Why This Citi Card Trifecta Has Become My Favorite for Everyday Spending

I’ve long prioritized using Chase credit cards for my everyday expenses, because the Chase Sapphire Reserve^® is my travel rewards card of choice. I can transfer to it all the Chase Ultimate Rewards points I earn on daily transactions with other Chase cards, and from there to Chase’s many travel partners.

But I’ve decided to move away from Chase as my family’s everyday points-earning system, at least for a while. I switched to Citi ThankYou points because I’ve just been approved for a Citi Strata Premier^® Card, and I can now pair it with the Citi Custom Cash^® Card and Citi Double Cash^® Card. That makes a powerful trifecta that earns at least 2% on every single transaction.

This combo, with my wife as authorized user on all 3 cards, amounts to just $95 in annual fees. It earns more points regularly on daily expenses than any other combo from issuers that have transfer partners as attractive as Citi’s. With the addition of American Airlines as transfer partner in 2025, Citi ThankYou points transformed from a marginal player into a serious contender for me.

In this post, we’ll look at why Citi is currently my daily points ecosystem and what I use Citi cards for.

Citi Double Cash Card: Everyday Workhorse

The Double Cash card is the big everyday earner in my Citi trifecta. We use it for almost every expense that wouldn’t earn more with a different card, because it earns 2% back on all purchases (1% at time of purchase and 1% when you pay), without caps and with a $0 annual fee.

That 2% cash-back is earned in the form of Citi ThankYou points, and between my wife and me, living our daily lives in New York City provides plenty of opportunities to rack up quite a few of those points with the Double Cash card.

The best option for us to redeem those points is to first move them to the Citi Strata Premier card and then transfer them at a 1:1 ratio to one of Citi’s transfer partners. Otherwise, if we transferred the points to a partner directly from the Double Cash card, we’d get a transfer ratio of just 1:0.7.

The Double Cash card is now what my wife and I use for most monthly bills and purchases not in bonus categories, replacing the Chase Freedom Unlimited^®, which earns 1.5% back on general purchases.

An important caveat is that, since it charges foreign transaction fees, we don’t use it outside the U.S. — for that, there are many credit cards that do not charge foreign fees.

Terms Apply / Rates & Fees

Citi Double Cash^® Card

U.P. Rating 

The rating for this card has been determined by our own industry experts who know the ins and outs of credit card products. Bonuses, rewards as well as rates and fees are all taken into account. Compensation from the issuer does not affect our rating. We only recommend products we either use ourselves or endorse.

Great card for the average spender with no specific focus category; worry-free cash-back earning on everything!

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Citi Double Cash^® Card

Great card for the average spender with no specific focus category; worry-free cash-back earning on everything!

Welcome Offer

Earn $200 cash back after you spend $1,500 on purchases in the first 6 months of account opening. This bonus offer will be fulfilled as 20,000 ThankYou^® Points, which can be redeemed for $200 cash back.

$200 cash back

Annual Fee

$0

APR

18.49% to 28.74% Variable

Credit Recommended

Upgraded Points credit ranges are a variation of FICO^® Score 8, one of many types of credit scores lenders may use when considering your credit card application.

Good to Excellent

Why We Like This Card

The Citi Double Cash^® Card has long been one of the top cash-back credit cards on the market, and the card now has the ability to earn Citi ThankYou Points!

This means that cardholders of the Double Cash card will now earn 2% on every purchase with unlimited 1% cash back when you buy, plus an additional 1% as you pay for those purchases. Cash back is earned in the form of ThankYou Points. This means each billing cycle, you will earn 1 ThankYou point per $1 spent on purchases and an additional ThankYou point for every $1 paid on your purchase balance as long as there is a corresponding balance in your Purchase Tracker.

Citi has turned the Double Cash card into a top choice for those who are looking for an everyday, no-fuss credit card.

Pros & Cons

Pros

• Uncapped 2% for every $1 spent (1% when you buy and another 1% when you pay)
• Flexible redemption options
• No annual fee

Cons

• No bonus categories
• 3% foreign transaction fees

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Card Highlights

• Earn $200 cash back after you spend $1,500 on purchases in the first 6 months of account opening. This bonus offer will be fulfilled as 20,000 ThankYou^® Points, which can be redeemed for $200 cash back.
• Earn 2% on every purchase with unlimited 1% cash back when you buy, plus an additional 1% as you pay for those purchases. To earn cash back, pay at least the minimum due on time. Plus, earn 5% total cash back on hotel, car rentals and attractions booked with Citi Travel.
• Balance Transfer Only Offer: 0% intro APR on Balance Transfers for 18 months. After that, the variable APR will be 18.49% – 28.74%, based on your creditworthiness.
• Balance Transfers do not earn cash back. Intro APR does not apply to purchases.
• If you transfer a balance, interest will be charged on your purchases unless you pay your entire balance (including balance transfers) by the due date each month.
• 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).

Financial Snapshot

• APR: 18.49% to 28.74% Variable
• Foreign Transaction Fees: 3% of the U.S. dollar amount of each purchase

Rewards Center

Citi ThankYou Rewards

Citi Custom Cash: Supermarket Star

The Citi Custom Cash card does just 1 thing in our family, but it does that very well.

It’s the card we use for the first $500 we spend at supermarkets every month, since it earns 5% cash-back on the first $500 in the highest eligible spend category each billing cycle. There’s no need to choose a category; the card does that automatically.

In exchange for keeping an eye on how much we’ve spent — and it’s easy to check on the Citi site or app — the Citi Custom Cash card rewards us with a 5% return on groceries that no other card can match. Once we’ve hit $500 at supermarkets in a billing cycle, we switch our supermarket spending to the Citi Strata Premier card, which earns 3x ThankYou points per dollar in that category.

We don’t use the Citi Custom Cash card for anything other than those first $500 in groceries, but because it has a $0 annual fee, it’s easy to keep around just for that purpose. And, like with the Double Cash card, the ThankYou points from it can be transferred to the Strata Premier and then on to travel partners, at a better transfer rate than the 1:0.7 you’d get by simply transferring from the Citi Custom Cash card.

I’m glad we got this card before applications were closed, but there is a good alternative for new applicants. The best no-annual-fee card to use for groceries in a Citi-focused lineup is now the Citi Strata℠ Card, which earns earn 3 ThankYou Points for each $1 spent at supermarkets, as well as on select transit purchases and at gas and EV charging stations.

Terms Apply / Rates & Fees

Citi Strata℠ Card

U.P. Rating 

The rating for this card has been determined by our own industry experts who know the ins and outs of credit card products. Bonuses, rewards as well as rates and fees are all taken into account. Compensation from the issuer does not affect our rating. We only recommend products we either use ourselves or endorse.

Apply Now(at our partner's secure site)

Citi Strata℠ Card

Welcome Offer

Earn 20,000 bonus Points after spending $1,000 in the first 3 months of account opening.

20,000 Points

UP's Offer Valuation*:

$320

Annual Fee

$0

APR

0% intro APR on purchases and balance transfers for 15 months, and then a variable APR 18.74% to 28.74%.

Credit Recommended

Upgraded Points credit ranges are a variation of FICO^® Score 8, one of many types of credit scores lenders may use when considering your credit card application.

Good to Excellent

Why We Like This Card

The Citi Strata card offers a fresh way to earn Citi ThankYou Points with a $0 annual fee, allowing you to maximize your spend at gas stations, supermarkets, and more.

Pros & Cons

Pros

• 5x points on hotels, car rentals, and attractions booked on CitiTravel.com
• 3x points at supermarkets, select transit, gas and EV charging stations, and an eligible self-select category of your choice (fitness clubs, select streaming services, live entertainment, cosmetic stores/barber shops/hair salon or pet supply stores)
• 2x points at restaurants

Cons

• Doesn’t offer the best transfer ratio to Citi’s airline and hotel partners
• Charges foreign transaction fees

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Card Highlights

• Earn 20,000 bonus Points after spending $1,000 in the first 3 months of account opening.
• 0% Intro APR on balance transfers and purchases for 15 months; after that, the variable APR will be 18.74% – 28.74%, based on your creditworthiness. 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).
• Earn 3 ThankYou^® Points for each $1 spent in an eligible Self-Select Category of your choice (Fitness Clubs, Select Streaming Services, Live Entertainment, Cosmetic Stores/Barber Shops/Hair Salons, or Pet Supply Stores). Choose your eligible Self-Select Category on Citi Online or by calling customer service. The default Self-Select Category is Select Streaming Services.
• Earn 5 ThankYou^® Points for each $1 spent on Hotels, Car Rentals and Attractions booked on Citi Travel^® via cititravel.com; earn 3 ThankYou Points for each $1 spent at Supermarkets, on Select Transit purchases, and at Gas & EV Charging Stations.
• Earn 2 ThankYou^® Points for each $1 spent at Restaurants; earn 1 ThankYou^® Point for each $1 spent on All Other Purchases.
• No Annual Fee

Financial Snapshot

• APR: 0% intro APR on purchases and balance transfers for 15 months, and then a variable APR 18.74% to 28.74%.
• Foreign Transaction Fees: 3% of the U.S. dollar amount of each purchase

Rewards Center

Citi ThankYou Rewards

Citi Strata Premier: Travel Companion

As the newest addition to my wallet, the Citi Strata Premier card is currently in heavy use, since I’m working to meet the spending that triggers the welcome offer. That’s going to be easy, since it’s an excellent card for travel, groceries and restaurants — and those are exactly our top 3 spending categories.

The Citi Strata Premier earns 3 ThankYou points per $1 on air travel and hotel purchases, at restaurants and supermarkets, and also at gas and EV charging stations. Even better, it earns at those elevated points rates even outside the U.S., which makes it the best card to buy groceries abroad. That’s a big perk for people who travel outside U.S. often and stay at Vrbos or Airbnbs, where they do their own grocery shopping and cooking, like we often do.

Besides being our go-to for groceries alongside the Citi Custom Cash card, the Citi Strata Premier card is what we used to pay for the taxes and fees on an award flight to Germany, for a hotel in Kuala Lumpur, at restaurants and cafés in New York, and for gas. As with the Double Cash and Custom Cash cards, adding an authorized user is free, so my wife has her own card, which can double our points earnings.

If something should go awry with travel booked with the Citi Strata Premier, we can rely on its protections like trip delay insurance, trip cancellation and interruption insurance, and lost or damaged luggage insurance. It also offers secondary rental car insurance, but for renting cars we prefer using cards that offer primary insurance so our own policy doesn’t come into play in case of collision or damage.

At our current spending levels and factoring in the welcome offer from the Citi Strata Premier card as of this time, we should comfortably hit a total of 200,000 ThankYou points across all 3 cards by the end of 2026.

Those points are going to come in handy for a trip to Morocco with friends we’re planning for summer 2027. As it turns out, 200,000 Citi points transferred to American AAdvantage or Etihad Guest should be more than enough for 2 round-trip, business class tickets on Royal Air Maroc from New York (JFK) to Casablanca (CMN).

Thanks to its points-earning potential, versatile bonus categories, and travel protections, the Citi Strata Premier card is a far more powerful card than its modest $95 annual fee might suggest.

If I have a gripe, it’s not with the card itself but with Citi’s IT systems and customer support, which aren’t up to the competition, in my experience. For example, in just 1 month of card ownership, I’ve had 3 transactions blocked for suspected fraud — including at a supermarket and a subway station just blocks from my house, whose address Citi knows. In each case, explaining to Citi that it was me swiping the card, not thieves, took half an hour on the phone.

Terms Apply / Rates & Fees

Citi Strata Premier^® Card

U.P. Rating 

The rating for this card has been determined by our own industry experts who know the ins and outs of credit card products. Bonuses, rewards as well as rates and fees are all taken into account. Compensation from the issuer does not affect our rating. We only recommend products we either use ourselves or endorse.

Apply Now(at our partner's secure site)

Citi Strata Premier^® Card

Welcome Offer

Earn 60,000 bonus ThankYou^® Points after spending $4,000 in the first 3 months of account opening, redeemable for $600 in gift cards or travel rewards at thankyou.com.

60,000 Points

UP's Offer Valuation*:

$960

Annual Fee

$95

APR

19.74% to 27.74% Variable

Why We Like This Card

The Citi Strata Premier^® Card is a great all-around travel rewards card that allows you to earn big rewards on a variety of purchases like air travel, at restaurants, supermarkets, gas stations, and more, along with flexible redemption options, all for a modest annual fee.

Pros & Cons

Pros

• 10x points on hotels, car rentals, and attractions booked through CitiTravel.com
• 3x points on air travel, other hotel purchases, restaurants, supermarkets, gas stations, and EV charging stations
• $100 annual hotel benefit

Cons

• $95 annual fee

Read Full Review

Card Highlights

• Earn 60,000 bonus ThankYou^® Points after spending $4,000 in the first 3 months of account opening, redeemable for $600 in gift cards or travel rewards at thankyou.com.
• Earn 10 Points per $1 spent on Hotels, Car Rentals, and Attractions booked on CitiTravel.com.
• Earn 3 Points per $1 on Air Travel and Other Hotel Purchases, at Restaurants, Supermarkets, Gas and EV Charging Stations.
• Earn 1 Point per $1 spent on all other purchases
• $100 Annual Hotel Benefit: Once per calendar year, enjoy $100 off a single hotel stay of $500 or more (excluding taxes and fees) when booked through CitiTravel.com. Benefit applied instantly at time of booking.
• No expiration and no limit to the amount of points you can earn with this card
• No Foreign Transaction Fees on purchases

Financial Snapshot

• APR: 19.74% to 27.74% Variable
• Foreign Transaction Fees: None

Final Thoughts

My favorite cards ecosystem is Chase Ultimate Rewards, and I’m also a Delta Air Lines loyalist who uses Delta co-branded American Express cards often. But I’ve been switching a lot of my family’s spending toward cards earning Citi ThankYou points, attracted by the possibility of earning at least 2% on every transaction and the ability to transfer points to American Airlines, which Chase doesn’t have.

The 3-card system I’ve put together to maximize our points earnings with my wife — including the Citi Double Cash, Citi Custom Cash, and Citi Strata Premier cards — has been working well for the expenses we put the most money on. And, while I’m not going to ditch Chase or Delta, the Citi-American Airlines combo is a good choice for the travels we have planned in 2027.

As always with credit card points, being flexible is a key to success. Diversification into Citi points is working for us, and that outweighs the IT and customer support issues I’ve been having with the bank.