Citi ThankYou, which is one of the four major transferable points programs, has just added a new hotel partner. This is the third hotel partner that Citi has added in the past couple of years, as we’ve also seen Choice Privileges and Wyndham Rewards added as transfer partners.
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Transfer Citi points to Accor at a 2:1 ratio
The Citi ThankYou program has just added Accor Live Limitless (ALL) as its newest transfer partner. Assuming you have one of the premium Citi cards, like the Citi Strata Premier℠ Card (review), the transfer ratio is 2:1, and you can transfer points in increments of 1,000 points.
This is Citi ThankYou’s 17th transfer partner, and the third hotel transfer partner. Citi ThankYou is the second major points currency to partner with Accor Live Limitless, after Capital One.
There are several great cards earning Citi ThankYou points, and as long as you have a premium card like the Citi Strata Premier, then all points can be transferred to the ThankYou airline and hotel partners.
Is transferring Citi points to Accor worth it?
Accor Live Limitless is a straightforward hotel loyalty program, as it’s revenue based. You can redeem 2,000 points for €40 (~$44) off the cost of any hotel stay. In other words, each Accor points is worth around 2.2 cents (in USD), meaning that each ThankYou point gets you 1.1 cents toward an Accor stay.
Personally I value Citi ThankYou points at 1.7 cents each, given all the amazing ways you can redeem them for premium travel on airlines. So personally I wouldn’t redeem points this way, since I can get more value out of them in other ways. However, this is still a better deal than many of the other “cash out” options for Citi ThankYou points, which generally get you at most one cent of value per point.
So I’d say this is a redemption option worth being aware of, but it’s not personally how I’d choose to redeem my Citi points.
Bottom line
The Citi ThankYou program has added Accor Live Limitless as a transfer partner, making it the program’s third hotel partner. It’s always exciting to see new transfer partners added with the major programs. Unfortunately I have a hard time getting too excited here. The transfer ratio is 2:1, and each Accor point is worth around 2.2 cents, so you’re only getting around 1.1 cents per Citi ThankYou point this way.
What’s your take on transfering Citi points to Accor?
The worst loyalty programme at the worst global hotel chain.
In Australia, at least, Accor’s business model is to buy up mediocre hotel chains, lightly rebrand them as Mercure and charge 300 a night. Grotty and worn out, but you end up staying with them because they have a massive footprint. Can’t imagine wanting to spend points at these terrible rates for one of their hotels.
"Each Accor point is worth 1.1". I get what you mean, but each Accor point is worth 2.2, you're just getting half the value when you convert Thank You points since 1000 converts to 500.
Only mention it because I was initially confused since it follows 2,000 points = $44
@ Zdfld -- Brain fart on my part, sorry. Fixing this now.