Estimated read time: 2 minutes & 37 seconds

Good morning!

We know our favorite readers are in the thick of finals season. Never fear because we’re here to bring you some encouragement and a well-earned study break. Let’s roll. 

This week’s topic: 

• 💳Why I keep this travel rewards credit card in my wallet: Citi Premier Card

What’s a travel credit card?

Travel credit cards allow YOU to earn rewards, most commonly points, on everyday purchases that can be redeemed toward travel. Generally, cardholders can accumulate points and miles to score free stays and airline tickets through a given card’s transfer partners. These cards can save you thousands of dollars on travel, make future trips more affordable, and enhance your overall travel experience. Many cards even offer benefits that make your trips more convenient like lounge access or skipping lines with TSA pre-check global entry.

Citi Premier® Card:

Current Offer: Earn 60,000 bonus points after spending $4,000 in the first 3 months of account opening. 

Annual Fee: $95 

Key Benefits: 

• Earn 10X points on hotel and car rental bookings on the Citi TravelSM portal through 6/30/2024

• Earn 3X points on air travel and other hotels. 

• Earn 3X points on restaurants, supermarkets, and gas stations.

• Earn 1X points on all other purchases.

• $100 Annual Hotel Savings Benefit

• No foreign transaction fees

• $0 liability on unauthorized purchases

• No limit on the points you can earn and points don’t expire

• Transfer ThankYou® Points to participating airline loyalty programs

Why the Citi Premier Card?

The Citi Premier Card is an excellent credit card for those looking to dip their toes into the travel rewards credit card space. For starters, the Citi Premier offers valuable earning rates on everyday spending categories. Specifically, you can earn 3 points per dollar on restaurants, supermarkets, and gas stations– all common student expenditures. That’s incredible value to rack up a boatload of points in and of itself before you account for 3 points per dollar on air travel and hotels and 1 point per dollar on all other purchases. While the Citi Premier has a $95 annual fee, it's pretty much offset by the $100 Annual Hotel Savings Benefit that can be used in the Citi Travel Portal (more on that later). Along with many other benefits like no foreign transaction fees and monthly Lyft credit, the icing on the cake is the 60,000 ThankYou points bonus. According to TPG's valuations, these points are worth $1,080 when transferred to Citi’s ThankYou Rewards airline and hotel partners.

Currently, Citi ThankYou Rewards has the following airline transfer partners:

• Aeromexico 

• Avianca LifeMiles

• Cathay Pacific

• Emirates Skywards

• Ethiad Guest

• EVA Air

• Air France-KLM Flying Blue

• JetBlue TrueBlue 

• Quantas Frequent Flyer

• Qatar Airways

• Signapore Airlines KrisFlyer

• Thai Royal Orchid Plus

• Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles

• Virgin Atlantic Flying Club

Additionally, there are 4 hotel transfer partners:

• All Accor Live Limitless (2:1)

• Choice Privileges (1:2)

• The Leading Hotels of the World Leaders Club (5:1) 

• Wyndham Rewards  

👍Pros

• Valuable point earning rates cover 3 major student spending categories, airlines and hotel purchases, and a simple flat rate on all other purchases 

• A big sign-up bonus of 60,000 points is worth at least $600 through the Citi ThankYou Travel Portal or $1,080 using TPG's valuations

• An extensive list of international travel partners increases the redemption value of your points 

👎Cons

• Lack of U.S. airline transfer partners making JetBlue the only domestic carrier–although there are many other international carriers 

• Requires good/excellent credit, so while it’s a great beginner credit card for travel rewards it’s not ideal for students without a credit history 

• $100 Annual Hotel Savings Benefit off a single hotel stay of at least $500 (not including taxes and fees) doesn’t roll over and can only be booked exclusively through Thankyou.com, Citi’s travel portal, which limits the credit’s value 

• Doesn’t include TSA pre-check global entry, as-lucrative point-earning rates, and other valuable perks as offered by cards with the same annual fee

After using the Citi Premier for the past 6 months, I’ve already accumulated over 72,000 points in my war chest. I plan to study abroad in Europe for the Spring 2025 semester, and I’m stoked to put these points to good use for trips to other countries. A good travel credit card should always be in the arsenal of financially responsible travelers, and the Citi Premier meets those needs by allowing my spending to go further with points. I can’t emphasize enough how exciting the benefits are when I tell people about this card. As always, it's crucial to remember that points should never serve as a justification for accumulating interest and debt. Be sure to pay off your cards in full, on time, every time. Making informed and responsible decisions goes a long way when using any credit card.

Anyway, that’s a wrap on this week. 

Good luck with your finals and see you on the other side. 🫡

Dustin Tran

Founder & Content Lead