Citi Premier Credit Card Review

Citi Premier Credit Card Review
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By Mark Jackson on May 29, 2020

There are five main credit cards that earn Citi ThankYou Rewards points, and each have their advantages and disadvantages. The Citi Premier Credit Card is one of them, and sits in a mid-tier position for both benefits and cost. Let’s dig into the details and see if the Citi Premier Credit Card deserves to be in your wallet.

The Citi Premier Credit Card Review

Citi Thankyou Premier credit card

As mentioned, there are three other cards that earn ThankYou points besides the Citi Premier Card. Those include:

  • Citi Prestige® Card ($495 annual fee)
  • Citi Rewards+℠ Card ($0 annual fee)
  • Citi Rewards+℠ Student Card ($0 annual fee)
  • AT&T Access Card from Citi ($0 annual fee)

As you’ll see below, the Citi Premier card offers a solid mix of benefits for its $95 annual fee. The main benefit is access to ThankYou points, which has a host of travel transfer partners, similar to Chase’s Ultimate Rewards and Amex’s Membership Rewards.

Citi Premier Sign Up Bonus

Book Etihad with your ThankYou points from the Citi Premier card

Book Etihad with your ThankYou points from the Citi Premier card

Currently, the Citi Premier card offers a 60,000 point sign up bonus when you spend $4,000 in the first three months. That’s about $900 in value, based on my valuation of Citi ThankYou points.

Keep in mind that Citi has a rule that disallows you from earning a bonus on the Citi Premier card if you’ve opened or closed the Citi Rewards+, Citi ThankYou Preferred (no longer available), Citi ThankYou Premier (no longer available), Citi Premier or Citi Prestige cards in the last 24 months.

Citi Premier Benefits

a boat on a river in Budapest

With a $95 annual fee, you’ll want to get a return if you hold the Citi Premier card. Between spending bonus on the card, and the ancillary benefits for being a World Elite Mastercard, you may find the Citi Premier card makes sense for you to hold.

Earning Points

You’ll earn 3 ThankYou points per dollar in the following categories:

You’ll earn 1 ThankYou point per dollar on everything else.

That’s pretty strong; earning you 4.5% back in rewards based on our valuation of ThankYou points. A competitor of the Citi Premier card, the Chase Sapphire Preferred card, only offers two Ultimate Rewards points per dollar on dining and travel, though we value Ultimate Rewards points more than ThankYou points, at two cents per point.

Still, you’re coming out ahead using the Citi Premier card here, especially if you plan on transferring to Emirates, FlyingBlue, Singapore, or Virgin Atlantic, since those are all transfer partners of both Citi ThankYou Rewards and Chase Ultimate Rewards.

Other Benefits

The Citi Premier card also features several benefits that may come in handy for cardmembers. Those include:

  • World Elite benefits, which aren’t reported on much. This includes a $10 credit to Lyft if you take five rides a month, 15% off Lufthansa, $5 off a future movie ticket purchase when you buy two Fandango tickets, and more.
  • Personal Concierge service
  • Citi Private Pass, which offers access to exclusive events, including sports, dining, and entertainment
  • Free FICO reporting

What You Can Use Your Points For

As mentioned above, ThankYou points can be transferred to 16 transfer partners, including:

While these aren’t all premier partners, like Ultimate Rewards or Membership Rewards may have, I will say you can transfer to many of these airlines and fly American carriers, like Flying Blue or Virgin Atlantic for Delta flights, Avianca and Singapore for United flights, and Qantas or Asia miles for American flights.

Overall

The Citi Premier card definitely impresses with a large 60,000 point sign up bonus, strong earning categories for spending, all with a low $95 annual fee. The ThankYou transfer partners are varied and unique, which opens up a lot of options when it comes time to book award travel.