Lucky from One Mile At A Time (H/T) has reported that the Citi Premier and Prestige have new bonus categories. These categories are another way that Citi is getting creative with helping their cardholders in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Both the Citi Premier and the Citi Prestige earn Citi Thank You (TY) points. And they have the potential to do so quickly if you spend within their categories.
Citi Premier
In April 2020, Citi announced that some major changes will be coming to the Citi Premier Card in August 2020. And a plethora of new bonus categories were some of the biggest changes.
However, all Citi Premier cardholders will now earns 3x TY points in two of those new categories: dining and groceries. These are two of the most common expenses among American families and people. That’s why there are so many credit cards with bonus categories that cover these expenses.
Furthermore, these bonus categories are permanent and will remain after the other changes occur in August. This means that the Citi Premier became an even better credit card for earning points quickly. Thereafter, the Premier will lose its general travel and entertainment categories in favor of more specific travel categories.
Timeline of Events
The Points Guy (H/T) reported today about the Citi Premier’s changes. And they included a useful timeline that explains when the Premier’s changes will occur. The timeline is as follows:
- June 2, 2020
- All cardholders will earn 3x TY points on Dining and Groceries
- Those who applied for the Premier before April 10, 2020 will continue to earn 3x on General Travel, 3x on Gas Stations, and 2x on Entertainment
- Those who applied for the Premier after April 10, 2020 will earn 3x on Airfare, 3x on Hotels, and 2x on Entertainment
- August 23, 2020
- All cardholders will receive the new $100 annual hotel statement credit
- Those who applied for the Premier before April 10, 2020 will continue to earn 3x on General Travel, 3x on Gas Stations, and 2x on Entertainment
- Cardholders who applied for the Premier after April 10, 2020 will start earning 3x on Airfare, Hotels, Gas, Groceries, and Dining
- April 10, 2021
- All Citi Travel Portal redemptions will be worth 1 cent apiece (1 CPP)
- All cardholders will start earning 3x on Airfare, Hotels, Gas, Groceries, and Dining
Citi Prestige
Moreover, the Citi Prestige is also getting some bonus categories. Online shoppers will be thrilled this summer because the Prestige is offering 5x TY points on retailer website orders, online grocery store orders, and online drug store purchases.
Citi really got creative with these categories for the Prestige Card. They likely noticed that many of their cardholders are doing more online shopping because of the pandemic. And they wanted to help these cardholders by giving them new categories. This makes total sense, despite the fact that the Prestige and Premier cards are not the best earners for online purchases.
However, these categories are a promotion. They will only be available until August 31, 2020 (unless Citi decides to make them permanent or extend the promotion into the fall). Plus, there is a spend limit of $1,500, similar to the Chase Freedom and Discover It’s quarterly categories. This means that cardholders can earn a total of 7,500 TY points with this promotion.
Final Draw
The Citi Premier and Citi Prestige are great credit cards for international travelers. And they now have new bonus categories and ways to earn even more points.
I am glad to see Citi helping their cardholders just like competitors Chase and American Express. However, Citi’s top two credit cards are still not as enticing as offers from Chase and Amex.
Update: As of 2022, Citi has discontinued the Citi Prestige Card…
