Is the Citi Rewards+ Card worth it?

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With so many rewards credit cards on the market, how do you know if a card deserves a place in your wallet?

If you want to earn rewards without paying an annual fee, the Citi Rewards+® Card may be a valuable option. Not only does it come with a welcome bonus, but it also offers an annual redemption bonus and a rewards round-up feature — all of which can help you earn even more ThankYou points.

Below, we’ll take a look at the Citi Rewards+ Card to see if its rewards, perks and benefits make it a good choice for you.

When is the Citi Rewards+ Card worth it?

You don’t want to pay an annual fee

Since the Citi Rewards+ Card is a no-annual-fee card, there’s no carrying cost that you’ll need to justify each year. In some cases, annual fees cause cardholders to overspend on their credit card to ensure the rewards they earn outweigh the card’s cost — something you won’t have to worry about with this card.

You want to earn a welcome bonus

With the Citi Rewards+ Card, you can earn a welcome bonus of 20,000 points after you spend $1,500 in purchases with your card within three months of account opening.

You want to earn rewards on grocery and gas spending

When you shop at supermarkets and gas stations, you’ll earn 2X points on your spending (on up to $6,000 in purchases per year, then 1X points). You’ll also earn 1X points on all other purchases. If you’re able to max out spending in the supermarket and gas station categories, you could earn 12,000 points on your first $6,000 spent at eligible retailers.

You want plenty of ways to redeem rewards

The Citi Rewards+ card comes with numerous ways to redeem rewards, including statement credits, gift cards, shopping with points (on Amazon.com or PayPal), travel through the Citi portal and transfer to a limited number of Citi travel partners.

It’s important to note that the Citi Rewards+ card only accrues “basic” ThankYou points, not regular Citi ThankYou points. Though basic ThankYou points are not technically an award currency that Citi recognizes, it’s a useful way to think about the difference between the two types of ThankYou points.

Ultimately, the key difference is that basic ThankYou points can’t be transferred to most Citi travel partners — usually a more valuable redemption option — unless you also hold a premium Citi card. However, you can still transfer your basic ThankYou points to the JetBlue, Choice Rewards and Wyndham Rewards programs at a 1:0.8 to 1:1.5 ratio, depending on the program. You can also book travel through Citi at a value of 1 cent per point or take advantage of the additional redemption options described above.

You want opportunities to earn more rewards

This card comes with a round-up feature for points, which rounds up the points you earn on purchases to the nearest 10 points (after the 2X bonus is applied, if applicable).

For example, say you spend $36.50 on a gas station purchase. Instead of earning 73 points on that purchase, your points will be rounded up to 80 points. Although this is not a game-changer when it comes to earning points, it’s still a neat perk that can help you to maximize your rewards.

Additionally, you’ll receive 10 percent of your points back on the first 100,000 points you redeem each year (shared points do not qualify). Maxing out this benefit would earn you 10,000 points back, which could be worth $100 in gift cards.

When is the Citi Rewards+ Card not worth it?

You want a more travel-focused card

If you’re interested in transferring your points to Citi’s full roster of airline or hotel partners, you’ll need a premium card like the Citi Premier® Card*, either on its own or paired with the Citi Rewards+ card. Although this card comes with a higher annual fee of $95, you’ll earn better rewards on more spending categories, including 3X points on restaurant, supermarket, gas station, hotel and air travel purchases (1X points on all other purchases).

For a limited time, you’ll also earn 10X points on hotels, car rentals and attractions (excluding air travel) booked through Citi’s portal before June 30, 2024. The Citi Rewards+ Card only earns 5X points for these purchases under the same promotion.

The Citi Premier also comes with a welcome offer of 60,000 ThankYou points after you spend $4,000 in purchases within the first three months of account opening. According to our points valuations, premium Citi ThankYou points are worth an average of 1.6 cents per point when transferred to certain travel partners. This is a pretty fair value that exceeds the value of most other credit card issuers’ points. In short, this bonus could be worth roughly $960 with the right transfer.

Further, this card includes an annual $100 discount on a single hotel stay of $500 or more (excluding taxes and fees) when you book your stay through ThankYou.com or 1-800-THANKYOU.

Given these benefits, even with the annual fee, you’ll likely get much more than $95 in value out of the Citi Premier’s better rewards structure and transfer partner options. And that doesn’t even include the significant value of the 60,000-point welcome bonus or the annual $100 hotel discount.

You don’t want to worry about spending limits

This card’s 2X points at supermarkets and gas stations is capped at $6,000 in spending per year, after which you’ll only earn 1X points on these purchases. Depending on how much you spend on groceries each month, this card might not make sense for you.

Instead, you might want to consider other rewards cards, many of which earn better rewards on spending at grocery stores and gas stations.

Should you get the Citi Rewards+ Card?

You should get this card if:

• You don’t want to pay an annual fee, but still want to earn rewards on grocery and gas spending.
• You’re not interested in transferring points to airline or hotel partners for better redemption value.
• You spend exactly or less than $6,000 per year on groceries and gas.

You shouldn’t get this card if:

• You spend significantly more than $6,000 per year on groceries and gas.
• You prefer high-value redemption ratios for your points.
• You’re a travel enthusiast looking to rack up rewards toward travel.

The bottom line

If you don’t have any aspirational travel goals and simply want to earn some grocery and gas rewards on your spending, the Citi Rewards+ Card does the job. For some cardholders, earning $150 to $200 in rewards per year could be all they need to make the card worth it.

However, if you’ve already got this card, pairing it with a premium Citi travel card that lets you transfer ThankYou points to a greater number of travel partners will help maximize this card’s value.

*The information about the Citi Premier® Card has been collected independently by Bankrate. The card details have not been reviewed or approved by the issuer.