you are transferring to airline partners, having either the Prestige or Premier plus the Reward+ card will give you effectively 1.1 miles per point. If you are spending your points with the Citibank portal, having both the Premier and Reward+ card will give you effectively 1.39 cents per point.
The main obstacle with implementing this strategy is that you are limited to one signup bonus per "family", every 24 months. If you are always going to transfer points, and aren't going to use your points to purchase travel, you only need two of these cards. The Double Cash card doesn't count as part of the family for signup bonus purposes.
There are a few different approaches to getting all three of the Prestige, Premier, and Rewards+ cards.
- You could get one of them every two years. You'll get all three signup bonuses, but it will take a total of 4 years.
- You could get the Prestige, followed by the Premier two years later. Then, just get the Reward+ at around the same time as one of the other cards, and don't worry about missing out on its signup bonus. Alternatively, signup for a different card and then convert it (a year later) to the Reward+. You'll get the two big signup bonuses and you'll only need to wait for 2 years to maximize your redemption options.
- You could get all three cards within the first few months. But, you'd miss out on the Premier card's signup bonus. However, you are likely to be able to apply for a second Premier card two years later and collect the signup bonus anyway. You'll just pay the extra annual fee.
Take Advantage of the Travel Credit (Prestige Card)
- The Prestige card provides an annual $250 "Travel Credit" that is automatically applied to any airfare you purchase with the card. It should be easy to take advantage of the credit each year, lowering the effective annual fee by $250.
- Because the travel credit is available on a calendar-year basis, you can qualify for two credits the first year you have the card. The credit doesn't align exactly to a calendar year. Instead, it resets on the closing date of your Remember statement. For example, if you sign up for the card in August, you can get up to $250 credit, for purchases made between August and some time in December, and you can get take advantage of another $250 credit, between January and August.
4th Night Free Benefit (Prestige Card)
The Citi Prestige card has a unique and potentially lucrative benefits—you get your 4th night free on every hotel reservation booked through Citibank.
The “4th night free” benefit works whether you are booking a $80 per night hotel on the outskirts of town, or a $800 per night resort hotel in some exotic locale, and you can use it two times every year. Get Your 4th Night Free with the Citi Prestige Card.
Unfortunately, you need to book your hotel through Citibank's website. That means you only have access to whatever rate they are offering, can only book hotels and room inventory that is available via their system, and generally won't receive any hotel loyalty program benefits or points with your stay. In practice, Citibank's website tends to have higher room rates than other booking options, frequently doesn't provide a non-refundable option even when they one is available elsewhere, and often shows "no availability" when hotels still have plenty of room.
Always check to see if the rate for all 4 nights on another site is actually higher than Citibank's rate for 3 nights. Sometimes, the 4th night free benefit will still save you a bunch of money and it remain uncapped. Other times, it may only be a little less expensive (or even more expensive) than booking elsewhere. In addition, for chain hotels, make sure whatever you are saving makes up for any potential loss of benefits and hotel rewards.
Other Notable Benefits
The Prestige version of the card comes with the following beneifts.
- Airport lounge access. Like the other premium cards, a get a Priority Pass membership that provides free access to over a thousand airport lounges and restaurants. With this card, you can bring in your family or up to two travelling companions. Get Free Airport Lounge Access from a Credit Card
- Cell phone protection. Starting on May 1st, if you pay your cell phone bill with your card, you'll receive coverage on up to five lines. The maximum claim is $1,000, with a $1,500 annual cap, and a $50 deductible.
- $100 TSA fee credit. Every five years, you can receive an automatic reimbursement of your Global Entry or TSA PreCheck application fee (up to $100).
- Elite car rental status. As with all World Elite MasterCards, you get free National Emerald Club Executive and Sixt Platinum status. Instant Car Rental Elite Status.
- Access to Mastercard's luxury hotel program. Another benefit of high-end MasterCards is access to MasterCard's luxury hotel program. When you use the program to book one of the participating hotels, you'll get a number of valuable benefits, like free breakfast, a $100 hotel credit, a room upgrade, and late checkout.Take Advantage of Luxury Hotel Programs for Valuable Extra Perks.
- Free ShopRunner membership. Like all World Elite MasterCards, your card entitles you to a complimentary ShopRunner membership, which provides free two-day and return shipping from around 150 of the largest online retailers. ShopRunner.
- DoorDash and Hello Fresh discounts. Cardmembers who have a DoorDash membership get $5 off their first two orders each month when paid for by their Mastercard. If you don't have a free membership from Chase, you can get your first three months membership for free through Mastercard. You also get a 5% credit back on each HelloFresh purchase.
- Some additional discounts. If you pay for at least 3 Lyft rides each calendar month with your Mastercard, you'll receive a $5 Lyft credit good for the following month (once you enroll in the Lyft app). You also receive double Fandango points, a 5% reward rebate at Boxed, and $5 off every Postmates order of $25 or more.
The Premier version of the card gives you the elite car rental and luxury hotel program benefits.
Bonus Categories
- The Prestige card earns fantastic rewards on restaurant, online travel agency, and airfare purchases. You'll earn 5x ThankYou points per dollar, valued at at least 7.5 cents per dollar. Even if you simply redeemed your points to offset travel purchases, this works out to 5 cents per dollar. Best Credit Cards for Restaurant Spending
- The Prestige and Premier cards can be good choices on other types of travel purchases. You'll earn 3x ThankYou points, worth around 4.5cents per dollar. The only card that we would generally prefer is the 3x Ultimate Rewards points from the Chase Sapphire Reserve. The Prestige card only earns 3x points on hotels and cruises, while the less-expensive Premier version earns 3x points on a very wide range of travel purchases, including transit tickets and even gas.
- The Premier card is (almost) the only card that earn bonus rewards on entertainment spending—but no more than you can get from the Double Cash card. You can earn slightly more rewards from the Sony Credit Card, and without paying an annual fee, but you'll need to redeem your rewards for gift cards (at a variety of merchants), or Sony purchases, rather than on frequent flyer tickets.
- The Premier version of the card offers good rewards on gas purchases. Gas is considered a type of travel expense, and will earn 3x ThankYou points, worth around 4.5 cents per dollar. This is more valuable than most other cards. Unfortunately, this benefit doesn't extend to the Prestige version. Best Credit Cards for Gas Spending.
- The Reward+ card is good for small purchases. The Rewards+ card rounds up each purchase's rewards to units of 10 points. For example, if you make a $2 purchase, instead of receiving 2 points, you'll receive 10. If you make a $15 purchase, instead of receiving 15 points, you'll receive 20. This dramatically increases the reward rate on small purchases. The rate on 50 cent transaction is a whopping 20X points. but since the purchases are small it won't add up to very many extra points in absolute terms. Artificially creating lots of small purchases is likely to get you banned by Citibank and potentially the merchant as well.
- The Double Cash card works as a great option for your everyday spending. It earns 2x ThankYou points on every purchase and has no annual fee. If you have the Prestige or Premier card, you can use these like all your other ThankYou points.
However, if you already have one of the Amex Platinum cards, you probably prefer to use it to earn 5x Membership Rewards points instead; and if you already have the Sapphire Reserve you may prefer to settle for 3x easier-to-redeem Ultimate Rewards points and it's built in travel insurance benefits. Best Credit Cards for Travel Spending.
Getting Rid of the Card
Before cancelling or converting your Citi Prestige card, try to use up any remaining amount of your annual travel credit.
You'll lose any ThankYou reward points you've earned with your card, shortly after you close the card or transfer the points to another account, even if you have another card that earns ThankYou points. If you have a significant amount of points, transfer to the no-annual-fee Rewards+ card, rather than cancelling outright. You'll receive a prorated refund of your annual fee, so you don't necessarily need to do it immediately after your anniversary date.
Having at least one Reward+ card on your account gives you a 10% rebate on the first 100,000 ThankYou points you redeem each year (regardless of their original source). You also won't reset the clock for earning your next Prestige / Premier signup bonus.
If you don't have a points balance to protect, you could convert to a Citi Dividend card, which earns 5% back on the first $6,000 of annual spending in a rotating set of categories. However, your card number may change as part of the switch and if it does, your signup bonus clock will reset. If it is more than 30 days since your annual fee, you also may NOT receive a prorated refund of your annual fee.