Here at TPG, we’re all about helping you get the best return for your spending. There are multiple cards that earn bonus points, miles or cash back in various categories, so if your wallet allows you to earn at least 2 points (or 2% cash back) per dollar every time you swipe, you’re doing well.
Many issuers allow you to hold multiple rewards credit cards to maximize your earnings in their loyalty currency. Citi ThankYou Rewards could be a great option for you, especially if you’re looking to avoid high annual fees.
That’s because the Citi Trifecta, a complementary setup of three Citi credit cards that allows you to maximize your earning potential in the Citi ThankYou Rewards ecosystem, can be attained for less than $100 annually.
To acquire the trifecta, you’ll need to add the no-annual-fee Citi Double Cash® Card (see rates and fees), the no-annual-fee Citi Custom Cash® Card and the $95-annual-fee Citi Strata Premier® Card (see rates and fees).
The information for the Citi Custom Cash Card has been collected independently by The Points Guy. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.
Here’s what to know about the Citi Trifecta and why it could be a solid choice for your wallet.
What is the Citi Trifecta?
The Citi Trifecta is a card setup containing three cards that earn Citi ThankYou Rewards. When you pair the Citi Double Cash, the Citi Custom Cash and the Citi Strata Premier, you’ll have a wallet that earns at least 2% back on all purchases and up to 10 points per dollar spent on certain categories booked through Citi Travel.
Though the Citi Double Cash and Citi Custom Cash cards technically earn cash back, these rewards are actually earned in the form of Citi ThankYou Rewards points, and they can be made into fully transferable points when paired with the Citi Strata Premier Card.
Citi ThankYou Rewards points redeemed this way can be transferred to one of 20 loyalty program partners and are worth 1.85 cents per point, per TPG’s July 2025 valuations.
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What cards are in the Citi Trifecta?
Three cards are required to form the Citi Trifecta:
Plus, you’ll have another option to create your Citi Trifecta when the Citi Rewards+ Card is rebranded as the Citi Strata℠ Card starting July 20.
Let’s get into the details of the three cards currently available for new applicants to see how they fit together.
The information for the Citi Rewards+ and Citi Strata Card has been collected independently by The Points Guy. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer. The Citi Rewards+ is no longer available for new applications.
Citi Double Cash Card
Annual fee: $0.
Welcome offer: Earn $200 cash back after spending $1,500 on purchases in the first six months of account opening.
Earning rates:
- Earn 5% back on hotel, car rentals and attractions booked with Citi Travel.
- Earn 2% back on every purchase, with an unlimited 1% cash back as you buy, plus an additional 1% as you pay for those purchases.
The Citi Double Cash is an excellent catchall option that ensures you’ll always receive at least 2% back on all your spending. When paired with the Strata Premier, its rewards become fully transferable, ensuring you earn at least 2 ThankYou Rewards points per dollar spent on all purchases.
To learn more, check out our full review of the Citi Double Cash.
Apply here: Citi Double Cash Card
Citi Custom Cash Card
Annual fee: $0.
Welcome offer: Earn $200 cash back after spending $1,500 on purchases in the first six months of account opening.
Earning rates: Earn 5% cash back on the first $500 of purchases in your top spending category for that billing cycle. The categories included are:
- Drugstores
- Fitness clubs
- Gas stations
- Grocery stores
- Home improvement stores
- Live entertainment
- Restaurants
- Select transit*
- Select travel**
- Select streaming services***
*Select transit is defined as car rentals, ferries, commuter railways, subways, taxis/limousines/car services, passenger railways, bridge and road tolls, parking lots/garages, bus lines, and motor home and recreational vehicle rentals. It also includes merchants that sell electricity for charging an electric vehicle. It excludes bike/scooter rentals, auto clubs and insurance companies.
**Select travel is defined as airlines, hotels, cruise lines and travel agencies.
***Select streaming services are defined as cable, satellite and streaming providers, such as Amazon Prime Video, Amazon Music, Apple Music, Disney+, DirecTV Stream, ESPN+, FuboTV, Max, NBA League Pass, Netflix, Pandora, Paramount+, Showtime, Sling TV, Spotify, Starz, SiriusXM, Vudu, YouTube Red, YouTube TV and Tidal.
Plus, you’ll earn 4% cash back on hotels, car rentals and attractions booked with Citi Travel and 1% back on all other purchases.
The Custom Cash is a great addition since you can earn 5% cash back (or 5 ThankYou Rewards points with the Strata Premier) on up to $500 in spending each billing cycle on your top spending category. The options here are broad and include categories not covered by the Strata Premier, such as drugstores, fitness clubs, home improvement stores and live entertainment.
Plus, you can max out a different category each billing cycle, which adds flexibility to your trifecta.
To learn more, check out our full review of the Citi Custom Cash.
Citi Strata Premier Card
Annual fee: $95.
Welcome offer: Earn 60,000 bonus points after spending $4,000 in the first three months of account opening.
Earning rates:
- Earn 10 points per dollar spent on hotels, car rentals and attractions booked through Citi Travel.
- Earn 3 points per dollar spent on air travel and other hotel purchases, and at restaurants, supermarkets, and gas and electric vehicle charging stations.
- Earn 1 point per dollar spent on all other purchases.
The Citi Strata Premier is the heavyweight of the Citi Trifecta, as it allows the cash-back rewards earned on the Double Cash and the Custom Cash to be transformed into transferable Citi ThankYou Rewards points that raise their value.
The card also comes with a swath of bonus-earning categories for its $95 annual fee. You can earn 3 points per dollar spent on everything from air travel and direct hotel bookings to purchases made at supermarkets and gas stations, making this a solid card to maximize earnings across common purchases.
To learn more, check out our full review of the Citi Strata Premier.
Apply here: Citi Strata Premier Card
How does the Citi Trifecta work?
When you hold all three cards in the Citi Trifecta and spend intentionally with the card that earns the most in any specific category, you’ll end up supercharging your Citi ThankYou Rewards points earning, which gets you to aspirational redemptions sooner.
Here’s a table explaining how you’ll earn bonus points across multiple categories when you maximize the Citi Trifecta:
| Card | Bonus categories | Bonus earning |
|---|---|---|
| Citi Double Cash | All nonbonus purchases | Earn an unlimited 2% back on every purchase, with 1% cash back when you buy, plus 1% as you pay for those purchases. To earn cash back, you must pay at least the minimum due on time. |
| Citi Custom Cash | Your top spending category from the following list, each billing cycle:
|
Earn 5% cash back on the first $500 of purchases in your top spending category for that billing cycle. |
| Citi Strata Premier |
|
|
With ThankYou Rewards points, you can redeem for statement credits, cash back or gift cards, but the best way to get closest to TPG’s 1.85 cents per point value is to transfer your points to partners.
There are several high-value partners in Citi’s ecosystem, such as Air France-KLM Flying Blue, Singapore KrisFlyer and Virgin Atlantic Flying Club.
Related: Best ways to redeem Citi ThankYou points
Other trifecta card options
You can also create card trifectas with other issuers, such as American Express, Chase and Wells Fargo. When comparing the Citi Trifecta to the most common American Express and Chase trifectas, Citi has a much more cost-effective option when it comes to annual fees. Wells Fargo offers a similar annual fee threshold to Citi.
American Express
You can ramp up your American Express Membership Rewards earnings with the Amex Trifecta. An important note here is that it’s one of the more expensive trifectas to collect.
This includes The Platinum Card® from American Express at a $695 annual fee (see rates and fees), the American Express® Gold Card at $325 in annual fees (see rates and fees) and the no-annual-fee Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express (see rates and fees).
Like with the Citi Trifecta, you’re guaranteed to earn at least 2 points per dollar spent on all purchases. This is capped at up to $50,000 per calendar year, then 1 point per dollar, on The Blue Business Plus.
To learn more, see our complete guide to the Amex Trifecta.
Chase
If you’re a fan of the Chase Ultimate Rewards program, you can find multiple ways to create a Chase Trifecta.
The most popular setup you can pick generally includes the Chase Sapphire Reserve® (see rates and fees), the Chase Freedom Unlimited® (see rates and fees) and the Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card (see rates and fees).
However, this setup incurs total annual fees of $890, so you may be interested in another combination.
Luckily, your Chase Trifecta isn’t limited to these three cards. You could also substitute the Reserve for the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card (see rates and fees) to lower your combined annual fees or trade out the Freedom Unlimited with the Chase Freedom Flex® to take advantage of rotating 5% categories each quarter you activate.
The information for the Chase Freedom Flex has been collected independently by The Points Guy. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.
The most important part is making sure you have a Sapphire card in your setup, since that’s how you unlock the ability to convert the cash-back rewards you earn on cards like the Freedom Unlimited or the Freedom Flex to fully transferable Chase points.
TPG’s July 2025 valuations deem Chase points as worth 2.05 cents per point, and you can transfer them to 14 loyalty partners.
To learn more, see our complete guide to the Chase Trifecta.
Wells Fargo
If you prefer collecting Wells Fargo Rewards, you can create a Wells Fargo Trifecta by combining the Wells Fargo Autograph Journey℠ Card (see rates and fees) for a $95 annual fee, the Wells Fargo Active Cash® Card (see rates and fees) for no annual fee and the no-annual-fee Wells Fargo Attune℠ Card.
The information for the Wells Fargo Attune has been collected independently by The Points Guy. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.
This setup comes in at the same annual fee threshold as the Citi Trifecta and earns at least 2% cash rewards (which can be converted into points that can be transferred to partners) on all purchases, thanks to the Active Cash.
The Autograph Journey unlocks 5 points per dollar spent on hotels, 4 points per dollar spent on airlines and 3 points per dollar spent on restaurants and other eligible travel. The Attune offers 4% cash rewards on self-care, select sports, recreation and entertainment purchases, EV charging, public transit and select thrift stores.
TPG’s July 2025 valuations place Wells Fargo Rewards points at 1.6 cents per point, and they can be transferred to seven loyalty partners.
Related: 8 different types of credit cards
Bottom line
One of the best ways to quickly collect rewards points is to stack your wallet with cards in the same program. If you’re into Citi ThankYou Rewards, the Citi Trifecta is a strong option to maximize every dollar you spend.
Plus, you’d spend $95 in annual fees for all three cards, which makes this a solid option if you want to maximize your earnings without budgeting for more annual fees.
Related: The best business and personal credit card combinations
For rates and fees of the Amex Platinum, click here.
For rates and fees of the Amex Gold, click here.
For rates and fees of the Blue Business Plus, click here.