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Holiday Shopping: How to Use Your Citi Prestige to Maximize your Points

Christmas. Glowing fireplace, hearth, tree. Red stockings. Gifts and decorations.
The Best CitiBank Credit Card to Use to Earn Citi Points featured by top US travel hacker, Points with Q: image of Citi Prestige Premier Card

The Citi Prestige credit card may not be the first card that comes to mind to use for your holiday shopping. When there are more valuable cards like the Citi Double Cash, Amex Blue Business Plus, and Chase Freedom Unlimited, reaching for other cards usually doesn’t make sense.

When Citi made updates to the card’s yearly travel credit, it now may make sense to use this card for your holiday shopping. With that said, let’s see how to leverage the yearly travel credit benefit.

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Holiday Shopping Benefits

$250 Yearly Travel Credit

Cardmembers receive a $250 Citi Prestige travel credit. Traditionally, this credit could be used for travel purchases. This is similar to the $300 credit available to Chase Saphire Reserve cardmembers, an important to thing to note when comparing the Citi Prestige vs Chase Sapphire Reserve.

Through December 2021, cardmembers can use your travel credit for supermarket and restaurant purchases. So, if you’re like me and buy restaurant gift cards for friends and family for your holiday shopping, you can use your travel credit towards these purchases.

Non-Holiday Shopping Benefits

Welcome Bonus

New cardmembers earn 50,000 bonus ThankYou Points after spending $4,000 in your first three months of account opening. The points that you can earn then be transferred to Citi’s airline partners to book award flights.

Fourth Night Hotel Stay

A complimentary fourth-night stay is available when you book at least a four-night stay at ThankYou.com. This benefit is available up to two times per calendar year.

Citi ThankYou Rewards

Cardmembers earn 5x points on airfare, travel agencies, and restaurants. Cardmembers also earn 3x points at hotels and cruise lines. For comparison, the Amex Platinum earns 5x points on airfare and Amex Gold earns 4x points at restaurants.

Common Prestige Questions

Is the Citi Prestige Card worth it?

Conservatively assuming Citi ThankYou points are worth 1.5 cents per point, cardmembers need to earn 36,750 points to breakeven on the effective $245 annual fee. The annual fee is $495, however, cardmembers receive a $250 annual travel credit. Here’s a Citi Prestige review to help you decide if this card is worth it.

What is Citi Prestige card made of?

The Citi Prestige is a metal card per this article and this article.

What is Citi Prestige Card?

The Prestige is one that earns ThankYou points. It’s designed for travelers. New cardmembers receive 50,000 bonus ThankYou points after meeting the minimum spending requirement. The card earns 5x points on airfare, travel agencies, and restaurants, and 3x points at hotels and cruise lines.

What credit score do you need for Citi Prestige?

This article suggests a Citi Prestige credit score in the high 700’s to low 800s is required to be approved. Therefore, a high credit score increases your chances of having this card.

What is the Citi Prestige cell phone protection?

Cardmembers receive up to $1,000 per claim with a $50 deductible. Coverage is available for up to five phones when you pay your bill with the Prestige. More information on the Citi Prestige cell phone protection can be found here and here.

What do you think about the Citi Prestige? What card do you use for your holiday shopping? Please let me know in the comments below or by sending me an email on my contact page.

Disclaimer: If you click and/or sign up for a credit card through certain links on this site or any of my related social media platforms, I may make a commission from that click-through.  The editorial content on this page and the user comments are not provided by any of the companies mentioned and have not been reviewed, approved, or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities. Opinions expressed here are mine alone.

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