Citi Premier Card benefits guide

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The Citi Premier® Card* is a solid travel credit card, especially if you’re also looking to earn rewards on non-travel purchases. The card earns 3X points on hotel and air travel, as well as on other favored categories, including restaurants, supermarkets and gas stations.

For individuals looking to spend moderately within these categories, the Citi Premier Card is a valuable rewards card option. Keep reading to learn more about the Citi Premier Card’s benefits, including its flexible rewards program, significant sign-up bonus and annual hotel savings perk.

Citi Premier rewards and redemption benefits

Rewards on travel and everyday spending

The Citi Premier earns 3X points on hotels, air travel, restaurants, supermarkets and gas stations. Plus, for a limited time, you can earn a total of 10X points per dollar spent on hotels and car rentals booked on the Citi Travel portal (through June 30, 2024). Additionally, non-category purchases earn a standard 1X points.

Flexible, high-value redemption options

The Citi Premier Card earns points within the Citi ThankYou rewards program. This means if you choose to transfer any rewards you earn to a high-value Citi transfer partner, your points could be worth around 1.6 cents in value, according to our points and miles valuations. Based on this valuation, the Premier’s 60,000-point welcome bonus, earned after spending $4,000 within the first three months of account opening, could potentially be worth up to $960.

Other than transfer partner travel, points earned with the Citi Premier can be redeemed in a number of ways. These include redeeming for cash back, gift cards, shopping with points, charitable contributions and travel through Citi Travel. However, log in to your Citi Premier account for a full list of redemption options available to you.

Citi Premier travel and entertainment benefits

$100 annual hotel savings benefit

If booked with your card through ThankYou.com (or 1-800-THANKYOU), Citi offers Premier cardholders an annual $100 hotel discount on a single hotel stay of $500 or more (excluding taxes and fees). If you take advantage of this perk alone, you won’t have to worry about whether you’re earning enough points to offset the $95 annual fee associated with the card.

No foreign transaction fees

There are also no foreign transaction fees associated with the Citi Premier Card. Some other cards charge a 3 percent fee on purchases made outside of the United States.

Citi Concierge

Citi Premier cardholders can utilize Citi Concierge. This dedicated phone line will connect you to an expert at any time — whether you need help with dinner reservations, vacation planning or purchasing concert tickets.

Citi Entertainment

As a Premier cardholder, you can access special events (such as concerts, dining experiences and sporting events) with Citi Entertainment. Your access is free, but you’ll still have to pay for the experience.

Citi Premier security and protection benefits

Purchase protection

With purchase protection, if an item purchased with your Citi Premier Card is damaged or stolen within 90 days of the purchase date, you can receive up to $10,000 per incident with a maximum of $50,000 per year.

Extended warranty

If you purchase a product with your Citi Premier Card that has an eligible manufacturer’s warranty, Citi will extend that warranty for 24 months. However, there is a $10,000 limit per item. Additional terms apply.

Citi Premier World Elite Mastercard benefits

Since the Citi Premier Card is also a World Elite Mastercard, you’ll get additional Mastercard benefits as a cardholder. Here are a few of the perks you can typically look forward to:

• Zero liability protection
• Mastercard ID Theft Protection
• ShopRunner membership
• $5 Lyft credit (once per month) if you take at least three rides a month
• Three free months of DoorDash DashPass and $5 off your first order each month (other terms apply)
• World Elite Concierge

Maximizing the Citi Premier Card benefits

Knowing how to make the most out of a rewards credit card will help you to determine its long-term value for you as a cardholder. The suggestions below can help you maximize the value of your Citi Premier Card.

• Hit the welcome bonus spending requirement. By spending just under $1,334 a month for three months, you can earn 60,000 bonus points in your first year of card ownership. Note, this is a nice additional perk of the card, but don’t spend more than you can handle for the sake of earning it.
• Use the annual hotel benefit. Make sure you meet the terms of the annual $100 hotel discount. This perk alone will make up for the card’s annual fee.
• Add an authorized user. Adding authorized users to your Citi Premier Card is free, and their purchases will still earn you points. There is no annual fee for additional authorized users, either.
• Pay off balances. The Citi Premier Card has a high variable APR of 21.24 percent to 29.24 percent.
• Transfer to Citi travel partners. If you’re big into travel and maximizing your credit card rewards is important to you, be sure to take part in transfer partner opportunities in order to boost the value of your points.

The bottom line

Overall, the Citi Premier Card is a solid travel credit card option, allowing you to earn points through the ThankYou rewards program on both travel and everyday purchases.

By making yourself familiar with the benefits of the Citi Premier Card, like the $100 annual hotel savings benefit and access to valuable World Elite Mastercard perks, you’ll be able to determine if it is a good fit for you. As always, be sure to check out some of the best travel credit cards on the market in case another option better suits your needs.

*All information about the Citi Premier® Card has been collected independently by Bankrate and has not been reviewed or approved by the issuer.