Citi ThankYou Rewards adds Preferred Hotels & Resorts as a new hotel transfer partner

Adding to its already long portfolio of hotel transfer partners, Citi ThankYou Rewards is now a Preferred Hotels & Resorts transfer partner. Preferred Hotels & Resorts offers a collection of over 650 luxury boutique properties in over 80 countries.

You can now transfer your Citi points to the hotel’s loyalty program, I Choose Hotel Rewards, at a ratio of 1:4. This means that for every 1,000 Citi ThankYou Rewards points you transfer, you will receive 4,000 Preferred Points.

Currently, Citi is also a transfer partner for four hotel loyalty programs (or five, if you count Virgin Red Airlines + Hotels), including:

• Accor Live Limitless (2:1 transfer ratio)
• Option Rights (1:2 transfer ratio)
• Best Hotels in the World Leaders Club (5:1 transfer rate)
• Wyndham Rewards (1:1 transfer ratio)

While Prefer may not be on your radar, Citi is the first major rewards credit card to partner with a hotel loyalty program. But is it worth transferring and using your hard-earned points with Preferred Hotels & Resorts?

Redeem Citi ThankYou Rewards at Preferred Hotels and Resorts

In 2023, Preferred Hotels & Resorts revamped its loyalty program II Prefer, making it easier for members to track their rewards benefits and book future stays online with points. Although Preferred Hotels and Resorts, part of the Preferred Travel Group, has a much smaller portfolio compared to the World of Hyatt, Hilton and Marriott, award stays at other hotels start at 15,000 points per night, according to the loyalty program’s website.

However, when searching for award availability on the Preferred Hotels & Resorts website, only three hotels showed award rates, even though there are over 500 hotels that participate in the Preferred loyalty program. Whether it’s an error on the website’s end or not, the less user-friendly experience is what kept me from transferring my points to Citi.

But is this a good transfer partnership, even when it comes to technical issues? It depends on the room rate and the cost of the points required to book. For example, award prices for stays at Inn by the Sea, Maine’s premier seaside resort, start at 100,000 I Select points per night.

For a two-night stay in a standard room in March, you’ll pay $848.48 (including taxes and fees). If I were to book this with points, I would pay 200,000 preferred points plus $68.38 in taxes and fees. So, to book this two-night stay with Citi ThankYou Rewards points, I’ll need to transfer 50,000 points.

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TPG values ​​Citi ThankYou Rewards points at 1.8 cents per point, according to our October 2024 estimates, which means 50,000 points are worth $900. Since the cost of a two-night stay in a standard room at this hotel is less than $900, this exemption will not increase my Citi points.

However, a garden room at this property would cost $1,032.87 (including taxes and fees) for the same two-night stay. If I were to book this room with I Prefer points, it would cost the same as a regular room: 200,000 points plus $68.38 in taxes and fees. Based on our estimation, transferring my Citi points to I prefer this release will give me a good value for my points.

Additionally, if you see a Preferred Hotels & Resorts property that catches your eye, you may be able to book that hotel using Preferred Points. Choice Privileges has partnerships with more than 300 popular hotels and resorts that allow Choice members to book award nights starting at 20,000 points.

Even though this relationship has slowed down a bit this summer, you can still find some great deals. Also, Citi is a transfer partner of Choice Privileges at a rate of 1:2; therefore, for every 1,000 Citi points you transfer, you will receive 2,000 Choice points.

Related: How to choose a hotel credit card

The best credit cards for earning Citi ThankYou Rewards points

If you want to earn Citi ThankYou Rewards points, here are the cards that offer great welcome bonuses:

• Citi Strata Premier℠ Card (see rates and fees): Earn 70,000 bonus ThankYou Rewards points after spending $4,000 on purchases within the first three months of account opening. A higher offer may be available through Citi.com.
• Citi Rewards+® Card (see rates and fees): Earn 20,000 bonus points after spending $1,500 in purchases with your card within three months of account opening.

If you have a Citi Prestige® card, you can also transfer your ThankYou Rewards points to Citi’s airline and hotel transfer partners. However, this card no longer accepts new applications.

Citi Prestige information is independently collected by The Points Guy. The card information on this page has not been updated or provided by the card issuer.

Bottom line

Although Citi continues to expand its portfolio of transfer partners, adding I Like to its list, the hotel loyalty program’s website is not easy to use, and award prices only show a list of three hotels. That must be a technical error, right? Either way, a 1:4 transfer ratio is decent, but it’s best to compare the cash values ​​versus how many points you’ll need to redeem your award.

As always, TPG does not recommend transferring points without some redemption in mind and without checking availability on the hotel and/or airline website first. Point transfers are non-refundable, so the last thing you want to do is end up with a pile of points that you won’t be able to use.