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Who doesn't like additional transfer partners? We're big fans of having many options for how to use our points and miles, and you can now transfer Citi ThankYou Points to Accor Live Limitless for hotel stays. However, this new Citi transfer partner might not be the best use of your points.
Here's what you need to know about this new ThankYou Points transfer partner.
Transfer Citi ThankYou Points to Accor Live Limitless
If you log into your Citi ThankYou portal, you might notice a new option to transfer points to Accor Live Limitless (ALL). Accor encompasses more than 5,400 hotels in 110 countries across more than 40 hotel brands. These include Fairmont, Ibis, Novotel, Raffles, Swissôtel, and more.
With the addition of Accor, Citi now has 18 transfer partners. Accor is the third hotel transfer partner for Citi, joining Choice Privileges and Wyndham Rewards. Accor is a 2:1 transfer partner.
Thus, if you transfer 10,000 Citi ThankYou Points, you'll receive 5,000 Accor points.
To make a transfer, log into your Citi account and head to the points transfer page. After clicking on Accor, you'll choose how many points to transfer and then provide your ALL member number.
Keep in mind that you'll need to have either a Citi Premier® Card or Citi Prestige® Card (no longer available to new cardholders) to transfer Citi ThankYou Points to Accor Live Limitless.
- 60,000 point signup bonus worth $800 towards airfare through the ThankYou Travel Center, or potentially much more when transferred to airline partners
- 3X points per $1 on airfare and hotels and at gas stations, restaurants, and supermarkets
- Annual Hotel Benefit: Save $100 off a single hotel stay of $500 or more (excluding taxes and fees) when you book through ThankYou.com
- No foreign transaction fees
- $95 annual fee
- 3X points per $1 spent on airfare, hotels, and at gas stations
- 3X points per $1 spent on dining at restaurants, including cafes, bars and lounges
- 3X points per $1 spent at supermarkets
- 1X points per $1 spent on all other purchases
Should You Transfer Citi Points to Accor?
Accor Live Limitless is an interesting rewards program. You don't redeem X amount of points for a stay or use hotel categories like other rewards programs. Instead, 2,000 Accor points are always worth 40 euros. You redeem the number of points required to pay the cash rate for the hotel room you want.
The positive here is that you never have to guess how much your points are worth or worry about award availability. The negative aspect is that you won't get more than 2.1¢-2.2¢ in value per point — depending on the exchange rate from euros to dollars.
Given the 2:1 transfer ratio, you'll need 4,000 Citi points to wipe 40 euros off your hotel bill.
AwardWallet booking data points show that AwardWallet users typically get 2.2¢ per point. That would make 4,000 Citi points worth ~$86 if used with other partners rather than ~$43.50 if used with Accor. That means Accor won't be Citi's most valuable transfer partner.
That said, we've seen other transfer partners start with 2:1 transfer ratios and later improve to 1:1 transfers. Could that happen with Accor? Only time will tell. Also, we don't know yet how long these transfers will take, but you can keep an eye on the AwardWallet transfer times page for data points from other travelers.
Our Take
Having more options for using your points is great news. Even if the transfer partner isn't especially valuable (e.g., using your Citi ThankYou Points with Accor), it's good to have choices. If your next destination lacks other hotel redemption possibilities or you're fixed on a certain property in the Accor portfolio, you'll be happy to know you now can use your Citi points on these stays.
What do you make of this new transfer partner? Do you plan to transfer Citi points to Accor?
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