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Is The Citi Premier Card’s Focus On Everyday Value Here To Stay? | Bankrate
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Key takeaways
- The Citi Premier® Card used to be positioned primarily as a travel credit card, but it now blends traditional cash back and travel card features
- For cash back features, you’ll get more value for statement credit redemptions, plus 3X points on restaurant and supermarket spending
- For travel features, you can earn an annual hotel credit, transfer rewards to Citi travel partners and earn 3X points on air travel, hotels and gas stations
Citi is an advertising partner.
In 2021, the Citi Premier® Card emerged from a substantial makeover with one of the more attractive blends of cash back and travel credit card rewards: Cardholders could finally redeem their Citi ThankYou points for statement credits worth 1 cent apiece, up from 0.5 cents previously.
This example shows how this card has been trending in more of a cash back direction. It used to be positioned primarily as a travel credit card. And there’s still a lot to like for travelers: you’ll earn 3X points per dollar on air travel, hotels and gas stations, plus get an annual $100 discount off a single hotel stay of $500 or more (excluding taxes and fees) when you book through ThankYou.com.
Cardholders can often get more value for their points when they transfer their points to one of Citi’s airline partners. For instance, in the past I’ve gotten about 1.4 cents per point when I transferred ThankYou points to JetBlue. But not everyone likes to travel or is able to travel, especially as travel prices remain high.
Other card perks
I think the card is stronger now than it was in 2020. Besides travel, cardholders also get 3X points per dollar at supermarkets and restaurants. That elevated earning rate was launched in August 2020.
One negative aspect is that, in 2021, the card dropped its 25 percent bonus for booking travel through Citi. It also eliminated bonus points for entertainment purchases and certain travel categories (aside from air travel, hotels and gas) that year. All non-bonus purchases earn 1X point per dollar.
The $95 annual fee can be offset by using the annual hotel credit. If you’re thinking of signing up for this card, its current 60,000-point welcome bonus is worth at least $600. To qualify, you need to spend $4,000 or more within three months of opening the account.
The primary competition
In raising its statement credit valuation, the Citi Premier Card followed pandemic-era-inspired moves such as Chase’s introduction of the Pay Yourself Back program — particularly on the travel-oriented Chase Sapphire Reserve® and Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card — and a similar everyday rewards incentive on the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card and the Capital One VentureOne Rewards Credit Card. Those initiatives allowed cardholders to redeem their points or miles for everyday categories at a higher valuation that used to be reserved solely for travel.
While I hesitate to say that anything is permanent in life or in credit cards, it appears that Citi’s tilt toward cash back is the move most likely to stick. In 2017, the Citi Prestige® Credit Card* began offering 1 cent per point for statement credits (up from 0.5 cents), and it still does today.
The bottom line
While the Citi Premier Card’s changes in 2020 and 2021 can largely be attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic and the temporary migration away from travel and toward everyday purchases, I think card issuers would be smart to keep these features around for the long haul.
Cash back is valuable for its simplicity and its universal appeal. Travel points and miles are often more lucrative, but those programs are a lot more complicated. It’s not always easy to get the best value on the dates you want to travel or the places you want to go.
The Citi Premier has something for everyone. The ability to earn points on a variety of everyday categories is very beneficial. And if you want to use your rewards for something simple and universal like a statement credit, that’s now worth twice as much as it did in early 2021. For those who love to travel and are willing to put in the work to find the best deals and transfer to airline partners, that’s another good option.
Have a question about credit cards? E-mail me at ted.rossman@bankrate.com and I’d be happy to help.
*The information about the Citi Prestige® Credit Card has been collected independently by Bankrate.com. The card details have not been reviewed or approved by the card issuer.
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