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Editor’s note: This is a recurring post, regularly updated with new information and offers.
The Citi Rewards+® Card — and its student version, the Citi Rewards+℠ Student Card — launched in 2019 with two powerful benefits: rounding up the points you earn and giving 10% of your points back. Interestingly, these powerful features don’t get much attention, despite this likely being the best credit card for small purchases.
The information for the Citi Rewards+ Student Card has been collected independently by The Points Guy. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.
But there’s more to the Citi Rewards+ Card than simply rounding up your earnings and getting some of your points back. Indeed, the card provides some compelling benefits for a card with no annual fee and could be a good choice for everyday purchases that don’t fall into a specific bonus category.
Let’s look at the key benefits of the Citi Rewards+ Card and whether you’ll benefit from having it in your wallet.
Key benefits of the Citi Rewards+ Card
Before we know who should (and shouldn’t) get the Rewards+ card, let’s walk through its main perks.
Welcome bonus
The Citi Rewards+ Card is currently offering a limited-time bonus of 25,000 bonus ThankYou Points after you spend $1,500 in purchases within three months of account opening.
The bonus points aren’t available if you’ve received a sign-up bonus for, or closed, certain Citi credit cards within the past 24 months.
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Related: The best time to apply for these popular Citi credit cards, based on offer history
ThankYou points
This card earns Citi ThankYou points, which you can redeem at Amazon.com, for gift cards or real-time statement credits at a value of less than one cent each. If you’d rather save up points for travel, you can transfer these ThankYou points to JetBlue TrueBlue, Choice Privileges and Wyndham Rewards.
However, if you also have a premium Citi card like the Citi Premier® Card or Citi Prestige® Card (no longer available to new applicants), you can combine points earned by the Citi Rewards+ Card with those in your “premium” card account and then transfer them to any of the Citi ThankYou airline transfer partners.
The information for the Citi Prestige Card has been collected independently by The Points Guy. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.
Related: Redeeming Citi ThankYou points for maximum value
Bonus categories
With the Citi Rewards+ Card, you’ll earn two points per dollar spent at supermarkets and gas stations on the first $6,000 spent each year, then 1 point per dollar.
You’ll also earn 5 points per dollar on hotels, car rentals, and attractions (excluding air travel) booked on the Citi travel portal through June 30, 2024.
All other purchases earn 1 point per dollar spent.
Round up to the nearest 10 points
The points you earn on each purchase with the Citi Rewards+ Card are rounded up to the nearest 10 points. This means you’ll earn more than one point per dollar spent on almost every purchase.
For supermarket and gas station purchases that earn two points per dollar spent, the 2-points-per-dollar earning is calculated before rounding up to the nearest 10 points. So you’ll earn 10 points on a $2 coffee, 20 points on a $12 lunch, 70 points on $32 of gas and 230 points on $111 of groceries.
10% points back
On top of the bonus categories and rounding up points, you’ll also earn 10% of your points back on the first 100,000 ThankYou points that you redeem each year. That’s 10,000 points back if you redeem 100,000 points.
However, that doesn’t apply just to points redeemed from this card. If you link your Citi Rewards+ Card and Citi Premier Card accounts, combine the points and then transfer these to an airline, you’ll get 10% of your points back. That’s true even if the points didn’t originate from your Rewards+ card.
Who should get the Citi Rewards+ Card?
The Citi Rewards+ Card can be a useful everyday card for anyone to add to their purse or wallet, but here are some specific types of people who can benefit the most from getting a Citi Rewards+ Card.
People who want to earn bonus points at supermarkets and gas stations
With many credit cards offering bonus points on spending at supermarkets and gas stations, you should earn more than one point per dollar on these purchases. If you’re looking for a card that earns bonus points in these categories without an annual fee, the Citi Rewards+ Card is a decent choice since you’ll earn at least two points per dollar spent (up to $6,000 of purchases annually, then 1 point per dollar).
Granted, other no-annual-fee cards can earn more at either supermarkets or gas stations — but generally not both. For example, The Amex EveryDay® Credit Card from American Express earns 2 Amex Membership Rewards points at U.S. supermarkets on up to $6,000 of purchases annually (then 1 point per dollar), but it has no dining bonus. And although the Amex EveryDay has better earning potential at supermarkets, you must make 20 purchases or more during every billing period to earn a 20% bonus in order to maximize your earning rate.
The information for the Amex EveryDay Credit Card has been collected independently by The Points Guy. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.
Related reading: Amex EveryDay vs. Citi Rewards+: Which one should you get?
People who like JetBlue, Choice and Wyndham but don’t want annual fees
You’ll get one cent of value per point if you redeem the points earned by the Citi Rewards+ Card for gift cards. But, if you have a Citi Rewards+ Card, you can transfer points directly to JetBlue TrueBlue or Wyndham Rewards at a 5:4 ratio or Choice Privileges at a 1:1.5 ratio.
People who make small purchases
Since the Citi Rewards+ Card rounds up to the nearest 10 points on all purchases, it’s the ideal card to use when paying for small purchases. Indeed, all purchases will earn a minimum of 10 points. This means you can get a relatively high return on small purchases across the board. For example, you’ll earn 10 points on a $1 drink purchased at your corner store.
People who need to carry a balance for a short time
You generally shouldn’t carry a balance on your credit cards, but sometimes unexpected circumstances require you to temporarily float some debt. Or you may want to transfer the balance from a high-interest-rate credit card while working to pay off existing debt. If you’re looking for a credit card with a low introductory APR, the Citi Rewards+ Card might suit you.
The Citi Rewards+ Card offers a 0% introductory annual percentage rate (APR) on purchases and balance transfers for 15 months from account opening. Once the introductory period is over, the variable APR will be 18.49%-28.49%, based on your creditworthiness, so be sure to pay off your balance during the introductory period. There’s a balance transfer fee of 3% (with a minimum of $5) for the first four months, then 5%.
Related: The best 0% interest credit cards
People who have a premium Citi card
If you already have the Citi Prestige Card or Citi Premier Card, the points earned by the Citi Rewards+ Card will be even more valuable. You can combine your ThankYou points accounts, using your premium card account to transfer points to more partners, including Avianca LifeMiles and Etihad Guest (as well as JetBlue, Choice and Wyndham at improved ratios).
This ability to transfer your points to additional partners increases the redemption value of the points you earn with the Citi Rewards+ Card: from around 1 cent each to approximately 1.8 cents each.
Plus, you’ll get 10% of those points back — up to 100,000 points redeemed yearly. Getting 10,000 points back annually provides more points for more redemptions.
Related: Why you should double down with the Citi Premier and Citi Rewards+
Bottom line
The Citi Rewards+ Card has two quality features that don’t get significant attention: rounding up your purchases to the nearest 10 points and giving 10% of your points back. However, there are also other reasons to consider adding this card to your wallet as an everyday spending card. If you fall into any of the categories discussed above, the Citi Rewards+ Card could likely provide significant value to you.
Apply for the Citi Rewards+ Card with a 25,000 ThankYou point sign-up bonus
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Additional reporting by Emily Thompson.
