Frequent Miler's latest team challenge, Million Mile Madness, is almost done! The last two weeks Greg, Nick, and Stephen competed to earn 1 Million SAS miles by flying 15 airlines. But who completed the challenge with the most Speed, Affordability, and Style?
I don’t know how I missed this, but a reader named Mike let me know that the Citi ThankYou Premier card now offers 1.25 cents per point value towards hotels, cruises, and car rentals! Previously, the card’s enhanced redemption value was limited to airfare. Now hotels, cruises, and car rentals count too. The details are written directly on their offer page:
I checked my ThankYou account to see if I would get improved value for hotels, cruises, and car rentals with my Prestige card, but I found that the answer was no. For those awards, I would get only 1 cent per point value.
Since I don’t currently have a Premier card, I turned to Twitter for verification. Thanks to Robert Dwyer for responding quickly:
Nice! The Premier card now exactly matches Chase’s Sapphire Preferred and Ink Plus cards with respect purchasing travel with points. And, the Premier card beats out the Sapphire Preferred with better category bonuses. Chase still has better transfer partners, in my opinion, though.
Now its time for me to update a few posts, like these:
- A quick guide to transferable points programs
- Membership Rewards vs. Ultimate Rewards vs. ThankYou Rewards. Which is best?
- Citi Prestige vs Premier vs Preferred
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[…] that brings me the “update” to the redemption structures on these cards. As noted by Frequent Miler, the redemption rates on the Premier Card are actually a recent change. The Premier Card had a […]
[…] Hat Tip Frequent Miler […]
[…] Citi ThankYou Premier keeps getting better by Frequent Miler. I also missed this, nice little upgrade by Citi. it’s weird how the Premier has some features that the Prestige doesn’t (e.g expanded travel category and this benefit) despite the much lower annual fee. I guess they want some consumers to hold both cards? […]
Never mind: http://thepointsguy.com/2015/04/is-the-citi-thankyou-travel-center-worth-using/
Can anyone do a side by side for those of us who dont have one of the cards? I am seriously considering using this for a stay at the grand Hyatt Kaui. How much is this hotel or others compare to booking through the hotel website? Even at a premium Could still be worth it.
I find Citi Thank you Travel center to be very expensive. I priced an international car rental and it was 50% more than in other sites. I also was trying to book flights with a small local airline in Chile but Citi TU Travel center only showed me Lan Chile flights, which are double the price of the local airline. oh well. i think i might just use the points for getting a check to pay my mortgage.
My experience has been very different: rental cars have usually been very well priced and airfare is usually within $5 of the best I can find elsewhere. I haven’t looked at their hotels.
You get the 1.25 cents per point but you have to redeem thru the Thank You Travel Center, which is sometimes more money than booking other ways. Check your pricing before using this method for booking.
exactly, I can’t think of a single time I’d ever use this!
[…] Citi ThankYou Premier now extends their 25% increase in points redemption value to hotels, cruises, and car rentals — not just airfare (1.25 cents per point rather than 1 cent per point in value). I still like using their points for transfers to airline miles, but this increase in value (and other increases in value for the card!) is still great to see. (HT: Frequent Miler) […]
It is surprising that it is on the Premier card but not Prestige as the Prestige card is marketed as it’s higher level card.
I applied for it last week and was approved. I simultaneously canceled Exec card that I had. I am waiting for the card to arrive in mail. I don’t have Citigold acct. What can I do now to get $100 off of the AF? I don’t have 50k lying around either….
You can get CitiBusiness Preferred Banking: http://www.doctorofcredit.com/an-interesting-way-to-qualify-for-citi-gold-checking/
Was just wondering what transfer partners you think Citi would need to add (besides AA, which doesn’t seem like it’s ever going to happen) for the ThankYou program to match Chase Ultimate Rewards in value? I think if they added one (or maybe two) more hotel chain and British Airways, that would probably do it.
I think they’d have to go farther than that. Chase has a number of very useful transfer partners: BA, United, Korean, Southwest, Hyatt, Amtrak. That value is going to be hard to match with just one or two new partners.
Can we assume this applies to Presige as well? Just got my Prestige and planning to close the Premier in a month or so
No, this is not the case. https://online.citibank.com/US/JRS/portal/template.do?ID=GACBenefits&JFP_TOKEN=H43XU0H0#/airtravel
You only get the bonus on flights with Prestige. Though, I assume if you have both cards, earn the sign up bonus with the Prestige, you can redeem for the 25 percent bonus through the Premier. Not 100% sure on that, but I would assume you could.
I will just copy it from the Prestige page I posted before, it’s easier.
Fly More with Fewer ThankYou® Points
Your points are worth more when redeemed for American Airlines or US Airways® flights than when redeemed for non-air travel booked through the Citi ThankYou® Travel Center.22
For example, 50,000 ThankYou Points can be redeemed for a $500 hotel stay, an $800 flight on American Airlines or US Airways® (60% more value), or a $665 flight on any other airline (33% more value).
So, looks like it’s limited to Premier for now. Maybe I should hang on to it then….
Thanks! Can I get the Government Rate while using points for hotels…?
No