Does Citi have a travel portal?

Yes, Citi has the ThankYou travel portal which is an online travel agency (OTA) similar to Expedia and Orbitz.

Can I redeem Citi ThankYou Points for any travel?

Most travel like flights, hotels, rental cars, activities, and even some cruises can be booked via the Citi ThankYou travel portal using Citi ThankYou Points.

Is booking through the Citi ThankYou travel portal a good deal?

You can often get better value from your points by transferring them to a travel partner, but if there is no award availability or if your desired hotel or airline isn’t a partner, booking via the Citi ThankYou travel portal can make sense.

How do I use my Citi ThankYou Points?

There are many ways to use Citi ThankYou Points, including buying gift cards, cashing them out, or redeeming them for travel (our preference). Here we will show you how to use them to book travel via the Citi ThankYou travel portal.

A Complete Guide to the Citi ThankYou Travel Portal [2023]

Citi ThankYou Points are an often underappreciated, yet valuable point currency. Often overshadowed by the bigger players like Chase and American Express, Citi offers cardmembers the opportunity to earn and redeem points with some great travel partners.

While transferring points to partners may often yield better value, using points to book travel via the Citi ThankYou travel portal can be a solid option.

In this guide, we will show you exactly what the Citi ThankYou travel portal is, who can use it, how to use it, and whether or not you should use it.

Ready? Let’s go!

Table of contents

What Is the Citi ThankYou Travel Portal?
- Who Can Use the Citi ThankYou Travel Portal?
Cards That Earn Citi ThankYou Points
Why Should You Use the Citi ThankYou Travel Portal?
How To Access the Citi ThankYou Travel Portal
How To Book a Flight Through the Citi ThankYou Travel Portal
How To Book a Hotel Through the Citi ThankYou Travel Portal
How To Book a Rental Car Through the Citi ThankYou Travel Portal
How To Book an Activity Through the Citi ThankYou Travel Portal
How To Book a Cruise Through the Citi ThankYou Travel Portal
Final Thoughts

Table of Contents

What Is the Citi ThankYou Travel Portal?
- Who Can Use the Citi ThankYou Travel Portal?
Cards That Earn Citi ThankYou Points
Why Should You Use the Citi ThankYou Travel Portal?
How To Access the Citi ThankYou Travel Portal
How To Book a Flight Through the Citi ThankYou Travel Portal
How To Book a Hotel Through the Citi ThankYou Travel Portal
How To Book a Rental Car Through the Citi ThankYou Travel Portal
How To Book an Activity Through the Citi ThankYou Travel Portal
How To Book a Cruise Through the Citi ThankYou Travel Portal
Final Thoughts

What Is the Citi ThankYou Travel Portal?

Having an open Citi ThankYou credit card will keep your points active. Image Credit: Citi

The Citi ThankYou travel portal is a third-party online travel agency (OTA) run by cxLoyalty, Inc. that operates very similarly to other OTAs such as Orbitz and Expedia.

Like other online travel agencies, users have the option to book flights, hotels, rental cars, cruises, and activities. However, since it’s linked to your Citi account, you can redeem Citi ThankYou Points towards travel at a rate of 1 cent per point.

Who Can Use the Citi ThankYou Travel Portal?

Unlike other travel portals, like American Express Travel, you can only use the Citi ThankYou travel portal if you have a Citi credit card that carns ThankYou Points.

Cards That Earn Citi ThankYou Points

Some of our favorite travel cards are issued by Citi. The option to earn flexible points with cards that have some great everyday bonus categories is an excellent way to level up your travel game.

If you want to boost your Citi ThankYou Points balance, here are some of our favorite cards:

Why Should You Use the Citi ThankYou Travel Portal?

While many in the travel community prefer to earn points and then transfer them to partners to book award redemptions, that process can be complicated and confusing.

For a lot of people, booking through an OTA, like the Citi ThankYou travel portal, is straightforward and easy — and if that helps you book more travel, then you should absolutely do it.

But there are plenty of other reasons to use the Citi ThankYou travel portal as well…

No Blackout Dates

If there is a seat on the flight you want, you can book it. There are no blackout dates or stress about finding award availability.

With the Citi ThankYou travel portal if you see a flight, you can book it.

Earn Airline Miles

One of the nice things about booking flights through an OTA is the fact that you still earn airline miles and elite-qualifying miles despite not booking directly through the airline.

Use Points and Money

If you are a little short with points or don’t want to use them all, you can use a combination of points and money to pay for your travel.

At checkout, simply select how many points you want to redeem and the difference will be calculated for you to pay in cash.

Book Non-chain Hotels

While points are great for booking hotels from the big chains, your options are limited when it comes to independent, boutique hotels.

That is when booking through an OTA like the Citi ThankYou travel portal comes in handy. You can use your ThankYou Points to book hotels that otherwise wouldn’t have been possible.

Get a Fourth Night Free

One of the many benefits of the Citi Prestige® Card (no longer open to new applicants) is that cardholders are eligible for a fourth night free at select hotels.

Simply select a hotel for 4 or more nights and if the hotel is eligible, the price will reflect the discount.

Pool Citi ThankYou Points

If you are short on points or want to boost your balance, Citi allows members to combine ThankYou Points.

This can be done online or by calling the phone number on the back of your Citi credit card.

Hot Tip: It’s not all positive — if you book a chain hotel via the Citi ThankYou travel portal you will not receive any elite night credits or elite benefits during your stay.

How To Access the Citi ThankYou Travel Portal

Accessing the Citi ThankYou travel portal is pretty straightforward.

You can simply visit ThankYou.com and log in with your Citi credentials.

From there you will have options to choose Gift Cards, Shop With Points, Travel, Cash, and More Ways to Redeem. For this guide, we are going to focus on the Travel section.

How To Book a Flight Through the Citi ThankYou Travel Portal

Once you are logged in and click on Travel, you will be directed to the online search tool — which defaults to the flight tab.

Searching

Searching for a flight using the Citi ThankYou travel portal is pretty straightforward.

Simply select:

Round Trip, One-Way, or Multi-City
The number of adults, children, and infants
Economy, Premium Economy, Business Class, or First Class
Departure airport or city
Destination airport or city
Departure date
Return date (if necessary)
Show nonstop flights only (optional)

Citi ThankYou Travel Portal Flight Search — Citi ThankYou travel portal flight search feature. Image Credit: Citi

Once you have started a search, the results will populate and you will have additional options to filter through the flights.

Currently, you can filter flight results by:

Number of stops
Airline
Flight times (takeoff and landing windows)
Price range
Booking class

You can even search for flight numbers if you are searching for a specific flight or click on Show Flexible Dates if you are looking for the lowest fare.

By default, the results are shown by price — lowest to highest.

Booking

Once you have found a flight that works for you, click on the blue Select button to proceed with the booking.

Citi ThankYou Travel Portal Flight results — Citi ThankYou travel portal flight results. Image Credit: Citi

If eligible, you will be prompted with options to upgrade your seat, similar to what airline websites offer.

After confirming your selection you will be directed to the Review and Book Your Trip page where your flight details will be shown alongside your Citi ThankYou Points balance.

You then will have the option to use points, pay with your Citi card, or use Points + Citi card.

You can use as many or as few points as you would like to cover the cost of the flight, and if there is a balance, it will be charged to your Citi card.

Citi ThankYou Travel Portal point redemption options — If you are short on points you can charge the balance to your Citi card.

After filling out the passenger information, simply click on Complete Booking and your ticket will be issued. As with most OTAs, there is a 24-hour cancellation window.

Comparing Rates

While it isn’t uncommon for flight prices to fluctuate and be slightly different between online travel agencies and with airlines directly, during our search we found that most prices were the same price on Google Flights as they were through the Citi ThankYou travel portal.

Delta Google Flights comparisons — Image Credit: Google Flights

While prices are often similar, it is always a good idea to double-check prices on Google Flights.