The Citi Premier Mastercard is a mid-tier credit card which earns cash back in popular categories. The card can pay for itself, but since it competes with no-fee cards, the value is questionable. Premier may have more limited applications than similar cards. It isn’t a must-have for most wallets despite appearing decent on the surface. Its main draw is the consistently large sign-up bonus and transfer partners.
FEATURES AT A GLANCE
- $95 annual fee
- No foreign transaction fees
- 3x points on airlines and hotels
- 3x points on dining
- 3x points on groceries (excluding delivery)
- 3x points on gas
- 1x points on everything else
- $100 Annual Hotel Savings Benefit
SIGN UP BONUS
As of March 2022 (and still true as of March 2024), you can earn 60,000 bonus points after spending $4,000 in the first 3 months of card ownership. This is worth $600, a 15% RoS (Return on Spend). Citi previously offered up to 80,000 points, so it might be worthwhile to wait for a better offer.
OTHER BENEFITS OF THE PREMIER CARD
- Mastercard benefits (limited to the 24/7 concierge, purchase protection, and extended warranty protection)
RESTRICTIONS AND CREDIT SCORE
Recommended credit score: 670+
Citi usually pulls credit reports from Experian or Equifax.
Citi has anti-churning rules like other major banks, although they tend to be lax. Most important is the 1/24 rule, where you can’t get the sign-up bonus for this card if you’ve opened (or closed) certain other Citi cards within the past 2 years. The Rewards+, Preferred, Premier, and Prestige are one “family” of Citi cards, so they’re grouped together in this rule. Most people aren’t affected by this.
The $100 annual credit only applies to “a single hotel stay of $500 or more, excluding taxes and fees, through thankyou.com, once per calendar year.”
MAXIMIZING REWARDS WITH THE PREMIER CARD
Citi ThankYou Points (TYP) are usually worth $0.01 per point (1 cpp) regardless of redemption option. Citi has been cutting down on strategies to get extra value from TYP, so it’s harder to maximize rewards now. At the moment, if you also have the Citi Rewards+ card, your points are worth 10% more. You can combine points between accounts to make this happen.
With Rewards+, it works as a reimbursement. You can get up to 10,000 TYP back each year ($100 value) by redeeming up to 100,000 TYP. You won’t get the 10% bonus on points redeemed after that initial 100k, at least until the annual cap resets in the following year.
Otherwise, with the Premier, you have to spend at least $500 each year on a single hotel stay. If you don’t, then the $95 annual fee doesn’t make any sense for you.
One benefit of the Premier is that it has travel transfer partners:
- AeroMexico Club Premier
- Asia Miles
- Avianca Lifemiles
- Choice Privileges
- Emirates Skywards
- Etihad Guest
- Eva Air
- Flying Blue (Air France/KLM)
- JetBlue TrueBlue
- Qantas Frequent Flyer
- Qatar Privilege Club
- Sears and Kmart Shop Your Way
- Singapore Airlines
- Thai Royal Orchid Plus
- Turkish Airlines Miles & Smiles
- Virgin Atlantic Flying Club
- Wyndham Rewards
This may increase the value of your points.
ALTERNATIVES TO THE PREMIER
Citi Premier has almost no benefits. If you’re looking for things like trip cancellation insurance, emergency assistance, or lost luggage reimbursements, you’ll have to look elsewhere. Citi has great extended warranty protection, and solid purchase protection, but that’s it. The card doesn’t even have World or World Elite perks. It’s strange for a modern “travel card” to include near-zero travel benefits.
The closest “competitor” is probably the Chase Sapphire Preferred or Bank of America Premium Rewards. Both have a $95 annual fee, travel/dining focus, and are slightly better than the Premier in most cases.
For a no-fee travel card, the Penfed Pathfinder Rewards beats the Premier on most levels. It’s more flexible, has Visa Signature perks, earns more cash back, and has greater potential annual value from credits.
Other options without annual fees include:
- Bank of the West Cash Back World earns 3% cash back for groceries, gas, and dining.
- Capital One SavorOne earns 3% cash back for groceries, dining, and streaming/entertainment.
- Navy Federal Credit Union More Rewards earns 3% cash back for groceries, gas, dining, and transit.
- UMB Simply Rewards earns 3% cash back for groceries, gas, and dining.
- Wells Fargo Autograph earns 3% cash back for travel, gas, dining, streaming, and phone plans.
Then, for a general-use card, any of the best everyday cards will work. You’ll want to earn at least 2% cash back on all purchases.
Since the $100 Annual Hotel Savings Benefit requires spending $500 at one hotel each year, we’d suggest the Capital One Venture X. Even if you only make one travel purchase that year, the Venture X pulls ahead:
- Spending $500 on your first hotel each year with the Premier = $100 credit + $15 cash back – $95 annual fee = $20 total earned
- Spending $500 on your first hotel each year with the Venture X = $300 discount + $100 anniversary point bonus + $20 cash back – $395 annual fee = $25 total earned (previously $55 earned, when the Venture X gave the $300 as a credit instead of a coupon)
This doesn’t account for the Venture X’s superior perks either, which include Visa Infinite travel insurance and Priority Pass lounge access.
Citi Premier is easily outclassed with a combination of Citi Custom Cash (5% on groceries), Wells Fargo Autograph (3% on gas/dining), and Venture X (5% on flights, 10% on hotels and car rentals, 2% on everything else). Previously, we recommended the Cardless Pelicans (4% on gas/dining) card as an alternative, but it was nerfed into being useless. Some gas-related cards still earn 4-5% cash back. For restaurants, the US Bank Altitude Go and Everyday Rewards+ both get 4% back.
CONCLUSION
Although the Citi Premier pays for itself if you use the annual hotel credit, it’s surprisingly weak as a travel card. It doesn’t have common consumer protections (even no-fee cards have these). It doesn’t earn bonus points on travel categories like trains, rideshare, or parking. Premier does have 4 categories for earning cash back, but no-fee cards do this too.
Overall, the Citi Premier is just okay. There isn’t any reason to get it over competing cards, aside from the large sign-up bonus. The Rewards+ card is essential for making the Citi Premier worthwhile. And even then, that’s a mere 10% improvement, which isn’t enough to move the needle for most people. The alternative to use Citi’s transfer partners. You’d have to get more than 1.1 cpp in value though to beat the Rewards+ bonus.
We rate the Citi Premier Mastercard 2 out of 5 stars. ⭐⭐
Note: This review was last updated in March 2024. Details may have changed since then. Please do your own research where applicable, to ensure you’re getting the best deal. Or contact us directly to benefit from our personalized consulting services!