Citi launches 80,000 points welcome bonus for new Premier cardholders

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Citi is one of the latest credit card issuers to compete for consumer attention amid a post-pandemic spending spike by offering an incredibly large welcome bonus on one of its flagship cards.

Since July 8, new cardholders Citi Premier® Card can earn 80,000 bonus ThankYou® points when they spend $ 4,000 on purchases in the first three months after opening the account.

When it is bought by thank you.com, those 80,000 points are worth $ 800 in gift cards at many different stores, from Lowe’s to Target and Bloomingdale’s, as well as restaurants like The Cheesecake Factory and online services like Hotels.com®. Alternatively, Citi ThankYou points can be redeemed as statement credit, transferred to any of Citi’s 16 airline partners, or even used to pay off your mortgage or student loan. Some Citi Premier cardholders are allowed to cash out their points at 1 penny a coin, according to Doctor of Credit, which means that 80,000 points could potentially be worth $ 800. However, this rate is not guaranteed.

ThankYou points can be invaluable when transferring to one of Citi’s travel partners, such as Virgin Atlantic or Air France-KLM’s Flying Blue. For example, you can transfer 90,000 ThankYou points to Virgin Atlantic and book a return flight from the US West Coast to Japan in ANA Business Class. Or, switch to Turkish Airlines and book United Airlines domestic flights, with one-way flights from just 7,500 miles.

This hefty bonus is 20,000 points higher than the previous welcome offer, meaning it is worth $ 200 more when redeemed for gift cards. In addition to updating the sign-up bonus, Citi has also updated the Prime Minister’s card art.

the Citi Premier Cards rewards program makes it a good option for frequent travelers. Cardholders earn 3 times the Thank You Points for every dollar spent in hotels, air travel and gas stations, as well as restaurants and supermarkets. The bonus categories and payout rates are quite competitive for a card with only $ 95 in annual fees.

Those traveling abroad can also count on no foreign transaction fees on purchases made abroad.

In addition, Citi recently added new benefits to the Premier Card that allow cardholders to save $ 100 on a hotel stay of $ 500 or more (excluding taxes and fees) once per calendar year on reservations through Thankyou.com. If you can use this benefit, it completely offsets the card’s $ 95 annual fee.

All other purchases on your card are worth 1X point for every $ 1 spent. There is no limit to the number of points cardholders can earn and no expiration until you downgrade or cancel your card.

If you don’t travel often, consider an alternative Citi choice like the new Citi Custom Cash Custom Card. This no annual fee credit card offers 5% cash back on purchases in your highest qualifying spend category each bill cycle, up to the first $ 500 (then 1%). New cardholders can also earn $ 200 in cash after spending $ 750 on purchases in the first three months after opening the account. The bonus offer will be filled as 20,000 Thanks^® Points, which can be redeemed for $ 200 cash back.

While the Citi Premier Cards the new 80,000 point welcome bonus is competitive with other $ 95 travel credit cards on the market, some welcome bonuses are even larger.

The $ 95 Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card currently offers new cardholders 100,000 bonus points when they spend $ 4,000 on purchases in the first three months after account opening (i.e. $ 1,250 when redeemed for qualifying purchases with the tool Pay Yourself Back or to travel through the Chase Ultimate Rewards® portal).

Meanwhile, the $ 95 Capital One® Venture® Rewards credit card offers up to 100,000 miles: 50,000 bonus miles after spending $ 3,000 on purchases within three months of opening the account; plus an additional 50,000 bonus miles after spending $ 20,000 on purchases within 12 months of opening the account.