Citi Premier has been revamped to offer 3x ThankYou points on groceries & gas & dining & airlines & hotels & travel agencies, almost single-handedly covering all important bonus categories. Previously, Citi Premier offered 3x on gas & travel, and 2x on dining & entertainment. Our current valuation for ThankYou points is 1.5 cents a piece based on the miles/points transfer feature (partners including Avianca, Singapore, Cathay Pacific, Flying Blue, JetBlue, Etihad, etc.), and thus Citi Premier returns 4.5% travel rewards for all its 3x categories. With this substantial improvement, Citi Premier is now #1 Best Credit Card for Rewards, unseating the long reigning Amex EveryDay Preferred, and also rated #3 Best Credit Card by Dr. Credit Card. Note that 3x bonus on groceries & gas has been offered to cardmembers since June, ahead of the schedule revamp as part of temporary COVID-19 relief by credit cards. Here are the before and after snapshots for our Top 10 list.
However, Citi Premier only returns 1x for non-bonus spending, and we recommend looking somewhere else for general spending. For example, Citi Double Cash which usually returns 2% cashback can be a great card to pair with Citi Premier, as you may transfer Double Cash's cash rewards to ThankYou points and activate miles/points transfer feature to unlock the full potential of the card - an unmatched 3% travel rewards based on our valuation.
On the other hand, leveraging the flexible miles/points transfer feature can be both very rewarding and challenging at the same time. If you don't know how to use the transfer feature effectively / just don't want to bother with the hassles and rather prefer fixed-value travel rewards, you probably want to check out the competitors such as Chase Sapphire Reserve, US Bank Altitude Reserve, and Wells Fargo Propel Amex, each of which offers a 1.5-cent fixed-value travel redemption option.
We also updated the Best Credit Card for Rewards review to reflect this change. Now we recommend Citi Double Cash + Citi Premier as one of the four best two-card combos for rewards.
On the other hand, leveraging the flexible miles/points transfer feature can be both very rewarding and challenging at the same time. If you don't know how to use the transfer feature effectively / just don't want to bother with the hassles and rather prefer fixed-value travel rewards, you probably want to check out the competitors such as Chase Sapphire Reserve, US Bank Altitude Reserve, and Wells Fargo Propel Amex, each of which offers a 1.5-cent fixed-value travel redemption option.
We also updated the Best Credit Card for Rewards review to reflect this change. Now we recommend Citi Double Cash + Citi Premier as one of the four best two-card combos for rewards.
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