Citi(‘s) Premier Credit Card
*Note: This is an old IG post originally posted in June, 2021.
The Citi Premier credit card is one of the first cards I would recommend any beginner travel hacker from HI to get.
Why?
1) A 60,000 pt SUB and diversification into Citi ThankYou Points (TYP).
2) Great earnings for every dollar spent:
-3x at restaurants, gas stations, supermarkets/grocery, and air travel and hotels
-1x on all other purchases
3) No foreign transaction fees
4) World Elite Mastercard benefits (more on this to come)
5) Ability to transfer points to a handful of partner airline and hotel loyalty programs.
Amongst other benefits, the Citi Premier offers a generous SUB and great everyday opportunities for earning Citi points. It is a go-to card for restaurants, travel, and grocery stores (note Costco, Sam’s Club, Target, and Walmart are not considered grocery stores) and is good to use internationally w/ no foreign transaction fee.
The main reason however it is so valuable is point no 5.
Value in Citi’s (Underrated) Transfer Partners
Depending on which loyalty program you transfer your Citi TYP to, you can get some good value from them!
As someone based in HI, it is no secret that a great (if not the best!) example of this is transferring Citi TYP to Turkish Airlines’ Miles and Smiles program.
Through Turkish Airlines it is possible to fly to and from HI to pretty much anywhere in the domestic US on United Airlines for just 7,500 Citi points for a one-way flight per person in economy class (A round trip would be 15,000 pts). This is roughly $75 (or $150 roundtrip) to fly anywhere domestically!
Though there are some limitations and caveats which may prevent you from going everywhere and anywhere whenever you want, if you can find the availability and don’t mind the booking process, this deal is hard to beat.
I’ve used this deal several times already to fly between HI and places like Los Angeles and Seattle. My friend and I also flew from HI to Washington DC and then from New York back to HI as stopovers on a trip to Iceland
Things to Know
Four things to consider before applying for the Citi Premier card is
It has a $95 annual fee.
60K sign-up bonus is received after a $4k minimum spend requirement in 3 months.
It is advised to have a credit score of 700 or higher.
It is advised to not have more than two hard pull inquiries in the last six months.
If you meet and are okay with this info, then I would recommend this card. Considering the value you can get out of the card the fee is more than worth it with the SUB alone potentially giving you four domestic round trip flights to or from HI. Great stuff 🤙
