Citi Custom Cash℠ Card: Earn $200 after Spending $750 in First 3-Months Expired

Bank of west offers unlimited 3%cash on groceries, restaurants and gas ($1500 quarterly limit only for gas).

Someone should start a thread here "Best cash back strategy from credit cards" and discuss all the options.

https://www.bankofthewest.com/per...suresStart

As of 8/27/2021 in Los Angeles greater area: If you apply at a Citibank branch, they will up the promotion to $300 for $1000 spent.

I believe this offer first started a couple months ago in select major cities. No idea if other cities currently still offer though. Doesn't hurt to ask.

Does anybody know if the thank you points with this card actually have the value that Citi claims?

I have a different thank you rewards card. Almost all bonus, but I have 16,140 points = to $80.70 credit towards payment. Only two airlines. half value with AA and 4/5 value on jetblue. I've read about other transfer partners for thank you points so I just think my card is limited. Just thinking this 5% is actually closer to 2.5% if it is like my other citi card.

This card is perfect as a dedicated 'dining out' card.

You could say in the grocery store category you would lose $6 approximately for the card fee but if it's a Kroger and you did it when there's 4X fuel points you get a dollar off up to 35 gallons

Citi is pretty stingy with their credit line limit. I have 815 credit score with close to 0% utilization and they gave me $4500.

The best way to use this card is to select one of the categories below that you can spend up to $500 per month on but don't use it on a category you cannot maximize the 5% back. Once you reach the $500, use another card to get more than one percent back. The Citibank app and website will track and let you know your highest spending category so far for the current month so it is easy to know when you are approaching the $500 limit.

Restaurants
Gas stations
Grocery stores
Select travel
Transit
Streaming services
Drugstores
Home improvement stores
Fitness clubs
Live entertainment

No annual fee. No activating the category or enrolling each quarter as with some other cards. If you only want one card, get a two percent card. It is best to use this card with other cards where you can get two percent or more on some of the other categories. I am not aware of any card that offers 5% back on grocery without annual fee.

I currently have the AMEX Blue Cash Preferred card with 6% back on grocery with $95 annual fee. I plan to downgrade that card when it is time to pay the annual fee. Some comments mentioned $500 per month limit is too low on the Citi Custom Cash card. The AMEX Blue Cash Preferred card has annual limit of $6000 which works out to be $500 per month on average. For the extra one percent on grocery from the AMEX Blue Cash preferred card, I will need to spend $9500 to break even with the annual fee as compared to the no annual fee Citi Custom card. I was fine with paying the annual fee until the Custom card came out as other cards with a grocery category without annual fee give only 3% cash back or less.

Other cards like the BofA Custom Cash card let you pick the category to get 3% or more back but not on groceries which you get 2% back or the AMEX Blue Cash Everyday card with no annual fee give 3% back on grocery.

Depending on your situation and if you don't want to pay any annual fee for your cards, the following combination of cards may work for you.

- Citi Custom Cash for 5% category of your choice (keep it to one category each month)
- AMEX Blue Cash Everyday for 3% back on grocery if you use Citi Custom Cash on category other than grocery
- Chase and/or Discover cards for rotating categories
- BofA Custom Cash to select your 3% category which remains the same until you change it
- 2% on everything card for things you cannot get more than 2% back on your other cards

There are other combination of cards you can get but the idea is to maximize your cards' rewards to get 3% to 5% back and then use the 2% card back for the rest of your purchases.

Once you get into travel related credit cards, that is a whole other much more involved discussion you can find on credit card review sites on the internet which will review the pros and cons of travel cards with annual fees of $95 to $695 per year.

Hope this helps. I have gotten my Citi Custom Cash card and am using it for restaurants until I switch over to groceries later in the year after I downgrade my AMEX card.