Citi Double Cash® Card Complete Guide
Citi is a partner of Travel Freely.
The Citi Double Cash® Card is a solid, no-annual-fee option that earns 2 points per dollar on all purchases, in the form of unlimited 1% cash back when you make a purchase, plus an additional 1% as you pay your credit card bill. This structure makes it one of the simplest and most reliable ways to earn rewards on everyday spending. However, if you also hold a Citi Strata Premier® Card, Citi Strata Elite℠ Card or a Citi Prestige® Card (no longer available), you can unlock the ability to transfer your points to airline and hotel partners for potentially even greater value.
Here’s everything you need to know…
Citi is an advertising partner of Travel Freely.
A great complement to the Citi Strata Premier® Card.
Application Tips
Should you apply?
The Double Cash is one of the most rewarding cards available and worth considering.
In the past, it was rare for the Citi Double Cash to have a signup bonus but that’s no longer the case. Here is the current offer:
Citi is an advertising partner of Travel Freely.
A great complement to the Citi Strata Premier® Card.
One warning: some Citi cards have 48 month restrictions against getting a bonus for the same or a similar card. For example:
Bonus ThankYou Points are not available if you received a new cardmember bonus for Citi Strata Premier® Card, Citi Strata Elite℠ Card, Citi ThankYou® Preferred Card (no longer available), Citi Premier® Card (no longer available) or Citi Prestige® (no longer available), or if you have closed any of these accounts, in the past 48 months. Additionally, if you converted another Citi credit card account into one of the cards above, it must be 48 months since you received a new account bonus on the original Citi credit card.
Previously, downgrading and closing cards were known to impact your new bonus eligibility but that no longer appears to be the case.
Are You Eligible?
So long as you meet the eligibility requirements above, you are eligible for this card. Compared to other issuers, Citi is usually pretty easy on approvals.
How to apply
Click below to find more information and a link to apply.
Citi is an advertising partner of Travel Freely.
A great complement to the Citi Strata Premier® Card.
Reconsideration
If your application is denied, call reconsideration here: 800-695-5171. If the reconsideration call doesn’t work, try the Citi Credit Card Executive Office: 423-477-6858.
Perks
This card doesn’t have any perks worth mentioning.
NOTE: This card does charge foreign transaction fees.
Rewards
Welcome Offer
The current welcome offer:
Citi is an advertising partner of Travel Freely.
A great complement to the Citi Strata Premier® Card.
Spend
The best way to earn Citi Double Cash rewards is through credit card spend. Technically, this card earns 1 ThankYou point (1% cash back) per dollar when you make a purchase and 1 ThankYou point point per dollar (1% cash back) when you pay your credit card bill. It is simpler to say that this card earns 2x everywhere or 2% cash back.
The Citi Double Cash card is particularly good for “non bonus” spend. The Double Cash is good choice for any purchases you make, especially ones that don’t have a category.
Increase Spend
Here are a few examples that are particularly rewarding with the Double Cash card:
- Pay federal taxes: You can pay your estimated federal taxes by credit card for as low as 1.75% in fees. This is a way to buy ThankYou points for less than a penny each!
Citi Double Cash Redeem Rewards
Cash Back
By default, the Double Cash card earns ThankYou points. You can convert points to cash back and withdraw the cash back as a statement credit, direct deposit, or a check by mail.
Double Cash cardholders can redeem their ThankYou points for cash back at a rate of 1 cent for each point. For example, 10,000 points = $100.
Redeem for Purchased Travel
There are a few ways to get better than 1 cent per point value when redeeming ThankYou points for travel:
- Redeem for 1 cent per point value in the Citi Travel℠ portal or book a 4th Night Free award with the Citi Prestige Card (no longer available);
- It is possible to combine both of these options for even more value.
With the Citi Double Cash card,
- Combine ThankYou accounts: While Double Cash cardholders can access all airline and hotel transfer partners, combining your Double Cash ThankYou account with the Strata Premier, Strata Elite or Prestige (no longer available) card gives you the ability to transfer points at a higher ratio.
- When booking travel through the portal, Double Cash also gives you 1 cent per point value (same as the other Citi cards). To get the 4th night free, however, you do need the Citi Prestige.
Redeem points for travel in the Citi Travel portal:
With the Double Cash card, you can book travel through the Citi Travel portal at 1 cent per point. For example, a $500 flight would cost 50,000 points.
You can book airfare, hotels, cruises, and car rentals in this way. Airfare purchased this way still earns airline miles and elite qualifying miles. Hotels booked this way do not earn hotel rewards. Worse, hotels booked this way often won’t offer you elite benefits even if you have status. Also, be sure to compare hotel prices booked through Citi with prices posted elsewhere. Hotels booked within in the Citi Travel portal have been historically priced higher than elsewhere.
Redeem points for a 4 night hotel stay: 25% point discount pre-tax (up to 1.33 cents per point value)
This option requires the Citi Prestige Card (no longer available). Book a 4 Night hotel stay for the price of 3 nights (not counting taxes & fees, the 25% discount results in 1.33 cents per point value). This benefit is only for stays booked through the Citi ThankYou portal. As mentioned above, hotels booked this way do not earn hotel rewards, and hotel programs will not offer you elite benefits because you booked this way. Finally, it’s important to compare the cost to ensure you’ve gotten the best available price.
Transfer Points to Airline Miles
The best use of ThankYou points, in my opinion, is to transfer points to airline partners in order to book high value awards. Here are some sweet spots for Citi transfer partners.
It is usually best to wait until you find a great flight award before transferring points. One exception: Citi often offers 25% or 30% transfer bonuses to certain programs (Air France Flying Blue and Avianca LifeMiles are two recent examples). If you’re confident that you’ll use the points for good value, it may make sense to transfer points when those bonuses are in effect.
The Double Cash card can be directly transfer to all partners including American Airlines, but at an inferior transfer rate. A much better option is to combine your Double Cash ThankYou account with a Citi Strata Premier or Strata Elite or Citi Prestige (no longer available ). Combining accounts this way will get you the full 1:1 transfer ratio to airline and hotel programs.
Manage Rewards
Combine Rewards Across Cards
If you are the primary account holder with multiple credit cards that earn ThankYou Rewards, you can combine ThankYou Rewards accounts. When your points are combined, they can then automatically be redeemed at the same value as your best card. Combining your Double Cash ThankYou account with the Strata Premier, Strata Elite or Prestige (no longer available) card also gives you the ability to transfer points at a higher ratio.
There are disadvantages to combining points:
- You lose the ability to pick and choose which points are used when you redeem awards.
- You lose visibility into how many points remain with each card.
Overall, these disadvantages are minor. The advantages of combining your Double Cash ThankYou account with your Strata Premier, Strata Elite or Prestige ThankYou account (no longer available) greatly outweigh the disadvantages.
Share Rewards Across Cardholders
If you don’t have a premium ThankYou card or you don’t want to combine it with your Double Cash ThankYou account, then you can opt to “share points” instead.
Citi allows people to transfer ThankYou points to anyone else, for free. The “anyone else” includes yourself if your accounts aren’t combined. There are two catches to this:
- Shared points expire after 90 days. Make sure you have a specific near-term use in mind before transferring points.
- 100K limit: Each member may share up to 100,000 points per calendar year. Each member may receive up to 100,000 points per calendar year.
Bottom line
The Citi Double Cash Card is one of the easiest and most rewarding no-annual-fee cards available, offering an unlimited 1% cash back when you make a purchase, plus an additional 1% as you pay for those purchases on your credit card statement.
On its own, it’s a simple cash-back workhorse—but when paired with a Citi Strata Premier, Strata Elite, or Prestige card (no longer available), those same rewards can unlock even greater value through airline and hotel transfer partners. Whether you’re looking for a straightforward way to earn on everyday purchases or a flexible tool to fuel future travel, the Citi Double Cash is a strong choice for just about anyone.
Citi is an advertising partner of Travel Freely.
A great complement to the Citi Strata Premier® Card.
