Citi Thank You Rewards is offering a 50% transfer bonus when you transfer points to hotel program Accor Live Limitless (otherwise known as ALL). This could actually be a very good deal given that you’ll get about 1.6c per point with this transfer bonus.
The Deal
- Citi Thank You Rewards is offering a 50% transfer bonus to Accor Live Limitless through May 11, 2024 at 11:59pm ET.
- With this bonus, points transfer at a ratio of 1,000 Citi points : 750 ALL points
Key Terms
- Expires 5/11/24 at 11:59pm ET
Quick Thoughts
Accor Live Limitless doesn’t get a lot of attention in the award travel community. That’s mostly because there is no opportunity for outsized value. Points are worth a fixed amount toward paid room rates (and that fixed amount is in Euro cents, which makes it harder for those of us who are US-based to work our minds around it).
Ordinarily, ThankYou points transfer to ALL at a rate of 1,000 ThankYou points to 500 Accor Live Limitless points. With this 50% transfer bonus, you’ll get 750 ALL points for each 1,000 ThankYou points.
ALL points are worth 2 Euro cents per point, so every 1,000 ThankYou points gets you 15 Euros worth of points. That’s equal to $15.94 based on today’s exchange rate — or a value of 1.594c per ThankYou point based on the exchange rate today (hence why I said “about 1.6cpp). That’s more than our Reasonable Redemption Value for Citi Thank You points, so if you find a hotel that fits your needs, this seems like a reasonably good use of Citi points.
I haven’t personally redeemed with ALL before, but my understanding is that you apply points to your folio at check-out, so it should therefore be possible (I believe) to apply points to your entire folio (including room charges). Furthermore, a nice thing about redeeming ALL points is that you can book whatever room type you want and apply points equally. For family travelers, that can be great since it means that you can book a suite (for instance) and get the same 1.6c per Citi point in value.
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For those who are cash payers, it takes just over $11k in annual spending (room, dining, etc.) to earn Accor top-tier status. At that level, one earns a flat 10 percent reward rate (irrespective of currency). That is up from just over 8 percent a few years ago. Uninspiring, yes. BUT, the larger value can be Accor’s Suite Night Upgrades, which are guaranteed upgrades at the time of booking. One can earn up to 12 of these each calendar year. Since a few years ago, Accor has made these much easier to use. The level of suite you get is tied to the level of standard room you book. Depending on the property, room, etc., a single SNU might be worth upwards of $500. So, while the reward rate alone might be blah, one shouldn’t forget to add in the value of the SNUs. As always, YMMV. Hope this helps.
$16.05 at current rates for 1000 Citi TY points. I made a reservation yesterday and was able to use ACCOR points at checkout, however, only in 2000 point increments! Not sure if there are such rules if you use at checkout. Very mercurial program.
That’s how the program is supposed to work. If your stay is 85 euros you can use at most 4000 Accor points and have to pay the remainder 5 euros out of pocket. I don’t think it makes a difference whether points are used at checkout or at time of booking.
I’m a bit unclear. If the hotel charges 150 euros, that means it will cost me 10,000 points at check out?
No. Each Accor point is worth 2 EuroCents. 150 Euros of folio balance can be offset by 7500 Accor points.
FYI, these points tend to expire rather quickly if you don’t use them.
^^^ This is the biggest downside to the Accor program. ^^^
Do the points expire if you transfer points to Accor (ie, does the transfer extend the expiration date)?
Points expire 365 days from the date earned. Accor states:
“Crediting new Reward points to your account automatically extends the validity of your Reward points balance by 365 days.”
That language suggests any crediting activity will reset one’s clock. But, subsequent to this text, it laundry lists various means to credit new points. And, while it includes use of Accor co-branded credit cards (available to European residents), it does not include point transfers. My sense is that Accor intends ANY credited points will reset one’s clock and the absence of point transfers seems to be an oversight.
I transferred points from Citi in November 2023 and today. I am very glad to report my current expiration date is 04/19/2025!