Best Citi Credit Cards

Why We Like It: The Citi Strata Elite℠ Card offers 75,000 points for spending $6,000 in the first 3 months. It also rewards cardholders with 12 points per $1 spent on hotels, car rentals, attractions booked on cititravel.com, 6 points per $1 spent on air travel booked on cititravel.com, 6 points per $1 spent at restaurants, including delivery services on CitiNights℠ purchases every Friday and Saturday from 6 PM to 6 AM ET (3 points per $1 at any other time), as well as 1.5 points per $1 spent on all other purchases.

This card comes with a lot of perks for travelers, too. For example, you can get up to $300 in annual hotel credits when you book a hotel stay for two or more nights through cititravel.com, airport lounge access, travel protection, and more.

What We Don’t Like: The Citi Strata Elite℠ Card has a high APR and a $595 annual fee.

Who Should Get It: Apply for the Citi Strata Elite℠ Card if you have good credit or better and you are a frequent traveler who can make use of all the benefits provided by the card. You also need to be a fairly big spender.

Why We Like It: The Citi Strata℠ Card offers 5 points per $1 spent on hotels, car rentals and attractions booked on cititravel.com, 3 points per $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), supermarkets, on select transit purchases, at gas & EV charging stations, 2 points per $1 spent at restaurants, as well as 1 point per $1 on all other purchases. Cardholders can also earn an initial bonus of 20,000 bonus points after spending $1,000 in the first 3 months.

What We Don’t Like: The Citi Strata℠ Card has a high regular APR.

Who Should Get It: Apply for the Citi Strata℠ Card if you have good credit or better and the card’s bonus rewards match up well with your spending habits.

Why We Like It: The Citi Strata Premier® Card offers an initial bonus worth $600 in gift cards or travel rewards at thankyou.com. Cardholders enjoy ongoing bonus rewards, too, earning 10 points per $1 spent on hotels, car rentals and attractions booked on CitiTravel.com, 3 points per $1 spent on air travel, at hotels, restaurants, supermarkets, gas and EV charging stations, as well as 1 point per $1 on all other purchases.
 
What We Don’t Like: Citi Strata Premier® Card has an annual fee of $95 and a high APR.
 
Who Should Get It: Apply for Citi Strata Premier® Card if you have good credit and the card’s bonus rewards line up well with your spending habits.

Why We Like It: The Citi Double Cash Card offers $200 for spending $1,500 in the first 6 months. It also gives you extra cash back for paying your bill, offering 2% cash back on every purchase (1% when you buy and 1% as you pay for those purchases), plus 5% total cash back on hotel, car rentals and attractions booked with Citi Travel. 
 
What We Don’t Like: The Citi Double Cash® Card has a high APR.
 
Who Should Get It: Apply for the Citi Double Cash Card if you have good credit or better and you want to earn above-average cash rewards on purchases.

Why We Like It: The Citi Custom Cash® Card is the best Citicard for people with good credit because it gives you 5% cash back in your top eligible spend category each billing cycle (up to $500 spent, 1% back thereafter), an additional 4% cash back on hotels, car rentals, and attractions booked with Citi Travel, as well as 1% back on all other purchases. There are some valuable sign-up incentives for new cardholders, too. Citi Custom Cash offers an introductory APR of 0% for 18 months on balance transfers, and you can get an nice initial bonus of $200 for spending $1,500 in the first 6 months. Even with all those perks, you won’t have to pay an annual fee.  

What We Don’t Like: You will only earn ongoing bonus rewards in your top spending category each billing cycle. All other purchases will get you just an average return.   
 
Who Should Get It: Apply for the Citi Custom Cash if you have good credit or better and the card’s rewards match up well with your spending habits. In particular, the card is best if you can earn the initial bonus and you expect to spend up to $500 in a single purchase category each month.

Why We Like It: The Citi Strata Premier® Card offers an initial bonus of 60,000 points for spending $4,000 in the first 3 months, worth $600 in gift cards or travel rewards at thankyou.com. For context, the average initial bonus from other cards gets you just 35,350 points or $238.74, according to WalletHub’s research. Cardholders also earn 10 points per $1 spent on hotels, car rentals and attractions booked on CitiTravel.com, 3 points per $1 spent on air travel, at hotels, restaurants, supermarkets, gas and EV charging stations, as well as 1 point per $1 on all other purchases.
 
What We Don’t Like: Citi Strata Premier® Card has an annual fee of $95 and a high APR. However, the value of the card’s rewards outweighs the cost of the annual fee.
 
Who Should Get It: Apply for Citi Strata Premier® Card if you have good credit and will be able to comfortably afford its initial bonus.

Why We Like It: The Citi Custom Cash® Card gives you 5% cash back in your top eligible spend category each billing cycle (up to $500 spent, 1% back thereafter), an additional 4% cash back on hotels, car rentals, and attractions booked with Citi Travel, as well as 1% back on all other purchases. There are some valuable introductory incentives for new cardholders, too, including an initial bonus of $200 for spending $1,500 in the first 6 months.

What We Don’t Like: The card has a high APR and the bonus rewards have a cap.   
 
Who Should Get It: Apply for the Citi Custom Cash if you have good credit or better and the bonus rewards suit your spending habits.

Why We Like It: The Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Elite Mastercard® is the best Citibank credit card for airline rewards in large part because you can earn a big initial bonus: 50,000 miles for spending $2,500 in the first 3 months. You can also get 2 miles per $1 spent on eligible American Airlines purchases, 2 miles per $1 at gas stations and restaurants including takeout, and 1 mile per $1 on all other purchases. Those rewards can make it easy to rack up free flights if you use the card a lot.
 
What We Don’t Like: The Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Elite Mastercard® has a $99 annual fee starting the second year your account is open. It also has a high APR.
 
Who Should Get It: Consider applying for the Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Elite Mastercard® if you can easily fly with American Airlines when you travel. It’s the best option overall.

You do have other options, though. The American Airlines AAdvantage® MileUp® is a good alternative if you want to earn rewards on purchases without paying an annual fee. On the other end of the spectrum, the Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World Elite Mastercard® and the Citi® / AAdvantage® Globe™ Mastercard® offer big initial bonuses, Admirals Club membership, free checked bags, and more. But they come at a cost.

Why We Like It: The Citi Simplicity® Card offers an intro APR of 0% for 18 months on balance transfers, which is a lot longer than average. The Citi Simplicity Card also offers an introductory APR of 0% for 18 months on purchases.
 
What We Don’t Like: The Citi Simplicity® Card has a regular APR of 17.49% - 28.24% (V) and a balance transfer fee of 3% intro fee ($5 min) for each transfer in first 4 months, and 5% ($5 min) for each transfer after that.
 
Who Should Get It: Consider applying for the Citi Simplicity Card if you have good credit and you want to lower the cost of your debts.

Why We Like It: The Citi® Secured Mastercard® is the best Citibank credit card for limited credit because it has a $0 annual fee and should be pretty easy to get, even without much – if any – credit history. It can also help you improve your credit by reporting account information to the major credit bureaus each month.
 
What We Don’t Like: You have to place a refundable security deposit of at least $200, and the amount you put down will be your credit limit. Plus, you won’t earn rewards on purchases.
 
Who Should Get It: Consider applying for the Citi Secured card if you want to build credit inexpensively.
 

Why We Like It: The Costco Anywhere Visa® Card by Citi is the best Citi credit card for Costco members who enjoy travel and dining. It gives you 5% cash back rewards on gas at Costco and 4% cash back on other eligible gas and electric vehicle (EV) charging purchases for the first $7,000 combined spend per year, and then 1% thereafter, 3% back on restaurant and eligible travel purchases, 2% back on all other Costco and Costco.com purchases, and 1% back on all other purchases.
 
What We Don’t Like: You can only redeem your rewards at Costco and only once per year. Also, Costco membership does not come with the card, though you do need to be a member (or join) to get approved.
 
Who Should Get It: Consider applying for this card if you’re a Costco member with excellent credit.

Why We Like It: The Tractor Supply Company® Credit Card offers 5 points per $1 spent on qualifying purchases. You will also get 2,000 points when you make your first purchase of $20 or more by 6/28/26.
 
What We Don’t Like: You can only use this card at Tractor Supply Co. and has a high APR.
 
Who Should Get It: Consider applying for this Citi card if you have fair credit or better and want to save money on farm supplies, pet and animal feed, clothing, etc.
 

Why We Like It: The Wayfair Store Card offers an initial bonus of $40 off your first qualifying online order of at least $250. You will also earn 7% back in reward dollars at Wayfair Sites without special financing, 5% back in reward dollars at Wayfair sites with special financing.
 
What We Don’t Like: You can only use this card at Wayfair and has a high APR.
 
Who Should Get It: Consider applying for this Citi card if you have fair credit or better and want to save money on your Wayfair purchases.
 

Why We Like It: The Citi® / AAdvantage Business™ World Elite Mastercard® is the best Citi business credit card because it can save you hundreds of dollars per year on business travel. The savings start with an initial bonus of 65,000 miles after spending $4,000 in purchases within the first 4 months. You’ll also earn 2 miles per $1 spent on American Airlines purchases, at telecommunications merchants, cable and satellite providers, car rental merchants and gas stations, 1 mile per $1 on all other purchases. On top of all that, you can enjoy perks such as free checked bags and 25% savings on in-flight Wi-Fi.
 
What We Don’t Like: The Citi® / AAdvantage Business™ World Elite Mastercard® has a $99 annual fee starting the second year your account is open. It also has a high APR.
 
Who Should Get It: Consider applying for the Citi® / AAdvantage Business™ World Elite Mastercard® if you have excellent credit personally and you want to earn airline rewards for business travel.

Why We Like It: The Costco Anywhere Visa® Business Card by Citi is the best Citi business credit card for Costco members. It gives you 5% cash back rewards on gas at Costco and 4% cash back on other eligible gas and electric vehicle (EV) charging purchases for the first $7,000 combined spend per year, and then 1% thereafter, 3% back on restaurant and eligible travel purchases, 2% back on all other Costco and Costco.com purchases, 1% back on all other purchases. Plus, you won’t have to pay an annual fee.
 
What We Don’t Like: You can only redeem your rewards at Costco and only once per year. Also, Costco membership does not come with the card, though you do need to be a member (or join) to get approved.
 
Who Should Get It: Consider applying for this card if you’re a Costco member with excellent credit and you can take full advantage of the bonus rewards.