Many people have recently signed up for the Citi Premier card in order to take advantage of the mega signup bonus. . Many people are wondering if they should keep the card open even past the first year and pay the $95 annual fee or rather downgrade it to a $0 annual fee card, such as the Citi Double Cash.
In this post, we will crunch some numbers to see if the Citi Premier card is a keeper or a downgrader.
The benefits
The strong point of the Citi Premier card is definitely not its benefits. When it comes to benefits, the Citi Premier card is like a bald man sitting in a barbershop.
Check out the benefits of the Citi Premier card compared to the Chase Sapphire Preferred (which has the same $95 annual fee).
| Citi Premier | Chase Sapphire Preferred | |
| No foreign transaction fee | Yes | Yes |
| Credits | Get a $100 credit when you book a single hotel stay of $500 or more, excluding taxes and fees, through thankyou.com once per calendar year. | – Get a $50 annual hotel credit each cardmember year. The hotel booking must be made through the Chase Travel Portal. Existing Chase cardholders will get the $50 credit on their upcoming anniversary year. – Get a $15 Instacard statement credit each quarter plus a free Instacart+ membership for 6 months. |
| Extra Redemption Value | No | Points are worth 25% more when redeemed for travel through Chase Ultimate Rewards. |
| Anniversary Bonus Points | No | Get 10% anniversary bonus points when you renew your card. Chase will give you an extra 10% in points of what you spend; for spending $25,000 you’d get 2,500 in bonus points. |
| Trip Cancellation Insurance | No | Coverage for canceled or interrupted travel due to an unforeseen medical emergency etc. Max $10,000 per person for non-refundable travel expenses including flight tickets, hotels, and more. |
| Auto Rental Collision Insurance | No | Worldwide primary coverage on rentals. Coverage is for rentals up to 31 days. |
| Travel Accident Insurance | No | Get coverage if you, G-d forbid, die in an accident while traveling or lose a limb, sight, speech, or hearing (on common carriers). Receive up to $500,000 in compensation. |
| Lost Luggage Reimbursement | No | Get up to $3,000 per person for lost or damaged luggage. |
| Trip Delay Reimbursement | No | If your flight is delayed for 12+ hours, you can claim up to $500 per trip to cover expenses like meals, lodging, toiletries, medication, and other personal use items. |
| Baggage Delay Insurance | No | If your baggage is delayed for 6+ hours, you can claim up to $100 per day to cover expenses like toiletries & clothing, for up to 5 days. |
| Extended Warranty Protection | Get two additional years to your original manufacturer’s warranty time. (Will only cover if the original warranty is for 5 years or less). Max $10,000 per item. | Get your original manufacturer’s warranty time-matched (up to a year). (Will only cover if the original warranty is for 3 years or less). Max $10,000 per claim, $50,000 per account. |
| Purchase Protection | Get refunded if your purchase is damaged or stolen, up to 90 days from the date of purchase. Max $10,000 per claim, $50,000 per year. | Get refunded if your purchase is damaged, or stolen for up to 120 days from the date of purchase. Max $10,000 per claim $50,000 per year. |
| Roadside Assistance | No | Get roadside service assistance for $59.95 per call. |
As you see for yourself, the Citi Premier card is missing many of the key benefits.
So what is the Citi Premiers strong point?
The place where the Citi Premier can bring a lot of value to the table is when it comes to rewards. The Citi Premier has great reward accelerators, offering unlimited 3X rewards on great household categories, including:
- Grocery
- Gas
- Dining
- Hotels
- Airfare
Just for illustration purposes, let’s use the following example.
| Monthly spend | |
| Grocery | $2,000 |
| Gas | $300 |
| Restaurants | $100 |
| Airfare (annually) | $1,000 |
| Hotels (annually) | $500 |
| Total points earned annually | 90,900 (valued at approx. $990 -$1,300) |
I believe this example is pretty conservative. Most of my readers probably spend way more per month in many of these categories. So as far as rewards, Citi Premier definitely brings great (very great) value to the table.
Conclusion
Depending on your monthly spend on grocery, gas, dining, hotels, and airfare, the Citi Premier card can definitely be worth way more than the $95 annual fee. So if you got the card, try it for a year, see for yourself how many points you were able to accumulate in year 1 and based on that, you can make a decision for year 2.
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