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The card is currently offering a best-ever welcome bonus and there is a lot to like about it. The mid-range credit card with the best bonus categories is one of the most compelling aspects of the card.

The Citi premier card is a competitor to the Chase preferred card There are pros and cons to both cards, and the Citi premier has a huge advantage over the others. I wanted to see how those bonus categories work.

Citi Premier Card 3x ThankYou points bonus categories

The Citi premier card offers 3x points in five different categories, which makes it lucrative for the long-term. There is 3x points on offer from the Citi premier.

  • Dining & restaurants
  • Gas stations
  • Groceries & supermarkets
  • Airfare
  • Hotels

What is the definition of each category by Citi? Which types of purchases qualify and which don't? Below are the categories that we can go over. The card is perfect for purchases outside of the US.

  • The Citi Premier has no foreign transaction fees
  • The Citi Premier bonus categories apply globally, rather than being US-centric

3x points on dining & restaurants

Dining and restaurant purchases include cafes, bars, lounges, fast food restaurants, and delivery.

You won't get bonus points for purchases made at bakeries, caterers, and restaurants located inside other establishments, such as hotels, department stores, grocery stores, discount stores, convenience stores, and warehouse clubs.

The Citi premier is one of the best cards for dining out.

Earn 3x ThankYou points on dining purchases

3x points on gas stations

Points are offered on gas station purchases. Purchases of gas and other gas station purchases are included.

Bonus points will not be earned for gas purchases at warehouse clubs, discount stores, department stores, convenience stores, or other merchants that aren't gas stations.

The premier card is one of the best for gas station purchases.

Earn 3x ThankYou points on gas station purchases

3x points on groceries & supermarkets

Points are offered on grocery and supermarket purchases.

Most of the time, you won't earn bonus points for purchases made at discount stores, freezer or meat locker provisioners, dairy product stores, markets, drugstores, warehouse clubs, wholesale clubs, specialty vendors, bakeries, candy stores, nut stores, and confectionary stories.

The premier card is one of the best for grocery and supermarket purchases.

Earn 3x ThankYou points on grocery store purchases

3x points on airfare

3x points on airfare is offered by the Citigroup premier. All airfare purchased through a travel agency is included. Other fees associated with airline tickets are also eligible.

The premier card is one of the best for airfare purchases.

Earn 3x ThankYou points on airfare purchases

3x points on hotels

Points can be earned on hotels. Hotels booked through a travel agency are also included. Not just the room rate is included in this, as well as purchases at hotels.

The premier card is one of the best for hotel purchases. When booking through Citi ThankYou, you can get a $100 annual hotel credit, which can be used for a single hotel stay of $500 or more.

Earn 3x ThankYou points on hotel purchases

Maximize ThankYou points with Citi no annual fee cards

Some of the no annual fee Citi cards that can potentially earn ThankYou points are a must have for maximizing the Citi ThankYou points.

  • The Citi® Double Cash Card (review) can earn you up to 2x points for everyday spending, making it one of the best cards for non-bonused spending
  • The Citi Rewards+® Card (review) rounds up purchases to the nearest 10 points, and can help you maximize your points by offering 10% of your points back on the first 100,000 ThankYou points redeemed every calendar year, including those earned on the Citi Premier Card
  • The Citi Custom Cash℠ Card (review) earns 5x points on your top eligible spending category every billing cycle (on up to $500 of spending), with categories including drugstores, fitness clubs, gas stations, grocery stores, home improvement stores, live entertainment, restaurants, select streaming services, select transit, and select travel

You can earn 2x points on all purchases if you combine the Citi Double Cash Card with the Citi Premier Card. It makes sense to pick up other cards.

There are some awesome Citi credit card combos out there

You can earn triple points on gas, grocery, restaurant, airfare, and hotel purchases with the Citi premier card. This is one of the most compelling mid-range cards out there because you can average multiple points per dollar spent.

It can be hard to figure out which purchases qualify for each bonus category, so hopefully the above sheds some light on how each bonus category is defined.

This is a great time to apply for the premier card if you don't already have it.