If you’re looking to maximize your credit card rewards for travel, I always recommend doing what you can to collect transferable points currencies. These points currencies protect you from the risk of devaluation in one particular airline or hotel loyalty program, not to mention you can often rack up points at a faster pace with these kinds of programs.
Among the transferable points currencies, people seem to be largely focused on Amex Membership Rewards and Chase Ultimate Rewards, both of which are great. However, I think the Citi ThankYou program is often overlooked. In this post, I’d like to share seven reasons you should consider the Citi ThankYou program, if you’re not already engaged in it.
In this post:
Lucrative cards with big welcome bonuses
One reason to consider getting involved in the Citi ThankYou ecosystem is the excellent portfolio of cards that have big welcome bonuses, and best of all, eligibility isn’t mutually exclusive. In particular, the Citi Strata Elite℠ Card (review) and Citi Strata Premier® Card (review) are the two premium cards in the portfolio that will allow you to unlock the most value with your points.
The cards offer substantial welcome bonuses, and there are several reasons you should consider applying:
- The $595 annual fee Citi Strata Elite offers a variety of benefits and credits that can help justify the annual fee, including an up to $300 annual hotel credit, an up to $200 annual Splurge credit, and an up to $200 annual Blacklane credit, a Priority Pass membership, and four annual Admirals Club 24-hour passes
- The $95 annual fee Citi Strata Premier offers a great rewards structure and perks, including 3x points on dining, gas, groceries, airfare, and hotels, plus a $100 annual hotel credit
Both cards are compelling, so it’s just a function of whether you value the credits and benefits of the Citi Strata Elite, or the return on spending of the Citi Strata Premier. Or if you can’t decide, you can always pick up both cards, to maximize the points you earn, as there are lots of great uses of Citi ThankYou points.
Earn 2x points on everyday spending
In general I think it makes sense to use points currencies where you can earn the most points per dollar spent, and the good news is that there are several cards that can help you maximize your Citi ThankYou points.
When it comes to being able to maximize your points for everyday, non-bonused spending, one compelling option is to also get the no annual fee Citi Double Cash® Card (review). The card offers 1x ThankYou points when you make a purchase, and 1x ThankYou points when you pay for that purchase. In other words, after making a purchase and paying your bill, you’ll have earned two ThankYou points for each dollar spent.
If you have the Citi Double Cash in conjunction with one of the cards earning premium Citi ThankYou points — the Citi Strata Elite or Citi Strata Premier — then all rewards can be moved to the airline and hotel partners at the best possible ratio.
The best way to earn American AAdvantage miles
I’d argue that among the “big three” US carriers, American AAdvantage has by far the best loyalty program, especially when it comes to redeeming miles.
What’s awesome is that it’s now possible to transfer Citi ThankYou points to American AAdvantage, which makes for some great redemption opportunities. I’d argue that American is in a different league than Delta and United when it comes to offering valuable premium cabin award redemption opportunities. Since no other major program partners with AAdvantage in this way, you can’t overstate how valuable this is.
Overlapping Citi ThankYou points transfer partners
Some people might think “I already earn Amex and Chase points, and also earning Citi points complicates things too much.” If that’s how you view things, there’s some good news — Citi has several transfer partners in common with other currencies, including those of Amex, Capital One, and Chase.
So whether it’s Air France-KLM Flying Club, or Qatar Airways Privilege Club, or Singapore KrisFlyer, or Virgin Atlantic Flying Club, there are really great opportunities to pool the points earned with Citi ThankYou with those earned on other cards.
The reason this matters is because it makes it easy to redeem these points toward a common redemption, even if you don’t build up that huge of a points balance with Citi ThankYou. So while I generally don’t recommend over diversifying your points, the exception is for transferable points currencies with overlapping partners, where there’s little downside to doing so.
Unique Citi ThankYou transfer partners
Just as some people might appreciate the overlap between transfer partners of Amex, Capital One, Chase, and Citi, I also think there’s value in pointing out the unique transfer partners that Citi has. The reason transferable points are so valuable is because of the variety of redemptions that are possible, and the more unique partners there are, the more redemption opportunities and sweet spots there are.
Beyond American AAdvantage, there are some other unique Citi ThankYou transfer partners that are worth calling out:
- Citi ThankYou points can be converted into Choice Privileges points at a 1:2 ratio, which could be a great deal for hotel redemptions
- Citi ThankYou points can be moved to EVA Air Infinity MileageLands at a 1:1 ratio, which is the best way to redeem points for EVA Air business class (which is a phenomenal product)
- Citi ThankYou points can be converted into Turkish Miles&Smiles miles at a 1:1 ratio, which opens up some great redemption opportunities for travel to & from Istanbul
Valuable transfer bonuses with partners
We sometimes see transferable points currencies offer transfer bonuses, and the Citi ThankYou program is one of the most aggressive when it comes to offering these. The idea is that you can transfer Citi ThankYou points to a large variety of airline and hotel partners, and often you get a better ratio than usual, but only for a limited time.
If you can take advantage of transfer bonuses strategically, you can stretch your points even further. We often see transfer bonuses to programs like Air France-KLM Flying Club, Avianca Lifemiles, Virgin Atlantic Flying Club, and more. I’d argue there’s big value to taking advantage of those when they’re available.
Transfer points to other members easily
There are pros and cons to each of the major transferable points currencies when it comes to the ability to transfer points to others. The Citi ThankYou program has generous rules surrounding transferring points to non-family and non-household members.
Citi ThankYou lets you transfer up to 100,000 ThankYou points to another member each calendar year. Shared points do expire 90 days after they’re received, though this is great in terms of being able to pool the points earned across multiple accounts toward a single redemption.
Bottom line
All too often people overlook the Citi ThankYou program, instead focusing on Amex Membership Rewards and Chase Ultimate Rewards. Personally, I think it’s worth getting involved in all three programs, especially given the overlap between transfer partners.
Citi ThankYou is as compelling as ever before, especially if you have the combination of the Citi Strata Elite or Citi Strata Premier with the Citi Double Cash.
How do you feel about the value of ThankYou points compared to other currencies? Do you collect Citi ThankYou points?
Turkish isn’t unique to Citi. Capital One also has them as a 1:1 transfer partner. In contrast, Capital One is adding Preferred Hotels, but at a 1:2 ratio, so Citi’s 1:4 ratio continues to be unique.
Plus get the Strata regular for 3x select transit (replacement for CSR category as of 10/26) and 3x a category of your choice. And can get a custom cash as well for 5x a category of your choice up to $500/month. Paired with a double cash and a strata premier it's quite the "quadfecta" (a superfecta, perhaps!). Amazing TY point earning opportunities from Citi, all for potentially $0 (assuming you make use of the $100...
Plus get the Strata regular for 3x select transit (replacement for CSR category as of 10/26) and 3x a category of your choice. And can get a custom cash as well for 5x a category of your choice up to $500/month. Paired with a double cash and a strata premier it's quite the "quadfecta" (a superfecta, perhaps!). Amazing TY point earning opportunities from Citi, all for potentially $0 (assuming you make use of the $100 credit on the premier to cancel out the $95 annual fee).