Guide to Citi ThankYou travel portal

Like other card issuers such as American Express, Capital One and Chase, Citi® maintains a travel portal through which cardholders can book hotels, rental cars, flights and activities. Whether or not this is a good idea depends on how you travel.

Let’s take a look at the Citi ThankYou® travel portal, how it works and who can access its booking features.

Key points

• The Citi ThankYou travel portal offers flights, hotels, rental cars and activities. 
• Eligible cardholders can earn elevated rewards on bookings through Citi travel.
• The Citi ThankYou travel portal provides access to extra hotel benefits via the Luxury Collection and the Hotel Collection.

How to book travel through the Citi travel portal

Booking travel through Citi’s portal is simple. First, you’ll want to navigate to the Citi ThankYou travel portal website. You’ll be prompted to sign in with your online account and choose which Citi card you’ll be using to book your travel. Once signed in, you’ll be directed to the travel portal’s home page.

From here, you can choose what type of travel you’re looking to book, whether that’s a hotel, flight, rental car or activity.

For example, if you were looking to book a hotel through the Citi ThankYou travel portal, you’d simply need to enter your destination, dates of travel and how many people you’re traveling with.

The portal will then pull up a page showing all the results that match your search. You can also check out what properties are available by using an interactive map. The search includes a long list of filters by which you can sort properties, including star rating, neighborhood, cancellation options, bed type, property amenities and hotel brand.

Once you’ve selected the travel you’re looking for, you’ll be taken through the checkout process. This includes providing personal and payment information, like your frequent flyer number for a flight.

Note that you’ll need to use your eligible Citi card to pay for your booking. It’s also during checkout that you can decide whether or not you’d like to redeem your Citi ThankYou points.

Once you’ve completed your booking, you’ll receive a confirmation email. You can also find your upcoming bookings within the travel portal via a drop-down menu in the upper right corner.

Who can use the portal?

The Citi ThankYou travel portal is available to cardholders who have the following Citi cards:

• Citi Premier® Card * The information for the Citi Premier® Card has been collected independently by Blueprint. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.
• Citi Rewards+® Card * The information for the Citi Rewards+® Card has been collected independently by Blueprint. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.
• Citi Double Cash® Card * The information for the Citi Double Cash® Card has been collected independently by Blueprint. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.
• Citi Custom Cash® Card * The information for the Citi Custom Cash® Card has been collected independently by Blueprint. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.
• Citi Prestige® Card (no longer open to new applicants).

Is the portal worth using?

The Citi ThankYou travel portal isn’t always the best way to book your travel. This is because it doesn’t offer a best-price guarantee, so the pricing you see on the portal may not reflect the lowest available prices.

There may also be an issue if you book hotels or rental cars through the Citi ThankYou travel portal and want to receive any elite status benefits. Generally speaking, hotel and rental car companies exclude third party bookings from elite status perks. This also means you won’t earn any bonus points or elite status credit from your bookings.

However, any flight you book through the Citi ThankYou travel portal will earn miles and will also be eligible for elite status benefits. But, if your plans change, you’ll need to negotiate with Citi travel rather than directly with the airline for your flights.

That being said, Citi heavily rewards those who choose to book within its travel portal. Depending on which card you hold, you can earn up to 10 Citi ThankYou points per $1 spent on eligible bookings through the travel portal (through June 30, 2024).

How to maximize your Citi travel benefits through the portal

Although the Citi ThankYou travel portal may not provide the best prices, there are two key benefits it offers that provide serious benefits. The first is the ability to book certain tickets and attractions through the portal.

This includes tickets to popular amusement parks such as Universal Studios Orlando.

Eligible cardholders can easily redeem their Citi ThankYou points for theme park tickets using this method. Those who hold the Citi Premier Card can also earn 10 points per $1 spent through June 30, 2024.

The second key benefit is that the Citi ThankYou travel portal offers access to the Luxury Collection and the Hotel Collection. Those with a Citi Prestige Card or a Citi Premier Card can book both of these options. The Luxury Collection mimics elite status benefits at high-end hotels and can provide room upgrades, a $100 experience credit, complimentary breakfast, late check-out and more. 

The Hotel Collection is available to all cardholders with access to the Citi ThankYou travel portal. Its benefits include daily breakfast, free Wi-Fi, early check-in and late check-out.

Quick guide to Citi ThankYou Rewards

Citi ThankYou Rewards can be earned from a variety of different credit cards, as we noted above. These points can be highly valuable, especially when they’re transferred to Citi’s hotel and airline partners. This is generally considered to be the best way to use your Citi points since you can score outsized value when redeeming your points for reward redemptions.

Other ways to redeem Citi ThankYou points include:

• Online shopping.
• Gift cards.
• The Citi ThankYou travel portal.
• Donations. 
• Statement credits. 
• Cash. 

You’ll always want to do the math before redeeming your points. For example, you’ll receive just one cent in value when redeeming your Citi points via the ThankYou travel portal, while choosing to transfer your points to a partner can yield a much higher value.

Frequently asked questions (FAQs)