How many thankyou points for a flight

The quickest way to earn a ton of Citi ThankYou points is by opening up a Citi credit card and earning a welcome bonus and through everyday spend. Here are the best cards to earn ThankYou points, along with their current welcome bonus':. Citi ThankYou points can be redeemed for cash back at a rate of up to 1 cent per point. You can redeem points for a statement credit, direct deposit or get a check in the mail.

Plus, there's no limit to the number of cash redemptions you make. Note that there are some ThankYou point-earning credit cards that don't allow for the 1 cent cash out option, but instead offer redemption rates at. That makes this redemption option particularly useful when you want to round off — or zero out — your ThankYou point balance after redeeming points through transfer partners.

Note that this statement credit doesn't count as a credit card payment. You'll still need to make the minimum payment due on your account. So, if you need to use your ThankYou points to help pay your credit card, you'll want to opt for the direct deposit or check by mail options. Like the statement credit option, you can redeem as few as 1 point to get a 1 cent direct deposit into a linked bank account. Don't cut it too close though, as the direct deposit may take 5 business days to reach your account.

But, you can select any amount above that. If your goal is to earn cash back, you may not want to use a ThankYou points-earning credit card. You can also transfer cash back earned from a Citi Double Cash into ThankYou points if you also hold a Citi Premier or Citi Prestige card — therefore being able to then transfer to airline partners.

Citi cardholders can redeem points for gift cards at a rate of 1 cent per point. Citi offers cardholders the ability to redeem points for over brands — from Albertsons to Zeel Massage. However, unlike cash back rewards, you're limited to buying gift cards in certain increments. The gift card increments depend on the merchant:. Gift card rewards don't provide any additional value than cash rewards.

Both provide exactly one cent per point in value. So, if you're considering buying a gift card for yourself, it makes more sense to just make a purchase at the store and redeem your points for cash back. Even if you're getting a gift card for a friend or family member, consider purchasing a gift card with your Citi card. That way you'll earn points on the purchase. Then, you can still use the cash rewards option to effectively erase the purchase. ThankYou points can be used to book travel purchases made through the ThankYou travel portal at a rate of 1 cent per point.

That's the redemption rate that you'll get for any type of travel purchase:. This can be a great redemption for booking inexpensive flights. You are not eligible if you have received one for other Citi ThankYou rewards cards or closed a Citi ThankYou card account in the past 24 months. South American airline Avianca has a loyalty program called LifeMiles , one of the most undervalued airline loyalty programs.

Citi has been offering transfers to LifeMiles since — long before American Express and Capital One began partnering with Avianca — and routinely offers transfer bonuses. These currently start at just 7, miles each way, but certain city pairs dropped to 6, miles in summer You can also book Lufthansa first class to Europe for 87, miles one-way with no fuel surcharges.

The Star Alliance partner award chart is full of reasonably-priced award routings and you can routinely buy LifeMiles at a reasonable price compared to the value these redemptions offer.

You can even score lower rates on mixed-cabin awards. Related: 6 tips for booking Lufthansa first class awards. The more time you spend on the LifeMiles award-booking engine, the more familiar you become with some of the nuances and great value the program offers.

If you are not familiar with this Citi transfer partner, create an account and search a few of your upcoming routes to see what value the program could provide to you. Singapore KrisFlyer also has a few sweet spots for booking Star Alliance routes , including 35, miles in economy or 69, miles in business for a round-trip award from the U.

Related: Singapore Airlines awards changes. The Etihad Guest program continues to fly under the radar but represents a tremendous value when you use ThankYou Points. Most applicable to us here in the U. American increased the rates of its own award tickets, but Etihad has not updated the Etihad Guest American award chart warning: PDF link.

Air New Zealand and Delta routinely produce incredible redemption opportunities for long-haul business flights with relatively small amounts of miles, such as 50, Virgin Atlantic miles for the Delta One Suite between the U. Just be aware that Flying Club charges by distance, so adding a domestic Delta connection to a long-haul flight may increase your award rate.

Related: Virgin Atlantic confirms Delta U. Program changes in June also increased the cost of premium-cabin redemptions and made the online booking engine less useful. Nevertheless, you can find some decent values. For instance, you can book round-trip business class to Europe for , miles.

Likewise, a one-way to Europe with a stopover is only 50, miles. That makes it hard to proactively set a mileage goal and then work to meet it. The program also allows you to visit far-flung places such as Papua, New Guinea, on partner Aircalin , and you can use creative routings to lower the price of your ticket or potentially add additional segments at no extra charge.

However, fuel surcharges can be a real headache with the program, and they increase for premium-cabin redemptions. Although Citi has made it easier to redeem rewards in real-time , you should never redeem your ThankYou points for statement credit, cash rewards or the Shop with Points program. These will all give you much less than 1 cent per point in value, which is low compared to the redemptions highlighted below.

Paying directly with ThankYou points at BestBuy. All Citi airline transfers allow you to transfer miles at a ratio. For more information, please see How we make money. Signing up for credit cards through partner links earns us a commission. Terms apply to the offers listed on this page. Citi ThankYou points are super flexible, so they offer plenty of opportunities for great travel and rewards.

Like many other reward programs, you can redeem Citi ThankYou points in different ways, including transferring to travel partners like JetBlue and Singapore Airlines, booking travel through the Citi travel site or for cash back and gift cards. How much are Citi points worth? It depends on which Citibank credit card or cards you have. The information for the Citi Prestige cards has been collected independently by Million Mile Secrets.

The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer. This includes travel redemptions booked through the Citi ThankYou site, cash-back redemptions and gift cards.

The easiest but least valuable way to use your Citi ThankYou points is for cash back. You can redeem your points for a statement credit at a value of 0. You can also choose to use points for a charitable donation at the same value. Gift cards have a higher value of one cent per point. And if you have the Citi Prestige card, you can also redeem points for cash back at one cent per point.

This is not the best way to use Citi ThankYou points because you can typically squeeze more value from them redeeming them for travel. You can book travel through the Citi ThankYou site and pay with your points. This portal works similar to any other online travel agency you might use already such as Expedia , Priceline and others, but allows you to pay for the reservation by redeeming Citi ThankYou points. The portal offers redemptions for airfare, hotels, car rentals, activities and cruises.

ThankYou points redeemed through the Citi ThankYou travel site are worth one cent per point toward travel. One of the biggest benefits of having points in a flexible points rewards program, like Citi ThankYou, is that you often redeem points for more value by transferring them to travel partners.

But receiving 1. Points transfers to Citi ThankYou partners can be slower than other flexible reward programs, like Chase Ultimate Rewards. A few of these partners Etihad and Thai Airways can take up to a week. Most average a few days. This is worth remembering if you are looking to take advantage of one-day fare sales or last-minute tickets.

Anyone looking to redeem their points for hotel stays can redeem their points through the Citi ThankYou portal, which offers many hotel options including boutique and non-chain hotels.