Citi ThankYou Rewards Program: Everything You Need to Know

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All information about the Citi Double Cash® Card, AT&T Points Plus Card and the Citi Strata℠ Card,  has been collected by 10xTravel.com and has not been reviewed or provided by the issuer or provider of this product or service.

The Citi ThankYou Rewards program isn’t typically the first credit card rewards program on people’s minds. However, it offers some great sweet spots that aren’t covered by other credit card issuers.

Even for Chase and American Express loyalists, adding a Citi card to your wallet can help you make sure that you’re earning the maximum number of points on all your spending and finding the best redemptions out there.

Citi issues several credit cards, some of which earn ThankYou Points, and others of which earn rewards with Citi’s partners, such as American Airlines.

Let’s run through everything you need to know about Citi ThankYou Rewards so you can decide if adding a Citi card to your wallet is the right move.

Citi ThankYou Rewards Program Overview

While Citi ThankYou Rewards doesn’t have as many diehard-loyalists as other programs, there’s still a lot to love about it.

There’s a wide range of Citi cards that earn ThankYou Points, including the following:

• AT&T Points Plus Card ($0 annual fee)
• Citi Double Cash^® Card ($0 annual fee)
• Citi Prestige^® Card ($495 annual fee) (no longer open to new applicants)
• Citi Rewards+^® Card ($0 annual fee) (no longer open to new applicants)
• Citi Rewards+^® Student Card ($0 annual fee) (no longer open to new applicants)
• Citi Strata Elite℠ Card ($595 annual fee)
• Citi Strata Premier^® Card ($95 annual fee)
• Citi Strata℠ Card ($0 annual fee)

Cards like the Custom Cash, Double Cash, Strata and AT&T Points Plus Card allow you to earn Citi ThankYou points without paying an annual fee. Other cards, such as the Strata Elite, Strata Premier and the discontinued Citi Prestige Card, offer a wider array of benefits and stronger earning rates, for varying annual fees.

However, the key benefit of holding an annual fee-incurring Citi card is the ability to transfer your ThankYou points to Citi’s hotel and airline partners at the best rates.

Previously, access to Citi’s full list of transfer partners was restricted to its premium cards. Now, all Citi ThankYou points-earning cards offer access to Citi’s transfer partners, but with suboptimal transfer ratios for the $0 annual fee cards.

Here’s an overview of Citi’s hotel and airline transfer partners, and the transfer ratios you’ll have access to depending on the card you hold.

As you can see, it pays to have a premium card with Citi. You’ll benefit from the best transfer rates, giving you lucrative redemption opportunities.

One of the best strategies to pursue when earning ThankYou points is the Citi Trifecta, whereby you hold the Citi Strata Premier, Citi Double Cash and Citi Custom Cash.

This strategy allows you to maximize the return on your spending across multiple bonus categories, benefit from a baseline rewards rate of 2% and access Citi’s full list of transfer partners at the best rates, all while paying $95 in cumulative annual fees.

Card-To-Card Point Transfers

Citi ThankYou Points earned on different cards can be pooled into one account and redeemed together. This elevates the value proposition of Citi’s $0 annual fee cards when they’re combined with a premium card, just like in the Citi Trifecta strategy.

For instance, if you earned 10,000 points on the Citi Double Cash Card (which technically earns cashback in the form of ThankYou Points). With that card alone, you’d be able to transfer your points to Citi’s partners at rates of 1:0.7 or less—a suboptimal use of your hard-earned rewards.

However, if you also held the Citi Premier Card, the Citi Prestige Card or the Strata Elite, you could pool those 10,000 points into one of the aforementioned card accounts and then transfer them to any of Citi’s transfer partners at 1:1 rates or even higher.

By pooling your points and transferring them from an annual fee-incurring Citi card account to one of Citi’s airline or hotel partners, you can get far greater value out of your points than you would when redeeming them through Citi Travel or when transferring them from cards with $0 annual fees at lower ratios.

You can pool ThankYou Points from multiple cards in the same account by calling 1-800-842-6596 or online.

To combine points online, you should:

1. Log in to your Citi account and select the “Points Summary” tab from the drop-down menu
2. Select the “Combine My Accounts” option on the left side of the screen
3. Select which two accounts you want to transfer the points to, in which direction you want to transfer them and how many points you want to transfer

How to Earn Citi ThankYou Points

The only way to earn Citi ThankYou Points is to sign up for a ThankYou Points-earning credit card.

Once you have one of these cards, you can earn ThankYou Points from welcome offers and bonus spending categories. While you also can purchase Citi ThankYou Points, they’re typically sold for far more than they’re worth.

Let’s now take a look at each of Citi’s ThankYou Point-earning cards. Keep in mind that Citi’s cashback cards earn cash back in the form of ThankYou Points, which can be redeemed either as cash back or transferred to Citi’s partners at lower rates.

AT&T Points Plus℠ Card from Citi

Despite being an AT&T co-branded card, the AT&T Points Plus Card from Citi earns ThankYou Points.

The card offers generous spending bonuses on gas and groceries, and even issues statement credits to eligible cardholders who spend a certain amount of money per billing cycle, all for a $0 annual fee.

Here are the bonus spending categories offered by the AT&T Points Plus Card:

• 3X points at gas and EV charging stations
• 2X points at grocery stores, and on AT&T products and services.
• 1X points on everything else

If a large portion of your spending is at gas and EV charging stations, this card may be worth it. Otherwise, consider that the Double Cash Card effectively earns 2X points on all purchases, making it the superior option.

However, the AT&T Points Plus Card also offers up to $20 per billing cycle in statement credits toward your AT&T wireless bill, for cardholders who spend $1,000 or more in that billing cycle. This means that you could earn up to $240 in statement credits per year, which is a solid deal for a $0 annual fee card.

The AT&T Points Plus® Card also offers a $20 statement credit each billing cycle when you spend $1,000 or more on qualifying purchases during that billing cycle. That works out to as much as $240 in statement credits per year if you meet the spending requirement during each applicable billing cycle.

Eligible AT&T customers may also qualify for separate discounts on their wireless and/or internet bills when enrolled in AutoPay and paperless billing, subject to AT&T’s eligibility and payment requirements. These AT&T discounts are separate from the card’s $20 statement credit benefit.

To earn the full $240 in annual statement credits, you would need to spend at least $1,000 in qualifying purchases during each billing cycle. While that benefit can add meaningful value to a $0 annual fee card, it’s worth considering whether putting that level of spending on the AT&T Points Plus® Card makes sense based on your spending habits and the rewards you could earn with another card.

Citi Custom Cash® Card

The Citi Custom Cash Card is marketed as a cashback card, but it earns ThankYou Points.

Points earned with the Custom Cash card can be redeemed for cash back, online shopping purchases or transferred to any of Citi’s transfer partners.

When paired with the Prestige, Strata Elite or Strata Premier, you can pool your Custom Cash Card earnings and then transfer them to Citi’s transfer partners at better rates (including AAdvantage).

The Citi Custom Cash Card offers the following bonus spending categories:

• 5X points on up to $500 per billing cycle on whichever of the following categories you spend the most in each billing cycle:
  • Drug stores
  • Fitness clubs
  • Gas stations
  • Grocery stores
  • Home improvement stores
  • Live entertainment
  • Restaurants
  • Select transit
  • Select travel
  • Streaming services
• 4X points on hotels, car rentals and attractions booked through Citi Travel
• 1X points on all other purchases

You can earn up to 2,500 points every billing cycle by maximizing the Custom Cash Card’s 5X category. And unlike other cards that offer flexible spending bonuses, you don’t need to activate each category—instead, the 5X points multiplier is applied automatically.

That said, the cap of $500 is a significant disadvantage for those who spend far more in these categories each billing cycle. By comparison, the U.S. Bank Cash+® Visa Signature® Card is a $0 annual fee card that earns 5% cash back in two categories that you choose at the beginning of each quarter on up to $2,000 in spending.

Citi Double Cash ®Card

Like the Custom Cash Card, the Citi Double Cash Card earns its rewards in the form of ThankYou Points, despite being marketed as a cashback card.

The Double Cash Card offers 2X points on all purchases: 1X when you make the purchase and 1X when you pay off the balance. For this reason, this is a great card to pair with the Strata Premier Card, which earns a baseline of 1X points on non-bonus purchases.

If you have both cards in your wallet, you can use the Citi Double Cash Card for all purchases that don’t activate an elevated earning rate with the Strata Premier Card. Then, you can combine your points and access all of Citi’s transfer partners at optimum transfer rates.

Citi Prestige Card

Unfortunately, the Citi Prestige Card is no longer available to new applicants, and you can’t get your hands on it by product switching from another Citi card.

However, we’re still going to cover this card’s details because there are many Prestige cardholders out there who could benefit from understanding their card’s benefits even better.

The Citi Prestige Card offers the following benefits:

• 5X points on purchases from airlines, travel agencies and restaurants (including cafes, bars, lounges and fast food restaurants)
• 3X points on hotels and cruise lines
• 1X points on everything else

The Citi Prestige Card’s spending bonuses are certainly impressive (particularly, the 5X points in travel categories as well as on dining). However, the card also offers some incredible benefits that you should take full advantage of if you have it in your wallet.

First off, the fourth night free benefit of the Prestige Card is certainly one of the most valuable perks that this card offers. Any time that you book a hotel stay through Citi Travel using your Prestige Card, Citi will pay for the cost of the fourth night, excluding taxes and fees. You can use this perk twice per calendar year.

The Prestige Card also offers $250 in statement credits toward travel purchases per calendar year, and these credits can be applied to travel purchases regardless of how you booked.

Like other cards of its kind, the Citi Prestige Card offers a statement credit every four years toward the application fee for either Global Entry or TSA PreCheck®.

You’ll also get a complimentary membership to Priority Pass Select, which allows you to access more than 1,300 airport lounges worldwide free of charge for you and up to two guests.

Finally, this card includes other benefits, including cell phone protection up to $1,000 per claim, extended warranty, purchase protection and no foreign transaction fees.

Citi Strata℠ Card

The Citi Strata Card offers solid bonus spending categories for a $0 annual fee. You’ll be able to maximize your return on several everyday spending categories.

You’ll enjoy access to the following rates:

• 5X points per dollar spent on hotels, car rentals and attractions booked through CitiTravel.com
• 3X points per dollar spent at supermarkets, gas and EV charging stations and on select transit purchases
• 3X points in one self-select category, including:
  • Fitness clubs
  • Select streaming services
  • Live entertainment
  • Cosmetic stores, barber shops and Hair Salons
  • Pet supply stores
• 2X points per dollar spent at restaurants
• 1X points per dollar spent on all other purchases

This makes the Citi Strata a solid $0 annual fee card that can work as a great complement to the Double Cash Card or Strata Premier Card.

Citi Strata Premier® Card

The Citi Strata Premier Card offers the biggest bang for your buck while keeping annual fees on the lower end, coming in at $95 per year.

This card is one of the best earners for everyday spending, covering a wide range of different categories. Additionally, the Strata Premier Card comes with some valuable benefits that can offset the annual fee instantly.

Here are the bonus spending categories offered by the Citi Strata Premier Card:

• 10X points on hotels, car rentals and attractions booked through the Citi Travel portal
• 3X points on airfare, hotels, gas and EV charging stations, supermarkets and restaurants
• 1X points on all other purchases

On top of that, the Strata Premier Card offers some great benefits that sweeten the deal even more. For one, you’re entitled to $100 off a single-stay hotel booking of $500 or more (excluding taxes and fees) made through Citi Travel once per calendar year, applied automatically at booking.

This credit doesn’t do much for you if you never book hotel stays that exceed $500. However, if you can make the most of this credit, you’ll offset the card’s annual fee from the get-go.

The Premier Card also offers several other benefits, including extended warranty, damage and theft protection of up to $10,000 per claim and no foreign transaction fees.

Citi Strata Elite℠ Card

The Citi Strata Elite Card is Citi’s luxury travel rewards card that offers a litany of benefits for an annual fee of $595.

It offers the following bonus spending categories:

• 12X points per dollar spent on hotels, car rentals and attractions booked through CitiTravel.com
• 6X points per dollar spent on air travel booked through CitiTravel.com
• 6X points per dollar spent at restaurants and on restaurant delivery services on purchases made on Friday 6 p.m. through Saturday 6 a.m. (Eastern Time) and on Saturday, 6 p.m. through Sunday, 6 a.m. (Eastern Time)
• 3X points per dollar spent at restaurants, including on restaurant delivery services, during all other hours.
• 1.5X points per dollar spent on all other purchases

In addition to these bonus spending categories, the Strata Elite also comes with numerous benefits worth over $1,500 per year, including the following:

• Statement credit every four years toward a Global Entry or TSA PreCheck application fee
• Complimentary Priority Pass™ Select membership
• Four annual American Airlines Admirals Club® access passes
• Up to $200 annual Blacklane® credit (issued in semi-annual $100 credits)
• Up to $200 annual splurge credit (for spending with eligible merchants)
• Up to $300 on annual hotel bookings of two nights or more booked through CitiTravel.com
• Access to The Reserve by Citi Travel (exclusive hotels with premium on-site perks)

If you can maximize these perks and statement credits, you can easily justify the card’s high annual fee.

That said, the Strata Elite lacks a significant edge over its competitors, such as American Express Platinum Card® or the Chase Sapphire Reserve®. So, unless you know that you’ll be able to maximize its perks, you’re likely better off sticking to the Citi Strata Premier Card.

Refer a Friend

Citi also occasionally offers referral bonuses to some of its cardmembers. You’ll be offered a certain number of points for referring a friend to sign up and be approved for one of Citi’s credit cards. Once your is approved for the card using your referral link, the bonus points will be deposited in your account.

These are targeted offers that are available to certain cardholders only. So, if you’re eligible to earn a referral bonus, it will appear in your email or when you log in to your Citi account online.

How to Redeem Citi ThankYou Points

There are many different ways to redeem Citi ThankYou Points, most of which offer a flat-rate redemption value of 1 cent per point. However, by transferring your ThankYou Points to one of Citi’s hotel or airline partners, it’s possible to find redemptions that offer far more than 1 cent per point in value.

Here’s a rundown of all the ways you can redeem your ThankYou Points.

Redeem for Gift Cards

One way to redeem your ThankYou Points is to purchase gift cards through the Citi ThankYou portal. Redeeming your points this way yields a value of 1 cent per point regardless of which merchant you choose to redeem with, and you can purchase gift cards for $25, $50 or $100 (which cost 2,500 points, 5,000 points and 10,000 points, respectively).

Citi allows you to purchase gift cards from a long list of different merchants, including well-known brands like Apple, CVS Pharmacy, Dave & Buster’s, Kmart, Staples, Starbucks, Target, Under Armour and many more.

However, since the cashback rate is also 1 cent per point and you can get a statement credit toward any purchase, we don’t recommend redeeming your points for gift cards.

Citi Travel

Like most other credit card rewards programs, Citi has its own travel portal through which you can book flights, hotels, car rentals and experiences through nearly every major travel company.

You can redeem your ThankYou Points at a flat redemption rate of 1 cent per point through Citi Travel. Of course, you can get more value for your points by transferring them to one of Citi’s transfer partners. However, if you need to book multiple travel components (such as a hotel, flight and rental car) for the same trip, the Citi Travel portal allows you to book all of those in the same place using the same rewards currency.

It’s also worth noting that when you book properties belonging to the Hotel Collection and The Reserve through Citi Travel, you’ll receive daily breakfast for two and complimentary Wi-Fi as guaranteed perks.

Only Citi Premier, Citi Strata Elite and Citi Prestige cardholders can make bookings with The Reserve, which come with a $100 on-property credit for experiences as well as complimentary breakfast and Wi-Fi. Both of these programs offer additional perks when available, including early check-in, late checkout and room upgrades.

Also, if you have the Citi Premier Card, you’re entitled to $100 off a hotel stay of $500 or more, available once per year. If you have the Citi Prestige, you’re entitled to the fourth night free benefit (meaning that Citi will pay for one of your nights, excluding taxes and fees, if you make a hotel booking of four nights or more) twice per year.

However, both of these are available only when you use your card to book through the Citi Travel portal. So, if you hold either of those cards, you’ll want to make sure to book accommodations through Citi Travel enough times to take full advantage of your benefits.

Redeem for Cash

Citi allows cardholders to redeem their ThankYou Points for cash at a rate of 1 cent per point. If you choose this redemption method, you’ll have three different options for receiving your cash. You can either apply your ThankYou Points to your credit card balance and receive a statement credit, receive a check for cash in the mail or receive a direct deposit to your bank account.

Regardless of which of these methods you use, you’ll always get 1 cent per point in value. There’s no minimum redemption amount when redeeming for statement credits (whereas there’s a minimum redemption amount of $5 for checks), and redeeming for statement credits takes just a matter of seconds.

If you don’t want to bother with Citi’s travel partners, we recommend redeeming your ThankYou Points for cash. There’s no real reason to redeem for gift cards at a rate of 1 cent per point when you can just redeem for cash at the same rate and then spend that cash wherever you want.

However, if you’re willing to transfer your points to one of Citi’s partners, you can get far more value than 1 cent per point.

Donate to Charity

Citi gives cardholders the option to donate their ThankYou Points to charitable organizations in increments of 1,000 points. Currently, you can donate to:

• American Red Cross Disaster Relief
• American Red Cross International Services
• ASPCA
• Network For Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE)
• No Kid Hungry
• Smile Train
• Susan G. Komen
• UNICEF USA
• World Central Kitchen

When used this way, ThankYou Points are worth 1 cent each. Although this isn’t the best way to maximize the value of your points, it’s a great way to use your ThankYou Points to benefit the less fortunate.

Redeeming Through Transfer Partners

If you want to get the most value out of your Citi ThankYou Points, the best way to do so is to transfer them to one of Citi’s transfer partners.

To start this process, you’ll need to go to the Citi ThankYou website and look for the “More Ways to Redeem” drop-down menu near the top of the homepage and select the “Points Transfer” option from that menu. From there, you’ll be brought to a new page where you can see all of your transfer partner options and their respective transfer ratios.

However, as previously mentioned, not all of these transfer partners offer a 1:1 transfer ratio, and some partners offer different transfer ratios depending on which credit cards you hold. On top of that, some of these rewards programs offer far higher-value redemptions on average than others. So, it’s important to be familiar with the Citi transfer partners that offer the most value and know which ones you should probably avoid.

It’s important to note that you can transfer Citi ThankYou Points only in increments of 1,000, and it can take up to 14 days for transfers to process (transfer times vary by partner; some may be immediate but others can take longer). So, if you’re planning to use your points to book an upcoming trip through a transfer partner, you’ll want to do so at least two weeks in advance to make sure you have enough time for the transfer to process.

Poor Transfer Options

EVA Air Infinity MileageLands is one transfer partner that you probably want to avoid. This program can be difficult to understand at times, and the minimal value you can get from redemptions through this program often isn’t worth the hassle.

EVA Air is a member of Star Alliance, and you can get some solid value out of booking intra-region flights on Star Alliance partners with up to two stopovers, up to six segments and one open-jaw. However, Avianca is also a transfer partner of Citi and a Star Alliance member, and you’re almost always better off transferring your points to Avianca than EVA Air.

Redeeming your ThankYou Points through JetBlue TrueBlue usually doesn’t provide the most value, either. This is because the TrueBlue program uses a dynamic pricing model, meaning that its award prices are tied closely to cash prices.

You’re also probably better off avoiding Thai Airways Royal Orchid Plus as a transfer partner unless you’re looking for intra-region flights leaving from or arriving in Bangkok. This program still uses fixed award charts, so you may be able to find a few high-value awards here and there, but these award charts can be fairly complicated and you’re probably better off just going with a different transfer partner.

In the world of hotels, Accor Live Limitless (ALL) and Leaders Club are two transfer partners that you’re going to want to avoid, due to their poor transfer ratios.

Average Transfer Options

While Aeroméxico Rewards technically publishes an award chart, in reality, the program uses a dynamic pricing model that’s tied to cash prices. When you go to search for an award flight, it’s not uncommon to find prices that are much different than those displayed on their published award charts. Despite this, you can still find some award flights from Aeroméxico that offer solid value. Plus, this airline operates several popular routes from the U.S. to Mexico.

In terms of finding high value per point on base fares, Air France-KLM Flying Blue is a great program. Plus, this program offers monthly Promo Rewards that are definitely worth paying attention to, as they can offer discounts as high as 50%. However, Flying Blue is an “average” transfer partner because it prices its award fares dynamically and often levies high fuel surcharges on certain routes.

If you want to use your ThankYou Points to book hotel stays, you may want to consider transferring your points to either Choice Privileges or Wyndham Rewards. If you’re a Citi Premier, Strata Elite or Prestige cardholder, your ThankYou Points will transfer to Choice Privileges at a 1:2 ratio and to Wyndham at a 1:1 ratio, making it easy to get solid value out of both programs.

Using rewards to book first-class tickets is one of the most affordable ways to experience luxury. Cathay Pacific offers one of the best first-class products in the airline industry and is part of the Oneworld alliance, meaning you can use this program to purchase award flights on several other airlines.

The Qantas Frequent Flyer program uses multiple distance-based award charts, and you’ll need to find the specific award chart for the airline you plan to book an award ticket with. Still, you can score solid redemptions through Qantas for flights operated by both Qantas and its Oneworld alliance partners.

Qatar Airways Privilege Club is the only Avios-using program to partner with Citi ThankYou Rewards. So, if you have a Citi card and you want to convert your ThankYou Points to Avios (a currency shared by Qatar Airways, British Airways, Aer Lingus and Iberia), then this program is your in.

Although Qatar Airways Privilege Club itself doesn’t offer a ton of value as a rewards program, you can combine Avios across the four aforementioned programs and take advantage of the sweet spots in all of them.

Good Transfer Options

Avianca LifeMiles is one of the most popular programs for booking award tickets on Star Alliance member airlines. Both Air Canada and United Airlines are members of Star Alliance, which makes this particularly relevant to North America-based travelers.

Avianca also allows you to book mixed-cabin tickets (meaning you can book one segment of your trip in economy class and another segment in business class) and is known to have low taxes and fees.

Avianca LifeMiles also doesn’t pass on carrier surcharges on partner awards. You can often find great value when redeeming for Lufthansa business class or first class (one of the best first-class products in the industry) tickets through LifeMiles.

If you’re interested in flying from North America to Southeast Asia, Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer is a fantastic use of your Citi ThankYou Points. This program consistently offers premium-cabin award flights from the U.S. to Singapore at excellent rates. If you’re flexible with your travel plans, KrisFlyer usually offers discounts on certain routes each month through its Spontaneous Escapes program.

Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles also offers the opportunity to find some worthwhile sweet spots, particularly when flying Star Alliance partner-operated flights.

Miles&Smiles uses region-based award charts, which means that you can often find excellent deals on longer flights that are within the same region. However, you should look out for fuel surcharges as they can be high depending on the partner airline you’re booking.

American Airlines is another solid transfer partner of Citi. It offers great opportunities for sweet spot redemptions with partner Oneworld airlines, including Qatar QSuites business class fares.

Virgin Atlantic is one of the best programs to which you can transfer ThankYou Points. In particular, this is a great program for booking Delta and Virgin-operated flights between the U.S. and Europe for incredibly low rates.

You can find these flights for as few as 6,000 points each way in economy class, which means that you can probably travel to and from Europe just by earning the sign-up bonus on a Citi credit card. You can also find some great deals on ANA-operated flights between the U.S. and Japan through Virgin Atlantic Flying Club.

Transfer Bonuses

From time to time, Citi will offer bonuses for transferring your ThankYou Points to select partners. Taking advantage of these transfer bonuses is a great way to get even more value out of your Citi ThankYou Points, so you should definitely keep an eye out for them.

If you’re a Citi cardholder, you’ll most likely receive an email about any current or upcoming transfer bonuses. You can also find current transfer bonuses next to the name of the transfer partner on the “Points Transfer” page (which can be found on the “More Ways to Redeem” drop-down menu in the Citi ThankYou Rewards portal.

We advise you to transfer points to a program only if you have a specific redemption in mind, whether or not there’s an active transfer bonus. Transferring ThankYou Points to a program that you rarely utilize may not be worthwhile.

The Bottom Line

The Citi ThankYou Rewards program is often overlooked by points and miles enthusiasts in favor of more popular programs. However, this program has some great sweet spots in terms of transfer partners and some excellent credit cards that may complement the cards you already have in your wallet.

So whether you’re looking for your first credit card or you’re a seasoned enthusiast trying to earn the best rewards in every spending category, adding a Citi card (or two) to your collection could help maximize your rewards and unlock free travel.