Earning points is only half the fun – the real excitement begins when you start dreaming about how you can use them. I’ll tell you some of the ways I like to redeem my Citi ThankYou points and what I’ve gotten in return.
Transfer partner
Like many credit cards, you can transfer the points you earn with the Strata Premier to a list of travel partners. With nearly 20 options between airlines and hotels, there’s almost no place in the world you can’t get to.
For hotels, I like to send points to Choice Privileges Rewards because 1,000 Citi ThankYou points equal 2,000 Choice points, which means you can redeem your points for hotels in the Preferred Hotels & Resorts program at a significant discount.
Some of the fantastic hotels I have stayed at through the Preferred Hotels & Resorts program include the Farmhouse Inn in Sonoma County, California, the Watergate Hotel in Washington, DC, and the Hotel Grand Pacific in Victoria, British Columbia.
The Watergate Hotel, with rates starting at 53,000 points, and the Grand Hotel Victoria, with rates starting at 37,000 points, both offer exceptional value. Since points transfer at a 2:1 ratio, you get two nights for the price of one. The Farmhouse Inn costs 75,000 points, but even then, with room rates over $800 per night, using just 37,500 points for a free night offers excellent value at more than 2 cents per point.
Photo by Jon Nickel-D’Andrea
On the airline side, Citi’s partnerships with Emirates and Etihad open up two of the world’s most exclusive first class products. Other airlines like Qatar offer access to great business class seats, and the Oneworld partnership offers domestic flights on American Airlines and Alaska Airlines.
Qatar offers business class amenities in its Q Suite on long-haul flights to and from the US. If you’re traveling with a partner, you can even get a double bed to sleep together on the plane. On a recent return flight from Doha to Seattle, we were treated to a multi-course meal that included an appetizer, main course, dessert, and even a three-course breakfast. Everything was served on china plates with freshly baked bread and a wide selection of cocktails and wines.
The flight was a bargain at 70,000 points, but flights are hard to come by. Fortunately, once you log in to the Qatar website, you can search for flights using the calendar view, allowing you to view multiple dates at once.
Photo by Jon Nickel-D’Andrea
Travel portal
If you’re not familiar with transfer partners or just find them complicated, no problem. You can use your points directly in the Citi Travel portal to offset the cost of your trip. Since you can quickly earn points by using your card in the bonus categories mentioned above, offsetting your travel costs is a breeze.
