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Offers for the Citi Rewards+® Card are not available through this site. Some offers may have expired. Please see our card marketplace for available offers
The Citi Rewards+® Card is a no-annual-fee card with a few unique features. First, all earnings are rounded up to the nearest 10 points, meaning a $2 pack of gum earns 10 points. This is a great card for small purchases since you're guaranteed to earn at least 10 points on all purchases — rather than the 1 or 2 points offered on most cards. Second, as you redeem your points, you're eligible to earn 10% of them back into your account — up to 100,000 points redeemed per year.
Today, we're focusing on this feature so that you can max out your points rebate throughout the year. You'll even be surprised to see how this feature can really maximize the earnings on your other Citi credit cards.
How the Citi Rewards+ 10% Points Rebate Works
This standout feature gives you 10% of your points back on the first 100,000 ThankYou® Points redeemed annually. It applies to all redemption options, providing a maximum of 10,000 points back each year. Redemption options include:
- Transferring to travel partners: With this card, you have three partner options: JetBlue TrueBlue, Choice Privileges, and Wyndham Rewards. However, if you also hold a Citi Strata Premier℠ Card or Citi Prestige® Card (no longer open to new applicants), you have access to all 21 of the Citi transfer partners.
- Booking in Citi's travel portal: Points are worth a flat 1¢ apiece when redeemed this way. This can provide value when booking travel for which you can't use Citi's transfer partners.
- Shop With Points: Redeem your points when you shop online with large retailers like Amazon or Best Buy, but know that the value can drop as low as 0.5 cents per point. Not great.
- Gift cards: Use your points to purchase gift cards from dozens of retailers.
Why It Could Make Sense To Speculatively Transfer Points With This Perk
We don't usually recommend speculative points transfers. Ideally, you find the redemption you want, confirm availability, and then transfer your points. If you transfer them ahead of time — based on assumptions about future booking options — you run the risk of having points stuck in a program that you may not be able to use easily. However, there are times when it can make sense to transfer points speculatively, even without a specific redemption in mind. And this is one of those times.
Because the 10% rebate is limited to the calendar year, it may be worth transferring your points to one of Citi's transfer partners at the end of the year if you haven't maximized your points rebate. If there is a partner that you fly with or stay with regularly, the chances are low that your points will be stuck, wasting away in a program you don't use. Transferring points could be a great option to maximize your 10% points rebate, because you know you're likely to use the points and benefit from the 10% rebate.
For example, you could pair the 10% points rebate with the current 10% transfer bonus to Cathay Pacific Asia Miles to double up on bonuses through March 31, 2024. Or maybe you want to transfer points to maximize this benefit before closing your card and losing access to the points rebate.
How the Points Rebate Works With Other Citi Credit Cards
As we mentioned above, you're limited to three transfer partners when you only have the Citi Rewards+. However, your options open greatly when you also have the Citi Strata Premier. Not only that, but you'll also get a 10% rebate (through your Citi Rewards+) for points redeemed from your Citi Strata Premier or any other cards that earn ThankYou points. Yes, even points that didn't originally come from your Citi Rewards+. Check out our example below.
Senior Editor Ryan Smith transferred points from his Citi Strata Premier to both Turkish Airlines Miles & Smiles and Flying Blue earlier this year.
Take a look at the screenshot below. His 10% points rebate was deposited nearly immediately, even though he didn't use his Citi Rewards+ for the redemption or for earning those points. He earned the rebate solely by holding the card and linking his accounts.
Be sure to link any of your accounts that earn ThankYou Points so you can enjoy the 10% rebate on all redemptions. To do this, log on to your Citi account, go to “My Account,” then select “Combine Selected Accounts.”
Related: Build a Winning Combo of Citi ThankYou Rewards Credit Cards
How To Track Your Earnings
When you're logged on to your Citi account, you also can track your 10% earnings. This is located in the ThankYou Points section near the bottom of the Rewards Details page. The chart breaks down all of your card earnings for the year. One of the chief reasons to keep the Citi Rewards+ each year is to take advantage of the points rebate — as evidenced by the points rebate being the only earning category on my card this year.
Otherwise, our Citi cards of choice are the Citi Strata Premier for travel spending and Citi Double Cash® Card for everyday spending.
Final Thoughts
Maximizing your credit card benefits is important. We don't want you to miss out on points via the Citi Rewards+ points rebate. Keep this perk in mind over the course of the year, because who doesn't love free points?
- 2X ThankYou® Points at supermarkets and gas stations for the first $6,000 per year and then 1X Points thereafter
- 1X points on all other purchases
- Automatically rounds up to the nearest 10 points on every purchase - with no cap
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