AwardWallet receives compensation from advertising partners for links on the blog. Terms Apply to the offers listed on this page. The opinions expressed here are our own and have not been reviewed, provided, or approved by any bank advertiser. Here's our complete list of Advertisers.
Taking the top spot in our review of the best rewards cards for gas & fuel, the Citi Premier® Card offers some of the best earning rates of any rewards card with an annual fee under $100.
Cardholders earn 3X points per $1 spent on airfare and hotels and at gas stations, restaurants, and supermarkets, plus you can take advantage of a new $100 annual hotel credit every year.
- 60,000 point signup bonus worth $750 towards airfare through the ThankYou Travel Center, or potentially much more when transferred to airline partners
- 3X points per $1 on airfare and hotels and at gas stations, restaurants, and supermarkets
- Annual Hotel Benefit: Save $100 off a single hotel stay of $500 or more (excluding taxes and fees) when you book through ThankYou.com
- No foreign transaction fees
- $95 annual fee
- 3X points per $1 spent on airfare, hotels, and at gas stations
- 3X points per $1 spent on dining at restaurants, including cafes, bars and lounges
- 3X points per $1 spent at supermarkets
- 1X points per $1 spent on all other purchases
Cardmembers who opened their Citi Premier account before April 10, 2020 will also earn 2X points on entertainment and 3X points on a broader range of travel purchases through April 9, 2021.
Citi Premier® Card Signup Bonus
In addition to the stellar points-earning potential of the Citi Premier, the signup bonus is currently sitting at 60,000 ThankYou Points after you spend $4,000 in purchases within the first 3 months of account opening. That is 10,000 points higher than the previous offer on this card!
Redeem ThankYou Points for a Fixed-Value or Transfer to Airline Partners
As a Citi Premier cardholder, ThankYou Points are worth 1¢ per point towards travel when redeemed through the ThankYou Travel Center. You can redeem points for airfare, hotels, rental cars, cruises, and more. There are no blackout dates, and airline tickets are treated as revenue fares—meaning you'll earn both elite and redeemable miles. This gives the signup bonus a base value of $600 towards travel when redeemed through the Citi travel portal for a fixed-value.
The most valuable way to redeem your ThankYou Points, however, is transferring them to Citi's airline partners.
| Citi Transfer Partner | Transfer Ratio | Transfer Times |
|---|---|---|
| Aeromexico Club Premier | 1:1 | Instant |
| Cathay Pacific Asia Miles | 1:1 | Instant |
| Avianca LifeMiles | 1:1 | Instant |
| Emirates Skywards | 1:1 | Unknown |
| EVA Air Infinity MileageLands | 1:1 | Instant |
| Etihad Guest | 1:1 | 3 days - 7 days |
| Air France/KLM Flying Blue | 1:1 | Instant |
| Jet Airways InterMiles (formerly JetPrivilege) | 1:1 | Instant |
| JetBlue TrueBlue | 1:1 | Instant |
| Malaysia Airlines Enrich | 1:1 | 1 day - 2 days |
| Qantas Frequent Flyer | 1:1 | Instant |
| Qatar Airways Privilege Club | 1:1 | 1 day - 2 days |
| Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer | 1:1 | 2 days |
| Thai Airways Royal Orchid Plus | 1:1 | 3 days - 7 days |
| Turkish Airlines Miles & Smiles | 1:1 | 1 day |
| Virgin Atlantic Flying Club | 1:1 | Instant |
| Sears Shop Your Way® | 1:12 | Unknown |
Citi ThankYou transfer partners don't receive quite the same attention as rival programs Chase Ultimate Rewards or American Express Membership Rewards, but the program has some fantastic partners offering top value for your points.
For example, one of the best ways to book flights on United Airlines (and many Star Alliance airlines) is using Singapore KrisFlyer miles. You can book a round-trip, business-class ticket within the continental U.S. for 40,000 miles and a round trip to Hawaii for only 35,000 miles in economy or 60,000 in business class.
When thinking about booking United flights, many people assume Chase points are better since they transfer directly to United's MileagePlus program, but all three of these tickets cost fewer points if you transfer points to Singapore KrisFlyer than if you booked the same itinerary with United MileagePlus.
Points Earning Potential and Category Bonuses
The Citi Premier features a lucrative set of bonus categories, arguably the best earning structure of any mid-tier rewards card, including the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card.
Citi Premier bonus categories include:
- 3X points per $1 spent on airfare, hotels, and at gas stations
- 3X points per $1 spent on dining at restaurants, including cafes, bars and lounges
- 3X points per $1 spent at supermarkets
- 1X points per $1 spent on all other purchases
When paired with the Citi® Double Cash Card, possibly the best rewards card available for non-bonus spending, these cards become the backbone of a high-earning travel rewards strategy.
$100 Annual Hotel Savings Benefit
Outside of the huge earning potential of this card, it also offers an annual $100 hotel savings benefit. Once per calendar year, you can get $100 off a single hotel stay of $500 or more (excluding fees and taxes), through ThankYou.com. You're effectively getting ~20% off a cash hotel stay of $500.
Citi Premier Retail and Travel Protection Benefits
Unfortunately, Citi announced dramatic changes to retail and travel benefits in 2019, including the removal of almost all travel and purchase protections across almost all Citi cards.
The Citi Premier retained extended warranty cover and purchase protection but lost many of its benefits including:
- Car Rental Insurance
- Trip Cancellation & Interruption Protection
- Travel Accident Insurance
- Trip Delay Protection
- Baggage Delay Protection
- Lost Baggage Protection
- Citi® Price Rewind
- Return Protection
- Missed Event Ticket Protection
- Roadside Assistance Dispatch Service
- Travel & Emergency Assistance
Application Restrictions
Citi dishes up a somewhat complex set of application restrictions that can have a significant impact on your ability to get ThankYou Rewards earning cards. Rules include:
- Maximum of one (1) personal card per eight days
- Maximum two (2) total cards per 65 days
- Maximum one (1) business card per 95 days
- You can only receive the signup bonus if you haven't opened or closed a ThankYou Rewards earning card in the previous 24 months.
Bonus ThankYou® Points are not available if you received a new cardmember bonus for Citi Rewards+℠, Citi ThankYou® Preferred, Citi ThankYou®Premier/Citi Premier℠ or Citi Prestige®, or if you have closed any of these accounts, in the past 24 months.
Final Thoughts
The Citi Premier® Card is a reward-focused card that will help you earn the maximum number of points possible from your spending. While it's light on big-ticket feature benefits, the high points earning rate still makes it a great standalone travel card with a modest annual fee.
The welcome bonus alone provides enough points for a round-trip business class flight to Hawaii, plus you can take advantage of great category bonuses and earn valuable points that transfer to a variety of airline partners.
The comments on this page are not provided, reviewed, or otherwise approved by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser's responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.
Can Citi points be transferred to hotel chains??
Unfortunately not. There are no Citi ThankYou Point transfer partners. You can use your points to book hotels through the Citi Travel portal, but redeeming through Citi’s unique airline partners can provide the best value.
Citi card offer is compatible with Chase cards offers.
I will never own a CRED CARD again!!!!!!!!