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ThankYou Points is Citi’s proprietary rewards currency that can be earned with credit cards. As these points are earned, they can be used in a variety of ways, from redeeming for cash, to using them for travel, paying off student loans, and even shopping online. However, there are several restrictions for some cards, and only some of the Citi points cards can be transferred to Citi partners.
If you want to earn ThankYou Points, there are options to do so with a variety of Citi credit cards, but before you apply, it’s important to make sure the cards you’re interested in are well suited to your financial goals and your spending, and that the rewards make sense for you. you. To help you get started earning ThankYou Points, let’s look at the difference between the types of Citi ThankYou Points you can earn.
What are Citi ThankYou Base Points?
ThankYou Points earned from Citi No-Year Cards, such as the Citi Custom Cash℠ Card, can be redeemed in a variety of ways, such as cash back or travel booked directly through Citi Travel, but cannot be redeemed for most Citi air travel. partners. However, points earned with certain Citi cards, such as the Citi® Double Cash Card and Citi Rewards+® Card, can be transferred to the JetBlue TrueBlue program at a lower rate than with Citi Travel Cards. Only ThankYou Points earned with a Citi, Citi Premier® Card or Citi Prestige® Card* can be transferred to other travel partners.
Because of this tiered system, one way to describe the points you earn with your Citi Cards with no annual fee is Citi ThankYou “base” points. The Citi website does not use this terminology; rather, it is a convenient label to describe ThankYou Points, which cannot be transferred to most travel partners.
How do I earn ThankYou points?
The main way to earn Citi ThankYou Points is through welcome offers and ongoing rewards for spending on Citi credit cards. Thank You Points are earned on the following Citi credit cards:
| Map | Awards | Annual fee |
|---|---|---|
| Citi Prestige® Card | 5X points for restaurants and flights, 3X points for hotels and cruises and 1X points for other purchases | $495 |
| Citi Premier® Card | 3x more points for restaurants, supermarkets, gas stations, flights and hotels and 1x more points for other purchases. | $95 |
| Citi Rewards+® Card | 5x points increase on hotel bookings, car rentals and attractions through Citi Travel (limited offer until June 30, 2024); 2X points spent at supermarkets and gas stations for the first $6,000 per year, then 1X; and 1X points for other purchases | $0 |
| Citi Custom Cash℠ Card | 5% refund on purchases in your most eligible spend category per billing cycle (up to the first $500 spent per billing cycle, then 1% thereafter), plus 1% on all other purchases. | $0 |
| Citi® Dual Cash Card | 1% cashback on regular purchases and then another 1% cashback on those purchases. | $0 |
| AT&T Access Card from Citi* | 3x points at gas stations, 2x points at grocery stores, and 1x points at other purchases. | $0 |
How do I use ThankYou points?
How you use ThankYou Points depends on the cards you have associated with your ThankYou Points.
Using ThankYou Base Points
The following Citi credit cards are issued with no annual fee and qualify for ThankYou Base Points:
- Citi Rewards+ Card
- Citi Dual Cash Card
- Citi Personal Payment Card
- AT&T Access Card from Citi
If you have one of these cards, you can use ThankYou points in the following ways and with the following values:
- Travel booked through Citi Travel – 1 cent
- Gift cards – 1 cent
- Home mortgage or student loan repayment – 1 cent
- Purchases – 0.83 cents
- Pay with points – 0.8 cents
- Cashback or loan statement – 0.5 cents
There are two exceptions that are important to note. First, although the Citi Rewards+ card provides basic ThankYou points, you can also transfer points earned with this card to JetBlue, but only at a rate of 0.8 cents per point (or 800 TrueBlue points for every 1,000 ThankYou points). You cannot transfer ThankYou Points earned with your Citi Rewards+ Card to other transfer partners. Second, ThankYou points earned with the Citi Custom Cash Card can be redeemed for 1 cent per point as a cashback or credit statement.
As you can see, some ways to redeem ThankYou points are better than others. You’ll want to avoid some of the weaker redemptions if you really want to get the most out of your ThankYou points.
Using ThankYou Points at higher rates
Another way to get more value from ThankYou Points is to transfer them to Citi Transfer Partners. To do this, you will need one of Citi’s premium credit cards: Citi Prestige Card or Citi Premier Card.
Citi ThankYou Points can currently be transferred to the following 17 travel partners:
| Transfer Partners Citi ThankYou | Transfer ratio | 1000 gratitude points are equal |
|---|---|---|
| Aeromexico Awards | 1:1 | 1000 Premier points |
| Accor Live Limitless ALL | 1:0.5 | 500 ALL bonus points |
| Avianka LifeMiles | 1:1 | 1000 miles of life |
| Cathay Pacific Asia Miles | 1:1 | 1000 Asian miles |
| Choice Privileges | 1:1.5 for Citi Rewards+ and Citi Double Cash cardholders or 1:2 for Citi premium cardholders | 1500 or 2000 Choice Privilege Points |
| Emirates Skyward | 1:1 | 1000 Skywards Miles |
| Etihad Guest | 1:1 | 1000 Miles Etihad Guest |
| Eva Air | 1:1 | 1000 miles InfinityMileageLands miles |
| Flying Blue (Air France, KLM) | 1:1.25 (Limited offer until June 17, 2023) | 1250 miles of Flying Blue |
| JetBlue TrueBlue | 1:0.8 for Citi Rewards+ and Citi Double Cash cardholders or 1:1 for Citi premium cardholders | 800 or 1000 TrueBlue Points |
| Qantas Frequent Flyer | 1:1 | 1000 Qantas points |
| Qatar Privileged Club | 1:1 | 1000 Avios miles |
| Singapore Airlines | 1:1 | 1000 Miles KrisFlyer |
| Thai Royal Orchid Plus | 1:1 | 1000 miles Royal Orchid Plus |
| Miles and smiles Turkish Airlines | 1:1 | 1000 miles |
| Virgin Atlantic Flying Club | 1:1 | 1000 virgin miles |
| Wyndham Awards | 1:0.8 for Citi Rewards+ and Citi Double Cash cardholders or 1:1 for Citi premium cardholders | 800 or 1000 Wyndham Rewards points |
You can also transfer ThankYou points to Shop Your Way at the rate of 1 ThankYou point per 10 Shop Your Way points.
How do I link Citi cards to use base points at the best rate?
Many of the cards that earn ThankYou Base Points have solid earning rates and no annual fees. In many cases, it makes sense to combine multiple Citi cards in order to maximize your income. You can merge your ThankYou accounts for free, which means that all the points you earn with multiple cards can be redeemed from the same account.
One example of an attractive combination is the Citi ThankYou triple card, where you combine Citi Custom Cash, Citi Double Cash and Citi Prestige cards:
- Citi Custom Cash for 5 ThankYou points per dollar on monthly spending up to $500 in the qualifying bonus tier.
- Citi Prestige for 5 ThankYou points per dollar in restaurants and air travel, 3 points per dollar in hotels and cruises, premium benefits and the ability to transfer ThankYou points to Citi travel partners.
- Citi Double Cash for 2 ThankYou points for every dollar on all other purchases (Double Cash offers 2% cashback on purchases; 1% on purchases plus an additional 1% on those purchases)
If you’re not happy with Citi Prestige’s $495 annual fee, you can instead consider Citi Premier, which offers lower earning rates (but only a $95 annual fee) and allows you to transfer points to travel partners.
Bottom line
The Citi ThankYou Points you earn with Citi credit cards differ in the way you use them. ThankYou Points earned with Citi Credit Cards with no annual fee may be considered basic ThankYou Points, which cannot be transferred to most Citi airline partners. To maximize the value of your ThankYou Points, you must obtain either a Citi Premier Card or a Prestige Card to unlock airline transfers and increase your redemptions.
*Citi Prestige Card and Citi AT&T Access Card information has been independently compiled by CreditCards.com. The issuer did not provide details and is not responsible for their accuracy.
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