This site is part of an affiliate sales network and may earn compensation when a customer clicks on a link, when an application is approved, or when an account is opened. This relationship may impact how and where links appear on this site. This site does not include all financial companies or all available financial offers. Zachary Abel is also a Senior Advisor to Bilt Rewards. Terms apply to American Express benefits and offers. Enrollment may be required for select American Express benefits and offers. Visit americanexpress.com to learn more Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.
*some offers mentioned in this post may no longer be available
Citi pulled all ability to apply for their Flagship Prestige last year with news that it would be back for new applications in 2019. They also indicated that the rewards of the card would change: some are positive, some are negative. Citi has re-launched the card with a 50k welcome bonus after $4k spend in 3 months and its new suite of benefits active. I personally view Citi Thank You points as a great way of accruing another flexible currency to shore accounts for aspirational redemptions. They’re worth taking a look at, and I personally carry a Prestige.
Why I continue to carry a Citi Prestige.
I’ve written about the 4th night free + $250 travel credit combination outweighing the annual fee when it was $450. You can read that here. My account is coded as CitiPriority and the annual fee for me will stay at $350. That’s a no brainer IMO, and even at the new $495 if you use the 4th night free benefit a couple times a year, I’m way ahead. Let’s take a look at the other benefits and see if it’s a good fit for you.
Benefit overview:
- New annual fee: $495 ( up from $450
- CitiGold will remain at $350
- 5x on all air travel
- 5x restaurants
- 3x hotels, cruises
- 1x everywhere else
- 4th night free ( will be limited to two times annually come September 1st, 2019
- $250 travel credit annually, every calendar year
- Priority Pass Select
- Global Entry fee credit
- 16 transfer partners
Cell Phone protection coming May 2019
We don’t really know what this means, but hopefully it’ll be similar or better than what’s offer as a benefit on the Chase Ink Business Preferred.
Limitations to 4th night free coming September 2019
Currently you can use the benefit as many times as you like. Starting later this year…it’ll be limited to just 2 times a year. Still a heavy benefit if you ask me – I’m hoping to visit my first Aman hotel later this year and this benefit could be incredibly valuable.
5x dining is the best in the business
It just is and I’ll have to think long and hard whether I use this card vs the Amex Gold ( which earns 4x ) when dining.
As I mentioned – Citi Thank You is a flexible currency which means you can transfer them to partners.
Citi Thank You also overlaps many of Amex and Chase’s partners. This is fantastic news because it means you can diversify your transfers and stay very agile when it comes time to redeem for the optimal trip.
In fact, the feature image is courtesy of a Citi Thank You partner, Singapore Airlines. I transferred Citi, along with Chase and Amex, in order to fly Singapore Airlines Suites last year on my mom’s around the world trip.
- Air France/KLM Flying Blue: 1000 = 1000
- Thai Royal Orchid Plus: 1000 = 1000
- Turkish Miles and Smiles: 1000 = 1000
- Virgin Atlantic Flying Club: 1000 = 1000
- Qatar Privilege Club: 1000 = 1000
- Sears Shop your Way: 1000 = 1000
- Singapore Airlines: 1000 = 1000
- Jet Airways JetPrivilege: 1000 = 1000
- Malaysia Airlines Enrich: 1000 = 1000
- Qantas Frequent Flyer: 1000 = 1000
- Etihad Guest: 1000 = 1000
- EVA Air: 1000 = 1000
- Garuda Indonesia: 1000 = 1000
- JetBlue True Blue: 1000 = 500
- Cathay Pacific Asia Miles: 1000 = 1000
- Avianca LifeMiles: 1000 = 1000
Some of these partners may be unfamiliar to you, but many of them have incredible sweet spots hidden within them. For instance, Etihad, who is famous for their insane premium cabins, has one of the best charts for flights on American Airlines. In fact, you can still fly to Asia for just 50k miles if you use Etihad to book AA business class. That’s phenom. I also loved flying Air France using their own currency…for just 55k miles.
Is 50k the best offer? No.
We’ve seen 75k and targeted 100k offers in the past. 50k is healthy ( it didn’t offer any bonus at the end of the last year ) and worth consideration.
What are the rules for Citi welcome offers?
In case you’re unfamiliar, Citi now restricts welcome offer eligibility to those who have not opened or closed any card in the family of the welcome offer in the past 24 months. What does this mean? If you have had any Citi Thank You card in the last 24 months that you newly opened, or decided to close, you are ineligible for this welcome offer.
Citi also limits how many cards you can sign up for in a given time period. If you’ve recently signed up for a Citi card I’d highly recommend you read more about Citi’s sign up rules here.
Does it count towards 5/24
Absolutely. If this is something you are tracking, you’ll have to add it to your number.
If this isn’t of interest to you, I would consider getting the Citi Thank You Premier. Also offering a 50k welcome offer.
The first year annual fee is waived, it offers a commensurate sign up bonus, healthy travel bonus spend, and is a quick and easy way to shore up your balance of Thank You points.
Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card went through a major refresh in 2026 adding new bonus categories, travel protections, statement credits, and remains one of the best travel starter cards in the market. It earns Premium Ultimate Rewards that can be transferred into over a dozen partners many of which are US based including Hyatt, Southwest, United, IHG, and Marriott. Note that Hyatt is now a 4:3 transfer partner
Welcome Offer
Earn 100,000 bonus points after you spend $5,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening
Annual Fee
$95
Points Earned
Transferrable Chase Ultimate Rewards
Earn
- 5x on all travel purchased through Chase Travel℠
- NEW ACCELERATED EARN CATEGORY: 3x points on gas and EV charging
- NEW ACCELERATED EARN CATEGORY: 3x points on vacation homes at top brands
- Cardmembers will earn 3x points on vacation homes at these top brands: Airbnb, Vrbo, Plu Guide, HomeAway, Homestay.com and Vacasa.
- 3x on dining, including eligible delivery services for takeout & dining out
- 3x on select streaming services
- 3x on online grocery purchases
- (excluding Target, Walmart and wholesale clubs)
- 2x on all other travel
- 1x on everyday purchases
- 5x points on Lyft rides Earn 5x total points on eligible Lyft rides including ride share, bike and scooter rides and subscription and membership products through September 30, 2027.
- 5x total points on Peloton equipment Earn 5x total points on eligible Peloton equipment and accessory purchases over $150 through December 31, 2027.
Benefits and Credits
- $100 Annual Chase Travel Hotel Credit via Chase Travel℠
- NEW: $120 Global Entry, TSA PreCheck or NEXUS fee credit Cardmembers will receive one statement credit of up to $120 every four years as reimbursement for the application fee charged to the card.
- NEW: Complimentary Apple TV subscription for one year
- Points are transferrable to 14 Ultimate Rewards partners
- No foreign transaction fees
- Suite of Travel and Purchase Coverage
- Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver is my favorite
- Complimentary DashPass which unlocks $0 delivery fees & lower service fees for a min. of one year when you activate by 12/31/27. Plus, a $10 promo each month on non-restaurant orders
We keep an up to date spreadsheet that lists the best ever offers: You can find that spreadsheet here.
Historically 80k is a very, very good offer and hit in both 2022 and 2023. In 2021, we saw the offer hit an all time high of 100k. Who knows if that will ever come back.
Main Cast:
Cards that earn flexible points and should be used on the bulk of your purchases.
Supporting Cast:
Cards that earn fixed points in the currency of the airline/hotel and can not be transferred at attractive rates. These cards yield benefits that make it worth keeping, but not necessarily worth putting a lot of your everyday spend on.
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card is great starter card and offers transferrable Ultimate Rewards, and pairs well with other Chase cards.
If you carry this card alongside Chase’s cashback cards like the Chase Freedom Flex® and Chase Freedom Unlimited® or the business versions: Chase Ink Business Cash® , Chase Ink Business Unlimited® you can combine the points into the Sapphire Preferred account and transfer into hotel and airline partners
Annual fee remains quite low at $95 a year and if you use the $100 Annual Chase Travel Hotel Credit via Chase Travel℠ you’ll wipe out that annual fee every year. It has great bonus categories and other useful statement credits to enhance your travel.
One thing that is a bummer is Chase lowered the transfer ratio to World of Hyatt from 1:1 to 4:3.
The responses below are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. Responses have not been reviewed, approved, or otherwise endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser's responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.