Citi Rewards+® Card review

Finder experts pick Citi Rewards+® Card as a 2021 best product for credit cards.

How to apply for the Citi Rewards+® Card?

You can easily apply for the Citi Rewards+® Card through the Citi site:

1. Go to the provider's site and select Apply now.
2. Fill out your personal information and click Agree submit.

WATCH: Citi Rewards+® Card review: Good for small purchases?

Check out our two-minute video in which we breakdown all of the perks that the Citi Rewards+® Card has to offer, as well as some of the drawbacks to watch out for.

Citi Rewards+® Card benefits

• Signup bonus. Spend $1,500 on purchases within 3 months of account opening to earn 20,000 ThankYou points. That’s worth up to $200 when redeemed for gift cards on the Citi ThankYou rewards site. For a limited-time, you’ll also earn 5x points on air travel and hotel purchases on up to $6,000 total spent within your first 12 months, reverting to 1x points after.
• Earn ThankYou Reward points. Earn 2x points at supermarkets and gas stations for the first $6,000 in combined purchases annually. After that, and on all other purchases, earn 1x points. You can also transfer these points to one of Citi’s premium rewards cards. By moving points to a Citi Premier® Card or Citi Prestige® Credit Card, you can transfer your points to travel partners, typically at a 1:1 value.
• Round up your points. Get your points rounded up to the nearest 10. This feature is ideal if you often make smaller purchases.
• Earn points back upon redemption. Get 10% back on the points you redeem for the first 100,000 points annually. This means redeeming 20,000 points nets you 2,000 points back.
• No annual fee. You won’t pay an annual fee to own this card.
• Intro APR period. Get a 0% intro APR on purchases and balance transfers during your first 15 months of card membership. After that, your rate reverts to a variable 15.74% to 25.74%. On balance transfers you’ll pay a balance transfer fee of the greater of either 3% or $5 on transfers made during your first 4 months of account opening, reverting to the greater of 5% or $5 .

Citi Rewards+® Card drawbacks

• Foreign transaction fees. You’ll pay a fee equal to 3% of the transaction every time you swipe abroad.
• Penalty APR. If you make a late or returned payment, you may incur a penalty APR of up to 29.99% variable that lasts indefinitely.
• Balance transfer limitations. Complete your balance transfers within four months of account opening to use the intro APR period. Otherwise, the standard variable APR of 15.74% to 25.74% applies.

Your points round up to the nearest 10

As of this writing, the Citi Rewards+® Card is the only credit card that will actually round up your points earned to the nearest 10. So if you make a $21 grocery store purchase — which is in the 2x grocery category — you’ll earn 42 points. Rounded up, however, you’ll end up with 50 points. Make a $1 purchase? You’ll earn a full 10 points.

Because this can benefit you most on many small purchases, the card is good for day-to-day spending. Need a Red Bull? Earn 10 points. Grabbing lunch? Earn 20 points. Late night coffee? Earn 10 points.

One thing to keep in mind here is the rounding bonus is less valuable as you spend more money on single purchases. Spending $300 on a new video game console will still only round you up by 10 points to a total of 310.

Citi Rewards+® Card customer reviews and complaints

Users on social media, such as Reddit, were surprised at just how quickly the card could amass points with small purchases. One user even mentioned they had never been so enthused to buy a single banana. Yes, a lot of college students love this card.

A few users mentioned dissatisfaction with Citi’s app, as well as their customer service. Another user made the very good point that earning the signup bonus (or closing a Citi card) prevents you from earning another Citi signup bonus for the next 24 months. If a signup bonus is a big part of your overall card strategy, the Citi Rewards+® Card might appear as a somewhat weak choice.

How does the Citi Rewards+® Card compare to similar cards?

The Citi Rewards+® Card is best measured up against other mid-level, no-annual-fee rewards cards in larger ecosystems. In terms of rewards earning, here’s a look at how the card stacks up against the Capital One SavorOne Cash Rewards Credit Card and the Chase Freedom Unlimited®.

Capital One Quicksilver Cash Rewards Credit Card	Capital One SavorOne Cash Rewards Credit Card	Chase Freedom Unlimited®
★★★★★ Finder rating 4.2 / 5	★★★★★ Finder rating 4.5 / 5	★★★★★ Finder rating 4.7 / 5
Apply now on Capital One's secure site	Apply now on Capital One's secure site	See offer on Creditcards.com's secure site Terms apply, see rates & fees
Minimum Credit Score 670	Minimum Credit Score 670	Minimum Credit Score 670
Annual Fee $0	Annual Fee $0	Annual Fee $0
Purchase APR 0% intro	Purchase APR 0% intro	Purchase APR 0% intro
Balance transfer APR 0% intro for the first 15 months (then 16.49% - 26.49% variable) 3% fee on the amounts transferred within the first 15 months	Balance transfer APR 0% intro for the first 15 months (then 16.49% to 26.49% variable) 3% fee on the amounts transferred within the first 15 months	Balance transfer APR 0% intro for the first 15 months (then 17.24% to 25.99% variable) $5 or 3% of the amount of each transfer, whichever is greater in the first 60 days
Rewards Up to 1.5% cash back	Rewards Up to 8% cash back	Rewards Up to 6.5% cash back
Welcome offer $200 cash bonus after you spend $500 on purchases within 3 months from account opening	Welcome offer Earn a one-time $200 cash bonus after you spend $500 on purchases within the first 3 months from account opening	Welcome offer Earn an additional 1.5% cash back on everything you buy (on up to $20,000 spent in the first year) - worth up to $300 cash back

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Compare point-earning potential

Compare how many points you’d earn for each credit card if you were to spend $600 in their respective highest earning category.

The odd one here is the Chase Freedom Unlimited® card because of its September 2020 updates. Now, instead of earning unlimited 1.5% back on all purchases, you’ll earn 6.5% back on Lyft rides until March 21, 2022, 6.5% back on travel purchased through the Chase Ultimate Rewards, and 4.5% back at drugstores and restaurants including takeout and delivery.

On the other hand, the Citi Rewards+® Card will round up points earned to the next 10, whereas the Amex EveryDay® Credit Card will give you 20% more points in an earning period if you happen to make 20 or more purchases in that time.

Let’s suppose that both the Citi Rewards+® Card and Amex EveryDay® Credit Card made the same $600 purchase across 20 payments of $30 each. And let us also suppose that the Citi Rewards+® Card cardholder spent $31 instead of $30 on each of those payments. The rewards earned will look a little different.

The Citi Rewards+® Card is best measured up against other mid-level, no-annual-fee rewards cards in larger ecosystems. In terms of rewards earning, here’s a look at how the card stacks up against the Amex EveryDay® Credit Card and the Chase Freedom Unlimited®, assuming $600 in spending on each card’s highest earning category.

Comparison assuming $600 spent across 20 payments of $30 each

As you can see, the rounding feature of the Citi Rewards+® Card can lead to a wild swing in point earnings depending on how you use it. If you were a real madman, you could hypothetically make six hundred $1 purchases at a grocery store for a gain of 6,000 points. But for today, we’ll dally in the realm of the practical.

Cards to pair with Citi Rewards+® Card

If you’re interested in boosting the value of the points you earn with your Citi Rewards+® Card, you’ll want to look at picking up the Citi Premier® Card.

The Citi Premier® Card lets you transfer your points to Citi’s travel partners. For most partners, you can move your points over at a ratio of 1:1 in 1,000 point increments, though there are some exceptions. Points moved this way can be worth double their standard value (or even more!) and are generally the best way to use your ThankYou points.

The Citi Premier® Card also lets you redeem your ThankYou points through the Citi travel portal at a 1.25x value, which is useful if you don’t feel like doing the extra research involved in transferring points.

Compare rewards credit cards

If this card isn’t right for you, consider other rewards cards on the market. Select up to four credit cards from the table and hit Compare to view their features side-by-side,

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Name	Product	Welcome Offer	Rewards	Annual fee	Filter values
Capital One VentureOne Rewards Credit Card		Earn a bonus of 20,000 miles once you spend $500 on purchases within 3 months from account opening, equal to $200 in travel	Earn unlimited 1.25x miles on every purchase, every day. Earn 5x miles on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel	$0		Earn 20,000 bonus miles once you spend $500 on purchases within the first 3 months from account opening.	Apply now View details	Compare	loading Fetching your data...
Instacart Mastercard®		Get a free year of Instacart+ and a $100 Instacart credit automatically upon approval. Membership auto-renews. Terms apply	5% cash back on Instacart, 5% on travel through the Chase Travel Center, 2% on dining, gas, and select streaming services and 1% on all other purchases	$0		Not just for Instacart, this card also offers competitive cash back in everyday categories like dining and gas.	See offer View details	Compare	loading Fetching your data...
Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card		Enjoy a one-time bonus of 75,000 miles once you spend $4,000 on purchases within 3 months from account opening, equal to $750 in travel	2x miles on every purchase, every day, 5x miles on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel, 5x miles when you book on Turo, the world’s largest car sharing marketplace, through May 16, 2023	$95		Earn 75,000 bonus miles once you spend $4,000 on purchases within the first 3 months ​from account opening.	Apply now View details	Compare	loading Fetching your data...

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Bottom line

The Citi Rewards+® Card competes nicely with its competitors while offering a totally unique feature you won’t find anywhere else. If you need an everyday spending card with an extra dash of spice for those coffee and battery runs, this card is worth a look. But if you’re looking for a card with broader earning potential, you can check out other reward cards to find one that suits your needs.