ThankYou points are one of our favorite points because they are transferable points. This means they can be transferred directly to one of Citi Bank’s many airline or hotel partners, which leads to more flexibility when redeeming your points.

Our top recommended card is the Chase Sapphire Preferred, with a standard welcome offer of 60,000 Ultimate Rewards. We recommend starting there if you haven’t gotten that card yet. But, if you have it, then the Citi Premier is a great option. It is also a great option for those who are over Chase 5/24.

 

 

Earning ThankYou Points

The standard offer on the Citi Premier is 60,000 ThankYou points after spending $4,000 in 3 months. This card does have an annual fee of $95, which isn’t waived for the first year. The Citi Premier card has great bonus categories where you can earn more points on everyday spending. You will get 3 points per dollar spent at restaurants, supermarkets, gas stations, airfare, and hotels. You will earn 1 point per dollar spent on all other purchases. This is a fantastic everyday spending card.

 

 

How to Redeem Your ThankYou Points

Transfer Partners

There are 16 airlines that you can transfer your ThankYou points to:

• Aeromexico
• Air France
• Avianca Airlines
• Cathay Pacific
• Emirates
• Etihad
• EVA air
• JetBlue
• JetPrivilege
• Malaysia Airlines
• Qantas Airways
• Qatar Airways
• Singapore Airlines
• Thai Airways
• Turkish Airlines
• Virgin Atlantic

You can also transfer to these two hotel partners:

• Choice Privileges (transfers 1:2)
• Wyndham Rewards

 

 

Citi Bank Travel Center

You can also book travel at the Citi Bank Travel Center. You can book flights, hotel nights, rental cars, cruises, and even activities in the travel center. Points are worth 1 cent each in the portal, so your 60,000 point bonus would be worth $600 towards travel. There are other ways to use your points, but for maximum value, stick to transferring your points to airlines or using the travel center.

 

How to Use Your 60,000 ThankYou Points

Book 4 Flights to Hawaii Using Turkish Airlines

One way to use your points is to transfer them to Turkish Airlines. Turkish Airlines is part of the Star Alliance, meaning you can book flights on United through Turkish. The great news is that a round-trip ticket to Hawaii on Turkish Airlines is just 15,000 points! With this signup bonus, you could book four free flights (minus taxes and fees) to Hawaii! Sometimes you can book online but other times, it requires calling or emailing Turkish Airlines to book these flights. Check out this post that tells you everything you need to know about booking United flights using Turkish Miles and Smiles. The same flight would cost 45,00 points on United!

 

Transferring to Avianca

Avianca is a part of the Star Alliance, so you can book their partners, like United Airlines, using your Avianca LifeMiles. I did this one time when flying to Maui. I used 22,500 Aviance LifeMiles to book a one-way ticket to Maui on United Airlines. You can also use Avianca LifeMiles to book business and first-class seats on Lufthansa airlines for 63,000 and 84,000 points, respectively.

 

 

 

Transferring to Singapore Airlines

Singapore Airlines is also a great option for flying to Hawaii. If you live on the west coast with direct flights on Alaska Airlines, you can book a roundtrip flight for just 24,000 miles per person. To do this, you’ll need to book over the phone.

You can also book United flights to Hawaii using Singapore miles. You can search for these ones on the Singapore Airlines website. The cost should be 35,000 miles roundtrip vs. the 45,000 miles United charges.

Want to experience real luxury? You can book Singapore Suites for 86,000 miles from New York City to Frankfurt. To continue all the way to Singapore, you are looking at 132,000 miles.

 

Transfer Your Points to JetBlue

Love JetBlue airlines? You can transfer your 60,000 points to JetBlue and then have 60,000 JetBlue TrueBlue points! JetBlue is a great option for flying to the Caribbean. You can get direct flights from the east coast destinations across the Caribbean using JetBlue miles.

 

 

 

Other Options

You can also look into using your 60,000 Citi ThankYou points with Virgin Atlantic to book Delta One for much cheaper than booking directly with Delta. Flying Blue (the rewards program for Air France and KLM) can be a good option for flying economy to Europe. There are tons of options!

 

 

Bottom Line

There is a variety of ways that you can use these points. Many of these ways will save you a lot of points by leveraging airline alliances vs. booking directly with the airline you intend to fly. If you prefer to keep it simple, use those points in the Citi Bank Travel Center.