Best ways to redeem Citi ThankYou points
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If you have Citi ThankYou Rewards points — or are considering whether you want to take advantage of a current Citi ThankYou offer — you may be interested in the best ways to redeem these points. While some redemption options offer as little as 0.8 cents per point, you can usually get at least double this value when you redeem Citi ThankYou points with hotel or airline partners.
In this guide, we'll cover some of the best ways to redeem Citi ThankYou points for maximal value and offer advice on the redemptions to avoid.
How to maximize Citi ThankYou Rewards
You have many options when it comes to redeeming Citi ThankYou Rewards, but based on how you redeem your rewards, your Citi ThankYou points value will differ. If you want to maximize your Citi ThankYou Rewards, you'll need to choose high-value redemption options and avoid low-value ones.
TPG's valuations peg the value of Citi ThankYou points at 1.8 cents each based on the value you can get if you maximize your points. To maximize your Citi points, you'll usually want to avoid the following lower-value redemption options:
- Redeem for gift cards: Usually 1 cent per point but up to 1.11 cents per point during sales
- Book flights, hotels, car rentals or attractions through the Citi Travel portal: 1 cent per point
- Redeem for cash rewards via statement credit, direct deposit or check in the mail: 1 cent per point
- Shop with points: Usually 0.8 cents per point
You'll likely also want to avoid sharing your points with another Citi ThankYou member unless you are closing your account or they are making a redemption now and need more points to do so. Although there isn't a fee to share ThankYou points with another member, the shared points expire 90 days after receiving them. You can also donate your points, but doing so won't provide any tangible value to you (besides knowing you donated).
As you can see, several redemption options will provide 1 cent per point of value, but if you want to maximize Citi ThankYou Rewards points and get more than 1 cent per point, you'll need to transfer your Citi points to loyalty programs. In the next section, we'll discuss some of the best ways to redeem Citi ThankYou points using transfer partners.
Related: You can now redeem your Citi points at Walmart, but you probably shouldn't
Best ways to redeem Citi ThankYou points
The best way to redeem Citi ThankYou points is for a high-value redemption with one of the Citi ThankYou transfer partners. You can get even more value if you utilize a transfer bonus.
Citi has 14 airline partners, four hotel partners and one retail partner to which you can transfer your points if you have the Citi Premier® Card (see rates and fees), the Citi Prestige® Card or the AT&T Access More Card. Even if you don't have any of these three cards, you can still transfer Citi ThankYou points to JetBlue TrueBlue, Wyndham Rewards and Choice Privileges.
The information for the Citi Prestige Card and AT&T Access More Card has been collected independently by The Points Guy. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.
Now, let's discuss some of the best ways to redeem Citi ThankYou points for maximal value.
Air France-KLM Flying Blue
Air France-KLM Flying Blue offers some good redemption options for travelers. In October 2023, Flying Blue standardized pricing for its saver-level redemptions to Europe, which resulted in some increases and some decreases, but one of the most appealing uses of the Flying Blue program remains Promo Rewards. With Flying Blue Promo Rewards, you can often snag discounted one-way economy flights between select U.S. airports and various European cities from around 15,000 miles per person.
If you have the Citi Premier Card, the Citi Prestige Card or the AT&T Access More Card, you can transfer Citi ThankYou points to Air France-KLM Flying Blue at a 1:1 ratio.
Related: How to find the cheapest redemption rates using Flying Blue miles
Avianca LifeMiles
Avianca LifeMiles is well loved for its appealing Star Alliance award pricing. For example, you can use LifeMiles to save on travel within the U.S. and to Canada. LifeMiles is perhaps the best way to book Lufthansa first class, and you'll find multiple LifeMiles sweet spots for flying in long-haul business class. However, there is some bad news: There are multiple ways Avianca LifeMiles could improve its program, and some travelers avoid the program due to its IT and customer service issues.
If you have the Citi Premier Card, the Citi Prestige Card or the AT&T Access More Card, you can transfer Citi ThankYou points to Avianca LifeMiles at a 1:1 ratio.
Related: Star Alliance member Avianca rebrands, focuses on expansion and improved reliability
Turkish Miles&Smiles
Turkish Miles&Smiles recently implemented higher award charts, so some travelers may think its inclusion on this list is questionable. But Turkish Miles&Smiles still offers some appealing award rates. In particular, 65,000 miles for a one-way business-class flight between the U.S. and Istanbul is still a decent deal. Flying one-way between the U.S. and Hawaii for 10,000 miles is also compelling. It just stings that you could previously secure these awards for fewer miles.
If you have the Citi Premier Card, the Citi Prestige Card or the AT&T Access More Card, you can transfer Citi ThankYou points to Turkish Miles&Smiles at a 1:1 ratio.
Virgin Atlantic Flying Club
Virgin Atlantic has devalued its award chart multiple times, with the most recent being increases to Delta-operated Flying Club awards. Even so, Virgin Atlantic Flying Club remains a popular program with some award travelers. You can maximize Virgin Atlantic points on over 20 partner airlines, including SkyTeam airlines. Plus, you can sometimes book discounted transatlantic awards through the Virgin Atlantic Promo Awards promotion.
If you have the Citi Premier Card, the Citi Prestige Card or the AT&T Access More Card, you can transfer Citi ThankYou points to Virgin Atlantic Flying Club at a 1:1 ratio.
Choice Privileges
Choice Privileges award nights cost between 6,000 and 35,000 points in most regions, but it's possible to get outsize value if you stay on expensive dates or in a pricey destination. I've gotten great value redeeming Choice points for stays in Japan, Europe and expensive U.S. destinations (such as near ski resorts in winter and large cities on high-demand dates). You can also get good value when you redeem points for properties on the current Choice Hotels Sweet Spot Rewards list.
If you have the Citi Premier Card, the Citi Prestige Card or the AT&T Access More Card, you can transfer Citi ThankYou points to Choice Privileges at a 1:2 ratio. If you have another card that earns ThankYou points, you can transfer points to Choice Privileges at a 2:3 ratio.
Related: Redeem Choice points for a Maldives resort, half-board hotels, suites and more
Wyndham Rewards
Wyndham Rewards offers a three-tier award chart, with award nights costing 7,500, 15,000 or 30,000 points each. As such, there's often good value to be found at some properties that cost 7,500 or 15,000 points per night — especially if you're traveling during high-demand dates where paid rates are high. You'll also sometimes find good value in redeeming Wyndham points for Vacassa vacation rentals. And if you have a cobranded Wyndham Rewards credit card, you'll get a 10% discount when redeeming points for free nights.
If you have the Citi Premier Card, the Citi Prestige Card or the AT&T Access More Card, you can transfer Citi ThankYou points to Wyndham Rewards at a 1:1 ratio. If you have another card that earns ThankYou points, you can transfer points to Wyndham Rewards at a 5:4 ratio.
Related: The 12 best Wyndham hotels in the world
Citi cards that earn ThankYou points
Various Citi cards earn ThankYou points, but only three cards — the Citi Premier Card, the Citi Prestige Card and the AT&T Access More Card — earn full-fledged ThankYou points you can transfer to all partners discussed above.
If you only have other ThankYou Rewards cards — such as the Citi Double Cash® Card (see rates and fees) or the Citi Rewards+® Card (see rates and fees) — you'll earn limited ThankYou points that you can only redeem for cash-back rewards or transfer to Choice Privileges, Wyndham Rewards or JetBlue TrueBlue at a reduced ratio. One particularly valuable perk of the Citi Rewards+ Card is that cardholders get 10% of the points they redeem back (up to the first 100,000 points redeemed per year).
You can transfer rewards earned by any ThankYou Rewards card to an account earning full-fledged ThankYou points and then redeem them with any of the Citi transfer partners. So, if you have the Citi Premier Card and the Citi Double Cash Card, you can transfer rewards earned by the Citi Double Cash to your Citi Premier account before redeeming.
Related: Citi Prestige vs. Citi Premier: Should you keep the Prestige or downgrade to the Premier?
Bottom line
The best way to maximize Citi ThankYou points is to use high-value transfer partners for redemptions that give you at least 1.8 cents per point.
However, if you have Citi ThankYou points and don't want to use transfer partners, the best way to get good value from your points is to redeem them for a gift card you'll use during a sale at a rate of more than 1 cent per point. Otherwise, consider redeeming for a direct deposit or check at 1 cent per point.