Maximize ThankYou Rewards with the Citi Card Trifecta

ThankYou® Points are the currency of the Citi ThankYou® Rewards program, which is one of the major flexible rewards programs in the United States. With the Citi ThankYou® Rewards program, cardholders can use points in several ways, such as redeeming for cash back or statement credits, making purchases at select retailers, buying gift cards, booking travel through Citi Travel℠ or transferring points to partner loyalty programs.

The primary way to earn ThankYou® Points is through welcome bonuses and spending on select Citi credit cards. We’re going to look at three specific credit cards that provide a strong combination for earning points on ongoing spending.

How and Why to Earn Citi ThankYou® Points

While American Express Membership Rewards and Chase Ultimate Rewards are the two most popular flexible currency programs, Citi ThankYou® Rewards shouldn’t be overlooked. Citi has some unique or less common transfer partners and offers better transfer ratios to certain partner programs that participate in multiple flexible currency programs.

The standard ratio for transfers to airline programs is 1 ThankYou® Point to 1 airline mile, with a minimum transfer of 1,000 points.

It’s possible to transfer Citi ThankYou Points to the following loyalty programs:

• Aeroméxico Rewards
• Air France-KLM Flying Blue
• Avianca LifeMiles
• Cathay Pacific Asia Miles
• Emirates Skywards
• Etihad Guest
• EVA Air Infinity MileageLands
• JetBlue TrueBlue
• Qantas Frequent Flyer
• Qatar Airways Privilege Club
• Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
• Thai Airways Royal Orchid Plus
• Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles
• Virgin Atlantic Flying Club

Citi’s hotel transfer partners include:

• Accor Live Limitless (ALL) at a 2:1 ratio: 1,000 ThankYou® Points yields 500 Accor points.
• Choice Privileges at a 1:2 ratio: 1,000 ThankYou® Points yields 2,000 Choice points.
• Leading Hotels of the World Leaders Club at a 5:1 ratio: 1,000 ThankYou® Points yields 200 Leaders Club points.
• Preferred Hotels & Resorts I Prefer℠ Hotel Rewards at a 1:4 ratio: 1,000 ThankYou® Points yields 4,000 I Prefer points.
• Wyndham Rewards at a 1:1 ratio: 1,000 ThankYou® Points yields 1,000 Wyndham points.

Citi has multiple credit cards that earn ThankYou® Points, making it relatively easy to earn points through welcome bonuses and spending. Cards earning ThankYou® Points include:

• AT&T Access Card from Citi (not available to new applicants)
• AT&T Points Plus® Card from Citi
• Citi Custom Cash℠ Card
• Citi Double Cash® Card
• Citi Prestige Card (not available to new applicants)
• Citi Rewards+® Card
• Citi Strata Premier^SM Card

The majority of these cards don’t have annual fees. Exceptions are the Strata Premier and the Prestige cards. With so many cards that don’t charge annual fees, many points and miles enthusiasts have multiple Citi cards and use them strategically to maximize points earning and leverage benefits with specific cards.

We’ll focus on three cards—which are referred to as a trifecta—that are good options for maximizing ThankYou® Points earned on ongoing spending:

• Citi Custom Cash℠ Card
• Citi Double Cash® Card
• Citi Strata Premier℠ Card

Citi Credit Card Rules

Citi has fairly complicated rules for managing, combining, sharing and redeeming ThankYou® Points. Options for using points vary depending on the credit card through which the points are earned and the cards you or a trusted family member or friend hold, as discussed in our ThankYou Points guide.

Transferring points to partner programs is the redemption option with highest potential value. The basic requirement for transferring points to most airline and hotel programs is that the Citi ThankYou® Rewards account from which the transfer is made must include a Strata Premier or Prestige card.

Although the focus here is on maximizing points earned by using multiple Citi credit cards for purchases, we’re not suggesting that you apply for three credit cards at once. Some considerations regarding card acquisition strategy follow.

• Application timing: Anecdotal guidelines advise against applying for more than one Citi personal credit card within an eight-day period or more than two Citi personal credit cards within a 65-day period.
• Welcome bonus limitation: If you’ve received welcome bonuses for Citi cards in the past or plan to do so in the future, there are additional rules about eligibility for welcome bonuses. Cards earning ThankYou® Points follow Citi’s “48-month rule,” which means that you’re not eligible for a welcome bonus if you received a bonus on the same card in the past 48 months. For the Strata Premier welcome bonuses, the 48-month rule applies to both the Citi Strata Premier® Card and its predecessor, the Citi Premier® Card.
• Product changing cards: If you have another Citi credit card you no longer want, it may be possible to product change the old card to one of the $0 annual fee cards that earn ThankYou® Points. Product change is Citi’s official term, but people also refer to this approach as upgrading (to a higher annual fee card), downgrading (to a lower annual fee card) or converting a card. While you may be able to product change to the Strata Premier, it’s usually better to apply for this card if you’re eligible for a welcome bonus.
• Strategy for obtaining trifecta cards: For many people, the first priority is obtaining the Strata Premier card, since it enables transferring points to all partner programs and usually has a welcome bonus of 60,000 to 80,000 points after meeting minimum spending requirements. For other situations—where you or a friend or family member you trust to share your points with already has the Strata Premier card or the Prestige card—choosing between the Custom Cash or the Double Cash cards depends on which card has a larger welcome bonus or is a better fit with your spending patterns.

Citi Strata Premier℠ Card

The Citi Strata Premier℠ Card is a popular and well-rounded card that many points and miles enthusiasts have, and it’s comparable to the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card. Because it doesn’t have foreign transaction fees, has other travel benefits and has strong earning rates in many travel-related spending categories, it’s a great card for domestic and international travel. As discussed above, you must have this card or the Prestige card to enable transferring ThankYou® Points to most partner loyalty programs.

The Strata Premier earns multiple ThankYou® Points per dollar spent in the following categories:

• 10X points on hotels, car rentals and attractions booked through CitiTravel.com.
• 3X points on Air Travel and other hotel purchases.—excluding bookings through the Citi Travel site—and travel agencies
• 3X points at restaurants, including purchases at cafes, bars, lounges, fast-food restaurants, restaurant delivery services and takeout restaurants
• 3X points at supermarkets, excluding purchases at general merchandise/discount superstores, freezer/meat locker provisioners, dairy product stores, miscellaneous food/convenience stores, drugstores, warehouse/wholesale clubs, specialty food markets, bakeries, candy/nut/ confectionery stores and meal kit delivery services
• 3X points on gas stations and EV charging stations, excluding purchases at warehouse clubs, discount stores, department stores, convenience stores or other merchants with merchant codes that don’t indicate gas stations or EV charging stations

The way to maximize points earned with this card is to use it for 10X categories through Citi Travel℠ and 3X spending categories, with the exception of the first $500 in the 5X spending category on your Custom Cash card (more on this below). Among these three Citi cards, you also should use the Strata Premier for all international transactions, since it’s the only card that doesn’t assess foreign transaction fees.

Citi Custom Cash℠ Card

Despite the card name and Citi information that sometimes refers to cash back, the Custom Cash earns ThankYou® Points.

The Citi Custom Cash℠ Card  earns 5X ThankYou® Points in the category in which you spend the most each billing cycle, with 5X points limited to $500 spending in one category per billing cycle. 

Each billing cycle, Citi determines your highest spend for purchases posted to your account in the following categories: restaurants, gas stations, grocery stores, select travel, select transit, select streaming services, drugstores, home improvement stores, fitness clubs and live entertainment. You don’t have to activate the bonus or select a category; it’s all automatic based on your spending.

Through June 2026, Custom Cash cardholders also earn an additional 4% cash back per dollar spent on hotels, car rentals and attractions—excluding air travel—booked through Citi Travel.

Other spending on the Custom Cash card earns only 1X points, so the best strategy to maximize value is to use this card exclusively for a spending category where you regularly spend close to $500, perhaps grocery stores. Alternatively, if you’re planning a large expense, like a home improvement project, paying $500 on your Custom Cash card would be a good choice for payment at a home improvement store.

Citi Double Cash® Card

The Citi Double Cash® Card is one of the best cards for individuals who want a simple solution of using one card for most purchases, and it’s also useful for those who want to maximize total points earned through spending on multiple cards.

The Citi Double Cash® earns 2X ThankYou® Points per dollar spent on all eligible purchases. This is structured as earning 1X point per dollar spent at the time of purchase and an additional point per dollar when you pay your statement balance. Although this card originally earned cash back and Citi sometimes still refers to it earning “cash back,” the card now earns ThankYou® Points.

Through December 2025, the card also earns 5X total points on hotels, car rentals and attractions—excluding air travel—when booked through Citi Travel.

The recommended approach for using the Double Cash Card in conjunction with the other two cards is pretty straightforward. The Citi Double Cash should be used as the default option for purchases that don’t earn more than 2X points per dollar with other cards.

Maximizing Points with the Card Trifecta

Let’s look at a hypothetical monthly spending example to illustrate how many ThankYou® Points you could earn by distributing spending among the three cards discussed above. To avoid getting overly complicated, this example:

• Excludes expenses like taxes, rent or mortgage payments that typically can’t be paid with credit cards without additional fees.
• Ignores targeted, limited-time bonuses that Citi sometimes offers to cardholders. 
• Assumes that all spending is domestic (paid to U.S. entities and transactions initiated within the U.S.).
• Assumes that only these three Citi cards would be used for payment. In reality, many points and miles enthusiasts would use different cards issued by Citi or other banks for some spending to maximize earnings and benefits.

Each person’s overall spending and the distribution among categories vary, so it’s a good idea to do this type of analysis with your own spending. The example below shows hypothetical expenses for a monthly period that corresponds to the Custom Cash Card’s billing cycle. Recommended card usage and points earned for this example are:

• Cable, internet, streaming services, wireless – $300: Use Double Cash (2X) and earn 600 points. Note: Depending on types of services and amounts relative to other expenses, other cards might have better earning rates.
• Gas – $200: Use Strata Premier (3X) and earn 600 points.
• Grocery stores – $450: Use Custom Cash (5X) and earn 2,250 points.
• Insurance (auto, homeowners, etc.) – $150: Use Double Cash (2X) and earn 300 points.
• Miscellaneous shopping (could include clothing, electronics and other goods, and services purchased online or in person) – $200: Use Double Cash (2X) and earn 400 points.
• Restaurants – $300: Use Strata Premier (3X) and earn 900 points.
• Travel expenses paid directly to the provider (airline or hotel) – $250: Use Strata Premier (3X) and earn 750 points.
• Travel expenses purchased through Citi Travel℠ (hotel or car rental): $150: Use Strata Premier (10X) and earn 1,500 points.

With $2,000 total spending, using three cards to direct specific types of spending to cards with higher category earning rates results in obtaining 7,300 points, compared to 4,000 points if all spending is at 2X points per dollar on the Double Cash Card. On average, this is 3.65X points earned per dollar spent.

On the redemption side, this translates to a minimum return of 3.65%. If you redeem points for 1 cent each—the value provided when booking through Citi Travel℠—this results in a 3.65% average return on spending. 

Redeeming points by transferring to partners can be more rewarding. Assuming a relatively conservative value of 1.5 cents per point—which can be achieved by using 10,000 points to book an award ticket when the cash fare is $150—your return on spending would be almost 5.5%.

Expanding the Trifecta

There are two approaches to increasing ThankYou® Points earned by using more than the aforementioned three cards:

• Use other Citi cards with different bonus categories.
• Have multiple Custom Cash cards in your household to enable earning 5X points in multiple categories and/or increasing the maximum spending eligible for 5X points beyond $500. For example, two cards would enable you to earn 5X points on up to $1,000 spending.

Other Citi cards that earn ThankYou® Points at a better rate than the trifecta cards in certain situations include:

• The Citi Prestige earns 5X points on restaurants, airlines and travel agencies.
• The Citi Rewards+ earns a minimum of 10 points per transaction, so purchases under $2 earn at least 5X points per dollar spent. A $1 purchase earns 10X points. Unless you make a lot of small purchases, a more significant benefit of the Rewards+ card is that it provides a 10% rebate on the first 100,000 points redeemed each calendar year. The rebate applies to points earned through your Rewards+ card and other Citi cards or accounts that are in the same ThankYou® Rewards account as the Rewards+ card.

While Citi reportedly won’t approve applications for a second (or more) Custom Cash Card from an individual who already has one, multiple people in your household can each obtain a Custom Cash Card. If desired, you could request authorized user cards for other household members to use.

Then, you can use the two cards as follows:

• If there are two categories where you typically spend around $500 monthly, you could use one person’s Custom Cash card for spending in one category and the second person’s Custom Cash card for spending in a different category. 
• You could use both cards in the same category to obtain 5X points on up to $1,000 spending.

It also may be possible for a current Custom Cash cardholder to obtain a second Custom Cash card by product changing a different Citi card to the Custom Cash Card. Product changing requires contacting Citi customer service, and it’s one of those situations where your mileage may vary, meaning that you might be told that you can’t convert your existing Citi card to a Custom Cash card. 

There’s no harm in asking if you have a Citi card that no longer meets your needs. The only downside of product changing a card rather than applying for a new card is that you won’t receive a welcome bonus.

Final Thoughts

Using multiple Citi cards strategically to earn 2X to 10X ThankYou® Points per dollar for regular spending is a great way to accumulate these valuable points, beyond what you can earn through credit card welcome bonuses. Citi’s family of cards that earn ThankYou® Points—including the trifecta of the Custom Cash, the Double Cash and the Strata Premier cards—allow you to earn a large number of points on regular spending while only paying an annual fee on one card.

As long as you hold the Strata Premier Card—or the Prestige Card, which isn’t available to new applicants—the points earned from all three cards can be transferred to airline or hotel loyalty programs. Transferring points to partners provides the opportunity for the highest redemption value.

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