Citi ThankYou® Points Sweet Spots
ThankYou® Points, the rewards program from Citi, a partner of Travel Freely, is a solid option among the major rewards programs you can maximize for great free travel. The perks you get differ depending on what card you have, but overall, the rewards program itself offers a lot of value to members.
Here are some of the easy ways to get great value out of your Citi ThankYou Points. Note that this post does not cover all of Citi’s transfer partners, but rather the ones where you’ll find consistently strong value.
Also check out: Chase Ultimate Rewards® Sweet Spots, Capital One Miles® Sweet Spots, Citi ThankYou® Points Complete Guide
Smart Tips for Maximizing Your Citi ThankYou Points
Earning Citi ThankYou points is just the beginning—how you use them makes all the difference. To help you stretch every point for maximum travel value, here are some essential tips to keep in mind:
- Always Keep at Least One Premium Account: Not all Citi cards let you transfer points directly to airline and hotel partners at a favorable rate. With a few exceptions, you’ll need one of the following premium cards: Citi Strata Premier Card, Citi Strata Elite Card (or legacy cards like the Citi Prestige and AT&T Access More, if you still have them). You can move points from transferable cards that transfer to partners at a lower ratio (like the Citi Double Cash Card) into your Strata Premier or Elite account. You’re allowed to move up to 100,000 points per year between accounts if you’re combining with a friend or family member. You can also pool points across your own accounts, making all your Citi points transferable. Heads up on the Custom Cash Card: This one is a little different. You can’t move points to someone else’s account, but you can combine with your own Strata Premier to make them transferable.
- Don’t Transfer Until You’re Ready to Book: One of the best features of Citi ThankYou points is flexibility. Once you transfer to an airline or hotel partner, you’re locked in. That means you shouldn’t move points until:
- You’ve found award space
- You’re ready to book right away
- Think of it as a one-way street—once you go, you can’t come back.
- Be Aware of Transfer Times: Most Citi transfers are instant, but not all. Some can take a day (or longer), which can be risky if award seats disappear before your points arrive. Before moving points, double-check the expected transfer times with each partner.
- Always Check the Value Before Transferring: Just because you see an award doesn’t mean it’s a good deal. For example: If a flight costs 25,000 miles but only $200 in cash, you’d only get about 0.8 cents per point. In that case, you’d be better off redeeming your points for cash (note: the Citi Strata Premier and the Citi Prestige are not a better value since their cash back redemption is 0.75 cents per point) or using them through Citi’s other redemption options.
- Look at Partner Airlines for Better Deals: One of the most powerful strategies with transferable points is booking through partner airlines. Sometimes a partner offers much cheaper award rates than the airline you actually want to fly. Example: Flying Delta? You might find that Air France/KLM Flying Blue charges fewer miles than Delta itself. This is a classic sweet spot that can save you thousands of points.
- Keep an Eye Out for Transfer Bonuses: Citi frequently offers limited-time transfer bonuses—extra miles when you move your points to certain partners. These can give your points a serious boost. Pro tip: Even expired bonuses are worth a look because they often repeat. That way, you’ll know what to expect in the future.
Flying within the US
There are a number of good ways to use Citi points to fly within the U.S. Here are some examples:
- Transfer to American Airlines. Domestic pricing on AA starts from as low as 5K miles one way for economy, while business class specials start at 15K miles one way. Awards on Alaska Airlines (AA partner) within the contiguous US & Canada cost 12.5K each way in economy or 25K in Business/First.
- Transfer to Qantas Frequent Flyer to fly American Airlines. Qantas charges as few as 9,200 points one-way for short-distance AA flights (up to 600 miles). Qantas can also be a good choice for flights up to 1,200 miles, where they charge 14,400 points one-way.
- Transfer to Air France / KLM Flying Blue or Virgin Atlantic Flying Club to fly Delta Airlines. When Delta releases seats to partners, it can be a good deal (especially on short-distance non-stop flights) to book with either Virgin Atlantic points or Air France / KLM miles. Check both programs to compare pricing.
- Transfer to Avianca LifeMiles to fly United Airlines. Within a single zone, awards typically cost 7.5K one-way in economy class or 10K one-way in business class. Between Zone 1 (most of the East Coast) and Zone 2 (most of the states apart from the far west) is 10K one-way in economy or 15K in business class.
Fly First Class to Japan
The cheapest way to fly ANA first class between North America and Japan (or between Europe and Japan) is with Virgin Atlantic points.
The short story: Despite devaluations in recent years, first class and business class awards are still very good redemptions between the US and Japan.
Miles required: 72.5K / 85K one-way for first class between the US West Coast / US East Coast and Japan or 52.5K / 60K miles in business class. Economy awards are 30K-32.5K.
How to find awards: Search United.com to find ANA partner award space.
How to book awards: Call Virgin Atlantic Flying Club at 800-365-9500.
Change/Cancellation fees: $100. If your original taxes were less than $100, Virgin Atlantic will allow you to simply forfeit the taxes.
Key warnings: Virgin Atlantic charges each segment separately, so this award is best for direct flights. They also add fuel surcharges for ANA flights, which as of 2024 are about $360 from the US to Japan or $450 from Japan to the US (or around $730 if booked as a round trip).
Transfer from: Amex, Capital One, Citi, Chase, Marriott, Bilt, Wells Fargo
Fly Business Class to Asia
Fly oneworld partners using American AAdvantage from 60K one-way
The short story: American charges a reasonable number of miles for partner awards in business class between the US and Asia. Unlike Atmos™ Rewards (formerly Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan program), American does not allow a stopover, but American Airlines miles can be quite easy to amass.
Miles required: 60K miles each way in business class to Asia 1 (Korea or Japan) or 70K miles each way in business class to Asia 2 or the Middle East or the Indian Subcontinent. Economy awards start at 35K.
How to find awards: Search for available space at AA.com.
How to book awards: Book online at AA.com or over the phone.
Change and cancellation fees: None for award tickets. Note that Web Specials can not be changed, but can be cancelled and redeposited without a fee.
Key warnings: Finding space can be tough, but if you can find it this can be an excellent use of American Airlines miles.
Transfer from: Citi, Marriott
Fly EVA Airways from 75K one-way
EVA offers very good award space to its own members, and Citi is the only major transferable points program that transfers 1 to 1 to EVA. To do so, you must have a Citi Strata Premier or Strata Elite card (or a no-longer-available Citi Prestige or Access More card).
The short story: EVA’s award chart features fairly average pricing at 75K or 80K each way from the US to Asia in business class, but EVA offers what is widely regarded as one of the best business class products in the sky and they make quite a bit of award space available to their own members. The best value is booking round trip since EVA allows a free stopover (stopover not allowed on one-way tickets).
Miles required: 75K / 80K each way from North America to Asia on EVA (80K from Chicago, New York, Houston, or Toronto). Economy awards are 50K / 55K.
How to find awards: Search EVAAir.com
How to book awards: Book simple awards online at EVAAir.com. Must call and book over the phone for stopovers.
Change and cancellations fees: $50
Key warnings: Star Alliance pricing is higher (87.5K / 97.5K each way). Best use is for EVA flights since they release more award space to their own members.
Transfer from: Capital One, Citi
Fly Business Class to Europe
Fly Air France / KLM business class for 60K one-way
Air France and KLM share a rewards currency: Flying Blue. With Flying Blue miles, it’s often possible to find business class awards to/from Europe for only 60,000 miles one-way. Search for available space at AirFrance.us or KLM.com. You’ll need to create a free Flying Blue frequent flyer account to search. Make sure to select “Book with Miles” and then leave the dates of travel blank in order to bring up a monthly award availability calendar.
The short story: Monthly Flying Blue Promo Awards and even regular standard awards can sometimes offer excellent value between the US and Europe.
Miles required: Varies. Air France no longer has an award chart, but business class awards between North America and Europe start at 60K one way (when you can find them). Promo awards often offer better value, with business class awards sometimes available in the 40K’s.
How to find awards: Search for available space at AirFrance.us (you’ll need to create a free Flying Blue frequent flyer account to search)
How to book awards: Book online at AirFrance.com. Can also book via phone.
Change and cancellation fees: €70.
Key warnings: Air France / KLM do add fuel surcharges, though they are often reasonable (about $150-$250 in taxes and fees each way). Business availability at the lowest price levels has been terrible recently.
Transfer from: Amex, Bilt, Capital One, Chase, Citi, Marriott, Wells Fargo.
Fly oneworld partners using American AAdvantage
Citi is the only major transferable points program that transfers to American.
The short story: American Airlines charges 57.5K miles one-way for partner business class awards to/from Europe. It no longer publishes an award chart for its own flights, but connecting itineraries sometimes price very reasonably.
Miles required: 57.5K miles one-way for partner business class to/from Europe. American does not publish an award chart for its own flights, but we often see itineraries that connect within the US priced for less than nonstop awards to Europe.
How to find awards: Search for available space at AA.com.
How to book awards: Book online at AA.com.
Change and cancellation fees: None for award tickets. Note that Web Specials can not be changed, but can be cancelled and redeposited without a fee.
Key warnings: Watch out for high surcharges on British Airways awards to/from the UK (surcharges can be much more reasonable departing from other European countries on British Airways). Note that nonstop routes on American Airlines-operated flights to Europe can often cost an exorbitant number of miles, but connecting from a non-hub within the United States can sometimes drastically reduce the cost of an award.
Transfer from: Citi, Marriott
Fly Star Alliance partners for 70K (or fewer) Citi points one-way
Avianca LifeMiles offers a good way to book business class flights to/from Europe on their Star Alliance partners (United, Air Canada, Lufthansa, Swiss, TAP Air Portugal, etc.) with no fuel surcharges. For most routes, LifeMiles charges 70,000 points one-way. Better yet, business class flights between the US northeast and the UK or Ireland cost only 45,000 points one-way.
The short story: Avianca LifeMiles offers competitive-ish business class pricing for Star Alliance awards to Europe, with no fuel surcharges.
Miles required: 69-80K each way in business class with no fuel surcharges.
How to find awards: Search for available space at LifeMiles.com (you’ll need to create a free Avianca LifeMiles frequent flyer account)
How to book awards: Book online at LifeMiles.com. Can also book via email. Phone bookings are known to be a hassle but also possible.
Change and cancellation fees: Theoretically $50 within a region, though flights between regions can cost $200 to cancel.
Key warnings: Availability at LifeMiles.com does not always match what you’ll find at United.com. Phone agents generally do not see better availability than what is shown at LifeMiles.com. Always check the LifeMiles site before transferring points. Keep in mind that the mandatory $25 booking fee (added to all bookings) is the same whether one-way or round trip, so book round trip to save.
Transfer from: Amex, Bilt, Capital One, Citi, Wells Fargo, Marriott.
Fly JetBlue Mint for 78K Citi points one-way
This isn’t the cheapest option in this round-up, but award space is usually plentiful. Thanks to Qatar Airways’ partnership with JetBlue, it’s possible to book JetBlue business class (Mint class) to/from Europe for 78,000 miles one-way.
The short story: Qatar Airways Privilege Club offers reasonable award pricing on JetBlue, which can be a great way to book Mint (business) class to Europe.
Miles required: 78K each way. Taxes & fees departing the US are $10.10.
How to find awards: You can search for space via QatarAirways.com, but it is easier to start by finding “I” class space for business class awards.
How to book awards: Book on QatarAirways.com
Change and cancellation fees: $25 more than 24 hours in advance / $100 Between 3-24 hours in advance / Nonrefundable within 3 hours or after departure
Key warnings: Note that Qatar only charges mandatory taxes ($10.10 departing the US and between ~$40-$100 departing Europe) with no additional carrier-imposed surcharges on JetBlue awards.
Transfer from: Amex, Citi. Also transfer to BA and then to Qatar with: Bilt, Capital One, Chase, Wells Fargo
Flights to Hawaii
It’s possible to fly United Airlines to Hawaii from anywhere else in the United States for only 10K miles one-way economy or 15K miles business class.
Unfortunately, it is notoriously difficult to actually book these awards. First, you have to find United saver award space. Next, the really hard part kicks in: you have to find a Turkish agent capable and willing to book the award for you.
The short story: Turkish offers the same pricing on flights to Hawaii as for other domestic US awards, making them an unbelievable value for flights to Hawaii.
Miles required: 10,000 miles each way in economy class or 15,000 miles each way in business class (can include connections for the same price)
How to find awards: Search and book awards at TurkishAirlines.com. Note that you can also try searching AirCanada.com for additional space that should be bookable via email.
How to book awards: Some awards can be booked online at TurkishAirlines.com (click “Award Ticket” on the home page, then log in and choose the “Star Alliance” tab on the award search tool). If you see an award on AirCanada.com that is not available at the Turkish website, you can try an email booking. Once an email agent sets up the reservation, you can call to pay the taxes and ticket rather than emailing back with the requested screen shots of your credit card and ID.
Change and cancellation fees: Changing an award is nearly impossible so cancelling for $70 is your best bet.
Key warnings: Turkish appears to have a max connect time of 4 hours on a domestic itinerary, so itineraries with a longer connection would require 2 awards. Also, for an unknown reason, Turkish phone agents often can’t see award space that other partner airlines can see. Booking over the phone can be very challenging. We highly recommend calling to put an award on hold before you transfer points to Turkish miles.
Transfer from: Bilt, Citi, Capital One, Marriott
Singapore KrisFlyer (for United or Alaska)
The short story: Singapore KrisFlyer charges fewer miles for domestic flights to Hawaii than United does for the same flights. Additionally, they have a great chart for Alaska Airlines for those originating in parts of the US other than the East Coast.
Miles required: For United flights: 19,500 miles each way in economy or 39,000 in business (as compared to 22.5K / 40K through United). For Alaska Airlines flights: award prices range from 13.5K to 14K one-way in economy class.
How to find awards: Search for available United Airlines space at United.com (Note: Do not log in — logging in may show you expanded availability based on your credit card or elite status that is not available for partner bookings) or SingaporeAir.com. For Alaska Airlines award space, search at AA.com.
How to book awards: Book online at SingaporeAir.com or over the phone with Singapore KrisFlyer. Alaska awards must be booked over the phone.
Change and cancellation fees: Change of date / route / class / add a stopover for travel on Singapore Airlines or Silk Air: $25. Change of date / route / class on partner airlines: $50. Cancellation: $75. No-show: $100-$200.
Key warnings: Note that transfers to Singapore KrisFlyer are now instant from Amex Membership Rewards and typically take around 7 hours from Capital One and Chase (slightly longer from Citi). Waitlisted itineraries that do not clear by 14 days prior to departure will get canceled. Be aware that United.com and AA.com will show availability for flights with longer/overnight connections that are not available with Singapore KrisFlyer miles, so be sure to double check availability at SingaporeAir.com or with a phone agent before booking.
Transfer from: Amex, Capital One, Chase, Citi, Marriott
Stay in Preferred Hotels & Resorts
Citi offers two ways to get great value when booking Preferred Hotels:
- Transfer to Choice Privileges. Citi offers a 1-to-2 transfer ratio to Choice Privileges for those with a Strata Premier or Strata Elite card (or a no-longer-available Citi Prestige or Access More card). Many luxury hotels in the Preferred Hotels & Resorts collection can be booked with Choice Privileges points. Point prices range from 20,000 to 87,000 points per night. Given the 1 to 2 transfer ratio, this translates to 10,000 to 43,500 Citi ThankYou points per night for some incredible hotels.
- Transfer to Preferred Hotels I Prefer. Citi offers an incredible 1 to 4 transfer ratio to I Prefer. Point prices range from 15,000 to 150,000 points per night. Given the 1 to 4 transfer ratio, this translates to 3,750 to 37,500 Citi ThankYou points per night for some incredible hotels.
Note: Not all hotels are available to book with points. And, there’s no obvious correlation between hotels bookable with Choice points vs those bookable with I Prefer points. Worse, when a single hotel is bookable both ways, award availability differs.
Stay in a Vacasa Vacation Rental
One of the best ways to book vacation rental properties with points is by using Wyndham points to book Vacasa Vacation Rentals. Vacasa charges either 15,000 or 30,000 Wyndham points per night per bedroom.
Stay in an Ascend Hotel Collection Boutique Hotel or Resort
Citi offers an excellent 1-to-2 transfer ratio to Choice Privileges for those with a Strata Premier or Strata Elite card (or the no-longer-available Prestige or AT&T Access More cards). Choice’s Ascend Hotel Collection offers high-end boutique hotels and resorts with award prices usually ranging from 16,000 to 40,000 points per night. With most award prices between 16,000 and 30,000 points, the cost with Citi points is only 8,000 to 15,000 points per night.
Stay in a Leading Hotel of the World (LHW)
For those with a Strata Premier or Strata Elite card (or the no-longer-available Prestige or AT&T Access More cards), Citi points transfer 1,000 to 200 to LHW’s (Leading Hotels of the World) Leaders Club. That transfer ratio doesn’t sound great, but Leaders Club points are worth approximately 8 cents each towards hotel stays, and so this transfer ratio gives you 1.6 cents per point value with your Citi points.
One cool thing about this opportunity is that just by booking through Leaders Club, you are eligible for on-property perks:
- Upgrade priority upon arrival
- Daily continental breakfast for two
- Early check-in and late check-out considerations
High-value Citi ThankYou points sweet spots: Bottom line
Citi ThankYou points often get little attention compared to Ultimate Rewards and Membership Rewards. While Chase and Amex boast some of the most sought-after transfer partners, Citi still offers plenty of worthwhile options, as shown above.
Keep in mind that this post does not list all of the value spots in Citi’s transfer partners but rather easy (or easy-ish) ways to get good value from ThankYou points.
If you’re willing to put in some more time and effort, programs like Turkish Miles and Smiles and EVA MileageLands may also offer solid value for Star Alliance flights. However, if you’re looking for relatively simple values, there are plenty to be had with ThankYou points.
If these sweet spots have caught your eye and you don’t yet have the Citi Strata Premier Card, you’re missing out. Seriously—check out the latest offer and take advantage of its generous signup bonus to give your points balance a serious lift.
(Some of this content originally appeared on The Frequent Miler and has been posted with permission.)
