During our most recent series of “What’s in our Wallet” posts, I was the only person on the FM team who had the Citi Premier occupying a significant place in my household’s credit card wallets. That’s not terribly surprising. Although I’ve been a Premier cardholder for years, it was a forgotten part of my own credit card portfolio for quite some time, supplanted by newer cards with higher welcome offers. However, as part of a 2-player household, I’ve grown to appreciate this moderately-priced workhouse, and the access that it provides to Citi ThankYou Points‘ appealing array of transfer partners.
Citi Premier Current Welcome Offer
| Card Offer |
|---|
60K Points ⓘ Affiliate Earn 60,000 bonus ThankYou® Points after you spend $4,000 in purchases within the first 3 months of account opening.$95 Annual Fee |
Citi Premier Rewards Review
The Citi Premier card has probably the best overall group of category bonuses in the biz. Where else can you find one card that gives 3x on dining, gas, grocery and travel (albeit with a narrower travel category than many other cards)? The ThankYou Points that the card earns aren’t the sexiest around, but have an appealing and underrated mix of both air and hotel partners. As such, this can be a great player 2 card, or a good option for folks who are looking for the simplicity of a one card wallet. That said, the Premier even better when combined with the no annual fee Double Cash, Rewards+ and Custom Cash cards. This combination creates a $95 wallet with flexible 5x categories, 2x everywhere, 10% back on points transfers and 3x in dining/gas/grocery/travel. Outside of best-in-the-industry purchase protection, the card doesn’t offer much in the way of perks. Despite that, the low annual fee, transfer partners and excellent earning potential will make the Citi Premier a winner for many.
- Annual Fee: $95
-
- Authorized User Annual Fee: Free
- Foreign Transaction Fee: None
- What points are worth: The Citi Premier card earns Citi ThankYou Points. Our current Reasonable Redemption Values pegs them at 1.45 cents each.
- Best Use for Points: ThankYou points can be transferred to most travel partners at a 1:1 ratio and this will usually yield the most value. It has one of the better mix of hotel partners of any of the major transferable currencies: Accor, Wyndham, Leading Hotels of the World and Choice Privileges. Choice is particularly good value given that the transfer ratio is 1-2 (as opposed to 1-1 via Amex or Capital One). Airline partners aren’t industry-leading, but offer excellent options as well, and include Avianca LifeMiles, Air France/KLM Flying Blue, British Airways Avios, Eva Air and Turkish Miles and Smiles. Citi is the only program that transfers 1-1 to Eva Air, and it can be a very desirable option between the US and Asia. Cardholders can also use points for statement credit at a rate of 1 cent per point.
- Earning Categories:
- 10X flights and hotels booked through Citi Travel (through June 30, 2024)
- 3x Gas
- 3x Grocery (uncapped)
- 3x Dining
- 3x Travel (airfare and hotels)
- 1x everywhere else
- Credits:
- $100 Hotel Credit: Once yearly on a stay of $500 or more. Must book through Citi.
- Travel Protections:
- None
- Purchase Protections:
- Damage and Theft Protection: 90 days against damage or theft up to $10,000 per claim/$50,000 per calendar year.
- Extended Warranty: Citi extends coverage by 24 months on items with a manufacturer’s warranty of 5 years or less. $10K/item.
- Who’s this card for? Folks that want a one card option with great category bonuses on spending. Player 2s that don’t/won’t keep multiple cards on their person (I know this from experience).
- Is the Citi Premier a keeper? It is for me. The Premier combines an intriguing set of transfer partners with an excellent group of category bonuses. Since Citi determines welcome offer eligibility by when you last received a bonus on the same card, regardless of if you already have that card, there’s no reason not to apply for one every four years and then product change or cancel the old card.
Citi Premier Pros and Cons
Pros
- All-around it has probably the best bonus categories of any credit card
- Unlike some cards that put an annual max on bonused grocery earnings, the Premier’s 3x multiplier is uncapped.
- Industry-leading extended purchase protection
- Impressive variety of hotel and air transfer partners
- Transfers to Choice Privileges at double the rate of Amex or Capital One
- Miles can be shared across cards and cardholders
- Forms an incredible $95 quartet with the Citi Double Cash, Custom Cash and Rewards+
- Points can be redeemed at 1 cents each for statement credits if you don’t want to hassle with transferring to partners (although, as a rule, we don’t recommend doing it)
Cons
- Needs a partner card to get better than 1x everywhere
- Bare bones when it comes to perks
- Travel category is much more narrow than many other issuers
- Welcome offers are rarely among the best available
- Some folks won’t like that JetBlue is the only domestic airline transfer partner
Citi Transfer Partners
| Rewards Program | Citi Transfer Ratio | Best Uses |
|---|---|---|
| Accor Live Limitless | 1000 to 500 | Use to pay hotel bill with value of 2 Euro cents per point. In some cases (such as hotel to airline transfer bonuses) it may make sense to convert Accor points to the following airline miles at a 1 to 1 ratio: Finnair, Iberia, Qantas, or Virgin Australia |
| Aer Lingus Avios | 1 to 1 via Qatar, BA | Fuel surcharges are sometimes lower when booking with Aer Lingus (Avios.com) rather than British Airways, Qatar, or Iberia. It's possible to move points (Avios) between Iberia, British Airways, Aer Lingus, and Qatar. See also: Avios Sweet Spots for Award Tickets. |
| AeroMexico ClubPremier | 1 to 1 | AeroMexico is a SkyTeam partner. Club Premier points can be used to book flights on AeroMexico, SkyTeam alliance members (such as Delta or Korean Air), or on select partner airlines. Unfortunately many have reported that awards are extremely difficult to book through AeroMexico so we do not recommend transferring points to this program. If you want to fly AeroMexico, look to transfer points to another SkyTeam partner (such as Air France) and then book AeroMexico with that program. |
| Air France KLM Flying Blue | 1 to 1 | Monthly Air France Promo Awards often represent very good value. Air France miles can be used to book Sky Team awards, including Delta awards. Air France often offers very good business class award pricing between the US and Europe & Israel. |
| Avianca LifeMiles | 1 to 1 | Avianca LifeMiles can be great for Star Alliance awards. They offer reasonable award prices and no fuel surcharges on awards. They also offer shorthaul awards within the US (for flying United, for example) for as few as 7,500 miles one-way. Best of all, their mixed-cabin pricing can lead to fantastic first-class award prices. See this post for details. |
| British Airways Avios | 1 to 1 via Qatar | While flights on British Airways itself often incur outrageously high fuel surcharges, many BA partners charge low or no fuel surcharges. Excellent value can be had in redeeming BA points for short distance flights. It's possible to move points (Avios) between Iberia, British Airways, Aer Lingus, and Qatar. See also: Avios Sweet Spots for Award Tickets. |
| Cathay Pacific Asia Miles | 1 to 1 | Cathay Pacific has a decent distance based award chart, but they no longer allow stopovers longer than 24 hours. Cathay Pacific Asia Miles can be a good option for booking American Airlines flights with a distance based award chart, especially if other OneWorld Alliance miles aren't available. For long distance flights, it is possible to reduce the cost of a premium cabin award by adding on a lower cabin segment. See this post for details. |
| Choice | 1 to 2 | Choice Privileges points seem to be randomly valuable within the US, but dependably valuable internationally in expensive locations such as Scandinavia and Japan. Points can sometimes offer great value when used towards participating Preferred Hotels of the World. |
| Emirates Skywards | 1 to 1 | The best use of Emirates miles has been to fly Emirates itself. Unfortunately fuel surcharges can be steep. See: Emirates Sweet Spot Awards - First class from 30K miles round trip. |
| Etihad Guest | 1 to 1 | Etihad offers a distance based award chart for flying Etihad and another for its partners. Points may offer good value for expensive but short-distance flights. |
| EVA Air Infinity MileageLands | 1 to 1 | If you want to fly one of the best business class products in the sky, the best way to snag EVA flights is with their own miles since they release more award space to their own members. One-way business class flights from the US to Taipei cost 75K to 80K miles. Fuel surcharges are very low on these routes. |
| Iberia Avios | 1 to 1 via Qatar, BA | On their own flights, Iberia offers low award prices and a very reasonable 25 Euro cancellation fee. Partner awards can offer good value under some circumstances as well, but these are usually nonrefundable. Fuel surcharges are sometimes lower when booking with Iberia rather than British Airways, Aer Lingus, or Qatar. It's possible to move points (Avios) between Iberia, British Airways, Aer Lingus, and Qatar. See also: Avios Sweet Spots for Award Tickets. |
| Jet Airways Inter Miles | 1 to 1 | JetAirways JetPrivilege miles are useful only for a few very specific cases such as certain flights to Hawaii for as low as 15K (30K business) one-way, or to the Caribbean or Central America for as low as 10K (20K business) one-way. Details can be found here. |
| JetBlue | 1 to 1 | JetBlue points offer the most value when cheap ticket prices are available and when award taxes are high relative to the overall cost of the ticket (more details can be found here). The JetBlue Plus Card and the JetBlue Business Card offer a 10% rebate on awards, so you can get more value by holding one of these cards. |
| Leading Hotels of the World | 1K to 200 | It is often possible to get 8 cents per point value, or more from LHW points. |
| Malaysia Enrich | 1 to 1 | Given Malaysia's award chart devaluation in June 2017, I'm not aware of any good uses for these miles. |
| Qantas Frequent Flyer | 1 to 1 | Best use is probably for flights on El Al with no fuel surcharges. Also useful for short AA flights. Qantas offers distance based award charts similar to Cathay Pacific. Both are OneWorld Alliance members. I recommend comparing award prices across both programs before transferring to either. Qantas offers round the world business class awards for only 280,000 points (but with many restrictions) |
| Qatar Privilege Club Avios | 1 to 1 | Qatar has reasonable award prices for flying Qatar itself. Points are now transferable 1 to 1 to British Airways (and from there to Aer Lingus or Iberia). It is now also possible to book JetBlue flights with Qatar Avios. |
| Shop Your Way Rewards | 1 to 10 | Don't do it. Shop Your Way points can be redeemed for a variety of gift cards. That said, unless Shop Your Way starts offering discounted gift cards, there's no point in converting transferrable points to Shop Your Way. |
| Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer | 1 to 1 | Use to book Singapore Airlines First Class awards (generally reserved for their own members), Alaska Airlines economy awards, or for Star Alliance awards (including United Airlines). |
| Thai Airways International Royal Orchid Plus | 1 to 1 | I'm not aware of any good uses for these miles |
| Turkish Airlines Miles & Smiles | 1 to 1 | Miles & Smiles offers a number of awesome sweet-spot awards including 7.5K one-way anywhere within the US, even to Hawaii. Many awards cannot be booked online but can be booked via phone or email. See: Turkish Miles & Smiles Complete Guide and Turkish business class sweet spots from the US. |
| Virgin Atlantic Flying Club | 1 to 1 | Virgin Atlantic offers a few great sweet spot awards including US to Europe on Delta One business class for 50K points one-way. See: Best uses for Virgin Atlantic points (Sweet Spot Spotlight). |
| Wyndham | 1 to 1 | Wyndham often allows booking multi-room suites for the same price as a standard room. It's sometimes possible to get great value from points in that way. Bonus: award nights are not subject to resort fees. Additionally, you can book Vacasa vacation rentals for only 15K points per room per night. Wyndham Earner cards offer automatic 10% discount on award stays. |
Related Cards
| Card Offer and Details |
|---|
60K Points ⓘ Affiliate Earn 60,000 bonus ThankYou® Points after you spend $4,000 in purchases within the first 3 months of account opening.$95 Annual Fee FM Mini Review: Very strong earnings for spend. Excellent bonus categories. Points transferable to select airlines. Recommend pairing this card with Citi Double Cash and Citi Rewards+. Sadly, this travel card doesn't provide any travel protections. Click here for our complete card review Earning rate: 3X grocery ✦ 3X dining ✦ 3X gas stations ✦ 3X flights, hotels, travel agencies Card Info: Mastercard World Elite issued by Citi. This card has no foreign currency conversion fees. Noteworthy perks: Transfer points to airline partners ✦ $100 Annual Hotel Savings Benefit See also: Citi ThankYou Rewards Complete Guide |
20K points ⓘ Affiliate $200 cash back after spending $1.5K in first six months. Note: $200 is awarded as 20,000 Citi ThankYou points.No Annual Fee FM Mini Review: 2X rewards for all spend with no annual fee makes this card a winner. Earn 2X everywhere and redeem for the equivalent of 2% cash back or 2X ThankYou points. Pair with the Premier or Prestige card to make points transferrable to airlines. Click here for our complete card review Earning rate: 2% cash back everywhere (1% cash back for each purchase + 1% when paying your credit card bill for that purchase). ✦ For a limited time: Earn 5% total cash back on hotel, car rentals, and attractions booked on Citi Travel portal through 12/31/24. Base: 2X (2.9%) Card Info: Mastercard World Elite issued by Citi. This card imposes foreign transaction fees. Noteworthy perks: 1X when you make a purchase + 1X when you pay for those purchases See also: Citi ThankYou Rewards Complete Guide |
20K Points ⓘ Affiliate 20K points after $1500 spend in the first 6 monthsNo Annual Fee Recent better offer: Expired 9/13/22 - 20,000 points after $750 spend in first 3 months FM Mini Review: This is a great card to have and hold for a single category where you spend no more than $500 per month as it represents an excellent return without rotating categories to track. Earning rate: 5x on purchases in your top eligible spend category each billing cycle, up to the first $500 spent, 1x thereafter. Eligible categories: Restaurants, Gas Stations, Grocery Stores, Select Travel, Select Transit, Select Streaming Services, Drugstores, Home Improvement Stores, Fitness Clubs and Live Entertainment. ✦ 1x on all other purchases Base: 1X (1.45%) Travel: 5X (7.25%) Dine: 5X (7.25%) Gas: 5X (7.25%) Grocery: 5X (7.25%) Other: 5X (7.25%) Card Info: Mastercard issued by Citi. This card imposes foreign transaction fees. See also: Citi ThankYou Rewards Complete Guide |
20K points ⓘ Affiliate 20K points after $1.5K spend in 3 months No Annual Fee FM Mini Review: The fact that you can get 10% Points Back when you redeem, up to the first 100,000 points redeemed per year, makes this a great choice to pool with ThankYou Premier, Prestige, and/or Double Cash Click here for our complete card review Earning rate: 5x on travel booked through Citi Travel℠ Portal through June 30 2024 (excludes air travel) ✦ 2X at supermarkets and gas stations on up to $6,000 per year ✦ Round up to nearest 10 TY points on all purchases Card Info: Mastercard World issued by Citi. This card imposes foreign transaction fees. Noteworthy perks: Round up to the nearest 10 points on all purchases with no cap. ✦ Get 10% Points Back when you redeem, up to the first 100,000 points redeemed per year. See also: Citi ThankYou Rewards Complete Guide |
$100 statement credit ⓘ Non-Affiliate $100 statement credit after $1K Spend in 3 MonthsNo Annual Fee FM Mini Review: This has a good gas station bonus for a no annual fee card, but there's not much else to make it a compelling card Earning rate: ✦ 3 points per $1 at gas stations ✦ 2 points per $1 oat grocery stores ✦ 1 point per $1 on all other purchases Card Info: Mastercard issued by Citi. This card imposes foreign transaction fees. Noteworthy perks: $20 statement credit every billing cycle you spend $1,000+ or $10 statement credit when you spend $500 - $999.99 (for AT&T Wireless customers omly) See also: Citi ThankYou Rewards Complete Guide |
None This card is no longer availableNo Annual Fee Information about this card has been collected independently by Frequent Miler. The issuer did not provide the details, nor is it responsible for their accuracy. FM Mini Review: 10% points rebate (up to 10K rebate per year) make this a great choice to pool with ThankYou Premier, Prestige, and/or Double Cash Earning rate: 2X at supermarkets and gas stations on up to $6,000 per year ✦ Round up to nearest 10 TY points on all purchases Card Info: Mastercard World issued by Citi. This card imposes foreign transaction fees. Noteworthy perks: Round up to the nearest 10 points on all purchases with no cap. ✦ get 10% of your points back on the first 100K redeemed each year See also: Citi ThankYou Rewards Complete Guide |
None This card is no longer availableNo Annual Fee FM Mini Review: Downgrade from Prestige or Premier to this card in order to keep points alive Earning rate: 2X dining and entertainment Card Info: Mastercard World issued by Citi. This card imposes foreign transaction fees. See also: Citi ThankYou Rewards Complete Guide |
None This card is no longer availableNo Annual Fee This card is available in-branch only and is not available online. The bonus may vary by region and can be as high as 40K. Information about this card has been collected independently by Frequent Miler. The issuer did not provide the details, nor is it responsible for their accuracy. Earning rate: 3x travel ✦ office supply ✦ professional services Card Info: Mastercard World issued by Citi. This card has no foreign currency conversion fees. Noteworthy perks: Anniversary bonus on base earnings each membership year. (1% in year 1, 2% in year 2 and 3% in year 3 and beyond.) See also: Citi ThankYou Rewards Complete Guide |
None This card is no longer availableNo Annual Fee FM Mini Review: This card may be worth it for a welcome bonus, but it would be worth considering a product change to the Double Cash down the road..Unforunately, it seems it is no longer possible to product change to the AT&T Access More card. Earning rate: ✦ 2 points per $1 on products and services that are purchased directly from AT&T ✦ 2 points per $1 on all purchases at online retail and travel sites ✦ 1 point per $1 on all other purchases Card Info: Mastercard World issued by Citi. This card has no foreign currency conversion fees. See also: Citi ThankYou Rewards Complete Guide |
None This card is no longer available$95 Annual Fee This card is no longer available to new applicants. Information about this card has been collected independently by Frequent Miler. The issuer did not provide the details, nor is it responsible for their accuracy. FM Mini Review: Excellent choice for those who shop often online (thanks to 3X earnings) Earning rate: ✦ 3 points per $1 on products and services that are purchased directly from AT&T ✦ 3 points per $1 on all purchases at online retail and travel sites ✦ 1 point per $1 on all other purchases Card Info: Mastercard World Elite issued by Citi. This card has no foreign currency conversion fees. Big spend bonus: 10,000 anniversary bonus points after $10,000 in annual spending See also: Citi ThankYou Rewards Complete Guide |
None This card is no longer available$495 Annual Fee Information about this card has been collected independently by Frequent Miler. The issuer did not provide the details, nor is it responsible for their accuracy. FM Mini Review: The Prestige card's best in class 5X rewards for dining, airfare, and travel agencies is hard to beat. Sadly, this travel card doesn't provide any travel protections. Earning rate: 5X airfare, dining, and travel agencies ✦ 3X hotels and cruise line ✦ 1X everywhere else Card Info: Mastercard World Elite issued by Citi. This card has no foreign currency conversion fees. Noteworthy perks: $250 travel rebate per calendar year ✦ Free lounge access: Citi Properietary Lounges; and Priority Pass Select with free guests ✦ $100 Global Entry application fee credit ✦ 4th night free hotel benefit See also: Citi ThankYou Rewards Complete Guide |
Citi Application Tips
- 48 Month Rule: With most Citi cards, you can only receive a welcome offer every 48 months. This applies to the same exact card, not families of cards.
- Velocity Limits: Citi allows a maximum of one personal card per 8 days and a maximum of two personal cards per 65 days. Business cards are limited to one per 90 days.
- Card Limits: Citi doesn't have a strict limit on the amount of cards that you can have, but it does place limits on the total amount of credit that they will issue you across all cards. Because of this, reconsideration can sometimes be successful by moving credit from one existing card to the new card that you want.
- Application Status: Call (866) 606-2787 or go here to check your application status. For Costco cards, call (877) 343-4118.
- Reconsideration: If denied, call (800) 695-5171 for personal cards or (866) 541-7657 for business cards.
Want to learn more about miles and points? Subscribe to email updates or check out our podcast on your favorite podcast platform.
I had this card about 6ish years ago. I just applied and was instantly approved this week for it again. I am going to Norway this summer and want to make use of the choice 1 to 2 transfer as we will need two rooms for multiple days and I didn’t want to transfer out all my AMEX points.
I didn’t get a retention offer last year so downgraded it to a Rewards+ after having used most of the points on a transfer to Virgin. It has good category bonuses overall but tends to get overshadowed by all the 5X options if you have Custom Cash and Freedom Flex cards. I found I wasn’t spending much on it between those and consistently better Chase & AMEX offers than Citi Merchant offers. I have not had luck with very many good Citi Merchant offers when I had the card.
Wish they’d do another limited time transfer opportunity to Aadvantage. I find these points almost impossible to get value from given my travel tendencies and preferences.
Once upon a time, Citi Premier card was a no-brainer. On the spending side, it offered so-called “flight points” (in addition to “purchase points”) for the actual miles of your flights purchased with the Premier card (and those “flight points” can be redeemed once you’d accumulated enough “purchase points”). On the redemption side, it was even better. There was an award chart with fixed number of points for flight redemptions (for both economy and premium cabins). This is for how long I’ve had this card. I didn’t even have to pay annual fee until last year because of my banking relationship with Citi. I used the card for all my travel needs and it was, for many years, one of my favorite cards. However, that changed a couple of years ago when Citi removed all forms of travel insurance. That extra 1 point in certain categories can’t justify the missing travel coverage. Car rental without any coverage for an extra point per dollar? That’s not worth it in my book. Flights without cancellation/interruption coverage? That’s not worth it, either, even with an extra point in some cases. Citi has always had a relatively weaker group of transfer partners to begin with, compared to its competitors, but with the recent devaluation of TK miles, the gap in value of each ThankYou point has widened significantly compared to that of its competitors’ programs, because the value of ThankYou point relies more on the value of its TK partner than its competitors (the value of AmEx and Chase points don’t rely on TK, while Cap1 and Bilt points do but to a much lesser degree because of their other strong transfer partners).
Please name a better card for use while travelling internationally. I recently got the Premier for 3X categories on 3 separate upcoming trips: Barbados, Chile, and Guatemala. AX is worthless ex-US. The CSP, VX, and others only give 2X.
When we have been in Europe and needed to use a credit card for an array of on-line purchases (think back during Covid), the Citi Premier was our salvation in terms of “playing nice” with no end of rickety, persnickety, particularistic payment platforms. Much better than Amex and even Chase, and better than other Mastercards, too (e.g., Barclays). This plus no FX fees and 3x on groceries have made it worth keeping.
As someone who has had this in my wallet for a while, a couple other things I would add to the “Pros” list:
Hard meh for me. Amex Gold and Blue Biz Plus are a far better combo for me.
$250 Gold AF is partially offset by the $240/yr monthly coupons. Plus you get 4x grocery ($25K cap) and unlimited 4x dining. No-AF BB+ is 2x everywhere (up to $50K, but you can have multiple cards). Plus Amex AU offers add more pop.
Better transfer partners, better earn rates, low net AF, AU bonuses make Citi pale in comparison.
Amex Gold and BB+ combo is not a direct comparison. There are no travel and gas categories. Also, BB+ has FX fees, so cannot be used abroad. A better comparison would be between Citi Premier and Chase Ink Preferred. Ink has more inclusive travel categories but Citi Premier has dining and gas
Can I transfer directly to British Airways or do I transfer to Qatar and then from there to BA or Iberia? The website only lists Qatar: https://www.thankyou.com/partnerProgramsListing.htm
Iberia works very well for us with low surcharges and great award flights availability from PHL/EWR to Europe.
Thank you!
To Qatar first then to any other Avios airline.
I’m interested in getting this card if there is an 80k SUB again for the transfer to BR, instead of 2:1.5 with C1. That would be particularly useful in my situation. I’d probably close it after a year though hah.
Almost look at Citi “losing” Turkish as if Chase “lost” Hyatt. What’s left?
Have the Premier and for the $95 AF, certainly not in a rush to dump it. Just looking at Citi as my “some extra miles” program. Not bad. But NO referral bonuses, awful trip insurance and lackluster travel portal make this the Walmart of banks; not bad but give me some reason other than 10% off to walk into that madhouse. The Turkish devaluation changed my perception.
I love the $0 AF Double Cash and assume I could get 5X with their $0 AF Custom Cash on categories I could not get from the other banks, month in, month out.
Still in the TYP game but wondering if I should take a hiatus and shift my spending.
Exactly. There’s almost nothing left that makes the TYP interesting. There’re other cards that earn 2 miles for spending everywhere so Double Cash isn’t unique in that regard. Custom Cash is unique, but then one needs Citi Premier in order to transfer those TYP to miles.
It’s such a good pitch at first that P2, simple 1-card, etc. but then you really do have to throw in double cash at minimal so you get 2x on non-bonus category so at min, it’s not a 1-card but a 2 card.
so, 2 Citi cards, and you get 2-3x transferable points everywhere for $95 all in AF
versus
these 2 card combos that give transferable points and no more than $95 either after rebates/coupons that are not hard to achieve…
P.S. we keep Wyndham Earner Biz cards in our cars at all times (not in our wallets) so we get 8x at gas stations (gas, gift cards, snacks, etc.)
P.S.S. we keep INK Cash cards in our wallets at all times when we drive by office supply stores to get 5x on GCs
P.S.S.S we keep branded hotel cards in my shave kit that are used at hotels for 10x plus
netnet – P1 & P2 both are 2-cards only in our wallets at all times, earning 2-4x on everyday spend and NOT missing out on anything 3x that the Citi Premier would give, even travel.
Choice Hotels and EVA Air. They’re niche but that’s the main things going for Citi.
Before dealing with Citibank, you should look at the record as a bank. They have over 10,000 complaints at the better business bureau and an f rating there. We deposited money into a savings account there and then they refuse to release it to us on a timely manner. Even though we had some $250,000, they told us we could only withdraw that at the rate of $10,000 per day. Also, there are several complaints against Citibank by the federal banking I would suggest you look into the integrity and ease of dealing with Citibank before you ever invest with or use them
You write it needs a partner card to earn more than 1X. Isn’t the Double Cash card the partner card? I also wanted to point out that the Premier’s restaurant 3X is also on restaurants outside the US, which is not true of many other cards with restaurant multipliers.
Far be it from me to draw attention to what I view as an almost underrated redemption but I kind of feel like BA Avios get too harsh of a rap on blogs. The blurb here calls BA’s taxes and fees “outrageously high” when east coast / Midwest redemptions to LHR run 80k + approx $350 in surcharges and Avois frequently offer transfer bonuses.
Meanwhile, Air France / KLM surcharges are similarly priced, typically around $300-$330 and do not get similarly pilloried, while Emirates’s absolutely insane $1000+ surcharges are only “steep.”
Look, I’m not saying BA redemptions are good, but they are a dependable, moderately high priced way to get a family of 4 to a specific destination on a specific day. And the surcharges are merely somewhat high.
With the recent devaluation of TK miles, the value of ThankYou points is taking a major hit. TK is, arguably, the most valuable transfer partner Citi Premier card has. While other transferrable point currencies (namely Capital One and Bilt) also took a hit from TK devaluation, they still have other valuable transfer partners (e.g. Capital One has Aeroplan while Bilt has AA and Hyatt). Citi, OTOH, has few other equally valuable transfer partners (Citi still offers better transfer ratios on BR and Choice transfers than Capital One, but they have only limited usefulness). Citi needs to figure out a way to add AA as a transfer partner, or many cardholders will lose interest in the card.
Value is in the eye of the cardholder. Different people have different strategies. If you want a Singapore Krys Suite booking, your best bet is Singapore points as opposed to a partner’s points. Asia Miles can be a very useful currency. Air France and Virgin. Etc. That being said, Citi is not a hobby-friendly ecosystem. Citi is about ongoing spending, not SUBs. And, while the Premier receives 10x on hotels booked via Citi Travel, my experience is that the pricing of hotels on Citi Travel is rotten.
Due to a corporate shake-up, the Strata cards have been delayed. The rumors were that the Strata Elite was going to be an all-in-one card. Citi did some customer research and found that wealthier customers didn’t want to play “which card do I use for this purchase?” Instead, they want a single card for travel, dining, groceries, gas, and everyday spending with best-in-class earn rates in each category. Who knows when they will be released. But, it will be interesting to see what Citi rolls out.
SQ miles are practically only good for booking SQ flights in premium cabins (even in that case, I’d prefer to use AC or AS miles in most cases because of their much better pricing). Besides, SQ miles can be obtained so easily that when a need arises, I can transfer to the program from almost any other transferrable mileage currencies. Same goes with CX, AF, VS miles. So, what’s unique about Citi’s ThankYou points? Why would I put spending on the Citi card when I have other better choices?
You miss my point. YOU can do anything you want. But, OTHERS might have other factors that drive their decisions. Another person might have a banking relationship with Citi. And, the person says to oneself, “If I can transfer to Avios and Singapore and Air France and Virgin, why do I need some other card issued?” For that person, it works.
I do have a banking relationship with Citi, but that doesn’t prevent me from having credit cards from other financial institutions that earn transferrable currencies that are more valuable. I still keep my Citi Premier card because I put some spending on Citi Custom Cash and I want to be able to transfer those points to airline miles. However, on the standalone basis, I no longer put much spending on Citi Premier since it eliminated all travel coverages. Isn’t the card still supposed to be primarily a travel reward card? Why would I pay for a car rental or a flight with Citi Premier when it offers zero protection?
YOU, YOU, YOU, YOU, YOU. I’M NOT TALKING ABOUT WHAT YOU WOULD DO. I SAID OTHERS MIGHT HAVE OTHER CONSIDERATIONS. ARE YOU A MILLENNIAL?
It’s not about me. Why would anyone put spending (particularly travel spending) on Citi Premier when they have better alternatives? BTW, I’m not a millennial and I’m not sure what that has anything to do with what we’re discussing (no need for typing in all CAPs either).
Tim writes,
“Who’s this card for? Folks that want a one card option with great category bonuses on spending. Player 2s that don’t/won’t keep multiple cards on their person (I know this from experience).
“Is the Citi Premier a keeper? It is for me. The Premier combines an intriguing set of transfer partners with an excellent group of category bonuses.”
His suggestion seems wholly reasonable to me. It’s a fit for certain people (including himself) but not necessarily all people. Your suggestion questions the card’s suitability for anyone. Your suggestion questions the card’s suitability for Tim himself. So, do you know more about Tim’s circumstances than Tim himself?
Pax vobis cum.