Citi® Rewards+℠ Card Review – 2x Points at Supermarkets & Gas Stations

The Citi® Rewards+℠ Card is a popular credit card with no annual fee and an expansive, though complicated, rewards program that allows you to redeem accumulated points for virtually anything: gift cards, travel, general merchandise, cash, and more.

The Rewards+ Card earns points at a moderate rate and favors supermarkets and gas stations over other spending categories. ThankYou points earned with the Rewards+ card are most valuable when redeemed for gift cards, and usually somewhat less valuable when redeemed for general merchandise and cash.

I’ll be honest: The Citi Rewards+ Card isn’t the best rewards credit card on the market, not by a long shot. But there’s nothing truly wrong with it either. If you’re looking for a new cash back credit card, gas credit card, or general travel rewards credit card, it’s worthy of consideration.

What Sets the Citi Rewards+ Card Apart

The Citi Rewards+ Card stands out for three main reasons:

• All Purchases Round Up to the Nearest 10 Points. Rewards+ is the only credit card (according to Citi at least) that rounds every purchase up to the nearest 10 points. This is great if you make lots of small purchases — 3 points on your $3 morning coffee jumps to 10 points (equivalent to a $10 purchase) and so on.
• 10% Bonus on Eligible Redemptions. Rewards+ also rewards you on the back end, when it’s time to redeem. Your first 100,000 points redeemed each year qualify for a 10% bonus, or 10,000 bonus points ($100 gift card value) when fully utilized.
• Long 0% APR Intro Promotion. This card’s 15-month 0% APR intro promotion applies to both purchases and balance transfers. It matches the longest combined promotion in the cash-back category.

Key Features of the Citi Rewards+ Card

These are the key features of the Citi Rewards+ Card.

Sign-up Bonus

Earning ThankYou Rewards Points

The Citi Rewards+ Card earns 2 ThankYou points per $1 spent on eligible purchases at supermarkets and gas stations, up to the first $6,000 in eligible spending per year. All other eligible purchases, including supermarket and gas station purchases above the $6,000 annual spending cap, earn unlimited 1 point per $1 spent.

Citi automatically rounds up all purchases to the nearest 10 points, meaning (for example) a purchase that would normally earn 96 points actually nets 100 points.

Redeeming ThankYou Rewards Points

You can redeem ThankYou points for a wide range of items, including gift cards, general merchandise, travel and transportation (with no blackout dates), statement credits, direct purchases made with merchants like Amazon and Best Buy, and more.

Gift card redemptions typically require 1 point per $0.01 in face value, and therefore usually offer the best value for your points. By contrast, general merchandise redemptions typically value ThankYou points between $0.005 and $0.01, and cash redemptions value ThankYou points at $0.005 apiece. These values are subject to change, however.

Redemption minimums vary by redemption method, but typically start at 2,500 points ($25 value) for gift cards and 10,000 points ($50 value) for cash. You’ll get a 10% bonus on the first 100,000 points you redeem each year, turning (for example) a 10,000-point redemption into a 11,000-point redemption. The bonus is deposited back into your rewards account.

It’s worth noting that Citi’s higher-end credit cards, including Citi Premier, allow you to transfer ThankYou points to participating frequent traveler programs, such as Hilton Honors, often at 1-to-1 ratios or better. However, Citi Rewards+ doesn’t have this perk.

Introductory APR

This card comes with a 15-month 0% APR introductory promotion on purchases (from the account opening date) and balance transfers (from the date of first transfer). After the end of the introductory promotion, variable regular APR applies (currently 18.24% to 28.24%), depending on your creditworthiness.

Important Fees

There is no annual fee. Foreign transactions cost 3% of the total transaction amount.

There is an intro balance transfer fee of 3% of each transfer (minimum $5) completed within the first 4 months of account opening. After that, your fee will be 5% of each transfer (minimum $5).

Credit Required

This card requires good to excellent credit. If you have any notable dings on your credit history, you are unlikely to qualify.

Advantages of the Citi Rewards+ Card

Here’s why we like the Citi Rewards+ Card.

• No Annual Fee. Rewards+ doesn’t charge an annual fee. That’s a big perk relative to other popular rewards credit cards, including fellow Citi cards such as Citi Premier ($95 annual fee), as well as similar non-Citi cards such as Chase Sapphire Preferred ($95 annual fee).
• No Rotating Categories. The Rewards+ Card doesn’t have any rotating categories, making it much easier to track current rewards and calculate future earnings. The favored gas station and supermarket categories always stay the same. By contrast, Chase Freedom Flex has rotating categories that can be confusing to keep track of and annoying to activate every 3 months.
• No Earning Caps on Base Points. There’s no limit to the number of base ThankYou points you can earn beyond the $6,000 annual spending cap on the 2X categories (or on purchases in general).
• Round-up and Redemption Bonuses Juice Rewards Earnings. This card’s rewards scheme has two customer-friendly features likely to boost total point earnings: rounding up points earned on every qualifying purchase to the nearest 10, and adding a 10% points bonus to the first 100,000 points redeemed each year.
• Good Intro APR Promotion. Rewards+ has a 15-month 0% APR promotion for purchases and balance transfers, after which variable regular APR applies, depending on creditworthiness. That’s great news for new cardholders who need to make large upfront purchases or transfer high-interest balances from other card accounts.

Disadvantages of the Citi Rewards+ Card

Consider these drawbacks before you apply for the Citi Rewards+ Card.

• Only Supermarket and Gas Station Purchases Earn Bonus Points. The Rewards+ Card’s bonus categories are somewhat limited: You only earn 2x points on purchases made at gas stations and supermarkets. While this is fine for those with long commutes and moderate grocery budgets, the majority of most consumers’ spending falls into other categories. If you want a card that provides more equitable rewards on a wider range of spending categories, consider the Citi Double Cash Card (1% cash back on all initial spending and an additional 1% cash back when you pay your statement bill, for a total effective cash back rate of 2% when you pay your balance in full) or Capital One Quicksilver (1.5% cash back on all eligible purchases).
• Bonus Categories Only Good Up to $6,000 in Combined Annual Spend. The Rewards+ card only earns 2x points on gas station and supermarket purchases up to $6,000 in annual combined category spend. That’s not going to cut it if you drive a lot or have many hungry mouths to feed at home.
• Charges a Penalty APR. Rewards+ charges penalty interest on past-due balances. This is potentially costly for cardholders who occasionally miss payments, especially in light of the fact that Citi reserves the right to charge penalty interest indefinitely. Some popular alternatives, such as Chase Sapphire Preferred, don’t charge penalty interest.
• Has a Foreign Transaction Fee. This card comes with a 3% foreign transaction fee. That’s unfortunate for cardholders who want to rack up points while traveling abroad. Some higher-end travel cards, including stablemate Citi Premier, don’t charge foreign transaction fees.

How the Citi Rewards+ Card Stacks Up

The Citi Rewards+ Card is by no means unique. Several competing credit cards reward gas station and supermarket purchases above others. At least one — the Blue Cash Preferred® Card from American Express — does a better job of it, in my opinion.

Final Word

According to Citi, one can “redeem ThankYou points for almost anything.” If you find that simple concept appealing, this credit card should be high on your list.

On the other hand, if maximizing the value of your accumulated rewards points is important to you, there are better options than the Citi Rewards+℠ Card. Whereas this card’s ThankYou points can be worth as little as $0.005 apiece when redeemed, some competing cards set the floor for their point values at $0.01.

In other words, those cards repay you twice as fast for every $1 you spend. Food for thought.