Citi Premier card review: One of the best sign-up bonuses around, plus lots of options for earning and redeeming points

Review: Is the Citi Premier the right card for you?

There are dozens of travel rewards credit cards to choose from nowadays, but many consumers prefer cards with flexible rewards programs. With flexible, or transferable, points, you aren't tied down to a specific loyalty program, and you can redeem your rewards how you want.

The Citi Premier® Card is one such option, and it can be an especially lucrative choice due to its generous welcome offer of 60,000 bonus ThankYou® Points after you spend $4,000 in purchases within the first 3 months of account opening.

You can use Citi ThankYou points from this card in multiple ways, including redeeming for gift cards, merchandise, and travel booked through the Citi portal. You can potentially get even higher value by transferring your points to Citi's airline partners, like JetBlue and Air France/KLM.

Like other popular rewards credit cards, Citi has also stepped up to offer more ways to earn rewards as a result of the pandemic. With the Citi Premier℠ Card, you'll earn 3x points at supermarkets, restaurants, gas stations, and on air travel and hotels, and 1x on everything else.

So you can earn and redeem your rewards on everyday essentials if you're staying close to home, or take the card on the road and get an excellent value that way, too. This versatility is why the Citi Premier℠ Card sits at the top of our guide to the best Citi credit cards.

Before you decide if the Citi Premier℠ Card is a good fit, you'll also want to consider cards that offer similar flexibility and earning opportunities. The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card has a similar strong bonus and options for earning and redeeming — you can check out our Chase Sapphire Preferred review for the full details.

Or if you don't want to track bonus categories, the Capital One® Venture® Rewards Credit Card comes with a hefty bonus and 2x earning on all purchases (you can find out more in our Capital One Venture review).

Bottom line: The Citi Premier℠ Card offers a generous sign-up bonus, strong rewards, and many ways to use your points. If you're looking for an all-purpose travel credit card with an annual fee under $100, this one should be on your shortlist.

Citi Premier vs other Citi ThankYou cards

Citi Premier vs other travel credit cards

How to use Citi ThankYou points

Here's where the Citi Premier℠ Card really stands out — you have many options for using your ThankYou points, whether you like to travel or prefer using points for gift cards and merchandise.

Transfer Citi ThankYou points to airline partners

When you have the Citi Premier℠ Card (or the Citi Prestige® Card), you can transfer your Citi ThankYou points to over a dozen airline partners to book award travel. The value you'll get per point is dependent on the partner you choose and how you use the miles — typically, redeeming for expensive, international premium-cabin award flights will get you a higher value than domestic economy seats.

Points transfers are in 1,000-point increments at a 1:1 ratio with all airline partners:

• Aeromexico
• Asia Miles
• Avianca LifeMiles
• Emirates
• Etihad Guest
• EVA Air
• Flying Blue / Air France
• Intermiles (formerly JetPrivilege)
• JetBlue
• Malaysia Airlines
• Qantas
• Qatar Airways
• Singapore Airlines
• Thai Royal Orchid Plus
• Turkish Airlines
• Virgin Atlantic

If you collect Sears Shop Your Way points, they're another transfer option at a rate of 1 Citi ThankYou point to 10 Sears points. Note that if you only have a no-annual-fee Citi ThankYou credit card, like the Citi Rewards+℠ Card, the only airline you can transfer to is JetBlue, and the ratio is slightly lower at 1,000 Citi ThankYou points to 800 JetBlue points.

Redeem Citi ThankYou points for travel, gift cards, merchandise, and more

You can redeem Citi ThankYou points for gift cards at a rate of 1 cent each, making the bonus of 60,000 bonus ThankYou® Points after you spend $4,000 in purchases within the first 3 months of account opening worth a considerable amount in gift cards to popular retailers like Apple, Home Depot, and Macy's. You can also use Citi ThankYou points at the same value to make a charitable donation, book travel through the Citi portal, or even pay your student loan or mortgage.

It's also possible to pay with points at retailers like Amazon and Best Buy, or cash in your points for a statement credit or check, but you'll get a lower value when you redeem this way — as little as 0.5 cents per point for cash back.

Citi Premier card benefits and features

The Citi Premier℠ Card comes with a valuable benefit for travelers that can more than offset the annual fee. Once per calendar year, you can get $100 off a hotel stay of $500 or more (before taxes and fees) when you book through the Citi ThankYou travel portal. Interestingly, you can get the discount whether you pay for the hotel stay with your card, Citi ThankYou points, or a combination of both.

Additionally, the Citi Premier℠ Card offers purchase protection if an item is damaged or stolen within 90 days from your purchase date. You can up to $10,000 in coverage per incident (with a maximum of $50,000 in coverage per year).

The card also offers extended warranty protection — you'll get 24 additional months on manufacturers' warranties of five years or less for eligible items purchased with the card.

As a cardholder, you get access to the Citi Entertainment program, which offers presale tickets, preferred tickets, VIP packages, and more. You'll need to provide the first six digits of your card number as the passcode to take advantage of Citi's ticket benefits when you check out at Ticketmaster or Live Nation.

The other major benefit of this card is the fact you don't have to pay foreign transaction fees. This perk may not seem like a big deal, but if you travel frequently the savings can add up.

Citi Premier card fees and costs

The Citi Premier℠ Card comes with a 15.99% - 23.99% variable APR based on your creditworthiness, so this isn't a good card option if you plan to carry a balance. If you plan to make a large purchase you want to pay for over time, you should check out the top 0% APR credit card offers first. 

This card comes with a $95 annual fee, but again, you won't pay any foreign transaction fees.

Like most cards, there are also fees for balance transfers, late or returned payments, and cash advances.

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