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Citi’s powerful card lineup
There are 4 currently available Citi cards that are worth focusing on to rack up ThankYou points:
- The Citi Premier is offering 60,000 points for spending $4,000 in 3 months. $95 annual fee. Read more here.
- This card is required to transfer points into miles at a 1:1 ratio.
- If you have this card, you can also cash out your points at a value of 1 cent per point.
- With this card you’ll earn 3 points per dollar on airfare, hotels, travel agents, groceries, gas, and dining.
- The Citi Double Cash card offers 2% cash back or 2 points per dollar spent everywhere that can be transferred into ThankYou points. If you also have a Citi Premier Card you can transfer points into miles. No annual fee. Read more here.
- With this card you’ll earn 2 points per dollar everywhere with no limits!
- The Citi Rewards+ Card is offering 20,000 points for spending $1,500 in 3 months. If you also have a Citi Premier Card you can transfer points into miles. No annual fee. Read more here.
- This card automatically rounds up rewards earned on every purchase to the nearest 10 points, meaning you earn 10 points on a $0.50 Amazon balance reload, which is a whopping 20 points per dollar spent at Amazon! Plus you’ll earn 2 points on $6K in annual spending at supermarkets.
- Even better, when you have this card you’ll get a 10% points rebate on all points redemptions on up to 100K points per calendar year. So when you transfer 100,000 points to an airline via a Citi Premier card, you’ll get a 10,000 point rebate thanks to also having a Rewards+ card.
- The Citi Custom Cash Card is offering 20,000 points for spending $750 in 3 months. If you also have a Citi Premier Card you can transfer points into miles. No annual fee. Read more here.
- With this card you’ll earn 5 points per dollar on up to $500 in purchases in your top spending category each month! There’s no need to enroll for this bonus. Eligible categories include Restaurants, Gas Stations, Grocery Stores, Select Travel, Select Transit, Select Streaming Services, Drugstores, Home Improvement Stores, Fitness Clubs, and Live Entertainment. With $500 in monthly purchases, you can rack up 30,000 points annually!
Signup bonus terms
- You can receive a bonus on a Custom Cash card once every 48 months.
- You can receive the bonus on the Rewards+ card or Premier card if you haven’t received a bonus or closed the CitiRewards+, Citi ThankYou Preferred, ThankYou Premier, or Citi Prestige card in the past 24 months.
- You can receive the bonus on the Rewards+ card or Premier card even if you downgraded one of those cards in the past 24 months.
- You can receive the bonus on the Rewards+ card or Premier card even if you currently have those cards.
- You can get multiple of the same exact Citi card, so you can apply for a Premier card even if you currently have a Premier card.
- Citi allows applications for 1 card every 8 days and 2 cards every 2 months.
- You can check application status at 866-252-0118 and you can call reconsideration if you’re denied at 800-695-5171.
Points transfers and card conversions
You can transfer Citi points to anyone, but once you transfer points they will expire in 90 days, so only do that if you’re ready to transfer them into airline miles or redeem them another way within that timeframe. You can share 100K points per calendar year and you can receive 100K points per calendar year.
You can typically convert any Citi card into another Citi card.
Creating A Citi Quadfecta Killer Combo
A Citi Bifecta would consist of a household that has the Citi Premier and the Citi Double Cash or Citi Rewards+. The total effective annual fee would be just $95. With Citi Premier and Citi Double Cash you can earn 2 points per dollar everywhere and 3 points per dollar on airfare, hotels, travel agents, groceries, gas, and dining. Plus you can transfer your points into miles. With Citi Premier and Citi Rewards+ you can earn 10 points on all small purchases and 3 points per dollar on airfare, hotels, travel agents, groceries, gas, and dining. Plus you can transfer your points into miles and get a 10% points rebate on up to 100,000 points redeemed per calendar year, meaning you’ll effectively earn 11.1 points on small purchases and 3.33 points per dollar on airfare, hotels, travel agents, groceries, gas, and dining. If both members in a household have a Citi Premier and Citi Rewards+ then both members can each get the 10% rebate on up to 100,000 of points redeemed per year.
A Citi Trifecta would consist of a household that has the Citi Premier, the Citi Double Cash, and the Citi Rewards+. The total effective annual fee would be just $95. With those 3 cards you can earn 10 points on all small purchases, 2 points per dollar everywhere, and 3 points per dollar on airfare, hotels, travel agents, groceries, gas, and dining. Plus you can transfer your points into miles. Plus you can transfer your points into miles and get a 10% points rebate, meaning you’ll effectively earn 11.1 points on small purchases, 3.33 points per dollar on airfare, hotels, travel agents, groceries, gas, and dining, and 2.22 points per dollar everywhere.
A Citi Quadfecta would consist of a household that has the Citi Premier, the Citi Double Cash, the Citi Rewards+ and the Citi Custom Cash Card. The total effective annual fee would be just $95. With those 4 cards you can earn 10 points on all small purchases, 5 points per dollar on $500 of monthly purchases in your top category that month, 2 points per dollar everywhere, and 3 points per dollar on airfare, hotels, travel agents, groceries, gas, and dining. Plus you can transfer your points into miles. Plus you can transfer your points into miles and get a 10% points rebate, meaning you’ll effectively earn 11.1 points on small purchases, 5.55 points per dollar on $500 of purchases in your top category, 3.33 points per dollar on airfare, hotels, travel agents, groceries, gas, and dining, and 2.22 points per dollar everywhere.
Redeem for cash back
If you have a Citi Premier card, you can redeem your points for a statement credit of 1 cent per point. If you have a Rewards+ card you’ll also get a 10% rebate on up to 100K points per calendar year. In other words if you redeem 100K points for $1,000 you would get back 10K points, so each point is effectively worth 1.11 cents each.
Transfer to lucrative airline partners
If you have a Citi Premier card you can transfer points into miles:
- Aeromexico (Skyteam): 1K:1K instantly
- Air France/KLM Flying Blue (Skyteam): 1K:1K instantly
- Avianca Lifemiles (Star Alliance): 1K:1K instantly
- Cathay Pacific Asia Miles (OneWorld): 1K:1K instantly
- Emirates: 1K:1K instantly
- Etihad: 1K:1K instantly
- EVA (Star Alliance): 1K:1K in 2-3 days
- Intermiles: 1K:1K instantly
- JetBlue: 1K:1K instantly
- Malaysia (OneWorld): 1K:1K in 1-2 days
- Qantas (OneWorld): 1K:1K instantly
- Qatar (OneWorld): 1K:1K in 1-2 days
- Singapore (Star Alliance): 1K:1K in 1 day
- Thai (Star Alliance): 1K:1K in 3-7 days
- Turkish (Star Alliance): 1K:1K in 1 day
- Virgin Atlantic: 1K:1K instantly
- Choice Privileges: 1K:2K instantly
- Wyndham: 1K:1K instantly
With a Citi Rewards+ card you’ll get a 10% points rebate per calendar year, making the effective transfer ratio 0.9 Citi points for 1 airline mile!
Sample mileage uses:
Turkish Airlines: Turkish Airlines has a ridiculously generous Star Alliance award chart to travel on airlines like United for much fewer miles than United charges
And they don’t charge any fuel surcharges for United flights.
Here is the North America version of the chart with one-way award pricing:
| Between the US and: | Economy | Business | First |
|---|---|---|---|
| US, including Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and USVI | 7.5K | 12.5K | N/A |
| North America | 10K | 15K | N/A |
| Europe | 30K | 45K | 67.5K |
| Middle East | 32K | 47K | 68.5K |
| Central and North Africa | 30K | 49K | 73K |
| Central Asia | 34K | 52.5K | 77K |
| Southern Africa and Far East | 45K | 67.5K | 100K |
| South America and Oceania | 52.5K | 75K | 115K |
As part of the Star Alliance, Turkish can book award travel on airlines like United and Air Canada.
You can open a Turkish Airlines mileage account online (Hint: Your password must be exactly 6 numbers or else it will give an error).
And you can book Star Alliance awards with Turkish miles here (Login and then click this link again). You can’t search for partner awards from their home page. Search for one-way at a time for best results.
For example you can transfer miles to Turkish Airlines to fly from the US to Tel Aviv on United for just 32K points, or 28.8K points in coach after the 10% rebate with a Rewards+ card:
Or 47K points in Polaris business class (42.3K after the 10% rebate with a Rewards+ card):
There are lots of other bargains, all of which will be 10% less with a Rewards+ card:
- Fly one-way anywhere in the US, including Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and USVI, for just 7.5K miles in coach or 12.5K in business class on United with no fuel surcharges.
NYC to Miami in economy for 7.5K or business for 12.5K:
LA to NYC in economy for 7.5K or lie-flat business for 12.5K:
LA to Kauai in economy for 7.5K or business for 12.5K:
- Fly one-way anywhere in the US to Canada or Mexico for just 10K miles in coach or 15K in business class on United with no fuel surcharges.
NYC to Cancun in economy for 10K or business for 15K:
- Fly one-way to Europe for 45K in business class on United with no fuel surcharges.
NYC to Milan in economy for 30K or business for 45K:
Qantas: With Qantas miles you can redeem for El Al award tickets without any fuel surcharges! You read more about this option here. Plus there have been transfer bonuses in the past.
- A one-way coach ticket from NYC to Tel Aviv on El Al is 37.8K Qantas miles and there are no fuel surcharges.
- A one-way premium economy ticket from NYC to Tel Aviv on El Al is 70.8K Qantas miles and there are no fuel surcharges.
- A one-way business class ticket from NYC to Tel Aviv on El Al is 90K Qantas miles and there are no fuel surcharges.
You can also redeem for tickets on American:
- A one-way coach ticket from NYC to Tel Aviv on AA is 31.5K Qantas miles plus $323.
- A one-way business class ticket from NYC to Tel Aviv on AA is 82K Qantas miles plus $323.
Avianca Lifemiles: Awards on United start at just 6.5K miles and as low as 5.2K miles with frequent 25% transfer bonuses.
Flying Blue: Fly from Los Angeles to Tahiti in lie-flat business class for 64K miles and take advantage of discounted promo awards for bargains to Europe and Israel.
Emirates: Fly in shower class with lowered fuel surcharges.
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Etihad: Etihad has some very good redemption rates on their own partner airlines.
Unfortunately, you’ll need to call Etihad to book partner awards.
Etihad’s award chart for travel on American is incredible, which is very similar to American’s pre-devaluation 2015 award chart. You can fly to Europe or South America for just 20K miles each way in coach on off-peak dates or 50K miles in business/first. A business class ticket to Israel is 67.5K miles each way while a business class ticket to Australia is 62.5K miles each way!
You can even fly 3 cabin first class on American from JFK to LA or San Francisco for just 25K miles!
There are bargains for other partners too. You can fly Royal Air Maroc nonstop in a Dreamliner from JFK, Boston, Miami, Montreal, or Washington DC to Casablanca for just 22K miles in coach (plus $120 fuel surcharges) or 44K miles in lie-flat business class (plus $170 fuel surcharges) each way. Thanks to the Abraham Accords, Morocco has also several new kosher restaurants!
JetBlue: Book awards with free cancellations.
Qatar: Fly in Qatar Qsuites from JFK to Doha for 70K miles, JFK to the Maldives for 85K miles or JFK to Cape Town for 95K miles. There are no fuel surcharges.
Qatar QSuites is one of the highest rated business class products around. They can be configured into a closed suite for 1, 2, or even 4 passengers! They even provide delicious Hermolis kosher meals onboard!
Cathay Pacific: Avoid and lower fuel surcharges on partner airlines like AA and BA.
Plus get expanded access to Cathay Pacific awards on their industry leading first class, with the more comfortable mattress and seat in the air (by a long shot!) and top-notch lounges with kosher food on the ground (and no face mask required):
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Singapore: Book highly rated premium cabin or suites on Singapore flights that are blocked with partner miles.
84K miles for a Singapore suite between JFK and Frankfurt:
Virgin Atlantic: Bargains on ANA First Class suites and on Delta flights.
You only need 55K Virgin Atlantic miles to fly one-way between the US west coast and Japan or 60K miles to fly one-way between the US east coast and Japan in first class.
You can fly on Delta to Europe (excluding the UK) for just 30K miles in coach or 50K miles in business class each way.
A short-haul Delta flight, like Cleveland to NYC will be 7.5K Virgin miles in main cabin or 17.5K in first class:
JFK to Tel Aviv costs 35K miles each way in coach. Plus while Delta charges 10% of the paid fare for infants, which can be astronomical on one-way flights, Virgin charges just 1,000 miles in coach or 5,000 miles in business class each way for infants:
Wyndham: Wyndham hotels can either cost 7.5K, 15K, or 30K points per night. There are several options in Israel for 15K points, though you may need to call to book with points.
A better value that Wyndham hotels can be Vacasa home rentals, which cost 15K Wyndham points per bedroom per night. You can email triprewards.fulfillment@wyndham.com or call 506-646-2943 to book that with Wyndham points. You can then transfer points instantly from Citi to Wyndham to book a vacation rental.
Choice Hotels: Choice Hotels can have better value than Wyndham hotels thanks to the 1:2 transfer ratio from Citi. The chain is particularly strong in Scandinavia, though you can find good values around the world. In Svalbard, one of the most unique places I’ve been to, you can stay at the Funken Lodge for 12K points instead of paying $270 per night. That’s just 6K Citi points at a value of 4.5 cents per point.
Do you have a Citi Bifecta, Trifecta, or Quadfecta?
Great article well done again! Can you rank the value of bank points for us… Where would you put citi in comparison to chase and amex
They’re tough to rank as they each have their own strengths and can be useful for different trips.
Good to have some of each to use when best 🙂
Dan – I was approved for the Cit Premier card but then received a letter from citi that I was ineglible for the bonus (even though I was approved and received the card). After having multiple conversatsions with serveral citi customer service reps (which was like pullng teeth) I was able to extract (pun intended) that they considered my card “closed” in the past 24 months since I had downgraded my card in the past 24 months. I believe this goes against what you stated above. Any suggestions on recourse from Citi?
That was not the case for me.
Did you downgrade to a card that needed a new card number? That would make it look like it was closed.
I don’t know I downgraded to a double cash card. The person I spoke to was not helpful at all. Do you have any suggestions on a department at citi that can resolve this in my favor?
Before you downgrade you should ask if it will force a new number.
I think if you downgraded to Rewards+ you would have been OK as that can have the same number.
You can try a CFPB complaint if you can’t get anywhere talking to Citi, as the terms are confusing for downgrades.
good luck finding dates on ELAL with Qantas miles!
It’s available. Just picked a random date and found award space on my first try.
Are the screenshots of Turkish old ones ? July 8 is not on Thursday this year and no saver award space on united
Yes, they are example of what the costs are, not to find award space.
But you can do that on United.com with flexible dates to find saver space.
General question: how do we know if awards will be available to book on partner airlines for the prices listed in the chart , for example American business on Qantas or Etihad ? With united I know it’s available on partner airlines once we see its available on united as “saver” . But with the other airlines that don’t have award charts , how can we get a hint if it would be available to book with partners?
You can check the saver rates on American’s award chart and find availability on the flex calendar at that rate, though if the web special is cheaper you won’t see that unless you click on the flight and are offered web special or saver.
If you see it on the Qantas calendar then Etihad can book it.
How can I check for saver rates when there is no term saver on AA?
You base it on the rate charged matching the award chart rate.
https://www.aa.com/i18n/aadvantage-program/miles/redeem/award-travel/flight-award-chart.jsp
Ah I thought AA has no award chart at all. How about with Delta?
is it a general rule across the board that only saver rates can be booked with partners ?
Delta has no chart. Best to search using Virgin Atlantic.
AA/United require saver for partners to book. Delta is more complicated.
how do you reload $0.50 at amazon? It requires a $5.00 minimum to reload
.50 works for me via that link.
i dont have a way of sending a screen shot but not working on my account..
Is there a limit on the 50 cent Amazon reloads? If I’m doing the math correct, I can reload $500 in 50 cent increments for 10,000 points?
Dan, I downgraded my premier card and I didn’t redeem the points on time so they were forfeited. They said I’m not eligible yet to upgrade it back. Anything I could do to get my points back?
Is it too risky to downgrade a premier in the first year to the rewards plus immediately after hitting the SUB? Must I pay at least 1 AF( as Amex requires)?
Not risky. You don’t need to pay an AF on Citi or AMEX.
Ultimate rewards points can be transferred to Turkish miles?
Which one is a better option 787 Dreamliner business or JetBlue mint class ?
@dan I think that when you posted that virgin Atlantic charges 1000 miles or 5k for business I think you forgot to mention that that’s for infants. I think that part was left out of what you were trying to say
How do I book from TLV to Canada through Turkish? It seems to only have availability from EWR to TLV. Any ideas?
I have the same question..