Citi ThankYou Points Strategy: Which Cards Should You Have in Your Wallet?

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When it comes to credit card rewards programs, Citi ThankYou Rewards is often overlooked in favor of more popular programs, such as American Express Membership Rewards or Chase Ultimate Rewards. However, Citibank has been improving its credit card lineup in recent years and has become a serious competitor for these other, more popular card issuers.

For instance, Citi recently unveiled the Citi Strata Elite℠ Card ($595 annual fee) that offers a whopping 12X points for hotels, rental cars and attractions booked through the Citi Travel portal as well as many other lucrative bonus spending categories.

The Citi ThankYou program also has continued to add to its list of transfer partners, with American Airlines AAdvantage being the most recent and one of the most valuable additions to the program.

By signing up for several Citi ThankYou credit cards, you can maximize the return on your spending across every category and optimize your credit card strategy.

Let’s take a look at the Citi ThankYou Rewards program and help you figure out which cards to open to maximize your Citi ThankYou Points earning potential.

Citi ThankYou Rewards Overview

Launched in 2004, the Citi ThankYou Rewards program got off to a rough start and failed to capture consumer interest for years. However, after the program successfully integrated with the rest of Citi’s business (including online banking) and released several more attractive rewards credit cards, the program gained popularity.

Today, Citi ThankYou still doesn’t have as many members as programs like American Express Membership Rewards and Chase Ultimate Rewards, but more and more credit card enthusiasts are starting to add Citi cards to their wallets.

Another major improvement in the Citi ThankYou program has been the addition of transfer partners over the years. Currently, the Citi ThankYou Rewards program has 20 airline and hotel transfer partners, in addition to one retail partner (Shop Your Way®). However, it’s worth noting that the transfer ratios that these partners offer vary depending on what Citi credit cards you hold.

Here’s a complete list of Citi’s transfer partners:

• Accor Live Limitless (ALL)
• Aeroméxico Rewards
• Air France-KLM Flying Blue
• American Airlines AAdvantage
• Avianca LifeMiles
• Cathay Pacific Asia Miles
• Choice Privileges
• Emirates Skywards
• Etihad Guest
• EVA Air Infinity MileageLands
• JetBlue TrueBlue
• Leaders Club
• Preferred Hotels & Resorts
• Qantas Frequent Flyer
• Qatar Airways Privilege Club
• Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
• Thai Airways Royal Orchid Plus
• Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles
• Virgin Atlantic Flying Club
• Wyndham Rewards

If you hold the Citi Strata Premier® Card, the Citi Strata Elite℠ Card or the Citi Prestige Card (no longer available to new applicants), most of these transfer partners will offer a 1:1 transfer ratio. The exceptions are ALL – Accor Live Limitless (1:0.5), Choice Privileges (1:2), Emirates Skywards (1:0.8), Leaders Club (1:0.25) and Preferred Hotels & Resorts (1:4).

If you don’t have the Citi Prestige, the Strata Elite or the Strata Premier cards, but you do have another Citi ThankYou Rewards- or cash back-earning credit card, you can still access all of Citi’s transfer partners. However, you’ll be restricted to much lower transfer ratios, typically around 1:0.7 for most partners.

Luckily, Citi allows you to transfer ThankYou Points between accounts that are in your name. For instance, if you have the Citi Double Cash® Card (which is technically a cashback card but earns ThankYou Points) as well as the Citi Prestige Card, any points you earn with your Double Cash card can be transferred to your Prestige card account. You can then transfer those points to any of Citi’s 20 airline and hotel partners at better ratios.

The Ideal Citi Credit Card Strategy

Although Citi ThankYou Rewards is often overlooked, this program offers the opportunity to earn a baseline of 2X ThankYou Points on all purchases while also earning as many as 10X points on certain purchases.

This can be achieved by opening the following three credit cards that have combined annual fees of $95:

• Citi Strata Premier® Card ($95 annual fee)
• Citi Double Cash® Card ($0 annual fee)
• Citi Custom Cash® Card ($0 annual fee)

Opening these three credit cards is one of the best low-cost credit card strategies in the industry today. Additionally, since all of these cards earn ThankYou Points, it’ll be easy to keep track of your rewards earnings as they’ll all be available in your Citi ThankYou Rewards account.

Citi Cards At a Glance

Before we get into the specifics of these credit cards, let’s take a look at their main features. The following table includes the annual fees, spending bonuses and other notable benefits of each Citi credit card.

If you look at the bonus spending categories offered by each of these credit cards, you’ll see that they complement each other well. So, by using these three cards strategically, you’ll be able to maximize your earnings across a variety of categories and rack up ThankYou Points quickly.

When to Use Your Citi Strata Premier® Card

If you’re following this three-card strategy, use your Citi Strata Premier® Card for all of your travel purchases. If you’re booking a hotel, rental car or attraction, do so through Citi Travel and earn 10X points per dollar spent.

This card also offers 3X points on airfare and other hotels (booked through airlines, hotels or travel agencies). These points multipliers are higher than those offered by either the Citi Custom Cash or the Citi Double Cash cards.

It’s also important to book travel with your Strata Premier card because this is the only card of the three that comes with travel protections, including trip cancellation/interruption insurance, trip delay insurance, lost or damaged luggage insurance, and auto rental collision damage waiver. These benefits could save you hundreds or even thousands of dollars if you have an unfortunate experience while traveling, so it’s important to use your Strata Premier card for travel purchases so that you’ll be covered.

You also should use your Citi Strata Premier Card for supermarket, gas station and restaurant purchases as long as that’s not your top spending category per billing cycle. If any of those categories are your top category, then you should put the first $500 per month in that category on the Custom Cash Card (as these three categories are all eligible to earn the Custom Cash Card’s 5X points multiplier).

For instance, let’s say that your top spending category per billing cycle is gas stations. In that case, your first $500 per billing cycle spent on gas stations should be charged to your Custom Cash Card. After you’ve crossed that $500 threshold, make all remaining gas purchases with your Strata Premier Card instead to continue earning 3X points on gas stations spending.

In the above scenario, all supermarket and restaurant purchases for that billing cycle should be made on your Strata Premier Card to benefit from a 3X points return on every dollar spent.

Finally, it’s important to note that, out of these three cards, the Strata Premier offers the best transfer ratios to Citi’s 20 airline and hotel partners. So ensure to transfer all of the rewards you earn with your Custom Cash Card and your Double Cash Card to your Strata Premier account.

When to Use Your Citi Double Cash® Card

In this three-card combo, the Citi Double Cash Card is going to be your main non-bonus category card.

The Double Cash Card offers 2% cash back (issued in the form of ThankYou Points) on all purchases—1% when you buy and 1% when you pay. That means that you should use the Double Cash Card for any purchase that doesn’t qualify for a higher points multiplier with either the Strata Premier or the Custom Cash Card.

So, you shouldn’t be pulling out your Double Cash Card at supermarkets, gas stations, EV charging stations, restaurants or for travel purchases because you can always earn at least 3X points in these categories by using the Strata Premier Card.

Similarly, don’t forget to use the Custom Cash Card in your top spending category each billing cycle until you reach $500 in that category. After you cross the $500 mark, switch to using the Double Cash Card in that category (unless that category is grocery stores, gas stations or restaurants, in which case you should use the Strata Premier Card).

All in all, your Double Cash Card should be used any time you’re making a purchase that doesn’t qualify for 3X points or higher. It’s a card that can also come in handy for earning a return on purchases that don’t typically fall into bonus categories, such as utility bills, tax payments and insurance premiums.

When to Use Your Citi Custom Cash® Card

As already mentioned, you should use your Custom Cash Card in your highest spending category per billing cycle up to $500. Once you hit that $500 threshold, don’t spend another dollar on your Custom Cash Card for the rest of the billing cycle.

For instance, let’s say that your top spending category per billing cycle is live entertainment. In that case, spend up to $500 on live entertainment per billing cycle, and once you’ve reached $500 in spending, all other live entertainment purchases should be made with the Double Cash Card.

If you spend the full $500 per billing cycle in that category, you’ll end up earning 2,500 points, which is equal to at least $25 in value (and possibly much more if you take advantage of Citi’s transfer partners).

On the other hand, if your top spending category per billing cycle is restaurants (or gas stations or supermarkets), you should spend up to $500 in that category on your Custom Cash Card. Once you’ve surpassed $500 in spending in that category in a billing cycle, shift all your spending in that category to the Strata Premier Card, which offers 3X points in these categories.

Drawbacks of This Strategy

Signing up for these three credit cards is one of the best ways to maximize your rewards while paying combined annual fees equal to less than $100. However, there are some drawbacks to this strategy that you should be aware of before you hit that “apply” button.

Opening Credit Cards Can Temporarily Hurt Your Credit Score

Before you open any credit card, you should be aware that applying for a new credit card requires a hard inquiry into your credit history. Hard inquiries typically result in a small temporary drop in your credit score. Luckily, if you always pay off your statement in full each billing, your credit score will eventually bounce back.

However, if you plan on applying for a mortgage or an auto loan in the near future, you probably don’t want to sign up for all three of these credit cards at once. This drop in your credit score, while temporary, can affect your approval for or the interest rates on other forms of debt.

Multiple Credit Cards Are Dangerous Without Discipline

Pursuing a three-card combo strategy can help you maximize your rewards. However, without responsible usage, juggling multiple credit cards becomes a dangerous game.

If you struggle to control your spending, having three credit cards means you’ll have a larger combined credit limit, which could cause you to get into serious debt. So before jumping in at the deep end, practice responsible credit card usage with just one card.

Other Rewards Programs Have Better Transfer Partners

While it’s hard to name a credit card strategy from another issuer that offers better rewards at the same cost, other issuers may have better transfer partners than the Citi ThankYou Rewards program, particularly when it comes to domestic partners.

Citi’s domestic airline partners include JetBlue TrueBlue and American Airlines AAdvantage. Its recent addition of American Airlines to its transfer partner list certainly increases the program’s value proposition, arguably putting it on par with the American Express Membership Rewards program, which includes Delta SkyMiles and JetBlue TrueBlue as domestic partners.

However, Chase Ultimate Rewards outpaces both programs, offering United MileagePlus, Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards and JetBlue TrueBlue as domestic partners.

In general, other credit card rewards programs may have better transfer partners in terms of quantity and quality. That said, it really depends on which airline and hotel loyalty programs you prefer and which ones you’re likely to use most often.

Alternative Citi Card Strategies

This three-card combo strategy isn’t your only option when it comes to maximizing your rewards with Citi.

The Citi Strata℠ and the Citi Strata Elite℠ Card are two of Citi’s newest additions to its credit card portfolio, with annual fees of $0 and $595 respectively.

The Citi Strata offers the following bonus spending categories:

• 5X points per dollar spent on hotels, car rentals and attractions booked through CitiTravel.com
• 3X points per dollar spent at supermarkets, gas and EV charging stations and on select transit purchases
• 3X points in one self-select category including:
  • Fitness clubs
  • Select streaming services
  • Live entertainment
  • Cosmetic stores, barber shops and Hair Salons
  • Pet supply stores
• 2X points per dollar spent at restaurants
• 1X points per dollar spent on all other purchases

Similarly, the Citi Strata Elite offers the following points multipliers on your spending:

• 12X points per dollar spent on hotels, car rentals and attractions booked through CitiTravel.com
• 6X points per dollar spent on air travel booked through CitiTravel.com
• 6X points per dollar spent at restaurants and on restaurant delivery services on purchases made on Friday 6 p.m. through Saturday 6 a.m. (Eastern Time) and on Saturday 6 p.m. through Sunday 6 a.m. (ET)
• 3X points per dollar spent at restaurants, including on restaurant delivery services, during all other hours.
• 1.5X points per dollar spent on all other purchases

If you wanted a three-card combo strategy that was completely free of annual fees, you could swap out the Citi Strata Premier Card for the $0 annual fee Citi Strata Card.

While you wouldn’t benefit from the Strata Premier’s 10X points multiplier on eligible Citi Travel purchases, you’d earn similar points multipliers in other spending categories with the Citi Strata Card. It also offers some additional bonus spending categories, including select transit purchases and a self-select 3X category that you can change every quarter.

On the flipside, if you’re after a premium travel rewards card with luxury perks like complimentary Priority Pass Select membership and a credit toward Global Entry or TSA PreCheck® membership every four years, you could swap the Citi Strata Premier Card for the Citi Strata Elite.

This way, you’d benefit from 12X points on eligible Citi Travel spending, 6X points on airfare booked through Citi Travel and up to 6X points on restaurant expenditure during eligible hours (Citi Nights perk).

However, this would change your cumulative annual fee for this card-combo from $95 to $595. And given that the Citi Strata Elite lacks a competitive edge over its annual fee-equivalents—such as the Chase Sapphire Reserve® and The Platinum Card® from American Express—you’re likely better off sticking to the original Citi trifecta.

The Bottom Line

While the Citi ThankYou program is often overlooked, it has a lot to offer if you’re willing to use the three-card strategy outlined above.

By signing up for the Strata Premier Card, the Double Cash Card and the Custom Cash Card, you can get between 2X and 10X points per dollar on every purchase.

With this strategy, make sure to use your Custom Cash Card in your top spending category per billing cycle up to $500 and earn 5X points on those purchases. Then, use your Strata Premier Card for all travel purchases (and earn 3X to 10X points) as well as for purchases at restaurants, gas stations and supermarkets (on which you’ll earn 3X points). Finally, use your Double Cash Card for any purchases that don’t fit into the aforementioned categories as this card earns a baseline of 2X points on all spend.

Utilizing this strategy is one of the best ways to maximize your rewards earnings for a low annual cost. The Double Cash Card and the Custom Cash Card are both $0 annual fee cards, and the Strata Premier Card has an annual fee of $95.

So, if you’re just beginning to formulate your credit card strategy, opening these three Citi credit cards might be a good way to shoot for large earning potential.