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You don't have to pay an annual fee to find a credit card with a lucrative rewards earning structure. Just take a look at the Citi® Double Cash Card – 18 month BT offer. It has $0 annual fee and offers a combined 2% cash back rewards rate with no cap. You earn 1% when you make a purchase and 1% when you pay it off.

Plus, after a recent change, you’re not limited to redeeming cash-back rewards exclusively. You can now convert cash-back rewards to Citi ThankYou points, which you can transfer to airline transfer partners.

The Citi® Double Cash Card – 18 month BT offer is worth considering whether you’re new to rewards credit cards or just looking for a no-annual-fee card with a high earning rate.

» Learn more: Citi Double Cash review: 2% on everything is tough to beat

Valuable rewards

The Citi® Double Cash Card – 18 month BT offer doesn’t offer a welcome bonus, but the ongoing rewards structure can make up for it, depending on your spending habits.

Here’s an example of the rewards you can earn with the Citi® Double Cash Card – 18 month BT offer. Let’s say you make $1,000 worth of purchases each month and pay off the balance in full. You’ll earn $20 in cash rewards each month. That’s $240 worth of cash back over the course of a year, which is not bad for a card with a $0 annual fee.

To redeem your rewards for cash back, you must have a cash rewards balance of $25 or more. Then, you can choose a statement credit, check or credit to a linked account.

Convert cash rewards to ThankYou points for flexibility

Citi® Double Cash Card – 18 month BT offer holders are not limited to redeeming rewards for cash back only. You can also convert cash rewards into Citi ThankYou points.

This means you could turn $100 in cash rewards into 10,000 ThankYou points. Then, you can redeem points for travel, gift cards, purchases at eligible retailers and other options.

Depending on your credit card strategy and travel goals, this conversion flexibility can potentially increase the value of your rewards. For example, you can maximize this feature if you have another Citi card that earns ThankYou points, like the Citi Premier℠ Card or Citi Prestige® Card.

On its own, the Citi® Double Cash Card – 18 month BT offer only gives you the ability to transfer ThankYou points to JetBlue. However, if you also have the Citi Premier℠ Card or Citi Prestige® Card, you could combine points and transfer them to any of Citi’s 15 airline partners.

Converting cash rewards linked to your Citi® Double Cash Card – 18 month BT offer can increase the value of your rewards significantly.

» Learn more: Citi Premier review: Potentially lucrative for travelers

The bottom line

This $0-annual-fee card offers a straightforward rewards structure with a high earn rate. The ability to convert cash rewards to Citi ThankYou points provides greater flexibility and value.

How to Maximize Your Rewards

You want a travel credit card that prioritizes what’s important to you. Here are our picks for the best travel credit cards of 2020, including those best for:

Planning a trip? Check out these articles for more inspiration and advice: Find the best travel credit card for you Citi just lost a minor transfer partner. Here’s why it matters Earn more points and miles with these 6 strategies