Citi Premier Card Review 2023

Our experts answer readers' credit card questions and write unbiased product reviews (here's how we assess credit cards). In some cases, we receive a commission from our partners; however, our opinions are our own. Terms apply to offers listed on this page.

Citi Premier Rewards and Fees

• Welcome bonus —Citi Premier® Card - Intro Bonus
• Annual fee — Citi Premier® Card - Annual Fee
• Rewards rate — Citi Premier® Card - Ongoing Bonus
• APR — Citi Premier® Card - Regular APR
• Credit score requirements — Good to excellent

Citi Premier Review: Is It the Best Credit Card for You?

The Citi Premier℠ Card offers a generous bonus of Citi Premier® Card. If you're looking for an all-purpose travel credit card with strong rewards, many ways to use your points, and an annual fee under $100, the Citi Premier should be on your shortlist.

You can use Citi ThankYou points from this card in multiple ways, including redeeming for gift cards, merchandise, and travel booked through the Citi portal. You can potentially get even higher value by transferring your points to Citi's airline and hotel partners, like JetBlue, Choice, Wyndham, and Air France-KLM.

With the Citi Premier℠ Card, you'll earn 3x points at supermarkets, restaurants, gas stations, and on air travel and hotels, and 1x on everything else. So you can earn and redeem your rewards on everyday essentials if you're staying close to home, or take the card on the road and get excellent value that way, too. This versatility is why the Citi Premier℠ Card sits at the top of our guide to the best Citi credit cards.

If you're looking to really boost your Citi ThankYou Rewards earning, consider opening the Citi Premier℠ Card plus the other two cards in the Citi Trifecta — the Citi® Double Cash Card and Citi Custom Cash℠ Card. With this credit card combination, you're guaranteed to earn 2x to 5x rewards for every single purchase and earn maximum points.

Before you decide if this card is a good fit, you'll also want to consider travel rewards credit cards that offer similar flexibility and earning opportunities. The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card has a similarly strong bonus and options for earning and redeeming for travel, and it's offering an excellent welcome bonus of Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card - Intro Bonus (worth around Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card - Featured Reward Value in travel, based on Insider's valuation of Chase points).

Or if you don't want to track bonus categories, the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card comes with a bonus of Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card - Intro Bonus (worth about Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card - Featured Reward Value in travel, according to our Capital One miles valuation) and solid earning rate every time you swipe your card.

Citi Premier Rewards

Citi Premier bonus

New Citi Premier cardholders can earn Citi Premier® Card - Intro Bonus. According to our most recent points and miles valuations, the initial bonus points alone are worth around Citi Premier® Card - Featured Reward Value in travel when you transfer points to Citi's airline and hotel partners.

With this bonus alone, you could potentially fly to Europe, South America, or even the Middle East for practically free by transferring your points to Citi's airline partners mentioned below.

Plus, if you take advantage of the limited-time offer to earn 10x points on hotels, car rentals, and attractions (excluding air travel) booked through the Citi ThankYou travel portal through June 30, 2024, you could come away with another boatload of points. Based on our estimate of Citi points value at 1.6 cents each, that's like getting 16% back on these purchases.

How to earn points with the Citi Premier 

This is a rare card that offers bonus points in several popular categories that just about anyone can use. Cardholders earn:

• 3x points on air travel and hotels (including travel agencies)
• 3x points at gas stations (excluding gas purchases at warehouse clubs, discount stores, department stores, and convenience stores)
• 3x points at restaurants (including cafes, bars, lounges, and fast-food restaurants)
• 3x points at supermarkets (excluding discount superstores and warehouse clubs)
• 1 point per dollar on everything else

How to use points from the Citi Premier

Here's where the Citi Premier℠ Card really stands out — you have many options for using Citi ThankYou points, whether you like to travel or prefer using points for gift cards and merchandise.

Transfer Citi ThankYou points to airline and hotel partners

When you have the Citi Premier℠ Card (or the Citi Prestige® Card, which isn't available to new applicants), you can transfer your Citi ThankYou points to over a dozen travel loyalty program partners — mostly at a 1:1 ratio — to book award travel.

The value you'll get per point is dependent on the partner you choose and how you use the miles — typically, redeeming for expensive, international premium-cabin award flights will get you a higher value than domestic economy seats.

If you collect Sears Shop Your Way points, they're another transfer option at a rate of 1 Citi ThankYou point to 10 Sears points. Note that if you only have a no-annual-fee Citi ThankYou credit card, like the Citi Rewards+® Card, the only partners you can transfer to are JetBlue, Wyndham, and Choice, and the ratios are slightly lower.

Redeem Citi ThankYou points for travel, gift cards, merchandise, and more

You can redeem Citi ThankYou points for gift cards, statement credits, or cash back at a rate of 1 cent each, making the bonus of 60,000 bonus ThankYou® Points after you spend $4,000 in purchases within the first 3 months of account opening worth $600 in rewards. You can also use points at the same value to make a charitable donation or book travel through the Citi ThankYou travel portal.

It's also possible to pay with points at Amazon, Best Buy, and other retailers, but you'll get a lower value when you redeem this way — as little as 0.5 cents per point.

Citi Premier Card Benefits and Features

No foreign transaction fees

Some cards charge you fees (generally around 3%) when you spend overseas — or pay a foreign merchant that processes your payment internationally. The Citi Premier® Card - Product Name Only waives these fees.

Annual $100 hotel discount

The Citi Premier℠ Card comes with a valuable benefit for travelers that can more than offset the annual fee. Once per calendar year, you can get $100 off a hotel stay of $500 or more (before taxes and fees) when you book through the Citi ThankYou travel portal.

Interestingly, you can get the discount whether you pay for the hotel stay with your card, Citi ThankYou points, or a combination of both.

Purchase protection

Additionally, the Citi Premier℠ Card offers purchase protection if an item is damaged or stolen within 90 days from the date you bought it. You can receive up to $10,000 in coverage per incident (with a maximum of $50,000 in coverage per year).

Extended warranty

The card also offers extended warranty protection — you'll get 24 additional months on manufacturers' warranties of five years or less for eligible items you bought with the card.

Citi Entertainment

As a cardholder, you get access to the Citi Entertainment program, which offers presale tickets, preferred tickets, VIP packages, and more. You'll need to provide the first six digits of your card number as the passcode to take advantage of Citi's ticket benefits when you check out at Ticketmaster or Live Nation.

World Elite Mastercard benefits

While all World Elite Mastercard credit cards are eligible for certain benefits, each credit card issuer can choose which ones they want to add to the card. You won't find certain World Elite Mastercard benefits like cell phone insurance on the Citi Premier℠ Card, but you'll still get things like rental car perks and Lyft credits.

Citi Premier Annual Fee and Other Costs

• Annual fee — Citi Premier® Card - Annual Fee
• Foreign transaction fees — Citi Premier® Card - Foreign Transaction Fee
• APR — Citi Premier® Card - Regular APR
• Balance transfer fee — Citi Premier® Card - Balance Transfer Fee
• Cash advance fee —  $10 or 5% of the amount of each cash advance, whichever is greater

The Citi Premier℠ Card comes with a 15.99% - 23.99% variable APR based on your creditworthiness APR, so this isn't a good card option if you plan to carry a balance. If you plan to make a large expense you want to pay for over time, you should check out the best zero-interest credit cards first. 

This card comes with a $95 annual fee, but you won't pay any foreign transaction fees.

As with most cards, there are also fees for balance transfers, late or returned payments, and cash advances.

How the Citi Premier Compares

Citi Premier vs Capital One Venture

The Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card - Product Name Only is a similar mid-tier Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card-annual-fee travel credit card that earns Capital One miles you can transfer to airline and hotel partners.  Its rewards categories aren't quite as broad — you'll earn 5 miles per dollar on hotels and rental cars booked through the Capital One Travel Portal and 2 miles per dollar on everything else.

If the lion's share of your spending is in the Citi Premier℠ Card's 3x categories, you're likely better sticking with it as your daily driver. Read our guide to the Capital One Venture vs Citi Premier for a closer look at how these cards compare. 

Citi Premier vs Chase Sapphire Preferred

One of the biggest differences between the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card - Product Name Only and the Citi Premier℠ Card is travel insurance. The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card - Product Name Only comes with some of the best credit card travel insurance available. You'll get things like trip delay insurance, baggage delay insurance, primary rental car insurance, and more. The Citi Premier℠ Card comes with no travel insurance whatsoever.

The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card - Product Name Only also earns flexible Chase Ultimate Rewards® points that you can transfer to multiple travel partners. It charges a Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card - Annual Fee annual fee.

Here's a comparison of the Citi Premier vs Chase Sapphire Preferred to help you decide between these cards.

Citi Premier Card Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Is the Citi Premier card worth it?

The Citi Premier℠ Card is worth it if you spend a lot in the card's bonus categories such as groceries, gas, and dining, and you value Citi's airline and hotel transfer partners. This card is one of the best point-earners on the market.

Is the Citi Premier hard to get?

This card is not difficult to get. If you've got a good credit score (a FICO score of at least 670), you have a chance at being considered for the card (though we recommend not applying unless your credit score is at least 700). Just note that if you've opened or closed a ThankYou points-earning card in the last 24 months, you won't be able to earn the bonus on this card.

Can you downgrade a Citi Premier card?

While many customers keep the Citi Premier℠ Card year after year because they get value out of the annual fee, some folks may decide the perks and benefits aren't worth the yearly cost. Instead of canceling the card outright, you can request to product change to a no-annual-fee card, such as the Citi Rewards+® Card.

What is the Citi Premier credit limit?

Data points show credit limits up to $20,000 for this card, though this will be determined by your creditworthiness.

Is the Citi Premier better than the Chase Sapphire Preferred?

We tend to recommend the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card - Product Name Only over the Citi Premier℠ Card because of its quality travel insurance.

Does the Citi Premier offer travel insurance?

In 2019, Citi removed travel insurance from its credit cards, including the Citi Premier℠ Card. So if benefits like car rental insurance, trip cancellation insurance, and trip delay insurance are important to you, it's best to book your travel with a different card.

Methodology: How we reviewed the Citi Premier Card

We're focused here on the rewards and perks that come with each card. These cards won't be worth it if you're paying interest or late fees. When using a credit card, it's important to pay your balance in full each month, make payments on time, and only spend what you can afford to pay.

The Citi Premier℠ Card is a mid-range travel credit card. Competition is steep in this genre, but the card still manages to secure a 4.1 out of 5 stars based on its solid welcome bonus and fantastic earning rates. 

Here's more about how we rate credit cards at Insider.