Deals on Award Flights in US (Including Hawaii) Using Citi ThankYou Points

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Did you know you can use Citi ThankYou points for deals on award flights within the US (even to Hawaii)?

I’ll show you how to save 20,000 miles on round-trip flights in North America!

Because when you transfer Citi ThankYou points to Singapore Airlines miles, you can book award flights on United Airlines for fewer miles than United Airlines charges!

United Airlines and Singapore Airlines are Star Alliance partners, and have access to each other’s award seats.  But some routes are a lot cheaper when you book through Singapore Airlines!

I’ll highlight the best deals.  And show you how to earn Citi ThankYou points!

Earn Citi ThankYou Points

With these Citi cards, it’s easy to earn Citi ThankYou points:  

1.   Citi Prestige

Link:   Citi Prestige

When you open a Citi Prestige card, you’ll earn 50,000 Citi ThankYou points after spending $3,000 in purchases within the 1st 3 months of opening your account. (EXPIRED.)

You’ll also get:

• 3X Citi ThankYou points per $1 you spend at airlines, hotels, and travel agencies
• 2X Citi ThankYou points per $1 you spend at restaurants and select entertainment (includes movie theaters, amusement parks, tourist attractions)
• $250 statement credit for airline fees such as airfare and baggage fees appearing on your statement from December to the following December
• $100 statement credit for Global Entry application fee
• Access to American Airlines Admirals Club lounges for primary cardholder, immediate family, or 2 guests, as long as you’re flying on American Airlines or American Eagle that day through July 23, 2017
• Priority Pass Lounge access for primary cardholder and up to 2 guests (additional guests $27 per person, per visit)
• 4th night free when you book 4 consecutive nights at any hotel (must be booked through Citi Prestige Concierge and paid in full with your card)
• No foreign transaction fees

With this card, you can use your Citi ThankYou points to book American Airlines flights at a rate of 1.6 cents per point through the Citi ThankYou Travel Center through July 23, 2017.  Plus, there are NO blackout dates!

Read my full review of the Citi Prestige card!

2.   Citi ThankYou Premier

Link:   Citi ThankYou Premier

When you open a Citi ThankYou Premier card, you’ll earn 50,000 Citi ThankYou points after you spend $3,000 on purchases in the 1st 3 months of opening your account. (EXPIRED.)

You’ll also get:

• 3X Citi ThankYou points per $1 spent on travel (ex. airfare, gas stations, taxis, tolls)
• 2X Citi ThankYou points per $1 spent on dining and entertainment (ex. amusement parks, sporting events, movies)
• No foreign transaction fees

The $95 annual fee is waived for the 1st year.

With this card, you can use your Citi ThankYou points at a rate of 1.25 cents each to book paid airfare with NO blackout dates through the Citi ThankYou Travel Center.

Remember you can pool these points with Citi Prestige if you have both cards.  And then book the same flights for fewer points!

Here’s my review of the Citi ThankYou Premier card!

3.   Citi AT&T Access More Card

Link:   Citi AT&T Access More card

I wrote about how to earn $650 toward the purchase of a new phone with the Citi AT&T Access More card.

It’s also a great card to accrue Citi Thank You points.  That’s because it earns:

• 3X Citi ThankYou points at AT&T, online retailers, and travel sites
• 1X Citi ThankYou point on everything else
• 10,000 Citi ThankYou points on your card anniversary each year when you spend $10,000 on your card

So you can earn 3X Citi ThankYou points for online shopping, including Amazon.com!

That’s a fantastic way to quickly earn Citi ThankYou points you can transfer to the Citi ThankYou Premier or Citi Prestige, and then to Citi’s travel partners, including Singapore Airlines!

Note:   If you have the Citi ThankYou Preferred or (no longer offered) Citi Forward card, you can transfer those points to the Citi Prestige or Citi ThankYou Premier and then to Citi’s travel partners, too!

Get Cheaper Flights in the US on United Airlines With Singapore Airlines Miles

Link:   Singapore Airlines Partner Award Chart

Singapore Airlines is a member of the Star Alliance, along with United Airlines.

So you can book United Airlines flights using Singapore Airlines miles!

And with Singapore Airlines miles, you can book award flights for less than United Airlines charges for their own flights! 

Note:  You can NOT transfer your Citi ThankYou points directly to United Airlines.  You can NOT combine Singapore Airlines miles With United Airlines miles.  And you can NOT transfer Singapore Airlines miles back into Citi ThankYou points.

For example, a round-trip Business Class flight within North America (which includes the mainland US, Alaska, and Canada) costs 40,000 Singapore Airlines miles.  And a round-trip First Class flight costs 60,000 Singapore Airlines miles.

Round-trip coach award flights cost the same amount with both United Airlines miles and Singapore Airlines miles.  But if you don’t have any United Airlines miles, you can use Singapore Airlines miles to book them!

United Airlines charges 50,000 United Airlines miles for round-trip Business Class flights within North America.  And 70,000 United Airlines miles for a round-trip First Class flight.  In both cases, you’ll save 10,000 miles by booking with Singapore Airlines miles instead!

I found a decent number of award seats in Business Class from Los Angeles to Charleston throughout the rest of the year.

Remember you can get the same price on any Business Class award flight within the continental US, Alaska, or Canada!

You can transfer Citi ThankYou points directly to Singapore Airlines at a 1:1 ratio.

Using your points on partner airlines is a great way to get Big Travel with Small Money!

Big Discounts to Hawaii!

If you want to visit any island in Hawaii, you’re in luck.  Because you’ll get great discounts when you book United Airlines flights with Singapore Airlines miles.

With United Airlines miles to Hawaii, you’ll pay:

• 45,000 United Airlines miles for a round-trip coach award flight
• 80,000 United Airlines miles for a round-trip Business Class award flight
• 100,000 United Airlines miles for a round-trip First Class award flight

Compare that to Singapore Airlines miles, which cost:

• 35,000 Singapore Airlines miles for a round-trip coach award flight
• 60,000 Singapore Airlines miles for a round-trip Business Class award flight
• 80,000 Singapore Airlines miles for a round-trip First Class award flight

You can book the exact same United Airlines flights using fewer miles with Singapore Airlines.

So you’ll save 10,000 miles per person when you fly coach.  And 20,000 miles when you fly First or Business Class!  If you want to fly the whole family, those miles can really add up!

Even better, there are very low taxes and fees on United Airlines flights, usually ~$11 per person for a round-trip award flight.

I found coach award seats from Miami to Maui in January on United Airlines.  When you book through Singapore Airlines, you’ll pay 35,000 Singapore Miles and ~$11 for those flights!

How to Book Singapore Airlines Award Flights

Link:   How to Use ExpertFlyer

To get started, sign into your Citi ThankYou account.

Find “Points Transfer” and you’ll see the list of transfer partners.  Scroll down to “Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer.”

There’s a minimum of 1,000 points per transfer.

From there, you can select the number of points you want to move.

Be aware that it takes ~2 days for your transfer request to complete.  So this is NOT a good way to book flights immediately.  That said, it’s not a long time to wait, either!