Citi ThankYou Trifecta Guide | Bankrate

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Key takeaways

Strategically combining three Citi cards allows you to both earn more rewards and squeeze out maximum value when you redeem them.
The three cards that often make up the Citi trifecta are the Citi Strata Premier® Card, Citi Double Cash® Card and Citi Custom Cash® Card*.
The Citi Strata Premier is the only card of the three that charges an annual fee.

If you’re a credit card enthusiast or enjoy maximizing your rewards, you may be interested in a credit card trifecta. This approach combines three cards from the same issuer to take advantage of the best perks and rewards rates on each card. More importantly, it allows you to easily combine your rewards for better redemption options, like the ability to transfer rewards to travel partners.

What is the Citi trifecta?

The Citi credit card trifecta is usually comprised of the Citi Strata Premier® Card, Citi Double Cash® Card and Citi Custom Cash® Card*, which can all help you rack up piles of Citi ThankYou points and cash back.

All three cards offer different rewards structures and redemption options. On their own, the cards offer the following:

Citi Custom Cash: This card earns “basic” ThankYou points. Redeem your rewards for direct deposits, checks, statement credits, gift cards, travel booked through Citi or eligible purchases on Amazon via Shop with Points.
Citi Double Cash: This card earns “basic” ThankYou points. Redeem your rewards for direct deposits, checks, statement credits, gift cards, travel booked through Citi or eligible purchases on Amazon via Shop with Points.
Citi Strata Premier: You’ll earn “full-fledged” ThankYou points with this card. Redeem rewards for cash back, gift cards, shopping with points, charitable contributions, travel through Citi Travel and transfers to Citi travel loyalty partners.
Alternative option: The Citi Rewards+® Card* could be used instead of the Custom Cash, but the rewards earning structure doesn’t allow as much flexibility to maximize your earning, so we’re focusing on Custom Cash.

A quick note on ThankYou points

Notice that both the Citi Double Cash and Citi Custom Cash earn basic Citi ThankYou points that cannot be transferred to the full slate of Citi travel partners. Those transfer partners are how you can earn the most value from your redemption.

That’s where Citi Strata Premier comes in. It includes all the redemption options available for the Citi Custom Cash and Citi Double Cash, plus the ability to transfer Citi ThankYou points to Citi airline and hotel partners.

Combine all your rewards under your Premier card to convert your basic ThankYou points into full-fledged, transferrable ThankYou points.

Citi trifecta card highlights

Card name	Welcome offer	Rewards rate	Annual fee
Citi Custom Cash® Card*	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 5% cash back on purchases in your top eligible spend category each billing cycle, up to the first $500 spent, 1% cash back thereafter. Special Travel Offer: Earn an additional 4% cash back on hotels, car rentals, and attractions booked on Citi Travel℠ portal through 6/30/2026. Earn unlimited 1% cash back on all other purchases.	$0
Citi Double Cash® Card	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.	$0
Citi Strata Premier® Card	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	$95

The Citi Custom Cash card comes with plenty of perks, but the rewards you can earn are the focus here, so make sure you max out the top earning category each billing cycle. Earn 5 percent cash back on up to $500 spent in your top spending category each billing cycle. Categories include restaurants, gas stations, grocery stores, select travel, select transit, select streaming services, drugstores, home improvement stores, fitness clubs and live entertainment.

The key to making the trifecta work for you is strategically using all three cards. Therefore, you want to use your Custom Cash card to earn 5 percent back on the full $500 spent each billing cycle. Do that, and you’ll earn $25 in cash back per billing cycle, which is awarded as 2,500 ThankYou points.

Plus, you’ll get a 0 percent intro APR on eligible balance transfers and purchases for 15 months. After the intro period expires, you’ll have an 18.24% – 28.24% (Variable) APR.

Citi Double Cash is the workhorse of the Citi trifecta. It earns flat-rate rewards so it isn’t going to earn a lot of rewards quickly, but it is the card you should reach for when you make any purchase that doesn’t qualify for higher rewards with another card.

Instead of earning higher rewards rates in one spending category per month, you earn 2 percent cash back on all of your purchases — you’ll get 1 percent cash back when you charge a purchase and another 1 percent cash back when you pay for that purchase.

This flat 2 percent cash back rate makes the Citi Double Cash one of the best flat cash back cards on the market, since most cards earn 1 percent to 1.5 percent back on all general purchases. With Citi Double Cash, you won’t have to keep track of bonus or rotating categories; you can earn the same high rate of cash back on every purchase.

The Citi Double Cash also comes with a 0 percent intro APR on eligible balance transfers for 18 months, then an APR of 18.24% – 28.24% (Variable).

The Citi Strata Premier Card is the secret weapon of the Citi trifecta. It’s the card you need to maximize the rewards you earn with the other two cards in the group, since this is the card that allows you to transfer to travel partners.

The Citi Strata Premier card is a travel rewards card that earns Citi ThankYou points you can then transfer to Citi airline and hotel partners. Plus, you’ll earn 3X points on restaurant, supermarket, EV and gas station, hotel and air travel purchases, along with 1X points on all other purchases. And if you book through Citi Travel, you’ll earn 10X points on hotels, car rentals and attractions.

As for other benefits, you’ll enjoy World Elite Mastercard benefits and an annual $100 discount on a single hotel stay of $500 or more (excluding taxes and fees) when you use your card to book your stay through Citi ThankYou.

How to maximize the Citi trifecta

1. Choose the right card for your purchases

Successfully maximizing the Citi trifecta hinges on being mindful of how you use each card. Managing multiple credit cards always requires more strategy and attention than only carrying one card, but managing multiple cards with a goal of maximizing rewards takes that a step further.

Here’s a rough outline of what you should use each card for:

Card	Spending category	Earning rate
Citi Custom Cash® Card	Pick one of the following categories per billing cycle that you believe you’ll spend $500 on: Restaurants, gas stations, grocery stores, select travel, select transit, select streaming services, drugstores, home improvement stores, fitness clubs or live entertainment	5% cash back (up to $500 spent per billing cycle)
Citi Strata Premier® Card	Use this card for gas station, air travel, hotel, restaurants and supermarkets purchases when they are NOT your Custom Cash category for the month	3 points per dollar
Citi Double Cash® Card	Use this for everything that you don’t use the other two cards for	Up to 2% cash back (1% when you buy, 1% when you pay)

2. Keep the Custom Cash’s spending limit in mind

You will have to be careful when choosing between the Custom Cash and Double Cash for some purchases. If you max out the Custom Cash’s 5 percent category, and if the Citi Premier doesn’t offer that same category, make sure you switch over to the Double Cash so you can earn up to 2 percent cash back instead of dropping to the Custom Cash’s 1 percent back.

3. Redeem rewards for high-value options

As with most credit card trifectas, the main reason to use a credit card combination is to maximize rewards redemption value. By adding in the Citi Premier, you’ll be able to transfer your rewards to Citi airline and hotel partners. Access to this redemption method is key for maximizing your rewards value.

Your points could be worth about 1.6 cents each when transferred to a high-value travel partner, according to Bankrate’s valuations. Their base value without Citi Strata Premier transfer options is just 1.0 cents each.

4. Make a plan to earn the welcome bonuses

It isn’t an ongoing strategy, but earning your welcome bonus is part of maximizing your rewards. In total, the current bonuses for the Citi trifecta cards add up to 100,000 ThankYou points. That’s a lot of points to leave on the table if maximizing rewards is your primary goal. Therefore, make sure your budget and lifestyle allow you to meet the minimum spend requirement and earn the bonuses.

How to get the Citi Trifecta

As the name suggests, the Citi trifecta strategy requires you qualify for all three Citi cards. And to qualify for these cards, you’ll need a good to excellent credit score. The higher your credit score, the higher your chances of qualifying.

If your credit score is too low, you can work on building your credit by paying your bills in full and on-time each month and by paying off as much of your existing credit card debt (if you have it) as you can.

The bottom line

Employing the Citi trifecta is a great way to maximize your Citi ThankYou rewards. But this move won’t work for everyone. If you don’t travel much, for instance, the Citi Strata Premier won’t make sense for you, especially considering its annual fee. Or if you don’t spend much in the available bonus categories for the Strata Premier or Custom Cash, you won’t earn as many rewards.

Review your spending habits before applying for the Citi Strata Premier, Citi Double Cash and Citi Custom Cash. If your current monthly spending habits won’t result in the highest possible amount of rewards, these cards might not be the best combination for you. But if they do, the Citi trifecta could be your perfect rewards credit card strategy.

*The information about the Citi Custom Cash® Card has been collected independently by Bankrate. The card details have not been reviewed or approved by the issuer.

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