Citi Double Cash Card Review (Old Review NOT being Updated)
Updated June 11, 2021. Please see our updated review here.
The Facts
The Math
Since introduction in 2014, Double Cash has been a straightforward 2% cashback card without an annual fee or spending cap. Starting September 2019, when you pair it with a premium ThankYou card such as Citi Premier or Citi Prestige, Double Cash has a higher travel rewards potential at 3%, becoming the best personal rewards card for general spending. You could make a great combo by paring Double Cash with either Citi Premier or Citi Prestige. For example, the Citi Premier-Double Cash combo will return impressive 4.5% for groceries & gas & dining & most travel and 3% for everything else, with $95 annual fees.
Citi Double Cash MasterCard vs. other no-annual-fee 2% cashback cards: Citi Double Cash doesn't require any banking relationship to apply or to redeem, but has a $25 minimum before you may redeem. Of course, starting September 2019, if you pair it with a premium ThankYou card, Double Cash will return flexible travel rewards at 3%. Elan Fidelity Visa requires a linked Fidelity account (brokerage, cash management, retirement, or 529 account) and a $50 minimum to redeem for 2% cashback. Alliant Visa Platinum requires that you join Alliant Credit Union before you may apply (technically any person in U.S. can join) and a $20 minimum before you may redeem. Synchrony PayPal MasterCard requires that you have a PayPal account to apply and to keep the card open, but has no minimum redemption requirement.
Citi Double Cash MasterCard vs. Alliant Visa Signature (2.5% cashback with a $99 annual fee): if your annual spending is larger than $20,000, Alliant Visa Signature is a better cashback card which also waives foreign transaction fees. However, if you pair Double Cash with a premium ThankYou product, Double Cash will return flexible travel rewards at 3%.
The Conclusion
With the introduction of Double Cash, Citi finally came into the 2% cashback market in 2014. With a simple reward formula, it has been a great success ever since. September 2019 enhancement which allows cashback earned on Double Cash to be transferred to ThankYou points and thus opens up better rewards potential when you pair Double Cash with a premium ThankYou card. It is currently ranked as one of Best Credit Cards for Rewards. When your annual spending is larger than $20K, you might also want to look into Alliant Visa Signature.
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The Facts
- Annual Fee: none
- Signup Bonus: none. Historical best bonus of the card: $100 in 2018.
- Application landing page
- Rewards: a total of 2% cash rewards: unlimited 1% cash back for all purchases, and an additional 1% cash back for the payments made, as long as you at least pay minimum amount due each month. You can redeem your cash rewards once your rewards balance exceeds $25, for statement credit, check, or direct deposit into your checking account. Cash rewards expire after 12 months of account inactivity. Starting September 2019, you might also transfer your cash rewards to ThankYou points at a ratio of 1:100. The transfer is irreversible.
- Best Use of ThankYou points: (1) ThankYou (TY) Rewards is Citi's rewards program and the points can be redeemed for cash, merchandise, gift cards, and travel, returning up to 1 cent per point (note: cash rewards in form of statement credit or check have 0.5 cent value and in form of bill pay have 0.65 cent value). You might also transfer TY points earned from Double Cash to JetBlue's TrueBlue points at 1:0.8; as our current valuation of JetBlue points is 1.4 cents a piece, this option will make your TY points a little over 1 cent (1.12 to be exact); however, considering the hassle of redeeming points for flights, we actually won't recommend this option. The bottom line: considering the valuation of TY points, for most consumers, it is better to keep the cash rewards earned from Double Cash as is and not to transfer them into TY points. (2) However, if you have a premium TY card such as Citi Premier ($95) or Citi Prestige ($495), you might pool all your TY points together and take advantage of the better miles/points transfer feature: transferring TY points to miles/points of multiple frequent traveler programs at 1:1 ratio (including JetBlue). In this way, you increase TY points earned from Double Cash substantially; based on our current valuation of 1.5 cents per TY point using this feature, Double Cash returns 3% flexible travel rewards instead of 2% cashback. The caveat is that you will need to know how to leverage the frequent traveler miles/points transfer feature, which can be both rewarding and challenging at the same time. Please see our featured review Marriott vs. MR vs. UR vs. TY vs. C1 vs. CR for the programs that allow points transfer to frequent traveler accounts.
- Other Benefits: (1) It comes with an embedded EMV chip. However, the foreign transaction fees are not waived. (2) Citi Entertainment - special access to entertainment, sports, dining, and virtual events, in terms of presale and preferred tickets, exclusive offers, etc.
- Other Fact: This card is issued as a regular MasterCard, a World MasterCard, or a World Elite MasterCard.
- History: Citi introduced Double Cash MasterCard in August 2014 to challenge the best cashback card at that time - FIA Fidelity Amex which also returned 2% cashback but required a Fidelity account. Due to the payment network advantage, we have considered Double Cash as the benchmark of cashback cards ever since. In September 2019, Citi started to allow cashback earned from Double Cash to be transferred to ThankYou points, thus offering a higher rewards potential if you also have a premium ThankYou card.
The Math
Since introduction in 2014, Double Cash has been a straightforward 2% cashback card without an annual fee or spending cap. Starting September 2019, when you pair it with a premium ThankYou card such as Citi Premier or Citi Prestige, Double Cash has a higher travel rewards potential at 3%, becoming the best personal rewards card for general spending. You could make a great combo by paring Double Cash with either Citi Premier or Citi Prestige. For example, the Citi Premier-Double Cash combo will return impressive 4.5% for groceries & gas & dining & most travel and 3% for everything else, with $95 annual fees.
Citi Double Cash MasterCard vs. other no-annual-fee 2% cashback cards: Citi Double Cash doesn't require any banking relationship to apply or to redeem, but has a $25 minimum before you may redeem. Of course, starting September 2019, if you pair it with a premium ThankYou card, Double Cash will return flexible travel rewards at 3%. Elan Fidelity Visa requires a linked Fidelity account (brokerage, cash management, retirement, or 529 account) and a $50 minimum to redeem for 2% cashback. Alliant Visa Platinum requires that you join Alliant Credit Union before you may apply (technically any person in U.S. can join) and a $20 minimum before you may redeem. Synchrony PayPal MasterCard requires that you have a PayPal account to apply and to keep the card open, but has no minimum redemption requirement.
Citi Double Cash MasterCard vs. Alliant Visa Signature (2.5% cashback with a $99 annual fee): if your annual spending is larger than $20,000, Alliant Visa Signature is a better cashback card which also waives foreign transaction fees. However, if you pair Double Cash with a premium ThankYou product, Double Cash will return flexible travel rewards at 3%.
The Conclusion
With the introduction of Double Cash, Citi finally came into the 2% cashback market in 2014. With a simple reward formula, it has been a great success ever since. September 2019 enhancement which allows cashback earned on Double Cash to be transferred to ThankYou points and thus opens up better rewards potential when you pair Double Cash with a premium ThankYou card. It is currently ranked as one of Best Credit Cards for Rewards. When your annual spending is larger than $20K, you might also want to look into Alliant Visa Signature.
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