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Among the flexible rewards currencies out there, Citi ThankYou® Points may not get as much love as competitors like American Express Membership Rewards and Chase Ultimate Rewards. But don't overlook them. Citi ThankYou Points are a highly valuable currency that you can use for excellent redemptions with a variety of hotel and airline partners.
In this post we cover all the best ways to use Citi ThankYou® Points to extract as much value as you can from your rewards.
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Understanding the Value of Citi ThankYou Rewards
You can earn Citi ThankYou Points in a variety of ways, but the most common method of building your balance includes opening and using a Citi credit card. By opening a new Citi card and meeting minimum spending requirements within a few months of account opening, you can net a nice welcome bonus.
Continuing to spend on your card can help earn ThankYou Points long after the bonus has been awarded. Cards like the Citi Strata Premier℠ Card offer solid earning rates in a variety of common categories, letting you rack up plenty of ThankYou Points with ease.
The value of a Citi ThankYou Point depends on how it's used. In recent AwardWallet user redemptions, the average value of a Citi ThankYou Point is 2.19¢ per point when redeemed through the program's airline and hotel transfer partners.
Transfers to hotel and airline partners are the best way to get the most out of your points, but Citi ThankYou Points can be used in other ways, such as for gift cards, online shopping, and directly cashed out. Each way you can redeem Citi ThankYou Points offers a different value.
For example, redeeming points as a statement credit will net a value of 1 cent per point. This is solid redemption rate — and more than you'd get when redeeming Amex points for a statement credit. However, this provides less than half of the average value you'll get when transferring to a travel partner.
Also keep in mind that you won't have access to every transfer partner or redemption option if you only have a no-annual-fee Citi card. But for just a $95 annual fee on the Citi Strata Premier℠ Card, you can unlock the full range of these partners.
Related: How To Transfer Citi ThankYou Points to Partners
Best Ways To Redeem Citi ThankYou Points
If you're looking for the best way to use Citi ThankYou Points, you're in luck. We'll walk through several of the best ways to redeem Citi ThankYou Points, many of which involve the Citi ThankYou transfer partners.
Airline transfers
In all likelihood, the most valuable way to redeem your points is by transferring them to one of Citi's airline partners. Doing so allows you to take advantage of a generous airline award chart, rather than paying the full cash price for your tickets. Let's look at some of the best value you can get with Citi's 14 airline partners.
Turkish Airlines for domestic awards on United
Turkish Airlines is a member of the major airline alliance Star Alliance, which means Turkish Airlines miles can be used for redemptions with partners such as Singapore Airlines, United Airlines, Air Canada, Lufthansa, and more. However, Turkish miles can't be redeemed for other alliance programs such as Delta Air Lines or Air France-KLM since these are a member of SkyTeam.
Related: Beginner's Guide to Airline Alliances & Partnerships
Despite a recent devaluation, Turkish Airlines still offers a lucrative region-based award chart — which can be especially useful for booking domestic United tickets. All domestic U.S. award flights cost 10,000 miles one-way in economy or 15,000 in domestic first class.
The killer part is that Turkish considers Alaska and Hawaii as domestic destinations. So, tickets all the way to the Aloha State from the East Coast still cost just 10,000 miles in economy.
Compare this to what United will charge you, and you can see how much cheaper booking with Turkish Airlines can be.
Cash prices aren't terribly high in this particular example. But the value you get per mile booking via Turkish rather than United is much, much higher. Note that you must find Saver United space in order to book a Turkish award. And even then, Turkish doesn't seem to have access to everything United displays as Saver.
Avianca LifeMiles for low fees on expensive awards
With many Star Alliance partners, you'll want to be wary of any fuel surcharges that are tacked onto an award ticket. In this case, airline transfer partners like Avianca LifeMiles are key to saving money.
As an example, Avianca LifeMiles will charge you 69,000 miles and $7.80 for a one-way business class flight with Lufthansa to Europe. Or you can book economy for 35,000 LifeMiles, which is fewer than what United typically charges you.
In contrast, booking that same business-class flight with Turkish will cost you 90,000 miles plus $1,027.80. Turkish both charges more miles and passes along those fees while Avianca does not. All of a sudden miles don't exactly equate to a free trip.
Knowing the best currency to use for a given award can help you stretch your points. Using LifeMiles for premium cabins is one of the best ways to use Citi ThankYou points. Just be aware of their draconian award change and cancellation fees.
Qatar Avios for Qsuite awards to Doha or beyond
Qatar Airways recently joined the Avios loyalty program, along with airlines like British Airways, Iberia, and Aer Lingus. As part of this transition, Qatar altered its award chart for many different destinations. This has resulted in top-tier redemptions on its own Qsuite business class, among other options.
Travelers flying from the United States to Doha (DOH) will pay just 70,000 Avios one-way for a flight in business class, which matches the lowest price you'll find for this routing. Economy costs 35,000 one-way with plenty of availability.
Another great thing about Qatar being a member of the Avios program is that its Avios can be transferred seamlessly to British Airways, Iberia, Aer Lingus, or Finnair. This makes Qatar Privilege Club one of the most versatile Citi transfer partners available.
Air France-KLM Flying Blue for flights to Europe
Flying Blue offers some of the cheapest awards to Europe. Thanks to a late-2023 change, award flights between the U.S. and Europe start at 20,000 Flying Blue miles in economy or 50,000 miles in business class — regardless of route. However, you may have to be flexible with your dates to get this low rate. Use the Flying Blue flexible date calendar to find the cheapest dates.
Even better, take advantage of Flying Blue Promo Rewards to save up to 50% off award flights (although 25% discounts have been more common recently).
You may also be able to catch a transfer bonus for moving your Citi ThankYou points to Flying Blue that will bring the cost down even further.
Related: Avoid Delta's High Partner Award Rates by Booking With SkyTeam Partner Airlines
Virgin Atlantic Flying Club for ANA premium cabin flights
Virgin hasn't always been a member of SkyTeam. Before joining the alliance, it cultivated partnerships with a number of different airlines, which it still maintains to this day. One of the key options is All Nippon Airways (ANA), whose first- and business-class seats are among the best ways to use your Citi ThankYou points.
Virgin has a generous award chart when it comes to ANA flights. Round-trip pricing is as follows (with one-way awards available at half the cost):
| Route | Economy Class Mileage Requirement | Business Class Mileage Requirement | First Class Mileage Requirement |
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic Japan | 15,000 | - | - |
| Japan–South Korea | 18,000 | 35,000 | 50,000 |
| Japan–China/Guam/Hong Kong/Philippines/Taiwan | 23,000 | 45,000 | 60,000 |
| Japan–Malaysia/Myanmar/Singapore/Thailand/Vietnam | 40,000 | 70,000 | 105,000 |
| Japan–Hawaii/India/Indonesia | 45,000 | 75,000 | 115,000 |
| Japan–Australia/Canada/Western USA | 60,000 | 105,000 | 145,000 |
| Japan–Europe/Central and Eastern USA | 65,000 | 120,000 | 170,000 |
Notably, you can see that you'll pay just 52,500 Virgin points for a one-way ticket in business class between the U.S. West Coast and Japan. This is one way to get the most value from your Citi points.
A quick look at the price for these flights shows that you can expect to pay more than $4,200 dollars for this flight. This means you'll be netting a stellar 8 cents per point in value, making this one of the best ways to redeem your Citi ThankYou Points for maximum value.
Hotel transfers
Citi also has five hotel partners, but only two of which can provide some really solid redemptions.
Choice Privileges for low-cost hotels
Citi's transfer partners for hotels include Choice Privileges, one of our favorite places to transfer ThankYou Points. Why? Because if you have either a Citi Strata Premier or a Citi Prestige® Card, you'll be able to transfer your Citi points over to Choice at a 1:2 ratio, which means one Citi point becomes two Choice points.
Not only is this double the amount you'll get with other credit card rewards — such as Capital One miles and Amex Membership Rewards points — but Choice bookings can be incredibly valuable. Other Citi cards that earn ThankYou Points can transfer to Choice Privileges at a 1:1.5 ratio.
This is thanks to the program's relatively low overall cost, plus the fact that you won't pay extra for booking a suite or including more than two guests on your reservation. Notably, Choice has access to all-inclusive resorts where this can provide incredible value.
Wyndham for vacation rentals
Wish you could transfer Citi points to book a vacation rental, a la Airbnb? You're in luck, because although the home-sharing giant doesn't allow you to redeem Citi points for vacation rental bookings, transfer partner Wyndham does.
Thanks to a partnership with Vacasa, Wyndham points can be redeemed for entire home vacation rentals at a rate of 15,000 points per bedroom, per night. There is a cap on the price of the rental you can cover with points, however. The value of your redemption must be no more than $250 per bedroom per night, inclusive of taxes and fees. While not as good as it used to be, it is still a solid 1.67 cents per point.
Even better, you can score Wyndham Vacation Club condo redemptions from 7,500 Wyndham Rewards points.
Cash back and statement credits
If you don't want to fuss with transfer partners, you can choose to redeem your Citi points for statement credits or cash back. This gives you a redemption rate of 1 cent per point.
We don't generally recommend this unless you have a huge stockpile of points and the ability to earn many more. Although it's simple, it means you lose out on a great deal of potential value for your points. All of the examples above will get you far more from your points than cashing them out.
However, if your dates are fixed and there aren't any award redemptions available, redeeming your points in this way may be the only way to ensure your expenses are covered. Just know that it's not the best.
Travel bookings through the Citi Travel Portal
Citi's ThankYou Points site also includes a travel portal, from which you can book hotels, flights, car rentals, attractions, and more.
It's possible to redeem Citi ThankYou Points for 1 cent each through the travel portal, but that's not necessarily a good idea. There are a few reasons why:
- Booking through the travel portal generally nets you less value than transferring to partners.
- Using a third-party site to book travel can often mean you lose out on elite status benefits and credits at hotels.
- If your plans change, it becomes much more difficult to negotiate with the travel portal rather than the hotel or airline directly.
If you're looking to book a cheap flight or stay using your Citi points, it could be better to book the flight outright. That way you'll earn points on the purchase, get travel protections, and you can still redeem your Citi ThankYou Points for a statement credit to offset the cost at the same 1-cent-per-point rate.
Best Tips To Maximize Your Citi ThankYou Points
Transfer partners and sweet spots
Above, we've outlined some of the best transfer partner bookings for using your Citi points. However, Citi has plenty of other partners that we haven't talked about. Below we lay out all of them, including their points transfer times and any ongoing transfer bonuses.
Not all of these are going to provide the same value, but even transferring to some of the worst partners can net you a better redemption rate than using your points for cash back, a direct deposit, or a credit on your monthly statement.
The best practice is to do your research before transferring any points. Research the booking options every time you want to travel. For example, if you'd like to fly from Chicago to Singapore, you can search for the best options using an award search tool such as Point.Me or PointsYeah.
Related: Point.Me, Roame.Travel, PointsYeah: Which Flight Award Availability Search Tool Is Best?
Combining points from multiple Citi cards
Not all card issuers will allow you to combine points from one card to another. Happily, Citi does. This means that if you have a friend, a significant other, or a family member with a Citi card, you can pool your points together to help score a redemption.
Aside from this, you can grab cards such as the Citi Double Cash® Card, which normally earns 2% cash on everything (earned as 1% when you buy plus 1% as you pay), and pair it with a card that'll earn ThankYou Points, such as the Citi Strata Premier. This turns your cash-back card into a rewards card with transferable points by combining the earnings.
The same is true of the Citi Custom Cash® Card, which will earn you 5% back in your top eligible spend category each month (up to $500 of spending, then 1% back). When paired with a ThankYou-earning card, you'll be able to earn Citi ThankYou Points instead.
Related: A Rewards Card Combo for Citi ThankYou Points
Keeping track of transfer times
If you're looking to book a flight award or hotel stay and need to transfer your points to do so, you'll want to be aware that some points take time to transfer. See the chart above, or keep track of transfer times via AwardWallet. This lets you know when your points will arrive so you don't have to miss out on your booking.
Need to know exactly when your points hit your account? Use AwardWallet's Balance Watch tool to alert you as soon as your transferred points post.
Potential Pitfalls To Avoid
If you don't know a lot about points, it can be easy to accidentally redeem them at a low value or even let them expire. Here are a couple things to avoid to make sure you get the best use of Citi ThankYou points.
Beware of expiration after sharing points
Although you're allowed to transfer Citi ThankYou Points from one account to another, the offer does come with strings attached. Any points that you receive from another account will expire 90 days after you get them. You'll want to redeem or transfer them out as quickly as possible.
Aside from this, your Citi ThankYou points don't expire as long as you have an open credit card account attached to the ThankYou points.
Related: When Do Citi ThankYou Points Expire?
Shopping with points
Redeeming points is also possible when shopping, though this should be avoided at all costs.
Sure, you can pay with Citi points on Amazon purchases and shop with your points at gas stations, Dollar General, Walgreens, or Walmart. However, these will give you a terrible value for your rewards. We're talking “less than a cent per point” kind of value, so do yourself a favor and skip these.
Bottom Line
There's no denying that earning Citi ThankYou Points can be an incredibly valuable tool when it comes to travel. This is especially true when you consider the broad range of airline and hotel transfer partners available — many of which have great sweet spots to book.
That being said, before you start redeeming your hard-earned rewards, research to determine the best uses for your situation. There's nothing worse than transferring all your points to a single partner only to realize that it doesn't have the flights you need or that this program charges twice as much as some other program.
Related: Citi ThankYou Points: Complete Guide
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