Link: Apply now for the Citi Premier® Card
The Citi Premier® Card is currently offering a best-ever welcome bonus, and applying should be a no-brainer for anyone who is eligible. The Citi Premier Card is one of my favorite mid-range credit cards, and one of the most overlooked cards out there. The current bonus is all the more reason to pick up this card now.
In this post:
Earn 80,000 ThankYou points with the Citi Premier
The $95 annual fee Citi Premier Card is offering a welcome bonus of 80,000 ThankYou points after spending $4,000 within the first three months. This is in line with the best bonuses we’ve seen on the card. This is being marketed as a limited time offer, though we don’t yet know the end date (it has been around for several weeks, so I imagine it won’t be around that much longer).
Citi ThankYou points can either be redeemed for one cent each toward a variety of travel purchases or gift cards, or can be transferred to Citi ThankYou airline and hotel partners. In other words, 80,000 points can get you at least $800 worth of travel or gift cards, or 80,000 airline miles. Personally I like to convert those points into airline miles for first & business class travel, to get the most value.
Citi’s general application rules apply, and on top of that the welcome bonus isn’t available if you’ve:
- Received a new cardmember bonus on the Citi Rewards+, Citi ThankYou Preferred, Citi Premier, or Citi Prestige, in the past 24 months
- Closed the Citi Rewards+, Citi ThankYou Preferred, Citi Premier, or Citi Prestige, in the past 24 months
So it’s fine if you have one of those cards, you just can’t have received a bonus or closed one of the above cards in that period. Learn more about Citi’s 24-month rule.
Why the Citi Premier Card is worth having
Beyond the initial bonus of 80,000 points, the Citi Premier Card can be worth having on an ongoing basis for a variety of reasons. Among other things:
- The Citi Premier has the most well rounded bonus categories of any mid-range card, as it offers 3x ThankYou points on airfare, dining, gas, groceries, and hotels, all with no foreign transaction fees
- Having the Citi Premier Card allows you to maximize the value you get from the no annual fee Citi® Double Cash Card (review), which is one of the best cards for everyday, non-bonused spending; this card can earn you up to 2x ThankYou points per dollar spent on everyday purchases
- The Citi Premier offers a $100 hotel credit every calendar year, valid on a single hotel stay of $500 or more that’s booked through the Citi ThankYou portal; for some this alone will more than justify the annual fee
Bottom line
The Citi Premier Card is offering a best-ever bonus of 80K ThankYou points, which is excellent. Beyond the bonus, this card has a great value proposition in the long run, with 3x points categories, an annual hotel credit, and more. If you don’t yet have the Citi Premier Card and are eligible, I’d highly recommend applying with this offer.
Do any OMAAT readers plan on picking up the Citi Premier Card with this amazing offer?
I want to get this card but hold off until the offer is due to expire. Is there much of a risk that Citi could pull the higher bonus with no warning @Lucky?
I have accumulated quite a bit of Citi points but when I go to book tickets for travel next summer, Taxes/ surcharges are pretty high. To book Qatar its 80K points +$200 from USA to India one way Q suite but can't find availability and to book on BA it's 125K points +$780 one way. Emirates is at least 125K points + $1000 for the same.
Singapore Airlines charges > 170K points for the...
I have accumulated quite a bit of Citi points but when I go to book tickets for travel next summer, Taxes/ surcharges are pretty high. To book Qatar its 80K points +$200 from USA to India one way Q suite but can't find availability and to book on BA it's 125K points +$780 one way. Emirates is at least 125K points + $1000 for the same.
Singapore Airlines charges > 170K points for the same!!!. Where is the utility of these points when one travels as a family? Or are these points only for people who can just get up and go any time? Any article on this in relation to common family person accumulating points?
Does the Citi Premier cover baggage charges on Jetblue Airlines?
@ Jerry Stokes -- It does not.
Harry Potter just got kicked out of air Canada first class. This is an outrage.
Citi stripping trip protection, rental car insurance, price protection, and most standard benefits from their cards really makes them a no-go unless you're strictly in it for the points and don't care about about liability for the dent in the Kia Rio you rented or being shit-out-of-luck when your luggage disappears in Amsterdam.
Yeah. If you don't have any CDW then you need to take pictures of your car before you leave the lot because some car insurances will charge you for damage that you didn't do.
That was worthwhile-- Got instant approval & a $14k initial credit availability. Although Citi is a bit less preferably transferable than Chase or my go-to in AMEX 80K points for only $4k spend in 3 months is very reasonable.
Wow, surprising that Citi has the 80k bonus on their Premier card at the same time they are running a 75k promotion for their AA Platinum card.
I'm looking forward to Lucky's article on how the abortion ruling will affect airline travel out of red states.
My Prestige is due for renewal and I'd like to cancel it. If I get the Premier first and then cancel the Prestige, will I retain the Prestige TYPs or do they still expire at 60 days?
Keep in mind if you cancel the prestige you can never get it back as it's not open to new applicants.
IMHO the prestige card is the best cc ever made even to this day.
Could someone list the Citi transfer partners please?
hi Amy. click on the blue highlighted link in the second paragraph
Am I getting this right: Citi allows you to transfer Thank You points to JetBlue TrueBlue points, and a JetBlue/American link should (eventually) allow customers to use TrueBlue points for American flights....? If this is correct, any idea when this will be fully operational...?
I need citi Diamond preferred to pay off some credit card debt in the short term.
As far as this Citi premier card goes thank you points are not transfer partners with American Airlines.
You realize 0% APR doesn't mean you don't have to pay 5% balance transfer fee.
If you are here and having credit card debt, you are doing it wrong.
I don't think he means balance transfer but transfer to partners.
If it’s still available in the next few weeks I’ll probably get it just to access Turkish Airlines miles. I was looking to book business class next year to Europe and this would work perfectly.
Through transfer to Turkish Miles & Smiles (or whatever the new long name will be) this bonus alone is worth 5 roundtrip tickets from anywhere in continental US to Hawaii in economy class on United airlines (15k miles each, business class is 25k roundtrip but super unicorn!!), or can almost get 2 one way tickets from North America to Europe in business class at 45k miles each (Only flights operated by United metal wont have any added surcharges at all)
1) Currently having a Citi Premier does not prevent you from receiving this bonus, correct (assume the person got the Citi Premier bonus over 2 years ago)
2) Custom Cash does not count as the same "family" in terms of bonus eligibility, correct?
I may apply for this offer.
Yes. Correct. If you have a Citi Premier open then you are still eligible for the bonus for the 2nd card.
For the purposes of the 24 month rule, does downgrading (e.g. Prestige->Rewards+) count as closing the Prestige?
This would be much more compelling if you could convert ThankYou Points to American Airlines Advantage Miles. Until that happens it's just pointless for me.
@Jason
Same
Yeah. I am shocked that unlike Chase, you cannot transfer thankout to AA miles.
Sigh. I wish they'd bring back the prestige. Just for 5 minutes. That's all I need. :P
You had more than 5 years to apply to the card, and every year the benefits kept getting worse. (except when they bumped up to 5x).
You never thought of applying. Why the remorse now.
To much procrastination?
I did have it. Like most, I dropped it when the 4th night free went 2x annual and didn’t count for elite credit.
I considered moving back enough a couple of years ago and sampled Citigold to couple with the reduced AF, but their IT systems were horrible (didn’t show brokerage balances half the time.) Bailed on them again.
It’s recently improved enough for me to come back. The AA Exec AF discount...
I did have it. Like most, I dropped it when the 4th night free went 2x annual and didn’t count for elite credit.
I considered moving back enough a couple of years ago and sampled Citigold to couple with the reduced AF, but their IT systems were horrible (didn’t show brokerage balances half the time.) Bailed on them again.
It’s recently improved enough for me to come back. The AA Exec AF discount is nice, but would prefer to earn TYP at 5x for restaurants and flights.
So it's seller's remorse then. ;)
Was in similar situation but not because Citigold IT issues.
The 4th night was the only thing that saved me from cancelling as I had a 4th night booking late last year (but eventually never happened). Without that I would have cancelled in early last year and probably reapply after 24 months.
Now on the good news, Citi should still return to this premium segment. What and when,...
So it's seller's remorse then. ;)
Was in similar situation but not because Citigold IT issues.
The 4th night was the only thing that saved me from cancelling as I had a 4th night booking late last year (but eventually never happened). Without that I would have cancelled in early last year and probably reapply after 24 months.
Now on the good news, Citi should still return to this premium segment. What and when, nobody knows. Maybe I made the bad choice of holding this card if it relaunches early next year as my supposed 24 months would be up.
When is this offer ending?
@ JL -- While it's a limited time offer, unfortunately the end date hasn't been published.
Alright, thanks Ben.
Please let us know once an end date is announced.
typically an end date for an offer isn't published until it is imminent.
So if I currently have the premier, and I received the SUB on that in 2019. I can apply for another one and receive another SUb?