Key takeaways

  • Where the Citi Premier Card is a mid-tier travel credit card, the Citi Rewards+ is a cash back credit card that also lets users redeem rewards for travel.
  • The Citi Rewards+ offers a unique round-up feature that lets you maximize rewards on everything you buy, though the Citi Premier Card offers a higher rewards rate in all of its bonus categories.
  • While rewards can be more generous with the Citi Premier Card, the $95 annual fee and lack of intro APR offer make it more expensive.

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If you’re looking for your next jack-of-all-trades credit card to add to your portfolio and you’re comparing the Citi Rewards+® Card vs. Citi Premier® Card, you’ll want to have a good idea of the categories you spend the most in and how you ultimately want to spend your rewards.

As Citi products, both cards allow you to collect ThankYou points, which you can redeem for gift cards, travel and more on ThankYou.com. However, redemptions and perks are more limited with the Citi Rewards+ overall.

Each rewards credit card has its own pros and cons as well, so it’s important to do your research and determine which card is better for you and your lifestyle before you apply. Here’s an in-depth comparison to help guide your decision.

Main details

Cards Citi Rewards+ Citi Premier
Welcome bonus 20,000 bonus points after you spend $1,500 in purchases within the first 3 months of account opening 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 in purchases within the first 3 months of account opening
Rewards rate
  • 5X points on hotels and car rentals booked through CitiTravel.com (through December 31, 2025)
  • 2X points at supermarkets and gas stations (up to $6,000 per year in purchases, then 1X points)
  • 1X points on everything else
  • Points are rounded up to the nearest 10 on every purchase.
  • 10x points per $1 spent on hotels and car rentals booked through Citi Travel (until June 30, 2024)
  • 3X points at restaurants, supermarkets, gas stations, hotels and on air travel
  • 1X points on all other purchases
Intro APR 0% intro APR for 15 months (from the date of account opening) on purchases and balance transfers (18.74% to 28.74% variable APR after) None; 21.24% to 29.24% variable APR
Annual fee $0 $95

Citi Rewards+ vs. Citi Premier highlights

Before you choose between the Citi Rewards+ and the Citi Premier Card, it helps to know which categories each card shines in. Here’s an overview of the most important categories consumers care about and how these cards stack up.

Welcome bonus winner: Citi Premier

While the Citi Premier requires you to spend $4,000 within three months to achieve its welcome bonus of 60,000 points, you’ll get only 20,000 points with the Citi Rewards+ after spending $1,500 within three months of account opening. While the spending threshold is lower with the Citi Rewards+, the Citi Premier Card bonus still wins in this category by a lot.

After all, many redemption options — like gift cards and travel booked through Citi — are worth 1 cent each, which would make the Citi Premier bonus worth $600 and the Citi Rewards+ bonus worth just $200.

Rewards rate winner: Citi Premier

The Citi Premier wins this round as well due to the variety of 3X rewards categories it offers. As a cardholder, you earn an unlimited 3X points for spending at restaurants, supermarkets, gas stations, hotels and on air travel.

In contrast, the Citi Rewards+ earns you 2X points at supermarkets and gas stations, but it’s capped at $6,000 in purchases per year (and drops to 1X points thereafter).

The Citi Rewards+ does offer a helpful round-up feature, making it a great card for everyday purchases. Each purchase you make is rounded up to the nearest 10 points, taking a $3 coffee purchase from 1X points earned to 10X points earned. Additionally, as a Citi Rewards+ cardholder, you get 10 percent of your points back on the first 100,000 points you redeem annually. (Note, the maximum number of points you can earn with the points-back feature is 10,000.)

All in all, the Citi Rewards+ still doesn’t offer the same level of rewards across all spending as the Citi Premier does, making the Premier the clear winner.

Annual fee winner: Citi Rewards+

With no annual fee, the Citi Rewards+ wins this category. Conversely, the Citi Premier has a $95 annual fee that isn’t waived the first year.

Before making a snap judgment about this card, though, keep in mind that with so many ways to earn points, you’ll likely earn your money back. In fact, you only need to spend $265 per month across the 3X categories to offset this fee each year.

Foreign transaction fee winner: Citi Premier

The Citi Premier doesn’t charge foreign transaction fees on purchases made outside of the U.S. — something that’s pretty standard for most travel credit cards. On the other hand, the Citi Rewards+ charges a 3 percent fee on all foreign transactions. If you frequently travel outside of the United States, the Citi Premier might make more sense for you.

Alternatively, you can simply choose to swipe a different card you hold when traveling abroad.

Which card earns the most?

With a wider range of categories that earn higher rewards, the Citi Premier has the ability to boost earnings for more people than the Citi Rewards+ — even those who don’t travel.

Citi Premier vs. Citi Rewards+ spending example

Let’s say your spending for the month breaks down as follows:

  • $500 on groceries
  • $200 at restaurants
  • $350 on flights
  • $150 on gas
  • $100 on miscellaneous purchases

With the Citi Rewards+, you’ll accrue 1,000 points on groceries, 200 points on restaurant purchases, 350 points on flights, 300 points on gas and 100 points on everything else, bringing you to 1,950 total points for the month — worth $19.50 in gift cards. This doesn’t take the “round up” feature for rewards into account, however, mostly because this is hard to gauge and depends on the actual cost of each of your purchases. For the sake of simplicity, let’s say some of your purchases round up and your total points for the month end up being 2,500 worth $250 in gift cards.

On the other hand, with the Citi Premier, you’ll earn 1,500 points on groceries, 600 points on restaurant purchases, 1,050 points on flights, 450 points on gas and 100 points on all other purchases. That’s 3,700 points for the month, or $37 in gift cards.

The chart below shows how this spending stacks up on a monthly basis with either card:

Category Monthly spending Citi Rewards+ Citi Premier Card
Groceries $500 1,000 points 1,500 points
Restaurants $200 200 points 600 points
Flights $350 350 points 1,050 points
Gas $150 300 points 450 points
Miscellaneous $100 100 points 100 points
Monthly total $1,300 2,500 points (1,950 points plus 550 “round up” points) 3,700 points

Why should you get the Citi Premier?

The Citi Premier is a well-rounded travel card for the tier that it’s in. There’s a wide range of categories you can earn 3X points in, and it’s fairly easy to earn enough rewards to offset the annual fee.

Additional benefits

On top of the solid rewards structure, you get access to an annual $100 hotel savings benefit. This perk can be used on a single hotel stay of $500 or more (excluding taxes and fees) when you use your Citi Premier card and book through ThankYou.com or 1-800-THANKYOU.

Further, holding the card gets you access to World Elite Mastercard benefits, which include:

  • World Elite discount and access programs for hotel stays and other travel packages
  • $5 Lyft credit after three rides (once per month)
  • $0 delivery fee with DoorDash, and complimentary three months of DashPass membership
  • $5 off eligible Fandango purchases of $20 or more
  • Complimentary ShopRunner membership, offering free two-day shipping and free returns with 100+ online retailers
  • World Elite Concierge for 24/7 service personal assistance

Redemption options

Each ThankYou point can be redeemed at a value of 0.8 cents to 1 cent per point when you use them for options like:

  • Cash back and statement credits
  • Payment credits, including on mortgages, student loans or online bill pay
  • Gift cards
  • Shop with points at popular retailer websites, including Amazon and PayPal
  • Transfer points to another account or charity
  • Travel through Citi

However, Citi Premier points also transfer to a range of airline and hotel partners that include Accor Live Limitless, Choice Privileges, Flying Blue (Air France), Virgin Atlantic and more. Bankrate valuations estimate that Citi ThankYou points transferred to partners can be worth 1.6 cents each, which means you can get significantly more value this way.

Recommended credit score

To take full advantage of this card and maintain a lower APR, you’ll want to have a good to excellent credit score. Anything from 670 to 850 would be ideal for this card.

Why should you get the Citi Rewards+?

While the Citi Rewards+ has a lower welcome bonus and lower rewards rates compared to the Citi Premier, it can still be worth it for those who spend a moderate amount at supermarkets and gas stations (and don’t want to pay an annual fee).

Additional benefits

The Citi Rewards+ card’s round-up feature and 10 percent points back perk are nothing to sneeze at and can help you maximize the card’s value. Further, holding the Citi Rewards+ gets you access to Citi Entertainment experiences and Mastercard benefits like $0 liability and identity theft protection.

If you have a large purchase on the horizon or are looking for a balance transfer card that offers value long after your debt is paid off, the card’s 15-month 0 percent intro APR on both purchases and balance transfers makes it a solid option (18.74 percent to 28.74 percent variable APR after).

Redemption options

ThankYou points earned with this card can be redeemed at a value of 0.5 cents to 1 cent per point when used for options like:

  • Cash back and statement credits
  • Payment credits, including mortgages, student loans or online bill pay
  • Gift cards
  • Shop with points at popular retailer websites, including Amazon and PayPal
  • Transfer points to another account or charity
  • Travel through Citi

Also note that you can transfer points earned with this card to a handful of transfer partners including Choice Privileges, JetBlue TrueBlue and Wyndham Rewards. However, transfer ratios aren’t as good as you get with the Citi Premier Card. For example, 1,000 Citi points only turn into 800 points with Wyndham Rewards or JetBlue TrueBlue with this card (compared to the 1:1 ratio with the Premier), and 1,000 Citi points only turn into 1,500 Choice Privileges points (compared to 2,000 with the Citi Premier).

That said, this is where the argument is often made to pair up the Citi Rewards+ with the Citi Premier Card. If you have both cards, you can pool all your points with the Citi Premier to open the door to more transfer partners and better redemption rates.

Recommended credit score

Similar to the Citi Premier, you’ll need a good to excellent credit score of 670 to 850 before applying for the Citi Rewards+.

The bottom line

Generally speaking, the Citi Premier is the stronger card compared to the Citi Rewards+, as it has more rewards categories, earns standard ThankYou points and offers a bigger first-year welcome bonus. But if you’re interested in eventually holding both cards and pairing them together, doing so can help you earn heightened rewards on transfer partner travel.

Regardless of which option you choose, neither is a bad card to have — and you’ll be able to reap the rewards of both if you use them wisely.

For more in-depth information on these cards and all their most celebrated perks, read over our Citi Premier benefits guide and Citi Rewards+ Card benefits guide.