Citi Rewards+ Card Review: Round Up Your Points

It takes a lot to stand out in the oversaturated credit card ecosystem, but the Citi Rewards+℠ Card has a unique perk that you won't find on any other card: all of your purchases will round up to the nearest 10 points, no matter how small.

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The Basics

The Citi Rewards+ card doesn't have an annual fee, and new cardholders can earn a 15,000 point welcome bonus spending $1,000 on purchases in the first three months after account opening. That's worth $150, and can be redeemed in a few different ways that we'll get to below.

The card only has two bonus categories, gas stations and grocery stores, the latter of which is fairly uncommon. Unfortunately though, only your first $6,000 in combined purchases in those two categories per year will earn you 2 points per dollar, and you'll only earn 1 point thereafter.

Every other purchase will earn 1 point per dollar, with an important caveat: all of your purchases will round up to the nearest 10 points. So whether you buy a $10 lunch, a $4 coffee, or a $.75 piece of candy, you'll get 10 points credited to your account. The same principle applies to $11 purchases and $20 purchases; they'd both get you 20 points. Obviously, this bonus gets less and less valuable as your purchases get more and more expensive, but it makes this card a uniquely interesting option for small, day-to-day purchases.

The Points

The Citi Rewards+ card earns a watered down version of Citi Thank You Points, which you can redeem at a rate of 1 cent each for gift cards, travel booked through the Citi travel portal, or statement credits. However, you'll also receive 10% of your points back for the first 100,000 points redeemed per calendar year, meaning the points are essentially worth 1.1 cents each, rather than just 1 cent.

You can also transfer your points to JetBlue at a 5:4 ratio (1000 Citi Thank You Points = 800 JetBlue TrueBlue miles), which is a nice perk for a card with no annual fee.

But the real power of the card is unleashed when you pair it with a Citi Prestige® Card or the Citi Premier℠ Card. If you have one of Citi's travel cards on your account, you'll be able to combine your points from both cards, and transfer them to any of Citi's travel transfer partners, potentially making your points worth much more than just 1.1 cent each.

Perks

This being a no-annual-fee cash-back card, the Citi Rewards+ doesn't offer much in the way of perks beyond its bonus categories and points round-up. In fact, the card still charges a 3%+ foreign transaction fee, which many cards have seemingly phased out over the past few years.

You do get access to Citi Concierge to help with things like dinner reservations and travel booking, as well as Citi Private Pass, which lets you buy some hard-to-find concert and event tickets, but most people will be unlikely to utilize these benefits often.

Why Apply?

If you make frequent, small purchases, and don't want a card with an annual fee, the Citi Rewards+ is a unique option. While most cards reward you more for spending more, the Rewards+ is actually most lucrative for people that spend less, at least on individual purchases. Buying something for $1 with the card will effectively earn you 10 points per dollar spent, which is incredibly lucrative, but also a rare occurence for most of us. And if you have one of Citi's travel rewards cards, your points can go further with access to over a dozen partners.

Editorial Disclaimer: Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, airlines or hotel chain, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities.

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