Citi Premier Review 2023: An Underrated Travel Rewards Credit Card


The Citi Premier credit card is a great beginner travel rewards and/or cash back credit card.

Welcome bonus: earn 60,000 ThankYou Points after spending $4,000 within the first 3 months of opening your account. The Points Guy values Citi ThankYou Points for 1.8 cents per point, giving the welcome bonus a value of $1,080.

Earn 3x points per $1 spent on restaurants, supermarkets, gas stations, flights and hotels, 1x point per $1 spent on anything else. Taking The Points Guy's valuation above of 1.8 cents per point, that means you're earning a value of 5.4% bach on your spending in the 3x points categories.

Annual fee: $95, but can more than be paid for if you receive the annual $100 hotel credit described below.

$100 Annual Hotel Savings Benefit: $100 off a hotel stay of $500 or more, excluding taxes and fees, booked through thankyou.com, once per year.

No foreign transaction fees.

With the Citi Premier credit card you can redeem your Citi ThankYou Points:

  • Statement credits, cash rewards, and gift cards for 1 cent per point.
  • Transfer ThankYou Points to one of Citi's travel partners to potentially earn even higher per point value.

The Citi Premier card pairs well with both the Citi Custom Cash and the Citi Double Cash credit cards. If you get the Citi Custom Cash card, you can earn 5x points on your top spending category on up to $500 of spending each month. If you add the Citi Double Cash, you'll guarantee that you'll never earn less than 2x points for any of your spending.

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