Citi ThankYou Premier Card

The Citi ThankYou Premier Card features three bonus categories which consist of travel, dining, and entertainment. Spending in these three categories with the Premier Card will earn bonus ThankYou Points. There is no limit to the amount of ThankYou Points you can earn spending in these categories.

3x Travel

Spending in the travel category with the Citi ThankYou Premier Card will earn you 3 ThankYou Points per dollar spend on all purchases. Citi has a very relaxed definition of travel which can be key in earning a great deal of points. Citi considers the following to be considered travel purchases:

• Airlines
• Hotels
• Car rental agencies
• Travel agencies/travel aggregators/tour operators
• Gas stations, commuter transportation
• Ferries
• Commuter railways
• Subways
• Taxis/limousines/car services
• Passenger railways
• Cruise lines
• Bridge and road tolls
• Parking lots/garages
• Campgrounds and trailer parks
• Timeshares
• Bus lines
• Motor home/recreational vehicle rentals
• Boat leases and rentals

Citi does considers non-qualifying travel purchases as recreational camps, insurance companies, auto clubs, fuel used for non-automobile purposes, and real estate agencies, and gas purchases made at warehouse clubs, discount stores, department stores and convenience stores.

This 3x ThankYou Point bonus in travel, in my opinion, is better than the few travel categories issues by the Citi Prestige Card due to it's very broad definition. The Chase Sapphire Reserve Card also offers 3x on both travel and dining. Chase has a similar 'loose' definition of travel that can assist in earning Ultimate Rewards Points which are worth 1.5 cents for Sapphire Reserve Card holders.

2x Dining

The Citi Premier Card earns 2 ThankYou Points per $1 spent on dining purchases which equals a solid return of 2.5% since ThankYou Points are valued at 1.25 cents when you are a cardholder. Citi considers dining to include cafes, bars, lounges and fast food restaurants. Purchases made at bakeries, certain restaurants/cafes inside department, grocery or warehouse stores will not qualify.

When it comes to earning ThankYou Points, this is the highest amount you can earn across their main three ThankYou cards since they all offer 2x dining. In terms of return, there are a few card thats can do better in this category including the Barclay Uber Card which offers 4% cash back on restaurants, bars, and UberEats and the Capital One SavorOne Card which earns 3% cash back in both dining & entertainment and 2% back on grocery.

2x Entertainment

2 ThankYou Points per $1 spent will be earned when using the Citi ThankYou Premier Card. Similar to travel, Citi has a wide definition of what qualifies as entertainment as well. Citi considers the following to be entertainment:

• live entertainment
• live theatrical productions
• concerts
• live sporting events
• movie theaters
• amusement parks (including zoos, aquariums, circuses and carnivals)
• tourist attractions (including museums, and art galleries)
• record stores
• video rental stores
• on-demand internet streaming media

Citi considers non-qualifying entertainment purchases as sporting camps, public and private golf courses, country clubs (including membership fees), stores that sell musical instruments, video game arcades, bowling alleys, stores that primarily sell video games/accessories, charitable organizations that provide live entertainment, bookstores, and sports complexes where you participate in the sport.

As stated above, the Capital One Savor Card earns 3% cash back on both entertainment and restaurant purchases and comes with no annual fee which gives it a solid advantage over the Citi Premier Card. This is the highest amount of ThankYou Points you can earn spending in this category across the ThankYou Point earning credit cards.

1x Non Category

Spending outside of the three categories listed above will only net you 1 ThankYou Point per $1 spent. Since ThankYou Points are worth 1.25 cents, you're looking at a return of 1.25% per $1 spent. If you're looking for ThankYou Points, this is the best you can do. In terms of return, any 1.5% or higher cash back card can do you better. Some cards to look at would be the Citi Double Cash Card (2% Cash Back, no annual fee) or the AMEX Blue Business Plus Card (Double Membership Reward Points, no annual fee).

Citi ThankYou Points Transfer

The Citi ThankYou Points Transfer perk allows you to transfer your qualifying and available ThankYou Points to participating airline loyalty programs. This includes JetBlue Airways TrueBlue, Virgin Atlantic Flying Club and Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer to name a few. There is no fee to transfer points and the minimum transfer is only 1,000 points.

The Citi ThankYou Premier Card sign up bonus is 50,000 points after making $4,000 in purchases with your card within the first 3 months of account opening. This is worth $625 when booked with Citi's ThankYou Travel Center since the ThankYou Point value increases by 25%. On the low end, this bonus is worth $500 when redeemed for other rewards such as gift cards (ThankYou point value of $0.01).