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Nerdy takeaways
- The value of Citi ThankYou points is 1 cent when booking travel directly.
- The value of Citi ThankYou points is 1.3 cents when transferred to partners.
- You can use your Citi points instead of cash to make purchases on Amazon, but it's not a great redemption.
Deciding to spend or earn Citi ThankYou points often hinges on one question: How much are they worth? You don't want to spend them for less than they're worth or try to earn more if they aren't worth enough.
According to our data-driven analysis, the value of Citi ThankYou points is between 1 cent (when booking travel directly) and 1.6 cents when transferred to Citi's highest-value partner. Keep in mind that the transfer ratios vary by partner and card.
Why the spread? The lower value reflects a “baseline” figure you can expect when using ThankYou points in a manner with the least amount of hassle involved. The higher value of 1.6 cents per point reflects how much value you could squeeze from them with a little more know-how and effort.
Essentially, there are two separate ways to use Citi points, and they each carry their value (and tradeoffs).
» Learn more: How to earn and use Citi ThankYou Points
The value when booking through Citi's portal
There's nothing to analyze here: When booking through the issuer's travel portal, ThankYou points are worth exactly 1 cent apiece. So if you book a $500 flight and "pay" with your points, it will cost 50,000 ThankYou points.
This value doesn't have any wiggle room. You can't squeeze more value from your points by searching more or booking with particular airlines. A point is just worth a cent through the portal, no matter how you redeem it.
The tradeoff here is convenience. Of course, one cent isn't the best value you can get from ThankYou points (see below), but booking through the portal is far easier than transferring points to partners and booking award travel.
In fact, if reading the previous sentence felt like you were reading a foreign language, remember, you can always keep things simple and book directly with the airline.
» Learn more: The best airline credit cards right now
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The value when transferring to partners
Now we're getting into the real nerdery. To get higher value from your Citi ThankYou points, you can transfer them to one of many hotel and airline partners, then book travel through them.
Full list of Citi transfer partners
Transfer ratios will vary depending on which card you have.
Airlines
- Aeromexico (1:1 or 1:0.7 ratio).
- American Airlines (1:1 or 1:0.7 ratio).
- Air France/KLM (1:1 or 1:0.7 ratio).
- Asia Miles (1:1 or 1:0.7 ratio).
- Avianca (1:1 or 1:0.7 ratio).
- Emirates (1:0.8 or 1:0.56 ratio).
- Etihad (1:1 or 1:0.7 ratio).
- Eva Air (1:1 or 1:0.7 ratio).
- JetBlue (1:1 or 1:0.7 ratio).
- Qantas (1:1 or 1:0.7 ratio).
- Qatar Airways (1:1 or 1:0.7 ratio).
- Singapore Airlines (1:1 or 1:0.7 ratio).
- Thai Airways (1:1 or 1:0.7 ratio).
- Turkish Airlines (1:1 or 1:0.7 ratio).
- Virgin Atlantic (1:1 or 1:0.7 ratio).
Hotels
- Accor Live Limitless (2:1 or 2:0.7 ratio).
- Choice Hotels (1:2 or 1:1.4 ratio).
- The Leading Hotels of the World (5:1 or 5:0.7 ratio).
- Preferred Hotels & Resorts (1:4 or 1:2.8 ratio).
- Wyndham (1:1 or 1:0.7 ratio).
Events
- Virgin Red (1:1 or 1:0.7 ratio).
Again, the tradeoff is convenience — this time in the other direction. Transferring and booking with partners is a multiple-step process that requires patience and understanding.
🤓 Nerdy Tip
Update: Beginning July 27, 2025, Citi is reducing transfer ratios for some transfer partners:
On the Citi Strata Premier® Card, Citi Prestige® Card and AT&T Access More Card from Citi, 1 ThankYou Point will be worth 0.8 Emirates Skywards mile when transferred to Emirates' loyalty program. (Currently, 1 ThankYou Point is worth 1 Emirates mile.)
On no-annual-fee cards like the Citi Rewards+® Card, Citi Double Cash® Card, and AT&T Points Plus Card, transfer ratios will also be lowered for JetBlue TrueBlue, Wyndham Rewards and Choice Privileges Rewards.
According to our analysis, here are some of the best transfer partners, along with their value.
| Transfer partner | Point/mile value | Transfer ratio |
|---|---|---|
| American Airlines | 1.3 cents. | 1:1.* |
| Avianca | 1.6 cents. | 1:1. |
| 1 cent. | 1:1. | |
| 0.8 cent. | 1:1. | |
| 1.4 cents. | 1:1.* | |
| 1.4 cents. | 1:1. |
*On the Citi ThankYou® Preferred Card, Citi Double Cash® Card and select other cards, the JetBlue and Emirates transfer ratio is 1:0.8, while the American Airlines transfer ratio is 1:0.7.
Keep in mind that unlike the baseline value for using ThankYou points directly, these transfer partner values are estimates based on data from hundreds of flights. So any given redemption could offer more or less worth than our valuation.
What does this mean for transferring ThankYou points? First, before transferring your points, you should carefully research and compare which flights you plan to take and which transfer partner supports them. Next, compare the cash price to the cost using points or miles to ensure it's a good redemption. Then check whether award fares are available and, finally, transfer points.
The Citi ThankYou points value on Amazon
You can use your Citi points instead of cash to make purchases on Amazon. Although the value per point is not listed on the Citi or Amazon sites (and can therefore change at any time), the current redemption value is 0.8 cents per point.
This is a lousy redemption for two reasons:
- The value per point is far less than even the lower end of using points to book travel.
- You won't earn points on the purchase. That is, if you paid with another card rather than points, you would actually earn more points.
All in all, we discourage using Amazon to redeem Citi ThankYou points unless you're trying to clear out a few remaining points from your balance.
Citi ThankYou points calculator
Use our Citi ThankYou points calculator below to determine the value of your stash of points, based on both the baseline and NerdWallet estimated values.
How much are your Citi ThankYou points worth? This calculator can convert any number of points into an equivalent cash value, allowing you to figure out what they're really worth.
You can use it to determine whether a particular redemption is a good one or whether a promotion or sign-up offer is worth it. Another resource to help you get the best value for Citi ThankYou points is our Airline Point Transfers and Partner Award Bookings tool.
Cards that earn Citi ThankYou points
Citi offers multiple products that earn the ThankYou rewards currency. Here are some of its most prominent:
- Earn 5% cash back (in the form of ThankYou® Points) on purchases in your top eligible spend category each billing cycle, on up to $500; earn 1% back on all other purchases.
- Eligible categories include restaurants, gas stations, grocery stores, select travel, select transit, select streaming services, drugstores, home improvement stores, fitness clubs and live entertainment.
- Through June 30, 2026: 4% cash back per $1 spent on hotels, car rentals and attractions booked through the portal.
Annual fee: $0
Sign-up bonus:
Earn $200 in cash back after you spend $1,500 on purchases in the first 6 months of account opening. This bonus offer will be fulfilled as 20,000 ThankYou® Points, which can be redeemed for $200 cash back.
- 2 ThankYou points per $1 spent on all purchases (1 point when you make it, and another point when you pay it off).
- 5 ThankYou points per $ spent on hotels, car rentals and attractions booked through Citi's rewards portal.
- No cap on how many ThankYou points you can earn.
- Can transfer to three Citi ThankYou partners: JetBlue, Wyndham and Choice.
- Citi ThankYou points will only transfer at a 1:0.8 ratio, meaning if you transfer 1,000 ThankYou points, you'll only get 800 miles or points with the transfer partner.
Annual fee: $0
Sign-up bonus: Earn $200 cash back after you spend $1,500 on purchases in the first 6 months of account opening. This bonus offer will be fulfilled as 20,000 ThankYou® Points, which can be redeemed for $200 cash back.
- 12 ThankYou points per dollar spent on hotels, car rentals and attractions booked trough Citi.
- 6 ThankYou points per dollar spent on air travel booked through Citi.
- 6 ThankYou points per dollar spent at restaurants (including food delivery services) on “Citi Nights” on Fridays and Saturdays between 6 p.m. and 6 a.m. Eastern Time. Outside of this timeframe, you’ll earn 3 points per $1 in this category.
- 1.5 ThankYou points per dollar on all other purchases.
- Several travel-related credits, including up to $300 off a hotel stay of two or more nights booked through Citi.
- Priority Pass Select membership and four passes a year to access American Airlines' Admirals Clubs.
Annual fee: $595
Sign-up bonus: Earn 75,000 bonus Points after spending $6,000 in the first 3 months of account opening.
- 10 ThankYou points per dollar spent on hotels, car rentals and attractions booked through Citi.
- 3 ThankYou points per $1 spent on restaurants, supermarkets, air travel, other hotels and gas stations.
- 1 ThankYou point per $1 spent on all other purchases.
- $100 annual hotel savings on a single hotel stay of $500 or more purchased through Cititravel.com.
Annual fee: $95
Sign-up bonus:
Earn 60,000 bonus ThankYou® Points after spending $4,000 in the first 3 months of account opening, redeemable for $600 in gift cards or travel rewards at thankyou.com.
» Learn more: The best ways to use Citi ThankYou points
How did we determine the value of Citi ThankYou points?
For our NerdWallet estimate of 1.6 cents per ThankYou point, based on the highest point value of Citi's transfer partners (Avianca).
How to maximize your rewards
You want a travel credit card that prioritizes what’s important to you. Here are some of the best travel credit cards of 2026:
- Flexibility, point transfers and a large bonus: Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
- No annual fee: Wells Fargo Autograph® Card
- Flat-rate travel rewards: Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card
- Bonus travel rewards and high-end perks: Chase Sapphire Reserve®
- Luxury perks: American Express Platinum Card®
- Business travelers: Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card
Explore more on
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