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

When it comes to credit card 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 Premier℠ Card ($95 annual fee), a revamped version of the old Citi Premier® Card that offers a whopping 10X points for hotels, rental cars and attractions booked through the Citi Travel portal as well as many other lucrative spending bonuses in popular categories.

The Citi ThankYou program has also continued to add to its list of transfer partners, which currently includes 18 major travel rewards programs (14 airline programs and four hotel programs). So, you have many opportunities to redeem Citi ThankYou Points for outsized value.

By signing up for several Citi ThankYou credit cards, you can maximize your spending bonuses across every category and optimize your credit card strategy. So, let’s take a look at the Citi ThankYou Rewards program and help you figure out which Citi cards to open to maximize your ThankYou Points earning potential.

Citi ThankYou Rewards Overview

Launched in 2004, the Citi ThankYou Reward 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 18 transfer partners. However, it’s worth noting that the transfer ratios that these partners offer vary depending on what Citi credit cards you have.

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

• Accor Live Limitless (ALL)
• Aeroméxico Rewards
• Air France-KLM Flying Blue
• Avianca LifeMiles
• Cathay Pacific Asia Miles
• Choice Privileges
• Emirates Skywards
• Etihad Guest
• EVA Air Infinity MileageLands
• JetBlue TrueBlue
• 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 either the Citi Strata Premier℠ Card or the Citi Prestige Card (not available to new applicants), then all of these transfer partners will offer a 1:1 transfer ratio, with the exceptions of ALL – Accor Live Limitless and Choice Privileges. Accor Live Limitless offers a 2:1 transfer ratio, and Choice Privileges offers a 1:2 transfer ratio for the Strata Premier and the Prestige card members.

If you don’t have the Citi Prestige or the Citi Strata Premier card, but you do have another Citi ThankYou Rewards- or cash back-earning credit card, then the only transfer partners you’ll be able to access are JetBlue TrueBlue, Choice Privileges and Wyndham Rewards. In this case, JetBlue and Wyndham offer a 5:4 transfer ratio while Choice Privileges offers a 1:1.5 transfer ratio.

Luckily, Citi allows you to transfer ThankYou Points between accounts that are in your name. So, 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, then any points you earn with your Double Cash card can be transferred to your Prestige card account. Then, you can transfer those points to any of Citi’s 18 airline and hotel partners.

The Ideal Citi Credit Card Strategy

Although Citi ThankYou Rewards is often overlooked, this program actually 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. And all of 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 spending bonuses 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 pretty much for all your travel purchases. If you’re booking a hotel, rental car or attraction, then you should do so through Citi Travel and earn 10X points per dollar.

This card also offers 3X points on airfare and other hotels (booked through airlines, hotels or travel agencies). These bonuses are higher than the travel bonuses 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 should also 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 bonus).

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 gas purchases with your Strata Premier Card instead (as the Strata Premier will continue to earn 3X points on gas stations). In this scenario, all supermarket and restaurant purchases for that billing cycle should be made on your Strata Premier Card.

Finally, it’s important to note that, out of these three cards, the Strata Premier is the only card that has access to all of Citi’s 18 transfer partners (and has better transfer ratios for Choice Privileges, JetBlue TrueBlue and Wyndham Rewards than the other two cards). Thus, make sure 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 strategy, the Citi Double Cash Card is going to be your main non-bonus category card. While both the Strata Premier and the Custom Cash Card offer a baseline of 1X point on all purchases, the Double Cash Card offers 2X miles on all purchases, 1% when you buy, another 1% when you pay. That means that you should use the Double Cash Card for any purchase that doesn’t qualify for a higher spending bonus with either the Strata Premier or the Custom Cash Card.

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

Also, 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.

When to Use Your Citi Custom Cash® Card

As mentioned in the sections above, with this strategy, you should use your Custom Cash Card in your highest spending category per billing up to $500. Then, 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), then 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 (compared to the 2X points earned on the Double Cash Card).

Drawbacks of This Strategy

As we’ve mentioned above, signing up for these three credit cards is one of the best ways to maximize your rewards earnings while paying combined annual fees of less than $100. However, there are some drawbacks to this strategy that you should be aware of before you start applying for Citi credit cards.

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 temporary drop in your credit score of about 5 points. Luckily, hard inquiries usually affect your credit score for only one to two years.

However, if you plan on applying for a mortgage or an auto loan in the near future, then you probably don’t want to sign up for all three of these credit cards at once (which could lead to a drop in your credit score of about 15 points). 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

As we’ve shown above, opening multiple credit cards can help you maximize the rewards that you get on all of your spending. On the other hand, if you don’t practice responsible credit card use, juggling multiple credit cards can be dangerous.

If you have a problem with controlling your spending, having three credit cards means you’ll have a larger combined credit limit. This can be a major temptation and could cause you to get yourself into serious debt. So, if you don’t have a history of responsible credit card use, then you shouldn’t apply for multiple credit cards in a short time period.

Other Rewards Programs Have Better Transfer Partners

While it’s hard to name a credit card strategy from one issuer that offers better rewards at a better cost than this Citi three-card strategy, other issuers do have better lists of transfer partners than the Citi ThankYou Rewards program, particularly when it comes to domestic airline partners.

Citi’s only domestic airline partner is JetBlue TrueBlue. In contrast, Chase Ultimate Rewards partners with United MileagePlus, Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards and JetBlue TrueBlue. American Express Membership Reward partners with Delta Air Lines SkyMiles and JetBlue TrueBlue.

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

The Bottom Line

All in all, while the Citi ThankYou program is often overlooked, this program 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, use your Custom Cash Card in your top spending category per billing cycle up to $500 and earn 5X on those purchases. Then, use your Strata Premier Card for all travel purchases (and earn 10X to 3X 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, then opening these three Citi credit cards might be a good way to go for a large earning potential.