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![23 Valuable Benefits of the Citi Premier Card [For Travelers]](https://upgradedpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Citi-Premier-Upgraded-Points-LLC-05-Large.jpg?auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=1420&height=650&fit=crop)
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Perhaps you’ve been thinking of applying for a travel rewards credit card but you’re not quite ready to pay the higher annual fee that can come with premium travel rewards cards.
Although premium travel rewards cards offer a lot of luxury travel perks and other benefits that can negate all or most of the annual fee, there’s still that large fee that has to be paid every year.
If you’re a frequent traveler and want an alternative to a premium travel rewards card, you might consider the Citi Premier® Card. If most of your spending is on travel, gas, entertainment, and dining, you’re going to find elevated earnings that will make it easy to accumulate rewards quickly. Your points will also be easy to redeem with several flexible options, including travel.
That’s not the end of the benefits that come with the Citi Premier card; however, as there are so many other reasons to consider the card, so here’s a long list of all the benefits of the Citi Premier card.
The Citi Premier card is perfect for the traveler as bonus earning categories include common travel purchases. Rewards are also valuable as they are earned in the form of ThankYou Points, which have several flexible redemption options.
Earn a welcome bonus worth hundreds of dollars after meeting minimum spending requirements within the first 3 months after card approval.
Points will add up quickly as you earn 3 ThankYou Points per dollar spent on airfare and hotels.
Whether it’s a late-night hamburger, a high-end dining experience, or lunch at an outdoor café, you’ll be earning 3 points for every dollar you spend on dining.
Do a lot of commuting? Use your Citi Premier card at gas stations and earn 3 points per dollar spent.
If you’re like most people, supermarket purchases make up a significant amount of your yearly expenses. So put those purchases on your Citi Premier card and earn 3 points per dollar spent.
Every purchase you make with your Citi Premier card earns at least 1 ThankYou Point per dollar spent.
Unlike some travel rewards cards that limit the amount of spending that earns elevated rewards in bonus categories, the Citi Premier has no such limit.
Bottom Line: Frequent travelers will find the Citi Premier card a good match as every travel purchase, including gas stations, earns 3 ThankYou Points per dollar spent and 2 ThankYou Points per dollar spent on dining and entertainment.
There is no cost to add an authorized user to your Citi Premier card and their purchases earn ThankYou Points.
There are no fees to transfer ThankYou Points between accounts. Up to 100,000 points can be shared and 100,000 points received in a calendar year. Points expire 90 days after points are received.
One reason ThankYou Points are so valuable is because of their flexibility. They can be transferred to airline loyalty programs, used to purchase travel, redeemed for merchandise, gift cards, or even cash-back.
Transferring points to airline frequent flyer programs can result in great value for your ThankYou Points. Simply log in to your online Citi Premier account, click on Rewards and Benefits, then “more ways to redeem”. ThankYou Points transfer at the rate of 1 point to 1 mile.
Check out some of the best ideas for redeeming your ThankYou Points by transferring to airline partners.
Your ThankYou Points can be worth 25% more when redeemed for flights through the ThankYou Rewards portal and 1 cent when redeemed towards travel.
Transferring your ThankYou Points to Sears Shop Your Way points is a decent option that gives you more than 1 cent in value for your ThankYou Points. A ThankYou Point is worth 12 Shop Your Way points. Since a Shop Your Way point is worth 1/10 of a cent, 1 ThankYou Point will equal 1.2 cents worth of Shop Your Way points.
Generally, your ThankYou Points are worth 1 cent per point when redeeming for gift cards, but occasionally there are specials where the value is greater. With the 1 center per point, that means 2,500 ThankYou Points will earn you $25 to one of the many retail partners. For a list of Citi’s current gift card merchants, visit the ThankYou Rewards portal.
While redeeming your points for cash-back or merchandise is not the best value for your points, at least it’s an option if you need to do it. You’ll receive less than 1 cent per point in value and in many cases just 1/2 cent per point. As of May 2019, there’s a few retailers that were available:
Redeem your ThankYou Points for a charitable donation to the American Red Cross or Smile Train for a value of 1 cent per point.
Bottom Line: While the value you receive for your ThankYou Points may vary, the flexibility to select the best redemption for your situation has tremendous value.
With the Citi Premier card, you’ll have access to an expert 24/7 with the Citi® Concierge dedicated phone line. Get help with travel, shopping, entertainment, and dining out. The concierge staff can help with concert tickets, dinner reservations, or planning out that dream vacation with a simple phone call.
Receive special access to events, exclusive invitations, dining perks, ticket pre-sale privileges, preferred pricing, and more.
Some of the benefits covered below are actually World Elite Mastercard benefits that come complimentary with the Citi Premier card. The list of World Elite Mastercard benefits is lengthy, but here are some of the most notable:
Receive upgraded rooms, hotel amenities, credits to use during your stay, late checkout, complimentary breakfast, and more at over 2,000 luxury properties worldwide.
Receive up to 25% discount on premium flights with several airlines.
Receive special access to courses, even private courses, worldwide and be treated like a member. Enjoy select tee times, use of member facilities, discounted pricing, and more.
You’ll find information on these and additional World Elite Mastercard benefits here plus you’ll want to check out the best Mastercards for points and rewards.
Take your card along when you travel as foreign purchases will not incur foreign transaction fees.
Simply purchase an eligible item with your Citi Premier card and if the item should be damaged or stolen within 90 days of the purchase or delivery date, you could receive up to $10,000 per incident. There is a maximum limit of $50,000 per calendar year.
Why items seem to break down just after the manufacturer’s warranty expires is still a universal mystery. This benefit extends the manufacturer’s warranty on eligible items for 24 months. The benefit is valid on items with a manufacturer’s warranty of 5 years or less. Coverage is limited to $10,000 per item.
The Citi Premier card with its lower annual fee, waived the first year, is a good alternative to the high-end travel rewards cards. You’re not getting that complimentary lounge access or hotel elite status but you’re not paying that higher annual fee, either.
The card delivers a nice combination of bonus rewards earning opportunities for purchases travelers make most and plenty of flexible options to redeem those points for good value.
Keep in mind that Citi does not provide the travel protections and benefits that other travel rewards card may offer.
With that said, when it comes to earning and redeeming points, the Citi Premier is a good choice.
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Christine ran her own business developing and managing insurance and financial services. This stoked a passion for points and miles and she now has over 2 dozen credit cards and creates in-depth, detailed content for UP.
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7 comments
Debra Shepard
June 10, 2021
This USED to be a great card until they zapped the travel benefits (trip cancellation/interruption insurance, baggage delay compensation, trip delay reimbursement/travel and emergency assistance services AND extended warranty protection and purchases protection. The 3X points on travel and groceries are the best, but, many other cards still offer the protections above. This is too bad and I have beefed and will continue to do so. I switched to a Chase card which offers the benefits but, only 2X points and has LOUSY flight offerings. Not happy! Thank you for your site.
Christine Krzyszton
June 10, 2021
Thank you for reading, Debra, and for your comment. Note that the card still offers purchase protection and extended warranty coverage.
Adventure NML
September 29, 2021
I agree…this is really disappointing
Bill
October 11, 2021
Just got this for the signup bonus, but very disappointed that the 3x points do not apply to all travel, like car rentals and cruises. It’s the only card I have that offers a travel purchase bonus but doesn’t offer the rate on all travel expenses.
Christine Krzyszton
October 11, 2021
Yes, Bill, that is correct. The 3x earnings on travel are for flight and hotel purchases.
Mark
December 06, 2022
Does the 3X points for groceries apply to grocery stores worldwide or just the US?
Christine Krzyszton
December 06, 2022
Hi Mark. Citi does not limit bonus earnings at supermarkets to just U.S. supermarkets. There are, however, several types of stores that sell groceries that do not earn 3x points. Citi discloses those in the terms and conditions: “You won’t earn three points for purchases made at general merchandise/discount superstores, freezer/meat locker provisioners, dairy product stores, miscellaneous food/convenience stores, markets, drugstores, warehouse clubs, wholesale clubs, specialty vendors, bakeries, candy stores, nut stores, confectionery stores, and meal kit delivery services. You also won’t earn three points for purchases made at online supermarkets if the merchant does not classify itself as a supermarket by using the supermarket merchant code.”
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