It’s exciting to apply for a new card, but over time, the same card may no longer meet your needs or meet your lifestyle. You can cancel the card, but this may affect your credit score and cause you to forfeit all rewards you accumulate.
One way to protect your credit score, established credit limits, and relationships with the issuer is to downgrade your credit card. Think about it Citi Layer Premier® Card (See Rates and Fees), a popular mid-tier travel card with an annual fee of $95.
Although the card has a lower annual fee, cardholders may find it reasonable to pay over time. The card’s main travel benefits ($100 in annual hotel credit) are restricted because it requires a hotel reservation of at least $500 through Citi Travel.
An alternative to the class prime minister is its siblings, Citi tier ℠ card (See rates and fees). Previously, the card was called Citi Rewards+ Card, but was recently renamed and now has an impressive revenue rate.
Whatever your reasons, let’s explore when and why you were downgraded from Citibank to Citibank card without grades.
Citi Rewards+ information has been collected independently by Tocts Guy. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.
Keep your hard-won Citi thank you point
By not canceling your Citigroup Prime Minister Instead, downgrade it to Citi flooryou will protect your hard-won thanks points.
After canceling your credit card, you will forfeit any rewards you receive. Since the Citi class has won thank you points, downgrades can keep you in the existing rewards.
Just know that your thank you points on the Citi class are much less valuable. While you can visit most of Citi thank you for your transfer partners, your points will be transferred at a significantly reduced rate.
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Thanks to the Citigroup Formation Card for transferring to the following airline partners:
- France-KLM Flying Blue – 1,000:700
- Aviation Mexico Rewards – 1,000:700
- Avianca Lifemiles – 1,000:700
- Cathay Pacific Asia Mileage – 1,000:700
- Emirates Airlines – 1,000:560
- Guests of Etihad – 1,000:700
- Eva Air – 1,000:700
- JetBlue TrueBlue – 1,000:700
- Qantas flighters – 1,000:700
- Qatar Airways Privileges Club – 1,000:700
- Singapore Kleislier – 1,000:700
- Royal Thai Orchid Add 1,000:700
- Turkish Air Miles and Smile – 1,000:700
- Virgin Atlantic Flying Club – 1,000:700
The thank you points obtained on the Citigroup Card are also transferred to the following hotel partners:
If transfer points aren’t important to you, you can still redeem points at some retailers to return cash, gift cards or shopping.
I recommend demoting his Citi-class prime minister in the second half of last year to avoid the card’s annual fee and protect his 50,000 thank-you points. A few months ago, he needed a reward ticket. Because he sat on a nice point, he called Citi customer service to upgrade his card so he could transfer the points to Qatar Airways Privileges Club.
In this case, by lowering the card, my friend has some savings accounts. It came in handy and made his downgrade decision worthy compared to losing perspective when he previously thought the class prime minister would not work for him.
Related: Start your trip with points, miles and credit cards
Missed the welcome quote from Citigroup, you can
New Citigroup Card Applicants can earn 30,000 bonus points after spending $1,000 in the first three months of opening an account. According to TPG’s August 2025 valuation, this welcome offer is worth $570.
When downgrading Prime Minister of the Stratigraphicyou cannot get a welcome offer from the Citi class.
While 30,000 bonus points sound like a lot, that’s not the vast majority of the welcome quotes you’re going to pass.
By comparison, new Citigroup Elite Card (See Interest Rates and Fees) When applying online, the welcome quote is 80,000 bonus points, worth $1,520 based on TPG’s August 2025 valuation. You must spend $4,000 in the first three months of opening an account to get this welcome offer.
Related: 21 cards currently offer 100,000 or more welcome bonuses
You get a profit rate in similar bonus categories
When Citi Reward + Refresh to Citigroup CardCiti overhauled the card’s revenue rate. Honestly, the card has a very similar income rate to the Citi-class prime minister, so you won’t have trouble earning thank you points.
Bonus Earning Categories include:
- 5 o’clock on hotels, car rentals and attractions booked on Citi Travel website
- Spend 3 points per dollar on gas stations, electric car charging stations, supermarkets and select transport stations
- Each dollar spent 3 points on qualified self-selected categories, one of which is: cosmetics stores, barbershops and hair salons; fitness clubs; live entertainment; select streaming services; or pet supplies stores
- Spend 2 points per dollar at a restaurant
- Every dollar spent on all other purchases
After downgrade, the new bonus category may be more beneficial as you can access self-selective categories and bonus points in certain shipping.
The income rate is very profitable and it’s nice to see the self-select category on an unfamiliar card. You can change your self-select category quarterly to best match your spending.
Related: Comparison of flat interest rates with bonus category cash backpack credit cards
If I downgrade the Prime Minister of the Strata, will Citi refund my annual fee?
If you downgrade the Citi tier Prime Minister to the Citi tier card, you can refund it if you initiate the downgrade on the card anniversary (usually the time of the yearly fee). Most issuers, including Citi, can get your annual fee refunded if you have paid and downgraded your card within one billing cycle after the fee is posted.
Consider a strategy to maximize these two cards
Another strategy is to open Citigroup Card With your existing ones Citigroup Prime Minister. If you choose this route, here are some benefits:
- Earn additional welcome bonuses (as long as you meet Citi’s eligibility criteria)
- Earn more Citi Thank You Points by using the Citi floor for select transit purchases and purchases
- Use the Citi-class Prime Minister for all other bonus categories to purchase as it earns points at a higher rate
- Visit the full list of Citi’s transfer partners, which have better transfer rates of 1:1
By adding the Citi tier to your wallet, you will have more opportunities to earn bonus points and additional credits, which can be useful for large purchases.
Bottom line
It is always a good idea to regularly evaluate credit cards in your wallet to see what works for you and what doesn’t work. The best time to measure the value of a card is when you pay an annual position, so you can decide whether to keep it, downgrade it to an unfamiliar version, or cancel it.
in the case of Citigroup Prime Ministerthere are several reasons to downgrade it to the Citigroup instead of closing your account.
The Prime Minister, who also has the Citi class, Citigroup Card This is another option for those who want to maximize their income potential and invest in the Citi Thanks Point ecosystem.
To learn more, read our full review of the Citibank Prime Minister.
To learn more, read our full review of Citi Layer Card.
Apply here: Citigroup Prime Minister
Apply here: Citigroup Card
