A Deepdive Into Citi ThankYou Points

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The Citi ThankYou® Rewards program allows eligible bank or credit card customers to earn ThankYou Points—a flexible rewards currency—on purchases made with certain Citi credit cards. Although the Chase Ultimate Rewards and American Express Membership Rewards programs both offer more cards that earn their respective currencies, Citi ThankYou Points are still valuable and easy to earn. 

You can earn Citi ThankYou Points by opening new credit cards to earn their welcome bonuses and paying for everyday purchases with an eligible credit card. You can redeem the accumulated points through Citi’s ThankYou Rewards portal or by transferring them to one of Citi’s airline partners. 

However, there are a few issues that make Citi’s rewards system a bit difficult to navigate. Your redemption options vary based on what Citi card you have. Your ability to transfer points to Citi’s travel partners also depends on what card you have. Additionally, the value of your points can vary widely across the program. 

Nevertheless, ThankYou Points have a ton of value and versatility if you know how to use them correctly. Let’s look at the best ways to earn and use Citi ThankYou Points. 

Earning Citi ThankYou Points

You can earn Citi ThankYou Points by using seven personal credit cards, two of which are no longer open to new applicants. Each card offers different benefits, annual fees, earnings rates and welcome bonuses. 

The following credit cards earn Citi ThankYou Points: 

• AT&T Points Plus® Card from Citi ($0 annual fee)
• Citi Custom Cash® Card ($0 annual fee)
• Citi Double Cash® Card ($0 annual fee)
• Citi Premier® Card ($95 annual fee)*
• Citi Prestige Card ($495 annual fee)*
• Citi Strata Premier^SM Card ($95 annual fee)
• Citi Rewards+® Card ($0 annual fee)

* The Citi Premier Card and Citi Prestige Card are no longer open to new applicants.

By opening one or more of these cards and hitting the minimum spend, you can earn thousands of Citi ThankYou Points. Even Citi’s cash back cards—such as the Custom Cash and Double Cash—earn rewards in the form of ThankYou Points, but they have more limited redemption opportunities, depending on which other Citi cards you hold.

Regular spending with these cards will also enable you to rack up ThankYou Points on everyday expenses.

Occasionally, Citi sends emails to cardholders for limited-time targeted offers for certain spending categories. For instance, although the Citi Rewards+ Card usually rewards you with 2X ThankYou Points at supermarkets and gas stations, the bank might run an email promotion offering 2X points per dollar spent for the month of July instead. 

Citi may also make offers for adding an authorized user to your card. However, most of the time, you have to meet a spending requirement for that authorized user, so make sure to read the fine print. 

Combining Citi ThankYou Points

This is where things get a little complicated.

If you have the Double Cash Card, Custom Cash Card, AT&T Points Plus Card or Rewards+ Card, you can earn ThankYou Points, but only the Prestige Card, Strata Premier Card and Premier Card allow point transfers to all of Citi’s travel partners. 

Citi’s $0 annual fee cards allow point transfers to the following three transfer partners only:

• JetBlue Trueblue (1:0.8)
• Wyndham (1:0.8)
• Choice Privileges (1:1.5) 

This leaves out many of Citi’s other transfer partners and offers point transfers at suboptimal rates only.

However, there’s a simple workaround to this.

Citi allows you to combine ThankYou Points from different Citi credit card accounts. So, if you have a bunch of points saved up in your Citi Custom Cash account (or any other Citi credit card account), it can make sense to sign up for the Citi Strata Premier Card and then transfer the points from the Custom Cash account over to the Citi Strata Premier account so that you can use them with all transfer partners. 

You can combine your points by calling Citi ThankYou Rewards or you can do it yourself on the Citi ThankYou Rewards website by clicking on “Points Summary” in the drop-down menu and then clicking on “Combine My Accounts.” Finally, choose the accounts you want to combine, review and confirm the transaction.

Sharing Citi ThankYou Points

The “Point Sharing” feature gives you the option to share points between two Citi card members. This is especially useful if you’re only a few thousand points away from a specific redemption, and a friend or family member is willing to send you some points to make up the difference. 

This feature allows account holders to send and receive up to 100,000 points per calendar year. You should be aware that points that have been shared will expire 90 days after they’re received. 

To share your points, you can go on the Citi ThankYou Rewards website, hover over the “More Ways to Redeem” button and then choose “Points Sharing” from the drop-down menu. 

When sharing points, you can only send points to someone else. You can’t initiate a transaction in which you receive points. To send points to another member, you will need their first and last name as well as a Citi ThankYou member account number or a Citi account number from a credit card or a checking account. 

Once you share the rewards, the points will be moved to the other user’s account immediately. You won’t be able to reverse the transaction. Because of the 90-day expiration period, we recommend that you don’t share points unless you have your eyes on a specific redemption. 

Redeeming Citi ThankYou Points

When you go on the Citi ThankYou Rewards website, you’ll see many different options for redeeming your points. However, the value of your points will vary widely depending on what you choose to redeem them for and what type of card you hold. 

High-value redemptions include booking travel through the ThankYou Rewards travel portal or transferring your points to one of Citi’s travel partners. Low-value redemptions include statement credits, gift cards or buying merchandise online through the “Shop with Points” portal.

Transferring Citi ThankYou Points To Travel Partners

The most lucrative way to use your ThankYou Points is to transfer them to one of Citi’s partnered loyalty programs. 

When transferring them to a travel partner, your points should be worth more than 1.5 cents each, which is superior to the value of any other redemption you can make with Citi ThankYou Points. You can transfer points to partner programs in increments of 1,000.

On top of that, certain airline and hotel loyalty programs often run transfer bonus promotions or award sales. When this happens, you can convert your ThankYou Points into the program and get an even better value per point. 

Make sure to keep up to date with any deals offered by Citi’s transfer partners. Citi’s full list of transfer partners, available to premium Citi travel card holders exclusively, includes: 

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

With an extensive list of transfer partners and access to all three major airline alliances, your options are limitless when it comes to booking award travel.

Some popular redemptions include point transfers to Turkish Miles&Smiles to book United Airlines flights and point transfers to Virgin to book Delta Air Lines flights. Air France-KLM Flying Blue is also perfect for cheap flights to Europe from the United States (U.S.), while Avianca LifeMiles are a solid redemption option for flights within the U.S. and Canada.

Booking Through Citi ThankYou Rewards Travel Portal

The Citi ThankYou Rewards travel portal provides a simple and easy way to book flights, hotels, rental cars and attractions online using your ThankYou Points. You can’t book cruises or vacation packages through the portal, but you can do so by calling 1-800-842-6596. 

The ThankYou Rewards travel portal works just like any other online travel agency. You can search the dates and location of the booking you want to make and then the portal will pull up your options.

When it comes time to pay, you can either pay with points, with your Citi credit card, or a combination of the two. You can make a partial payment with points and, if there is any remainder, it will be charged to your Citi credit card. Whether you’re paying entirely with ThankYou Points or with a combination of ThankYou Points and a credit card, your points will be worth 1 cent apiece. 

If you’re paying with both points and a credit card, you can use any credit card. It doesn’t have to be a Citi card or even a card you own. For instance, if you want to split the cost of a hotel room with another person and pay your portion using points, they can enter their own credit card and pay their portion that way. 

You should be aware that any changes or cancellations must be made through the Citi ThankYou Rewards portal. 

If you’re booking an airline ticket with points through the ThankYou Rewards portal, you can still earn frequent-flyer miles, and your elite benefits will still be honored. 

If you’re booking a hotel stay, on the other hand, you can’t earn points, and your elite benefits won’t be recognized. Only direct hotel bookings are eligible for points accrual or loyalty benefits. 

Redeeming for Cash Back

You can request a cashback redemption in the form of a check, statement credit or a deposit into a bank account. 

Typically, redeeming points for cash back is going to yield a low value of 1 cent per point, so you’re better off redeeming your points by transferring to partners. 

Redeeming for Gift Cards

You also have the option to redeem your points for a gift card through the ThankYou Rewards portal. You can opt for an electronic gift card mailed to you immediately or a physical gift card mailed to you in one to three weeks. 

Most of the merchant gift cards are available once you earn at least 2,500 points and come in $25, $50, $100, $250 and $500 denominations. Citi offers gift cards from a long list of well-known brands, including Lowe’s, Macy’s, L.L. Bean, Carnival Cruise Lines, Target, Starbucks, Microsoft Xbox, Spotify, AMC Theatres and many more. 

Unfortunately, the value that you receive when you redeem points for a gift card is also low at 1 cent per point. 

Redeeming for Charitable Contribution

Citi also gives you the option to redeem your points for a charitable contribution to American Red Cross Disaster Relief Services, UNICEF, World Central Kitchen or Smile Train, among other organizations. The minimum donation is 2,500 points for $25, and you can donate in increments of $25, $50 or $100. 

Using Shop With Points 

Another way to redeem your points is to use them for online shopping through Shop with Points. This portal allows you to use points to pay for online purchases made from partnered retailers, including Amazon.

While using your points in this way typically doesn’t offer as much value as other redemption options at only 0.8 cents per point, Citi’s partnered retailers will occasionally run promotions that will give you decent value. Still, it’s usually not a great way to use your points. 

Do Citi ThankYou Points Expire?

Citi ThankYou Points don’t expire as long as the account is still open. If you close your account, you’ll have 90 days to spend your points before they expire. 

Bottom Line

One of the best things about Citi ThankYou Points is that they provide so many different redemption options. However, some of these redemption methods offer far greater value than others. 

If you understand how to take advantage of targeted category spending bonuses and welcome bonuses to rack up points quickly, a card that earns Citi ThankYou Points might be a great addition to your wallet, especially if you plan to redeem those points by transferring them to one of Citi’s travel partners. 

If you don’t do much traveling, the Citi ThankYou Rewards program might not be for you. Outside of their own travel portal and transfers to travel partners, Citi’s redemption values are pretty mediocre.