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How to earn 5x points on dining, airfare and more with the Citi Prestige Card

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The Citi Prestige® Card was once one of the peak premium travel rewards cards. At present, with travel and buy protections eliminated, limits on the fourth-night free perk and a higher annual fee, the carte du jour tin be a tough sell for many travelers.

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But, there are still some compelling aspects to the Citi Prestige Bill of fare. One of the most exciting benefits is 5x earning on select purchases. Later on all, TPG's valuations peg the value of Citi ThankYou Rewards points at 1.seven cents each. 5x earnings equate to an 8.5% return, so today I'll consider what types of Citi Prestige purchases earn 5x Citi ThankYou Rewards points.

Related: Even though the Citi Prestige has lost a lot of benefits, I'm still keeping mine (for now); Here'due south why

The information for the Citi Prestige has been collected independently by The Points Guy. The carte details on this folio take not been reviewed or provided by the carte du jour issuer.

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5x earning with the Citi Prestige

Earn 5x points with the Citi Prestige on dining. (Photo past Oscar Wong/Getty Images)

The Citi Prestige Card advertises 5x earning rates at restaurants and on air travel. Merely, if y'all read the fine print, you'll see that you can also earn 5x points with travel agencies.

To determine exactly how Citi defines the 5x categories for the Citi Prestige Carte du jour, I checked out Citi ThankYou'due south help section for earning points. Here'due south what I establish:

Airlines are businesses that provide air travel.
Travel agencies are merchants that provide travel data and booking services, including travel aggregators and bout operators.
Restaurants include cafes, bars, lounges, nightclubs, taverns, fast nutrient restaurants and other merchants that primarily prepare nutrient and drinks for immediate consumption. Even so, some merchants that sell nutrient and potable only are located inside larger establishments may not be included in the restaurant category.

And, through Dec. 31, 2020, the Citi Prestige offers a limited-fourth dimension 5x category. Specifically, you'll earn 5x points on select online, cable and streaming purchases through the end of 2020. Yet, you tin only earn up to 7,500 Citi ThankYou Rewards points through this limited-fourth dimension 5x category. So, you lot'll only earn 5x points on upwards to $1,500 of online, cable and streaming purchases before the end of the year.

Related: Now that the Citi Prestige offers 5x, which card should yous apply for dining?

3x earning categories

How you volume your room at The Westin Langkawi Resort & Spa determines how many points you lot'll earn on the Citi Prestige. (Photograph by Katie Genter/The Points Guy)

While I was reading the Citi ThankYou help section for earning points, I also found the post-obit definitions for the Citi Prestige's 3x earning categories:

Hotels are businesses that provide sleeping or meeting room accommodations. Goods and services that appear on a hotel nib and purchases from restaurants located in hotels are often categorized as hotel purchases.
Cruise lines are businesses that provide cruise line travel.

Then, if y'all pay for a hotel room or prowl straight with the hotel or prowl line, you'll earn 3x points. But, if you pay for a hotel room or prowl through a travel amanuensis, you'll earn 5x points. Of class, booking through a travel agent may hateful that you forfeit elite earnings and benefits. And then, for some trips, it may not exist worth the additional points.

Related: Credit menu showdown: Citi Prestige vs. Citi Premier® Card

Is the Citi Prestige worth it?

(Photo by Eric Helgas/The Points Guy) — Can you justify paying the Citi Prestige's annual fee based on your spending? (Photo past Eric Helgas/The Points Guy)

The Citi Prestige Carte provides a $250 travel credit each calendar year, so your effective annual fee drops from $495 to $245, assuming yous'll spend at least $250 on travel each twelvemonth. And, through the terminate of 2020, supermarket and restaurant purchases as well count towards the $250 travel credit.

Qualifying Citigold account holders are also eligible for a $145 statement credit each yr that can bring their effective almanac fee down to $100. All the same, for the purposes of this article, allow's assume you lot aren't an eligible Citigold business relationship holder.

To offset the effective $245 annual fee, allow'south consider how much you'd need to spend in categories that earn 5x points. Of course, this depends on how you program to utilise your points. If you programme to transfer your points to airline partners for award flights, we can use TPG'south valuation of Citi ThankYou points at 1.7 cents each. At this valuation, you'd need to spend $two,883 per twelvemonth or nigh $240 per calendar month in categories that earn 5x points to earn $245 worth of Citi ThankYou points each year.

And, if you program to redeem your points toward travel booked through the Citi ThankYou portal, your points will be worth one cent each. At this valuation, you'd need to spend $4,900 per twelvemonth or about $409 per month in categories that earn 5x points to earn $245 worth of Citi ThankYou points.

However, these calculations assume that y'all wouldn't exist earning any points or cash dorsum on the 5x bonus categories if you didn't have the Citi Prestige Card. This isn't a fair supposition for near cardholders though. So, consider what card y'all'd exist using if you didn't use the Citi Prestige Card when doing your calculations.

For more data, cheque out the full Citi Prestige Carte du jour review.

Related: Is Citi ThankYou Rewards the most underappreciated and misunderstood program?

Lesser line

The Citi Prestige Menu's 5x earning categories are broader than simply air travel and restaurants, which may exist news to some cardholders. But, with nearly of the Citi Prestige'due south benefits devalued, some cardholders may struggle to justify keeping this $495 annual fee card even with its 5x earning. Yet, if y'all are a high spender or can get significant value out of the 4th-night free benefit -- which isn't a given, but is possible at mid-tier and luxury hotels -- it may brand sense to keep the Citi Prestige in your wallet.

Featured image by

Unless you spend a ton on travel purchases bated from airfare, hotels and cruises -- or make a lot of entertainment purchases -- the Prestige is likely a better pick. (Photo by The Points Guy)

Editorial disclaimer: Opinions expressed hither are the author's solitary, not those of whatsoever bank, credit card issuer, airline or hotel chain, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities.