{EXPIRED OFFER}
Some of you know that I really like Citi ThankYou points. They aren’t the absolute easiest to collect, since you can only open one ThankYou earning card every 24 months because of the 1/24 rule, limiting your bonus potential.
I love my Citi Prestige credit card, which gives the 4th night free at any hotel just by calling your concierge to book and paying with the card. This card does carry a $450 annual fee (offset by $300 in travel credits), but its well worthwhile if you have paid 4 night hotel stays. It earns #x on Travel.
There is also the Citi Premier card, with a lower $95 annual fee, which also earns 3x on travel, including gas stations, airfare, hotels, cruises, car rental agencies, travel agencies, railways, public transportation, tolls, taxis, and parking as well as 2x points on dining and entertainment (like concert tickets).
The Citi Premier credit card also currently has an elevated limited time offer of a 60,000 point signup bonus when you spend $3,000 in 3 months which gives you a nice start.
Citi ThankYou can be transferred to a range of airlines, with generally good value:
| Citi ThankYou Transfer Partners | Last updated: June 2024 | |
|---|---|---|
| Transfer Ratio | Approximate Transfer Time * | |
| AeroMexico | 1:1 | Generally instant |
| Air France Flying Blue | 1:1 | Instant |
| Avianca LifeMiles | 1:1 | Instant. |
| Cathay Pacific AsiaMiles | 1:1 | Instant |
| Etihad Guest | 1:1 | Instant |
| Emirates | 1:! | Instant |
| Eva Air | 1:1 | ~1-3 days |
| JetBlue TrueBlue | 1:1 | Instant |
| Qantas | 1:1 | Instant to 1 day |
| Qatar Privilege Club | 1:1 | ~2 days |
| Singapore Airlines | 1:1 | ~1-2 days |
| Thai Orchid Plus | 1:1 | ~3-7 days |
| Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles | 1:1 | 1-2 days |
| Virgin Atlantic | 1:1 | Instant to 2 days |
| Hotels | ||
| Choice Hotels | 1:2 (Citi Prestige / Premier / Chairman cards) 1:1.5 (No fee Citi ThankYou cards) | Instant |
| Wyndham Rewards | 1:1 (Citi Prestige / Premier / Chairman cards) 1:0.8 (No fee Citi ThankYou cards) | TBD |
| Leaders Club | 5:1 | TBD |
| Preferred Hotels and Resorts "I Prefer" | 1:4 | TBD |
| Accor Live Limitless | 1:0.5 | TBD |
Avianca is a strong option, as you can book business class to Europe for just 63,000 points and no fuel surcharges on the likes of Lufthansa (any Star Alliance airline) as well as cheap US-domestic United flights.
You can find the “Win a Million ThankYou Points” sweepstakes page here. If it doesn’t load, head to thankyou.com and sign-in to your account and click the sweepstakes banner on the landing page. Note it may not work (didn’t for me) on a phone, so you may need to do this on a PC.
Note the tax liability you’d incur if you won, but I assure you that you would get more than your liability in value by spending these well….
Do you love ThankYou points like I do? Let me know here, on Twitter, or in the private MilesTalk Facebook group.
New to all of this? My new “introduction to miles and points” book, MilesTalk: Live Your Wildest Travel Dreams Using Miles and Points is available now.
