Earn 80,000 bonus points with the Citi Premier card

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If you’re looking for a travel rewards card that offers a lot of value in the first year and beyond, the Citi Premier® Card is a great way to go.

In addition to its bonus categories that earn you 3 points per dollar on a variety of everyday expenses like supermarket purchases in addition to select travel expenses, the Premier card is currently offering an impressive sign-up bonus: 80,000 points for spending $4,000 in the first three months of card ownership.

Here we take a look at how much this card’s bonus is worth and what you stand to earn in the first year when you combine it with rewards earned via card spending.

See related: Cash back vs. points

Citi Premier card sign-up bonus value: At a glance

Along with its 80,000-point bonus, the Citi Premier card allows cardholders to earn rewards on a wide array of purchases, ranging from airfare and hotels to gas, gift cards, dining and supermarket spending.

These benefits come with a price tag, though: cardholders will be charged an annual fee of $95. However, the card’s yearly value should more than make up for its annual fee each year.

	Citi Premier card
Rewards rate	3 points per dollar on air travel and hotel stays 3 points per dollar on gas purchases 3 points per dollar on restaurant and supermarket purchases 1 point per dollar on all other purchases
Sign-up bonus	80,000 points when you spend $4,000 in the first 3 months
Annual fee	$95
Card perks	No foreign transaction fees Annual hotel savings benefit: Earn $100 off a single hotel stay of $500 or more, excluding taxes and fees, through thankyou.com, once per calendar year Transfer to 15 travel partners
Estimated yearly earnings in first three years ($15,900 annual spend)	$584

Recent changes to the Citi Premier card

As you can see from the table below, the card has a history of toggling between a 30,000-point and 60,000-point sign-up bonus. The card has even offered no sign-up bonus in the past.

At the moment, the card is offering the highest sign-up bonus in its history.

Citi Premier card recent changes

Keep in mind that the increased sign-up bonuses often come with higher spend requirements. To receive the 80,000-point bonus, cardholders must spend $4,000 in the first three months, compared to $3,000 for the 30,000-point bonus.

Who is eligible for the sign-up bonus?

The Citi Premier sign-up bonus is only available to new cardholders who have not had a Citi Rewards+® Card, Citi ThankYou® Preferred Card, Citi ThankYou Premier/Citi Premier® Card or Citi Prestige® Card opened or closed in the past 24 months.

Of course, you must meet certain credit requirements to be approved for the Premier card. To determine your creditworthiness, Citi will consider several factors, including but not limited to, your annual salary and wages and any debt you may have.

Best ways to spend 80,000 ThankYou points

In general, travel redemptions are the best use of Citi ThankYou points, and – if you want to squeeze the most value out of your points – redeeming them for gift cards or airfare through the Citi ThankYou portal is your best bet.

Citi gives you plenty of other choices for redeeming ThankYou points – including merchandise and cash back – but many of these are a poor value, worth less than 1 cent per point.

Citi Premier card redemption options

Citi also has several airline partners that you can transfer points to at a 1:1 ratio (except for JetBlue). It’s possible to stretch your points further with a point transfer since you can look for value within each airline partner’s redemption chart. Unfortunately, the options are slightly limited, consisting mostly of small overseas airlines:

Citi Premier card transfer options

Should you apply for the Citi Premier card now?

The Citi Premier card’s bonus is the highest it’s ever been, so now is a great time to apply if you want to secure a lot of ThankYou points. The card’s recently added bonus categories should also offer impressive long-term value, even with the annual fee.

See related: American Express Platinum card offers 150,000 bonus points through CardMatch