It’s obviously good to have a way to earn rewards points from your credit card. But is it even better to have four different ways to use your card to earn rewards?
That’s what the Citi Rewards+® Mastercard offers. Cardholders have several ways to earn ThankYou® points, which sounds great, but also adds a bit of complexity. Let’s take a closer look at this map and see if it’s right for you.
Citi Rewards+® Mastercard: Key Terms
- Welcome bonus: Earn 15,000 points after spending $1,000 within three months of account opening.
- Awards: Earn 2x points on your first $6,000 spent at supermarkets and gas stations, and 1x elsewhere. Rewards round up to the next 10 points on all purchases, and you get a 10% discount on points redeemed (for the first 100,000 points redeemed per year).
- Annual fees: $0
- APR: 13.49% – 23.49% depending on your creditworthiness
- Promotional financing offer: 15 months of 0% APR financing on new purchases and balance transfers, with a 3% balance transfer fee.
How the Citi Rewards+® card works
This card gives you double points at grocery stores and gas stations, but only on your first $6,000 in combined purchases each year. All other purchases earn one point per dollar spent. Citi will round the points you have earned to the nearest 10 points. So if you buy something for $1 or something else for $4, you’ll earn 10 points for each of those separate purchases. If you buy gas for $21, you will normally earn 42 points, but it will be rounded up to 50 points. There’s an incentive for you to use the card very often, you see.
Rewards are earned through Citi’s ThankYou® points program and can be redeemed for many things, including merchandise, gift cards, travel reservations and loan repayments. When you redeem points, you’ll receive 10% of up to 100,000 points redeemed in a year.
This card offers 15 months of 0% APR funding on new purchases and balance transfers, with a 3% balance transfer fee (or $5, whichever is greater). There is no annual fee for this card, but it does have a 3% foreign transaction fee.
Benefits
The Citi Rewards Card offers many ways to earn rewards, and it has no annual fee. If you use it frequently for small purchases, the rounding up feature could give you far more rewards than many other cards. Getting 10% of your points back also dramatically increases the value of your rewards. In addition, the 15 month promotional financing is a very competitive offer for a rewards card. The welcome bonus of 15,000 points is also very valuable.
Disadvantages
Some people might find this rewards program confusing. The biggest problem is that many Citi cards, including this one, no longer offer many cardholder benefits such as rental car insurance, purchase protection, and extended warranty coverage. Like most reward credit cards, the Citi Rewards card has an above-average standard interest rate. If you tend to have a balance, you should look for a card with the lowest possible interest rate that won’t offer rewards.
Alternatives: credit cards with great rewards and cash back
Citi® Double Cash: This other Citi card gives you cash back instead of reward points, and it’s a whole lot easier. It offers 1% cash back at the time of purchase and 1% cash back when you pay for your purchases, for a total cash back of up to 2% with no limit. It offers 18 months of 0% APR financing on new purchases and balance transfers (with a 3% or $5 balance transfer fee, whichever is greater). After that, the standard 13.99% – 23.99% variable APR applies. There is no annual fee for this card, but there is no welcome bonus either.
Chase Freedom Unlimited®: Unlimited Freedom offers new applicants a $200 bonus after spending $500 on purchases within three months of account opening. New applicants also receive 5% cash back on up to $12,000 spent on groceries within 12 months of account opening (excluding Target® or Walmart® purchases). It offers 1.5% cash back on all other purchases with no limit and comes with 15 months of 0% intro APR on new purchases. After that, the standard APR applies and there is no annual fee for this card.
PenFed Power Cash Rewards: This card gives everyone 1.5% cash back on all purchases, but you’ll get 2% if you’re a PenFed Honors Advantage member, which you can become by opening a free checking account. New applicants receive a $100 credit after using their card to spend $1,500 within 90 days of account opening. There is no annual fee for this card.
Conclusion: Is the Citi Rewards+ card worth it?
The Citi Rewards Plus is an intriguing card as it offers so many ways to earn rewards. If you make a lot of small purchases and regularly spend at grocery stores and gas stations, this card can give you plenty of rewards in return.
More money :
Best credit card offers of 2020
Best credit cards with rewards of 2020
Why Citi Double Cash is One of the Best and Easiest Cash Back Credit Cards You Can Get
