Citi is launching a brand new premium rewards card. I hope this is different from other high-end cards

Citi is a TPG advertising partner.

The year 2025 is shaping up for premium reward credit cards. As a fan of these products, I love competitions.

First, Chase SapphireReserve® (see Rates and Fees) has undergone a top-down transformation, and Chase has also launched its first premium business card – Chase Sapphire Reserve for Business℠ (see Rates and Fees). We also know that PlatinumCard® from American Express is about to get its own refresh later this year, and Bilt Rewards just announced it will offer three-tier new cards (including premium cards).

If you want to keep the number and love these cards and their privileges as much as I do, you may start to doubt Citi actively compete for wallet space in the lucrative premium card market among other major players, so Citi may be on the verge of the sidelines.

Thanks to Citi’s recent earnings call, we now have at least one clue about what we’ll do next.

Citi launches new premium credit card

According to comments from the bank’s July 15 earnings call, sometime in the quarter (so by September 30, Citigroup will launch a new premium credit card, the Citigroup Elite.

The new Citi Class Elite Card is said to be joining Citi’s rewards sometime in the coming months to attract “rich customers.” So while Citi hasn’t shared the exact annual fee that comes with this card, it’s safe to assume that it’s likely to be within the annual fee range of other premium cards, now around $400-$800.

Although details about the card benefits have not been released yet, we do know this is not Citi’s first attempt at the premium rewards credit card world.

Find Citi’s premium card past to inform its future

No longer available for new applicants, the CitiPrestige® card is a premium card that earns Citi Thank You points. It can be offered through 2021 – although existing cardholders are able to keep it in their wallet.

It has some meaningful bonus categories, such as 5 points per dollar spent on air tickets, restaurants and travel agencies – offering a cool fourth-time airplane party revitalization, $250 a year for annual travel credit and priority passing membership.

While the card certainly has its fans, especially those who can maximize the fourth Hotel-nimble-Nime-nime Perk, it lacks some key benefits compared to other major players in the premium card space, such as American Express, Chase and Capital One. That said, it does not offer any proprietary lounge access and is even more limited among the unique transfer partners in the Citi Themphyou Rewards lineup.

Information on Citi Prestige and Citi Strata Elite cards has been independently collected by Points Guy. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.

I hope to see it from Citi’s new premium credit card

Naturally, like any new credit card, I hope to receive a huge welcome reward. For reference, the bank’s mid-term $95 annual Citi Layer Premier® card (see rates and fees) currently offers 60,000 points in the first three months with a spending of $4,000, so I hope the bonus for this brand new card will be higher than that.

But, other than that, I would love some unique reward categories that are not listed on other reward cards. For example, the last thing I need is another card that spends 2 or 3 bonus points per dollar on meals and travel.

To help offset the annual fee, I would like to see a limited number of high-value but easy-to-use points that don’t require a lot of thinking and effort (e.g., not a complex “coupon book” approach).

While this can be a tough task, I really liked that Citi can now address some of the gaps in having the proprietary premium rewards card last time.

That said, it’s nice to see that the card offers some kind of unique lounge access and/or transfer partners that are difficult or impossible to replicate elsewhere. It’s always good news to enter a new or additional airport lounge (even their young siblings), so I’d love to see Citi offer unique lounge access, which goes beyond the priority pass benefits of its previous premium card.

Additionally, Citi Thanks for your rewards program itself as a step for competitors, especially for those who prefer to enter American Airlines and hotel programs. TPG’s July 2025 valuation is Citi Thankyou Rewards points of 1.85 cents per point, which puts it behind Chase Ultimate Rewards, American Express membership rewards and BILT rewards. The vast majority of its partners also work with other banks.

In a brief moment, Citigroup used American Airlines as a transfer partner, and the bank touted a “good relationship” with American Airlines in its recent earnings call. Additionally, a Citi spokesperson provided the following statement to TPG in December 2024, when announcing that the bank will become the exclusive publisher of the US co-brand (emphasized ours):

“As we introduce new products and benefits in the future, the expansion and expansion of our relationship with American Airlines will have a positive impact on our existing and new customer base And the cardholders of the Citi brand. We have not shared details at the moment. stay tuned. ”

Finally, implementing some kind of unique hotel privilege or new travel benefits not provided by other premium reward cards will also help provide a differentiated space for the elite of the Citi class.

Bottom line

Citi is preparing to launch a new premium card sometime in the coming months – Citi Layer Elite. Details are very little, but given the issuer’s previous premium products, we want to mine our own niche based on how that card is in a hot premium card space.

Please stay tuned to TPG, as long as more details are available, we will update you as soon as possible.