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Citi has rolled out a brand new travel booking portal powered by Booking.com and its Rocket Travel subsidiary, making it easier for Citi credit cardholders to plan their next getaway, whether paying with cash or points.
The new Citi Travel with Booking.com portal allows cardholders to book flights, hotels, car rentals and even attractions — Kennedy Space Center or Manhattan Sky Tour, anyone? It's currently accessible via Citi's website and will be available to eligible cardholders via the Citi mobile app by the end of March.
All Citi ThankYou® Rewards credit card cardholders have access, which include those with the Citi Rewards+® Card, Citi Double Cash® Card, Citi Custom Cash® Card, Citi Premier® Card, AT&T Points Plus℠ Card From Citi and some discontinued cards. Plus, for a limited time, eligible cardholders can earn up to 10X points on their bookings.
Citi Rewards+® Card
Rewards
As a special offer, earn 5 ThankYou® Points per $1 spent on hotel, car rentals and attractions booked on CitiTravel.com through December 31, 2025. Earn 2X ThankYou® Points at Supermarkets and Gas Stations for the first $6,000 per year and then 1X Points thereafter. Plus, earn 1X ThankYou® Points on all other purchases
Welcome bonus
Earn 20,000 bonus points after you spend $1,500 in purchases with your card within 3 months of account opening; redeemable for $200 in gift cards at thankyou.com
Annual fee
$0
Intro APR
0% Intro APR on balance transfers for 15 months from date of first transfer and on purchases from date of account opening.
Regular APR
18.74% - 28.74% variable
Balance transfer fee
There is an intro balance transfer fee of 3% of each transfer (minimum $5) completed within the first 4 months of account opening. After that, your fee will be 5% of each transfer (minimum $5)
Foreign transaction fee
3%
Credit needed
Good/Excellent
See rates and fees. Terms apply.
Citi Double Cash® Card
Rewards
Earn 2% on every purchase with unlimited 1% cash back when you buy, plus an additional 1% as you pay for those purchases. To earn cash back, pay at least the minimum due on time. Plus, for a limited time, earn 5% total cash back on hotel, car rentals and attractions booked on the Citi Travel℠ portal through 12/31/24
Welcome 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.
Annual fee
$0
Intro APR
0% for the first 18 months on balance transfers; N/A for purchases
Regular APR
19.24% - 29.24% variable
Balance transfer fee
For balance transfers completed within 4 months of account opening, an intro balance transfer fee of 3% of each transfer ($5 minimum) applies; after that, a balance transfer fee of 5% of each transfer ($5 minimum) applies
Foreign transaction fee
3%
Credit needed
Fair/Good/Excellent
See rates and fees. Terms apply.
Read our Citi Double Cash® Card review.
Citi Custom Cash® Card
Rewards
Earn 5% cash back on purchases in your top eligible spend category each billing cycle, up to the first $500 spent, 1% cash back thereafter. Also, earn unlimited 1% cash back on all other purchases. Special Travel Offer: Earn an additional 4% cash back on hotels, car rentals, and attractions booked on Citi Travel℠ portal through 6/30/2025.
Welcome bonus
Earn $200 in cash back after you spend $1500 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.
Annual fee
$0
Intro APR
0% APR on balance transfers and purchases for first 15 months
Regular APR
19.24% - 29.24% variable
Balance transfer fee
5% of each balance transfer ($5 minimum)
Foreign transaction fee
3%
Credit needed
Excellent, Good, Fair
See rates and fees. Terms apply.
Read our Citi Custom Cash® Card review.
Citi Premier® Card
Rewards
3X points per $1 spent at restaurants, supermarkets, gas stations, and on hotels and air travel, 1X points on all other purchases
Welcome bonus
Earn 60,000 bonus ThankYou® Points after you spend $4,000 in purchases within the first 3 months of account opening. Plus, for a limited time, earn a total of 10 ThankYou® Points per $1 spent on hotel, car rentals, and attractions (excluding air travel) booked on the Citi Travel℠ portal through June 30, 2024.
Annual fee
$95
Intro APR
None
Regular APR
21.24% - 29.24% variable
Balance transfer fee
5% of each balance transfer, $5 minimum
Foreign transaction fee
None
Credit needed
Good/Excellent
Terms apply.
The Citi Premier is discontinued and no longer available for new applicants.
Citi Travel's features
Citi Travel with Booking.com offers cardholders an all-in-one view of flights, hotels, car rentals and attractions, including access to over 1.4 million hotels and resorts worldwide. Cardholders can pay with points, cash or some combination of the two.
Along with the launch of its new booking platform, Citi Travel is also introducing its first Hotel and Luxury Collection property offerings — following in the footsteps of other credit card issuers like American Express, Chase and Capital One who already have similar programs. The programs will offer elite-like benefits at participating properties, such as free daily breakfast, early check-in, late check-out and more.
The portal also integrates existing benefits, such as the Citi Premier Card's annual $100 hotel credit when booking a single stay of $500 or more (excluding taxes and fees) through thankyou.com and the fourth night free perk offered by the Citi Prestige® Card (discontinued for new applicants).
Citi Travel bonus points promotion
Perhaps the most exciting part about the launch of the new Citi Travel is a new points promotion.
Now through June 2024, Citi Premier and Citi Prestige card members can earn a total of 10X ThankYou® Points on hotels, rental cars and eligible attractions booked through Citi Travel, which we consider a great deal. Meanwhile, Citi Rewards+ (through December 31, 2025) and Citi ThankYou Preferred (discontinued for new applicants) card members can earn a total of 5X ThankYou® Points on the same bookings.
Keep in mind that Citi ThankYou cards generally don't offer travel protections, such as trip cancellation and interruption insurance or car rental insurance, so if those things are important to you, consider sticking to a different travel credit card that offers these benefits.
Should you redeem ThankYou® Points through Citi Travel?
While the new Citi Travel with Booking.com platform makes it easy to directly redeem ThankYou® Points for 1 cent apiece on travel, cardholders will often still get a better deal by instead transferring their points to a travel partner. In fact, the best use of Citi points is through its ThankYou® Rewards transfer partners. Cardholders can get significantly more than 1 cent per point in value by taking advantage of Citi's 17 airline and hotel transfer partners, especially when booking premium seats.
Citi ThankYou transfer partners
- Accor Live Limitless
- Aeromexico Club Premier
- Air France-KLM Flying Blue
- Avianca LifeMiles
- Cathay Pacific Asia Miles
- Choice Privileges
- Emirates Skywards
- Etihad Guest
- Eva Air Infinity MileageLands
- JetBlue TrueBlue
- Qantas Frequent Flyer
- Qatar Airways Privilege Club
- Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
- Thai Airways Royal Orchid Plus
- Turkish Airlines Miles & Smiles
- Virgin Atlantic Flying Club
- Wyndham Rewards
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Bottom line
Citi's new travel portal makes it easier for Citi ThankYou® Rewards card members to book a vacation by seeing where their ThankYou® Points can take them. But to really maximize their Citi points and get multiple cents in value for each point, cardholders are better off transferring their rewards to one of ThankYou® Rewards' airline or hotel partners.
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Information about the Citi Prestige card has been collected independently by Select and has not been reviewed or provided by the issuer of the card prior to publication.
