Citi ThankYou Rewards Program: Everything You Need to Know

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 if you’re a Chase or an American Express loyalist, 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 a large range of credit cards (including American Airlines and Costco co-branded cards), but not all Citi-issued cards earn ThankYou Points. Several Citi cards with annual fees ranging from $0 to $95 currently earn ThankYou Points. Additionally, several cards that are marketed as cashback cards that earn cash back in the form of ThankYou Points.

ThankYou Points earned with cashback cards can be transferred to certain transfer partners, but only the Citi Premier® Card and the Citi Prestige Card have access to Citi’s full list of transfer partners. However, by pooling the points from a cashback card with the Citi Premier or the Citi Prestige cards, you also can transfer those points to all of Citi’s transfer partners.

If that last paragraph sounded complicated to you, don’t worry. The issue of which Citi cards can access which transfer partners is rather complicated, but we’ll explain it in detail.

While the Citi ThankYou Rewards program is often overlooked, it offers some serious value with some of its credit cards and its redemption options. So, 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 for you.

Citi ThankYou Rewards Program Overview

While Citi ThankYou Rewards doesn’t have as many diehard loyalists as other programs like American Express Membership Rewards or Chase Ultimate Rewards, there’s still a lot to love about what Citi has to offer. There’s a wide range of cards that earn ThankYou Points.

The Citi Prestige Card, Citi’s premium travel card, is no longer available to new applicants. However, if you already hold it, this card offers amazing spending bonuses, including 5X on restaurants, airfare and travel agencies, 3X points on hotels and cruises, and 1X point on everything else.

The Prestige Card also includes valuable benefits like Priority Pass Select membership and a $250 travel credit that make it a serious competitor to cards like The Platinum Card® from American Express and the Chase Sapphire Reserve®.

Unfortunately, Citi got edged out of the premium travel card market by its competitors, and the Prestige Card isn’t open to new applications (and you can’t product change another Citi card to it, either).

Luckily, Citi still offers the $95 annual fee Citi Premier® Card , which is an excellent middle-tier card that offers elevated spending bonuses in a wide range of categories, and the $0 annual fee Citi Rewards+® Card, which is a decent option for beginners. Plus, Citi also issues a lineup of cashback cards that earn ThankYou Points, which can be transferred to Citi’s full list of transfer partners through a particular loophole.

When redeeming Citi ThankYou Points, there are a lot of options available to you. Citi recently revamped the ThankYou Travel portal, which allows you to redeem your points for hotels, rental cars, flights and more at a value of 1 cent per point. However, if you want to get the maximum value out of your points, you should consider transferring them to one of Citi’s 17 hotel and airline transfer partners.

Here’s Citi’s full list of transfer partners:

• Accor Live Limitless (ALL)
• Aeroméxico Club Premier
• Air France-KLM Flying Blue
• Avianca LifeMiles
• Cathay Pacific Asia Miles
• Choice Privileges
• Emirates Skywards
• Etihad Guest
• EVA Air Infinity MileageLands
• JetBlue TrueBlue
• Qantas Frequent Flyer
• Qatar Airways Privilege Club
• Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
• Thai Airways Royal Orchid Plus
• Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles
• Virgin Atlantic Flying Club
• Wyndham Rewards

Most of these transfer partners offer a 1:1 transfer ratio for the Citi Prestige and the Citi Premier cardholders. The only exceptions are Accor Live Limitless (ALL), which has a transfer ratio of 2:1, and Choice Privileges, which has a transfer ratio of 1:2. Transfers need to be made in 1,000-point increments.

For holders of other Citi ThankYou cards, the only transfer partners that are available are JetBlue TrueBlue, Choice Privileges and Wyndham Rewards. However, the transfer ratios are different—JetBlue and Wyndham have a 5:4 transfer ratio, and Choice Privileges has a 1:1.5 transfer ratio.

As previously mentioned, if you hold the Citi Rewards+ Card or the Citi® Double Cash Card, which have access only to JetBlue, Choice and Wyndham as transfer partners, you can gain access to Citi’s full list of transfer partners by combining any points earned with these cards with the Prestige or the Premier card accounts.

In fact, if you already have another Citi card, it’s probably worth signing up for the Citi Premier® Card just to access the full list of transfer partners as this can significantly increase the value you can get out of your ThankYou Points.

Card-To-Card Points Transfers

As previously mentioned, Citi ThankYou Points earned on different cards can be pooled into one account and redeemed together. This is especially important to understand for those who hold one of Citi’s cashback cards.

For instance, let’s say that you earned 10,000 points through everyday spending on the Citi® Double Cash Card (which is technically a cashback card but earns ThankYou Points). With that card alone, you’d be able to transfer your points only to Choice Privileges, Wyndham Rewards and JetBlue TrueBlue.

However, if you also hold either the Citi Premier® Card or the Citi Prestige Card, you can pool those 10,000 points that you earned with the Citi Double Cash Card into your Prestige or Premier card accounts and then transfer them to any one of Citi’s transfer partners. On top of that, you’ll get a more favorable transfer ratio if you decide to transfer your points to Choice, Wyndham or JetBlue.

This is extremely important because if you redeem your ThankYou Points through Citi Travel, you’ll get a maximum redemption value of 1 cent per point. However, by transferring your points to one of Citi’s transfer partners, you can often find redemptions that offer value far exceeding 1 cent.

You can pool ThankYou Points from multiple cards in the same account by calling 1-800-842-6596 or online. To combine points online, log into your Citi account and select the “Points Summary” tab from the drop-down menu. Then, select the “Combine My Accounts” option on the left side of the screen. Finally, select between which two accounts you want to transfer the points, 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 bonuses, everyday spending bonuses and through certain promotion bonuses. You also can purchase Citi ThankYou Points. However, points are typically sold for far more than they’re worth, and purchasing points is almost always a bad idea.

To clarify, the cards that Citi markets as “rewards” aren’t the only cards that earn ThankYou Points. Cards marketed as “cashback” cards also earn ThankYou Points.

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 another Citi card to the Prestige Card. This is a real shame because the Prestige Card, which has an annual fee of $495, offers some amazing value and is a great alternative to cards like the Chase Sapphire Reserve or the Amex Platinum Card.

However, we’re still going to cover this card’s details because there are a lot of 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. Essentially, 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.

It’s worth noting that you generally won’t be able to earn hotel loyalty points or receive elite benefits when booking through the Citi Travel portal. You’ll also want to check other booking methods as using the fourth night free benefit doesn’t always provide the best value.

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.

Travel purchases are also widely defined by Citi to include things like airlines, hotels, car rentals, travel agencies, travel aggregators, subways, taxis, limos, car services, passenger trains, cruises, bridge and road tolls, parking lots and parking garages.

Like other cards of its kind, the Citi Prestige Card offers a statement credit of up to $100 every four years for the application fee for either Global Entry or TSA PreCheck. A membership to Global Entry includes TSA PreCheck, so you’ll probably want to enroll in Global Entry if you’re going to use this benefit.

You’ll also get a complimentary membership to Priority Pass Select (enrollment required), 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 Premier® Card

One card that is still available to new applicants is the $95 annual fee Citi Premier® Card, which is currently offering a solid welcome bonus for new cardmembers. This card is one of the best earners on everyday spending, and its bonuses cover a wide range of different categories. Additionally, the Premier Card comes with some valuable benefits that can instantly offset the annual fee if you use them correctly.

Here are the spending bonuses offered by the Citi Premier Card:

• 10X points on hotels, car rentals and attractions booked through the Citi Travel portal (through June 30, 2024)
• 3X points on airfare, hotels, gas stations, supermarkets and restaurants
• 1X points on all other purchases

Through June 30, 2024, you can earn 10X points on hotels, car rentals and attractions booked through Citi Travel. For reference, both the Capital One Venture X Card and the Chase Sapphire Reserve card offer 10X points for booking hotels and car rentals through their travel portals, but those cards have annual fees of $395 and $550, respectively.

The Citi Premier Card also earns 3X points on airfare, hotels (not booked through Citi Travel), gas stations, supermarkets and restaurants, which means you’re getting a ton of value for $95 per year.

On top of that, the Premier Card offers some great benefits that sweeten the deal even more. For one, you’re entitled to $100 in statement credits toward single-stay hotel bookings of $500 or more (excluding taxes and fees) made through Citi Travel per calendar year.

This credit doesn’t do much for you if you never book hotel stays that exceed $500. However, if you book a hotel stay every year for $500 or more (perhaps for a recurring business trip or family reunion), then getting the Premier Card is a no-brainer because that credit instantly makes up for the annual fee.

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

Citi Rewards+® Card

The Citi Rewards+® Card is a $0 annual fee card that’s branded as a “rewards” card by Citi. Like the Citi Premier® Card , the Rewards+ Card also offers elevated earnings for travel purchases made through Citi Travel for a limited time. Plus, this card has one of the most unique features in the credit card industry in that it rounds your points earnings on every purchase up to the nearest multiple of 10.

Here are the spending bonuses for the Citi Rewards+® Card:

• 5X points on hotels, car rentals and attractions booked through the Citi Travel portal (through December 31, 2025)
• 2X points at supermarkets and gas stations (on up to $6,000 in purchases per year)
• 1X points on all other purchases

This card is particularly good for making small purchases because points earnings are always rounded up to the nearest 10 points. For instance, if you purchase a bag of chips at a convenience store for $1 with your Citi Rewards+® Card, instead of earning 1 point, you’d earn 10 points because of the rounding up rule. This may not seem like a huge deal, but if you frequently make small purchases, then this feature can help you rack up a ton of extra points.

Additionally, the ability to earn 5X points on hotels, rental cars and attractions is something you’d expect to find on a premium card with a several-hundred-dollar annual fee. Additionally, earning 2X points at supermarkets and gas stations is pretty good for a card with a $0 annual fee.

This card is also offering a welcome bonus for new cardmembers who spend a certain amount of money on their card in a certain period of time after account opening. Unfortunately, this card doesn’t offer many other perks, and it charges a foreign transaction fee of 3% (which could cost you a lot of money if you travel outside of the U.S. frequently).

With that said, if you frequently make a lot of small purchases, such as a $5 cup of coffee or a $2 bus ticket, then you should seriously consider signing up for the Citi Rewards+® Card because of its rounding up feature. This perk means that you’ll earn at least 10 points on every purchase under $10.

Once again, this card on its own can transfer points only to Choice, Wyndham and JetBlue. But you can pool the points you earn on the Rewards+ Card with the Premier or the Prestige accounts and then transfer them to Citi’s transfer partners.

Citi® Double Cash Card

As previously mentioned, although the Citi® Double Cash Card is marketed as a cashback card by Citi, this card earns its rewards in the form of ThankYou Points. You can then choose to redeem those points several different ways, including getting cash back, shopping online or transferring them to Choice, Wyndham or JetBlue. However, you’ll need to hold either the Premier or the Prestige card to access all of Citi’s travel partners.

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 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 spending card with the Premier Card. Then, you can combine all of the points and access all of Citi’s transfer partners.

The Double Cash Card is also fantastic for balance transfers as it offers 0% intro APR for 18 months on balance transfers. After that, transfers will be subject to the ongoing variable APR.

Keep in mind that there’s also a balance transfer fee of 3% for the first four months after account opening and then 5% after that, but these fees are pretty standard for balance transfer cards. If you’re looking for a card to make a balance transfer to, then the Double Cash Card is one of the best options out there. However, standard APR will apply to purchases as soon as you open your account.

The Citi® Double Cash Card doesn’t really have any other notable benefits, and it charges a 3% foreign transaction fee.

Citi Custom Cash® Card

The Citi Custom Cash® Card is also marketed as a cashback card but earns ThankYou Points. Like with the Double Cash Card, points earned with the Custom Cash card can be redeemed for cash back, for online shopping purchases or transferred to Choice, Wyndham or JetBlue. However, if you have the Prestige or the Premier cards, you can pool your points and then transfer them to any of Citi’s transfer partners.

The Citi Custom Cash Card has a fairly unique rewards earning structure. This card earns 5X points on up to $500 per billing cycle in spending on whichever of the following categories you spend the most in each billing cycle:

• Grocery stores
• Restaurants
• Gas stations
• Streaming services
• Drug stores
• Home improvement stores
• Fitness clubs
• Select travel
• Select transit
• Live entertainment

Other similar cards also offer 5% cash back in a certain category each month. However, what sets the Custom Cash Card apart from the competition is that the 5X points earnings will be automatically applied to whichever of the previous expense categories was the largest in the preceding billing cycle. That means you don’t have to keep track of what you’re spending money on, and you can rest assured that you’ll earn 5X points on your top category (on up to $500 each month).

However, this cards’ major disadvantage is its low spending cap of $500. By comparison, the U.S. Bank Cash+® Visa Signature® Card is a no-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.

Although the U.S. Bank Cash+® Visa Signature® Card requires you to opt in for these bonus categories, it also has a spending cap on those elevated earnings that’s four times higher than the Custom Cash Card, and you get to choose two categories instead of just one.

The Custom Cash Card is currently offering a welcome bonus for new cardmembers who meet certain spending requirements after account opening.

This card also offers 0% intro APR on purchases and balance transfers for 15 months. That’s a relatively long intro APR period, making it a good card for balance transfers or for financing large purchases. After that period is over, the ongoing variable APR will apply.

The Citi Custom Cash® Card has a foreign transaction fee of 3%, which can get expensive if you’re frequently making purchases abroad.

AT&T Points Plus℠ Card from Citi

The AT&T Points Plus℠ Card from Citi was introduced in 2022 with a $0 annual fee. Despite being an AT&T co-branded card, the Points Plus Card earns ThankYou Points that can be used in all the same ways that points earned with the Custom Cash or the Double Cash card can.

The AT&T Points Plus card offers generous spending bonuses on gas and groceries and even issues statement credits to cardholders who spend a certain amount of money per billing cycle.

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

• 3X points at gas stations
• 2X points at grocery stores (including grocery delivery)
• 1X points on everything else

If you tend to spend a large portion of your expenses at gas stations, then this card may be worth it. Otherwise, consider that the Double Cash Card basically earns 2X points on all purchases, and it clearly seems like the superior option in terms of $0 annual fee Citi cards.

However, the AT&T Points Plus Card also offers $20 per billing cycle in statement credits to cardholders who spend $1,000 or more in that billing cycle. If you spend between $500 and $999.99 in a billing cycle, you’ll be awarded with $10 in statement credits. This means that you could earn up to $240 in statement credits per year, which is pretty solid for a card that doesn’t charge an annual fee.

However, to earn the full $240 in annual statement credits, you’ll have to spend at least $12,000 on the card annually. Unless you’re spending most of that $12,000 on gas and groceries, you might be better off putting that spending on a different card.

For instance, the Capital One SavorOne Cash Rewards Credit Card offers 3% cash back on dining, entertainment, popular streaming services and at grocery stores (excluding superstores, such as Walmart and Target) as well as 5% cash back on Capital One Travel purchases and 8% cash back on Capital One Entertainment purchases. The SavorOne Card also doesn’t have an annual fee and might be a better option, depending on what your spending patterns are.

The AT&T Points Plus Card is also currently offering a decent welcome bonus for new cardmembers. This card charges a foreign transaction fee of 3%.

Refer a Friend

Citi also occasionally offers referral bonuses for certain cards to some of its cardmembers. The way these bonuses work is that you’ll be offered a certain number of points for referring a friend to one of their credit cards. Once your friend applies for and is approved for the credit 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 these redemption methods offer a flat-rate redemption value of 1 cent per point. However, by transferring your ThankYou Points to one of Citi’s transfer partners, it’s possible to find outsized value redemptions that offer far more than 1 cent per point in value.

Still, for those who don’t want to navigate partner travel rewards programs, we’re still going to cover all of the different ways that ThankYou Points can be redeemed and then discuss which of Citi’s transfer partners offer the most value on average.

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. In March 2023, Citi launched a revamped version of the site (now powered by Rocket Travel by Agoda, a subsidiary of Booking.com’s parent company, Booking Holdings), promising an increased number of available hotels and an improved user experience.

The new Citi Travel portal allows you to book travel with ThankYou Points at a flat redemption rate of 1 cent per point. 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.

For instance, rather than transferring your ThankYou Points to Wyndham Rewards to book a hotel and then transferring more points to Thai Airways to book a flight, you can simply book both through Citi Travel and save yourself some time. Unfortunately, you’ll be sacrificing some value by doing so.

It’s also worth noting that the new Citi Travel portal includes two new hotel programs: the Hotel Collection and the Luxury Collection. When you book a room at a property that’s part of the Hotel Collection through Citi Travel, you’ll receive daily breakfast for two and complimentary Wi-Fi as guaranteed perks.

Only Citi Premier and Citi Prestige cardholders can make bookings in the Luxury Collection, 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.

Out of these three methods, the best option is probably to redeem your ThankYou Points for a statement credit. 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.

Likewise, there’s no reason in redeeming ThankYou Points through the Citi Travel portal when you can just redeem those points for cash and then spend that cash on travel 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 the 1 cent per point that redeeming for cash provides.

Donate to Charity

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

• American Red Cross Disaster Relief
• American Red Cross International Services
• 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 possible out of your Citi ThankYou Points, the best way to do so is to transfer them to one of Citi’s transfer partners. That’s because you can get far more than 1 cent per point in value.

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. 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. First of all, this program can be extremely difficult to understand at times, and the minimal value you can get from redemptions through this program just 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 their award prices are tied closely to cash prices. Oddly, redeeming for Mint tickets (which are essentially business class tickets) with JetBlue often provides less value than redeeming for basic fare tickets.

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) is a transfer partner that you’re going to want to avoid, primarily because ThankYou Points transfer to ALL points at a ratio of 2:1. For instance, if you were to transfer 2,000 ThankYou Points, you’d receive just 1,000 ALL points. Thus, the value of your points will instantly be cut in half as soon as you transfer them to Accor. If you’re looking to book hotel award stays, you’d be better off going with Choice Privileges, which offers a transfer ratio of 1:2.

Average Transfer Options

While Aeroméxico Club Premier 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, the reason that FlyingBlue is just an “average” transfer partner is because it often levies high fuel surcharges on certain routes. Still, Flying Blue is definitely a program worth keeping on your radar.

If you want to use your ThankYou Points to book hotel stays, then you may want to consider transferring your points to either Choice Privileges or Wyndham Rewards. If you’re a Citi Premier or a Citi Prestige cardholder, then your ThankYou Points will transfer to Choice Privileges at a 1:2 ratio (or at a 1:1.5 if you have any other ThankYou Points-earning card), making it easy to get a solid value out of this program.

If you’re a Premier or Prestige member, your points transfer to Wyndham Rewards at a 1:1 ratio (or at a 5:4 ratio if you have any other ThankYou Points-earning card). Although this transfer ratio isn’t quite as good as Choice Privileges, Wyndham Rewards is still a solid hotel rewards program with some valuable sweet spots.

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 with spacious lie-flat beds and ultra-premium amenities like complimentary Champagne and caviar.

Cathay Pacific is part of Oneworld alliance, meaning you can use this program to purchase award flights on several other airlines. It’s worth noting that, while Cathay Pacific Asia Miles does pass on fuel surcharges from other airlines, they no longer have fuel surcharges on many of their own flights.

Another airline known for its outstanding first-class and business-class products is Emirates. Although award prices through Emirates Skywards are often high, it’s the most affordable way to get a seat in Emirates business class or first class. Make sure to look at the fuel surcharges before booking an award flight with Emirates Skywards as they can often be several hundred dollars.

Etihad Guest recently experienced a massive devaluation. Its sweet spots were destroyed, and award rates were raised by over 300% on certain routes. However, there are still several routes where you can find great value for your points. In particular, award flights to or from Etihad’s hub airport in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

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. This means that you should be able to find a few sweet spots where you get high value for your points.

In particular, Qantas-operated short-haul flights often carry high cash prices, so purchasing these flights with points may be a decent idea. Unfortunately, the Qantas Frequent Flyer program is known to charge high fuel surcharges, which makes it more difficult to find high-value redemptions.

Qatar Airways Executive 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 Executive 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, then 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 recently improved its online search tools, which has made the program much less of a headache and much more accessible. It’s now fairly easy to find some worthwhile sweet spots, particularly when flying on Turkish-operated or Star Alliance-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.

Although Virgin Atlantic recently devalued its Delta Air Lines award chart, it’s still one of the best programs to which you can transfer ThankYou Points. In particular, this is a great program for booking Delta-operated flights between the U.S. and Europe.

You can find these flights for as few as 30,000 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 like American Express Membership Rewards or Chase Ultimate Rewards. However, this program has some sweet spots in terms of transfer partners and some excellent credit cards that may complement the cards you already have in your wallet. So, it’s definitely worth getting familiar with this program and all that it has to offer.

The Citi Prestige Card was a solid competitor in the premium travel card space with a relatively low annual fee of $495 and some excellent spending bonuses, including 5X points on purchases from airlines, travel agencies and restaurants (including cafes, bars, lounges and fast food restaurants). Unfortunately, this card is no longer available to new applicants as it was outcompeted by other premium travel cards.

However, one card that you can still get is the Citi Premier® Card , which you should seriously consider. This card has a modest annual fee of $95 and is offering 10X points on hotels, car rentals and attractions (excluding air travel) booked through the Citi Travel portal through June 30, 2024, as part of an effort to promote Citi’s recently revamped online travel portal.

These are huge spending bonuses, especially for a card with such a low annual fee. On top of that, this card also offers 3X points on airfare, hotels, gas stations, supermarkets and restaurants as well as a yearly statement credit of $100 on single-stay hotel bookings of $500 or more made through Citi Travel.

Currently, the Citi Premier® Card is the only currently available card that has access to Citi’s full list of transfer partners on its own. The Prestige Card also has access to the full list of transfer partners, but it’s no longer open to new applicants.

You also can earn ThankYou Points with Citi’s cashback cards, such as the Citi® Double Cash Card or the Citi Custom Cash Card. However, these cards can transfer points only to JetBlue TrueBlue, Choice Privileges and Wyndham Rewards. Luckily, you can combine points across Citi cards, meaning that any points earned with a cashback card can be transferred to any of Citi’s transfer partners as long as you hold either the Citi Premier or the Citi Prestige.

If you want to maximize the value of your Citi ThankYou Points, your best option is probably to transfer them to either Avianca LifeMiles, Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer, Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles or Virgin Atlantic Flying Club. These four frequent flyer programs, in general, offer more valuable redemptions than any of Citi’s other transfer partners.

If you’d rather spend your ThankYou Points on hotel stays, you’d probably be best off going with Choice Rewards, which offers a 1:2 transfer ratio for Prestige and Premier cardholders.

At the end of the day, Citi ThankYou Rewards is definitely a program worth paying attention to 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. Even if you already primarily use a Chase or an Amex card, you might find that a Citi card complements your existing credit card strategy perfectly.