Have you checked how many airlines are part of their transfer network? JetBlue and that's it lol. Citi points are worthless for transfer
uh....no.
Citi points transfer to:
Aeromexico, Avianca, Cathay Pacific, Emirates, Etihad, EVA, Flying Blue, Quantas, Singapore Air, Thai Air, Turkish Air, Virgin Atlantic, and, yes, Jetblue.
Which means you have access to all 3 major airline alliances via partner bookings....for example Avianca and Turkish air both let you book on Star Alliance carriers like United, Lufthansa, and more...
Etihad isn't star alliance but you can book partner awards via them with Air NZ, Air Canada, ANA, Asiana, SAS, etc...
Virgin gets you access to Delta partner awards as well as good value ANA ones to Japan.
Flying Blue frequently has great deals to Europe- Singapore often does to Asia (and occasionally Germany via 5th freedom flights)
Qatar gives you Avios, which gives you access to all the Avios bookings from British Airways, Iberia, Aer Lingus, and partner stuff via Avios like American Airlines.... I recently booked a short-notice American Airlines domestic short haul that was a $350 cash ticket for 7500 avios for example... Since Citi transfers 1:1 that's effectively 4.6 cents per Citi point I got from that transfer)
The partner options aren't AS good as Amex or Chase-- but if you travel much and can't get WAY more value out of your points than this Apple deal that's kinda on you.
(dark horse mention- if you've still got the legacy Citi Prestige card your points used directly for portal hotel bookings are effectively a 25% bonus when booking 4 nights thanks to 4th night free- one or two good uses of which a year make the card wildly profitable above its annual fee)
The operative word is "can"... Every point redemption thread gets people all riled up about NOT using them for travel. Every time I tried the options of using my points (UR, ThankYou, etc) for travel, they came up short due to the strict nature or our travel plans (kids, schools, two full-time jobs with limited vacation time, etc). One size doesn't fit all.
Yup. I think I booked a ticket once with thank you points and it really wasn't that great of a deal. I usually redeem on cyber Monday for Apple GC. We use signup bonuses for airline CCs to get large amounts of miles for travel. Whenever I know big bills will be due I sign up for a new card and pretty much instantly clear the minimum spend requirement when I charge my expense (car and home insurance for the year, medical expenses later reimbursed from my HSA, etc).
Thank you! Have been waiting for this and I have accumulated 30k points!
I'm at 76k points myself. It's letting me buy $800 worth of GC's. Kinda kicking myself for buying up so many Apple gift cards via offers from Target and Amazon. I need to buy a Mac mini Pro (which will cost me $1400 after taxes). I already had balance from Apple product trade-ins, so I need $700 worth of gift cards. I bought 5 from Target and 2 from Amazon.
Only now I realize I could have just redeemed my Citi points and not bothered with the Apple GC deals via Target and Amazon (all of which cost me money right now).
Yup. I think I booked a ticket once with thank you points and it really wasn't that great of a deal.
If you mean via Citis pretty awful travel portal, yeah probably wasn't.
The key to value on points like these is transfers to airlines, where you can often get 1.5-2.5 cents (or more, as I mention I just got >4 cents a point on a close-in American Airlines booking via Avios, which Citi points can transfer to) on coach tickets... and 4-7 cents or more on business or first class tickets.
Versus the roughly 1.1 or 1.15 cents people get buying giftcards (and also potentially giving up the benefits like extended warranty that buying with NON gift cards provide on hardware items).
If you mean via Citis pretty awful travel portal, yeah probably wasn't.
The key to value on points like these is transfers to airlines, where you can often get 1.5-2.5 cents (or more, as I mention I just got >4 cents a point on a close-in American Airlines booking via Avios, which Citi points can transfer to) on coach tickets... and 4-7 cents or more on business or first class tickets.
Versus the roughly 1.1 or 1.15 cents people get buying giftcards (and also potentially giving up the benefits like extended warranty that buying with NON gift cards provide on hardware items).
I see you in every CC point redemption thread with useful information like this. You must be single or have no kids to be able to take advantage of point conversions via airline transfers for personal flights.
If you mean via Citis pretty awful travel portal, yeah probably wasn't.
The key to value on points like these is transfers to airlines, where you can often get 1.5-2.5 cents (or more, as I mention I just got >4 cents a point on a close-in American Airlines booking via Avios, which Citi points can transfer to) on coach tickets... and 4-7 cents or more on business or first class tickets.
Versus the roughly 1.1 or 1.15 cents people get buying giftcards (and also potentially giving up the benefits like extended warranty that buying with NON gift cards provide on hardware items).
Citi point can worth 1.5 cents per point, even at 20% off you still redeemed at ~1 cents/point.
Should consider use it Airlines
Can you clarify why investing in airline bookings is a more valuable use of points? Thank you. I've consistently observed a redemption rate of one cent per point when applied toward ticket costs.
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uh....no.
Citi points transfer to:
Aeromexico, Avianca, Cathay Pacific, Emirates, Etihad, EVA, Flying Blue, Quantas, Singapore Air, Thai Air, Turkish Air, Virgin Atlantic, and, yes, Jetblue.
Which means you have access to all 3 major airline alliances via partner bookings....for example Avianca and Turkish air both let you book on Star Alliance carriers like United, Lufthansa, and more...
Etihad isn't star alliance but you can book partner awards via them with Air NZ, Air Canada, ANA, Asiana, SAS, etc...
Virgin gets you access to Delta partner awards as well as good value ANA ones to Japan.
Flying Blue frequently has great deals to Europe- Singapore often does to Asia (and occasionally Germany via 5th freedom flights)
Qatar gives you Avios, which gives you access to all the Avios bookings from British Airways, Iberia, Aer Lingus, and partner stuff via Avios like American Airlines.... I recently booked a short-notice American Airlines domestic short haul that was a $350 cash ticket for 7500 avios for example... Since Citi transfers 1:1 that's effectively 4.6 cents per Citi point I got from that transfer)
The partner options aren't AS good as Amex or Chase-- but if you travel much and can't get WAY more value out of your points than this Apple deal that's kinda on you.
(dark horse mention- if you've still got the legacy Citi Prestige card your points used directly for portal hotel bookings are effectively a 25% bonus when booking 4 nights thanks to 4th night free- one or two good uses of which a year make the card wildly profitable above its annual fee)
I'm at 76k points myself. It's letting me buy $800 worth of GC's. Kinda kicking myself for buying up so many Apple gift cards via offers from Target and Amazon. I need to buy a Mac mini Pro (which will cost me $1400 after taxes). I already had balance from Apple product trade-ins, so I need $700 worth of gift cards. I bought 5 from Target and 2 from Amazon.
Only now I realize I could have just redeemed my Citi points and not bothered with the Apple GC deals via Target and Amazon (all of which cost me money right now).
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If you mean via Citis pretty awful travel portal, yeah probably wasn't.
The key to value on points like these is transfers to airlines, where you can often get 1.5-2.5 cents (or more, as I mention I just got >4 cents a point on a close-in American Airlines booking via Avios, which Citi points can transfer to) on coach tickets... and 4-7 cents or more on business or first class tickets.
Versus the roughly 1.1 or 1.15 cents people get buying giftcards (and also potentially giving up the benefits like extended warranty that buying with NON gift cards provide on hardware items).
The key to value on points like these is transfers to airlines, where you can often get 1.5-2.5 cents (or more, as I mention I just got >4 cents a point on a close-in American Airlines booking via Avios, which Citi points can transfer to) on coach tickets... and 4-7 cents or more on business or first class tickets.
Versus the roughly 1.1 or 1.15 cents people get buying giftcards (and also potentially giving up the benefits like extended warranty that buying with NON gift cards provide on hardware items).
The key to value on points like these is transfers to airlines, where you can often get 1.5-2.5 cents (or more, as I mention I just got >4 cents a point on a close-in American Airlines booking via Avios, which Citi points can transfer to) on coach tickets... and 4-7 cents or more on business or first class tickets.
Versus the roughly 1.1 or 1.15 cents people get buying giftcards (and also potentially giving up the benefits like extended warranty that buying with NON gift cards provide on hardware items).
Should consider use it Airlines
NVM. Just saw the replies on page 3.
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