Updated: October 23, 2024
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The Citi Rewards+ Card and the Citi Premier Card are among the more popular Citi cards with ThankYou points. How quickly you earn points depends on the card you select and your spending habits. But the flexibility to redeem your points in many ways makes the Citi ThankYou Rewards program worth considering. While you have various options when it comes to using your points, you will often find that transferring them to Citi's airline partners gives you the best value.
The number of ThankYou points you earn per dollar varies based on the card you get.
Your ThankYou points' value varies depending on how you redeem them.
ThankYou points typically don’t expire. However, there are some exceptions.
ThankYou Points is a rewards program offered by Citi for their credit card customers. You can earn ThankYou Points by using Citi credit cards that are part of the program in these common ways:
Credit Card Spending
This is the primary method for earning ThankYou Points. You earn points for every dollar you spend on eligible purchases with your Citi credit card. The exact earning rate varies depending on the specific card you have. For example, a card might offer 2 ThankYou Points for every dollar spent on dining and 1 point for all other purchases.
Welcome Bonuses
Credit card welcome bonuses typically require you to spend a certain amount within a specified timeframe (e.g., $3,000 in the first three months) after opening the card. Once you meet these requirements, you receive a predetermined number of ThankYou Points as a bonus. For instance, a card might offer a 50,000-point welcome bonus.
Category Bonuses
Some Citi cards offer bonus points for spending in specific categories. For example, a card might offer 3x points for dining purchases, meaning you'd earn three times the regular point rate when dining out or ordering food.
Online Shopping Portals
Citi may have partnerships with online retailers. You can earn extra points by accessing these retailers through the Citi ThankYou Points portal and making purchases. These points are typically awarded on top of the regular credit card earnings.
Refer-a-Friend
Some Citi cards have referral programs. When you refer someone to apply for the same Citi card, and they are approved, you receive a bonus of ThankYou Points. The amount can vary but is often a fixed number of points.
Citi ThankYou Rewards Partners
Citi may have partnerships with various companies, including airlines, hotels and retailers. When you use your Citi credit card with these partners, you may earn additional ThankYou Points. For example, booking a hotel through a partner's website might earn you extra points.
Adding Authorized Users
Adding authorized users to your Citi credit card account allows them to make purchases with their cards. Some cards offer bonus points for adding authorized users, and you'll earn points on their spending as well.
Special Promotions
Citi occasionally runs special promotions or limited-time offers that allow you to earn bonus ThankYou Points. These promotions can be related to specific spending categories or partnerships.
Annual Fees and Renewals
Some cards offer bonus points when you pay your annual fee or renew your card for another year. These bonuses can help offset the cost of card ownership.
Specific terms and opportunities for earning ThankYou Points can change over time and may vary depending on the Citi credit card you hold. Always check the terms and conditions of your specific card for the most up-to-date information on earning rewards.
You may redeem ThankYou points online or by calling the ThankYou Service Center at 1-800-842-6596. Note that you may redeem your points through some methods only by calling the ThankYou Service Center. These include using your points to make payments toward a mortgage or a student loan. The process of redeeming your points through the ThankYou.com website is fairly straightforward.
To transfer your ThankYou points to a travel partner, you’ll need to go through the ThankYou Rewards platform. Here, you must transfer at least 1,000 points. You may transfer any number up to a maximum of 500,000 (in increments of 1,000) unless specified otherwise.
To use your ThankYou points with PayPal, you need to link your ThankYou account with your PayPal wallet first. To shop via Amazon.com, you need to select your Citi card as the payment method while checking out. If you haven't linked your card already, you'll need to do so first. Then, you may use your points to pay for your order.
Given the different ways you may redeem your Citi ThankYou points, it makes sense to understand that the value of Citi ThankYou Points varies based on the method you select.
Cash rewards
You may redeem your miles as a statement credit, a direct deposit or in the form of a check. The value of Citi ThankYou points in most such cases is one cent per point.
Shopping with points
You may use your ThankYou points to make online and in-store purchases with participating merchants. Using your points to make payments via PayPal is an option. In most such cases, one ThankYou point is valued at 0.8 cents.
Paying with points
This method lets you redeem your points to cover recent purchases through Citi Online or the Citi Mobile App. You may also use your points to pay bills using Citi's online bill payment facility. When you redeem your points this way, one ThankYou point is valued at 0.8 cents.
Payment toward mortgage or student loan
You may redeem your points for checks of up to $1,000 to cover your student loan or mortgage payments. In this case, each ThankYou point is typically valued at one cent.
Gift cards
Redeeming your points for gift cards from an assortment of popular brands is an option. In this case, one Citi ThankYou point is valued at one cent. However, occasional sales may offer higher values.
Charitable donations
Citi partners with several charitable organizations and offers cardholders the option to use their points to donate to a cause they support. In this case, each ThankYou point is usually worth one cent.
ThankYou Travel Center
You may use your points to book flights, hotel stays, cruises, car rentals and more through the Citi ThankYou Travel Center. In this case, the value of each ThankYou point stands at roughly one cent.
Sharing points
Citi lets you share your points with other ThankYou members. The number of points you transfer is the number of points the recipient receives. Note that you are only allowed to transfer up to 100,000 points maximum in a calendar year. Also note that not all ThankYou points can be shared. For example, taxable points earned without spending points cannot be transferred.
Transferring points
Transferring your points to some of Citi's travel partners enables you to maximize their value. While transfers to most partners come at a 1:1 ratio, their worth can vary considerably, as do fuel surcharges and availability of flights. When redeemed for premium cabin flights, high-end hotels and in a few other situations, the value of each ThankYou point can be much higher. Popular transfer partners include Avianca LifeMiles, Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer, Etihad Guest and Virgin Atlantic Flying Club. Citi Prestige and Citi Premier cardholders stand to get even better value than others through JetBlue TrueBlue, Wyndham Rewards and Choice Privileges.
While you'll get extreme value in some situations, the best redemption is the one you make. Even if you don't get the highest value, if you are able to book a “free” vacation using your miles and points to a destination that you've always wanted to visit, that's a huge win. — Lee Huffman, credit card expert at BaldThoughts.com
What makes the ThankYou Rewards program particularly worthy of attention is you get to earn reward points by spending on your credit card as well as through your eligible Citi checking account. Being able to transfer your points to various airline and hotel loyalty programs is a definite plus. Even so, transferring to some loyalty programs offers better value than transferring to others. People who don't want to redeem their points for travel rewards have several alternatives to choose from, and a few offer a value of one cent per point.
One drawback with the program's list of transfer partners is that JetBlue Airlines is the only major U.S. airline. However, you can transfer to all three major airline alliances, which enables cardholders to book flights with major domestic airlines like American, Delta and United.
Compare the worth of your ThankYou points through different redemption methods (and travel partners) before you decide which one works best for you.
Now that you know how the Citi rewards program works and how much Citi ThankYou points are worth, determine if you might manage to use it to your benefit. If so, look for a Citi card with ThankYou points based on factors such as bonus categories, welcome offers, annual fees and added benefits.
Go through answers to other commonly asked questions about ThankYou from Citi to determine if you might benefit from this rewards program.
You may redeem your ThankYou points for cash by requesting a check or a direct deposit into your bank account. Redeeming them as statement credit is also an option.
ThankYou points typically don’t expire as long as your credit card account remains open. However, there are a few exceptions. For example, points issued directly from the ThankYou Rewards program (e.g., bank account bonuses) expire three years from the end of the year in which you earn them. Points that have been shared expire within 90 days of you receiving them. And points earned via the Citi Double Cash card expire after two years.
Yes. You may redeem your ThankYou points as a statement credit to reduce or pay off your credit card balance.
If you close your ThankYou account, you lose all the points linked to the account. If you close all the accounts linked to the ThankYou program, Citi may close your ThankYou account.
Yes. You may share your Citi ThankYou points with other ThankYou program members.
No. You generally don't lose your Citi ThankYou points if you downgrade — unless that card has a specific expiration policy. However, if you close your card instead, the points do expire, even if you transferred those points to another card.
About Doug Milnes, CFA
Doug Milnes is a CFA charter holder with over 10 years of experience in corporate finance and the Head of Credit Cards at MoneyGeek. Formerly, he performed valuations for Duff and Phelps and financial planning and analysis for various companies. His analysis has been cited by U.S. News and World Report, The Hill, the Los Angeles Times, The New York Times and many other outlets.
Milnes holds a master’s degree in data science from Northwestern University. He geeks out on helping people feel on top of their credit card use, from managing debt to optimizing rewards.
