How To Use the Citi Travel Portal To Book a Trip on Points

In March 2023, Citi launched a new travel portal powered by Booking.com called Citi Travel. The idea was to give Citi cardholders a way to book flights, hotels, and more using points, cash, or a combination of both. 

Here’s how to book flights and hotels through the Citi Travel portal — and how to decide between points and cash for the best possible value.

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How Do Citi ThankYou Points Work?

Like other banks, Citi has one set of credit cards that generate straight cashback and another set that generates points. These points can still be redeemed for cashback, but also for travel, gift cards, and more.  

Citi calls its currency ThankYou® Rewards (or ThankYou points — known to Reddit as “TYP”) and allows you to redeem points via Citi Travel or ThankYou.com. 

For reference, here’s a list of cards that currently generate Citi ThankYou points: 

• Citi Strata Premier℠ Card
• Citi Rewards+® Student Credit Card
• Citi Rewards+® Credit Card
• Citi Double Cash® Card
• Citi Custom Cash® Card
• AT&T Points Plus® Card from Citi

If your Citi card isn’t on the list, that probably means it generates AAdvantage Miles or straight cashback instead. 

If you are generating ThankYou points, you can find your current balance by visiting the Citi Mobile® App or by looking here in your Citi online dashboard: 

READ MORE: Your Ultimate Guide to Citi ThankYou Points

How To Book Flights Through Citi Travel

You can access the Citi Travel portal from your Citi online dashboard, via ThankYou.com, or by simply heading straight to search.travel.citi.com. 

Here, you’ll find a welcome page familiar to anyone who’s used KAYAK.com, Chase Travel℠, or another competing portal. You’ve got tabs for hotels, flights, rental cars, and attractions, and Citi summarizes any current promotions in the banners below. 

To book a flight, click the Flights tab and enter your origin/destination airports and target dates. 

Let’s say you’re looking to visit Comic-Con next year, so you’ll punch in a roundtrip to San Diego from July 23 through July 28. 

On the results page, you’ll see a clean list of options organized by “Best Overall” by default — but you can also sort by cheapest or fastest, filter out certain airlines, adjust your dates, and tweak your departure/arrival times. 

Unlike Chase Ultimate Rewards®, Citi ThankYou points are always worth a flat penny each when redeemed through the Citi Travel portal, regardless of airline, flight, hotel, etc.

Once you’ve picked a flight option, Citi Travel brings you to the pre-checkout screen where you’ll enter passenger details and choose/upgrade your seats. 

On the final checkout screen, Citi Travel will ask how many points you’d like to apply toward your total. 

As you can see, I’m currently broke with points — but if I had any, each one would take a penny off my total fare. 

Once you complete checkout, keep an eye out for a confirmation email from the airline itself — not just from Citi Travel. 

Any time you book travel through a portal, it’s a good idea to confirm directly with the airline/hotel/cruise line that your reservation went through. 

READ MORE: How To Travel for Free with Credit Cards

How To Book Hotels Through Citi Travel

The process of booking a hotel through Citi Travel is just as simple and straightforward as booking a flight. 

On the Citi Travel homepage, click the Hotels tab. Enter your destination (in our case, San Diego) and your dates for check-in and check-out. 

On the results screen, you can filter by property type (e.g., hotel, resort, bed and breakfast), star rating, neighborhood, and price per night: 

The Citi Travel portal allows you to book hotel rooms using cash or points and cash, but not points only. That’s not uncommon, since you often have to cover your resort fees and taxes using real money unless you book directly with the hotel. 

Once you choose a property, you’ll be brought to a page where you can see photos, amenities, nearby attractions, and more. 

Scroll down a bit to see room options: 

(Believe it or not, $404 a night isn’t that bad for Comic-Con). 

Once you choose a room, you’ll be brought to a checkout screen where you’ll enter your personal information, payment information, and how many points you’d like to apply to your total: 

Again, once you’re done booking through the portal, it’s a good idea to call the hotel just to confirm your reservation went through.

READ MORE: How To Earn Credit Card Points Fast for Travel

Using Points vs. Cash With Citi Travel

Let’s say you have $1,000 cash and 100,000 Citi ThankYou points to book a $1,000 flight. Should you use one, the other, or a combination of both? 

Well, it may surprise you to hear that you’re better off using cash — not points — when booking through Citi Travel. Allow me to explain. 

Reasons to book Citi Travel using cash

Let’s say you book a flight using 100,000 ThankYou points instead of cash. It certainly feels like a “win” since there’s no money coming out of your pocket. 

But consider this: If you were to redeem your 100,000 TYP for $1,000 statement credit instead — and then use your Citi rewards card to book travel — you’ll earn additional rewards on that booking. 

In fact, Citi tends to be highly rewarding to cardholders who use cards instead of points to book through Citi Travel. 

Some Citi cards, for example, get 10x on hotels and rental cars. Even some Citi cashback cards can earn 5% cashback on Citi Travel bookings. 

In other words, using a card instead of points on your $1,000 booking could earn you $50 to $100 cashback. And then you could redeem your 100,000 points for a statement credit to cover the cost.

Reasons to book Citi Travel using points

Honestly, the only reason I can think of to use points instead of cash on Citi Travel is if you’ve (a) already maxed out your Citi card and (b) don’t have time to redeem points for statement credit (which, in my experience, takes about five minutes). 

Otherwise, it’s generally better to redeem your ThankYou points for cashback first, then use your card to book through Citi Travel for up to 10x rewards. 

READ MORE: When To Use Points vs. Cash for Booking Travel

Redeeming Outside Citi Travel

Outside of Citi Travel, the best ways to redeem Citi ThankYou points are as follows: 

Transfers

Select premium Citi rewards cards allow you to transfer points to nearly 20 different loyalty programs, such as Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles, Flying Blue, Emirates Skywards, AeroMexico Rewards, and Wyndham Rewards — some for up to 2 cents per point in value. 

Gift cards 

Citi allows you to redeem points for gift cards at a regular rate of 1 cent per point, but you can find sales on certain gift cards (e.g., $25 to Apple for 2,150 points), which stretches the value of your ThankYou points to ~1.16 cents per point. 

Cashback 

If a transfer or a gift card doesn’t interest you, there’s nothing wrong with redeeming your ThankYou points for a penny each in cashback.

FAQs

Do Citi ThankYou points expire?

No. Citi ThankYou points generally don’t expire, even if you canceled the card that you earned them with. 

However, some older, now-defunct Citi rewards cards may have points with expiration dates. You can see the complete list by visiting Citi’s FAQ and tabbing over to Points Expiration.

Can you transfer Citi ThankYou points to another person?

Yes. You can transfer Citi ThankYou points to another person using Citi’s Points Sharing feature. 

Transferred points expire after 90 days, and Citi Custom Cash cardholders are ineligible for points sharing. 

Can you combine Citi ThankYou points?

Yes. You can combine Citi ThankYou points for all accounts where you’re the primary cardholder. 

Can Citi ThankYou points be redeemed for cash?

Yes. Citi ThankYou points can be redeemed for cash at a rate of one cent per point. 

TL;DR: How To Use The Citi Travel Portal

Booking travel through the Citi Travel portal is highly intuitive and will feel immediately familiar if you’ve used KAYAK.com, Expedia, or other booking platforms. 

Simply plug in your target dates and destination, filter down your options, enter your traveler info, and complete your booking using cash or points (or a combo of both). 

While using points to book travel may feel “free,” it makes more sense to either transfer your points to a partner with a better redemption offer or redeem points for cashback first and then use your Citi card to book. 

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