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Best Ways to Book Delta Flights with Citi ThankYou Points
Citi ThankYou Rewards is an excellent (and often underrated) credit card rewards program. While it’s not as popular as other programs, such as Chase Ultimate Rewards or American Express Membership Rewards, the Citi ThankYou Rewards program has some hidden gems. Among many points and miles enthusiasts, the Citi ThankYou Rewards program is known as the home of the Citi trifecta, a low-cost credit card strategy that involves the Citi Strata Premier℠ Card, the Citi Custom Cash® Card and the Citi Double Cash® Card. The post Best Ways to Book Delta Flights with Citi ThankYou Points appeared first on MileValue.
Citi ThankYou Rewards is an excellent (and often underrated) credit card rewards program. While it’s not as popular as other programs, such as Chase Ultimate Rewards or American Express Membership Rewards, the Citi ThankYou Rewards program has some hidden gems.
Among many points and miles enthusiasts, the Citi ThankYou Rewards program is known as the home of the Citi trifecta, a low-cost credit card strategy that involves the Citi Strata Premier℠ Card, the Citi Custom Cash® Card and the Citi Double Cash® Card. These three cards have a combined annual fee of just $95, and their spending bonuses complement each other excellently, meaning you can earn at least 2X points every time you make a purchase.
Citi ThankYou Points are also a great currency to use to purchase Delta Air Lines flights. Through certain Citi transfer partners, you can find great deals on Delta-operated award flights. And, since Delta is a popular airline among U.S. flyers, this is an important consideration when choosing a credit card rewards program.
So, if you’re a current Citi ThankYou Rewards member or you’re considering opening your first Citi credit card, we’re going to explain the best ways to book Delta flights with Citi points. Essentially, this process involves earning Citi ThankYou Points and transferring them to partner frequent-flyer programs that offer favorable rates on Delta flights.
How to Transfer Citi ThankYou Points
Citi ThankYou Rewards members can book Delta flights through the Citi ThankYou Travel portal, which is definitely the easiest way to book airfare. However, when redeeming Citi ThankYou Points through this portal, you’ll always get a value of 1 cent per point when redeeming for flights, which isn’t bad.
However, you also can redeem Citi ThankYou Points by transferring them to partner frequent-flyer programs. When redeeming points for flights through these programs, you often can get several cents per point in value, making your Citi points way more valuable.
Here’s the current list of airline rewards programs to which you can transfer Citi points:
- Aeroméxico Rewards
- Air France-KLM Flying Blue
- Avianca LifeMiles
- Cathay Pacific Asia Miles
- 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
All of the airline programs above offer a 1:1 transfer ratio with the lone exception of JetBlue TrueBlue. If you hold the Citi Prestige, the Citi Strata Premier or the AT&T Access More cards, you can transfer points to JetBlue TrueBlue at a 1:1 ratio. If you have any other Citi credit card, your JetBlue TrueBlue transfer ratio will be 1:0.8.
To transfer Citi points to transfer partners, you’ll need to sign in to your Citi ThankYou Rewards account online at thankyou.com.
Then, select the account that you want to transfer points from. After that, click on the “Travel” tab and select the “Points Transfer” option.
Finally, select the partner program that you wish to transfer points to and enter the number of points that you want to transfer. Once you confirm your transfer, the miles should arrive in your selected loyalty program instantly. However, with certain partner programs, this process can take significantly longer. For instance, transfers to Thai Airways Royal Orchid Plus can take up to seven days.
The Best Citi Transfer Partners to Book Delta Award Flights
The Citi ThankYou Rewards program has certain airline transfer partners that tend to offer better rates for Delta flights than others. In general, we recommend comparing rates across several of Citi’s airline transfer partners to make sure that you’re getting the best value for your ThankYou Points. However, when searching for Delta award flights, you’ll typically get the best value through the following transfer partners.
Virgin Atlantic Flying Club
Often the best frequent-flyer programs through which you can book Delta flights, Virgin Atlantic Flying Club offers awards starting at just 7,500 Virgin points per direction. This program prices Delta flights according to several fixed award charts, meaning it’s possible to find excellent value for your Citi points by transferring them to Virgin Atlantic Flying Club and then redeeming them for Delta flights.
The following award chart shows the rates for Delta-operated flights between the U.S. and the U.K.:
Route Season Main Cabin Delta One East Coast U.S. Off-peak 15,000 47,500 Peak 25,000 57,500 Central U.S. Off-peak 17,500 47,500 Peak 27,500 57,500 West Coast U.S. Off-peak 20,000 67,500 Peak 30,000 77,500
The following award chart shows the rates for Delta-operated flights between the U.S. and Europe (excluding flights between the U.S. and the U.K.):
Route Season Main Cabin Delta One East Coast U.S. Off-peak 30,000 47,500 Peak 30,000 57,500 West Coast U.S. Off-peak 30,000 67,500 Peak 30,000 77,500
The rates in the award charts above are for one-way travel. If you want to know the price of a round-trip itinerary, simply double the rate.
The two award charts above are region-based. However, Virgin Atlantic Flying Club uses a distance-based award chart to price all other Delta-operated award flights (except for Delta flights between the U.S. and Europe).
Below is the award chart that governs all other Delta flights:
Flight distance (in miles) Main Cabin Delta One 0 – 500 7,500 21,000 501 – 1,000 11,000 41,500 1,001 – 1,500 16,500 59,500 1,501 – 2,000 18,500 66,500 2,001 – 3,000 22,000 70,000 3,001 – 4,000 35,000 80,000 4,001 – 5,000 44,000 105,000 5,001 – 6,000 49,500 130,000 6,001+ 65,500 165,000
These rates apply to Delta-operated flights within the U.S. and between the U.S. and Canada. So, generally, you can typically find great value for your Virgin points (and, therefore, for your Citi points) on domestic flights that are short in distance but expensive in money.
Air France-KLM Flying Blue
Another Citi transfer partner that tends to offer good rates on Delta award flights is Flying Blue, which is the program shared by Air France and KLM. Unlike Virgin Atlantic Flying Club, the Flying Blue program doesn’t use award charts to price Delta award flights (or any other award flights). Instead, Flying Blue uses a dynamic pricing model to set rates for Delta awards, which means that rates vary according to seasonality and demand.
While dynamic pricing models tend to make it difficult to find great value for your points, the Flying Blue program sometimes still offers the best available rate for Delta-operated award flights. You can still find Delta awards that offer several cents per Flying Blue mile through this program if you’re willing to do some searching, particularly if you’re booking in premium cabins.
You can search for and book Delta flights through either the Air France or the KLM website. However, be aware that the Flying Blue program levies fuel surcharges on certain awards, and they can often be as high as a few hundred dollars. So, before you confirm a Delta award flight booking through this program, make sure to double-check the taxes and fees and calculate the value per mile.
If the value is less than 1 cent per mile, you’re better off purchasing that flight through the Citi Travel portal (which always offers 1 cent per point on flight redemptions).
Aeroméxico Rewards
In general, when booking Delta-operated flights with Citi transfer partners, you’ll want to check Virgin Atlantic Flying Club first (because that program tends to offer the best rates on Delta award flights, especially on short-haul flights) and then check Flying Blue. However, it may also be worth checking the Aeroméxico Rewards program if you already have a sum of miles in Aeroméxico Rewards.
Unfortunately, this is the worst of these three programs through which you can book Delta-operated flights because it doesn’t offer the option to book Delta award flights online.
So, you’ll need to find the flight that you want to book through another frequent-flyer program’s website, write down the flight number and then call Aeroméxico Rewards customer service to give them the flight number. We highly recommend calling Aeroméxico Rewards customer service to make sure your desired flight is available before transferring any points from Citi ThankYou Rewards.
Aeroméxico Rewards prices partner award flights according to a dynamic pricing model, which means you shouldn’t expect to get great value per mile through this program. However, occasionally, the rate offered by Aeroméxico Rewards may be better than the rate offered by either Virgin Atlantic Flying Club or Air France-KLM Flying Blue on the same flight.
So, all in all, Aeroméxico Rewards is typically the third Citi transfer partner that you’ll want to use to book Delta award flights due to the fact that it uses dynamic pricing and you can book over the phone only. However, you may get lucky and find the best available rate for your desired Delta flight through this program.
The Best Citi ThankYou Credit Cards
The Citi ThankYou Rewards program has historically been less popular than some other major credit card rewards programs, such as American Express Membership Rewards or Chase Ultimate Rewards. However, Citi has made some major improvements in its credit card offerings, transfer partners and more in recent years, which have made this program much more attractive.
To make the most of the Citi ThankYou Rewards program, you’ll need to select a Citi credit card that maximizes the rewards you’ll earn for your spending.
Let’s look at some of the best Citi credit cards available. We encourage you to look at your spending patterns over the past years and calculate which of these cards would earn you the most points.
Citi Strata Premier℠ Card
The Citi Strata Premier℠ Card comes with an annual fee of $95. However, you can easily offset that fee by taking advantage of this card’s benefits and spending bonuses.
The following chart includes everything you need to know about the Citi Strata Premier℠ Card:
Card name Citi Strata Premier℠ Card Annual fee $95 Spending bonuses Other notable benefits
On top of all of the valuable benefits and spending bonuses described above, the Citi Strata Premier℠ Card also offers a welcome bonus for new cardmembers.
In general, this is one of the best credit cards you’ll find in this price range from any issuer, particularly if you spend a lot on hotels and rental cars. However, this card also offers an excellent spending bonus of 3X points in other major spending categories, including gas and EV charging stations, restaurants and supermarkets.
Plus, if you book a yearly hotel stay of more than $500 and take advantage of the $100 discount benefit, you’ll offset this card’s annual fee with that benefit alone. Undoubtedly, the Citi Strata Premier℠ Card is one of the best credit cards you’ll find with an annual fee under $100.
Citi Double Cash® Card
The Citi Double Cash® Card is a favorite among consumers who want to earn good rewards without paying an annual fee and those who value simplicity. This card offers a simple rewards structure.
The following table includes all you need to know about this card:
Card name Citi Double Cash® Card Annual fee $0 Spending bonuses Other notable benefits
The Citi Double Cash® Card also offers a welcome bonus for new cardmembers.
The Citi Double Cash® Card is a great card to add to your credit card strategy because it doesn’t charge an annual fee and you can use it to earn 2% cash back on any purchases that don’t qualify for elevated spending bonuses with your other cards.
It’s also important to mention that while the Citi Double Cash® Card is a cashback card that doesn’t earn Citi ThankYou Points, you can convert cash back from this card into Citi ThankYou Points if you also hold the Citi Strata Premier℠ Card, which means you can transfer the rewards earned with the Citi Double Cash® Card to partners.
Citi Custom Cash℠ Card
Another excellent $0 annual fee credit card that earns Citi ThankYou Points is the Citi Custom Cash℠ Card. This card offers 5% cash back on your top eligible spending category up to $500 per month and 1% cash back on all other purchases, which is a unique bonus structure.
Here’s everything you need to know about the Citi Custom Cash℠ Card:
Card name Citi Custom Cash℠ Card Annual fee $0 Spending bonuses Other notable benefits
The Citi Custom Cash℠ Card also offers a welcome bonus for new cardmembers. You can learn more about the Citi Custom Cash Card welcome offer here.
If you spend a lot of money on one of the eligible spending categories mentioned above, then the Citi Custom Cash℠ Card should be a great addition to your credit card strategy. With this card, you can spend the first $500 per month in your selected category on this card and then shift your spending to another card.
It’s also worth noting that any cashback rewards earned with the Citi Custom Cash℠ Card can be converted to Citi ThankYou Points if you also have the Citi Strata Premier℠ Card account. This means that you can transfer these rewards to partner frequent-flyer programs and use them to book Delta award flights (or award flights with other airlines).
The Bottom Line
All in all, Citi ThankYou Rewards members have many options for booking Delta award flights. For one, you can book Delta flights with Citi points through the Citi Travel portal. While this is undoubtedly the simplest way to spend Citi points on Delta flights, the maximum value you’ll get is 1 cent per point when redeeming this way.
You also can transfer Citi points to partner loyalty programs, some of which allow you to book Delta award flights. When redeeming Citi points using this method, you can often get much more value for your Citi points.
In general, the best transfer partner through which to purchase Delta-operated award flights is Virgin Atlantic Flying Club because this program prices partner award flights according to a fixed award chart.
Another good program through which to book Delta award flights is Air France-KLM Flying Blue, which doesn’t tend to offer as much value as Virgin Atlantic Flying Club but is easy to use. As a last resort, you can also book Delta awards through Aeroméxico Rewards, but only over the phone.
Regardless of which of these programs you decide to book through, you should calculate the value of that redemption by dividing the cash price of that flight by the mileage required. Whichever of these transfer partners offers the best value per mile, that’s the program you should book through.
The post Best Ways to Book Delta Flights with Citi ThankYou Points appeared first on MileValue.
