For many folks, Hilton is the most familiar name of the Big Travel transfer partners with the Citi Prestige Card and Citi ThankYou Premier Card.
There are 2 relatively easy ways to use your Citi ThankYou points to stay at Hilton. I’ll explain which method costs fewer points!
I’ll show you when it’s better to book your Hilton stay through the Citi ThankYou Travel Center. And when it’s better to transfer those points to Hilton.
Which Is the Better Way to Use Citi ThankYou Points at Hilton?
Link: Citi ThankYou Premier
Link: Citi Prestige
Link: My Review of the Citi Prestige
Currently, Hilton is Citi’s only hotel partner. But remember, Hilton hotels includes Canopy, Conrad, Curio, DoubleTree, Embassy Suites, Hampton Inn, Hilton, Hilton Garden Inn, Hilton Grand Vacations, Home2Suites, Homewood Suites, and Waldorf Astoria brand hotels.Method #1 to Use Citi ThankYou Points at Hilton: Award Nights
You can transfer Citi ThankYou points to Hilton hotels at a 2:3 ratio if you have the Citi Prestige, Citi ThankYou Premier, or Citi Chairman (no longer available) card. So 1,000 Citi ThankYou points get you 1,500 Hilton points. Sometimes there are transfer bonuses.
Method #2 to Use Citi ThankYou Points at Hilton: Discounted Paid Stays
But if you have the Citi ThankYou Premier card, you can book a paid room using Citi ThankYou points at a rate of 1.25 cents per point. With the Citi Prestige, the rate is 1 cent per point.
That said, if you’ll still pay fewer points booking a paid room with Citi ThankYou points versus transferring points to Hilton for an award stay, booking through the Citi ThankYou Travel Center is still a better deal – even if the Hilton paid prices are cheaper.
I’ll give you a general rule of thumb. But 1st let’s look at a few examples.
1. Orlando – Homewood Suites by Hilton Lake Buena Vista
The Homewood Suites by Hilton Lake Buena Vista is a Hilton category 5 hotel. An award night in March 2016 costs 40,000 Hilton points.
So you’d have to transfer 27,000 Citi ThankYou points at a 2:3 ratio to Hilton for an award night at this hotel (27,000 Citi ThankYou points X 1.5 = 40,500 Hilton points). Note you must transfer in 1,000 point increments.
However, if you have the Citi ThankYou Premier, you can book the same room for just 16,749 Citi ThankYou points (at 1.25 cents per point). That includes taxes and fees.
You’d save over 10,000 Citi ThankYou points (worth ~$125 in travel)!
If you only have the Citi Prestige, you’ll still do better booking this room through the Citi ThankYou Travel Center. At 1 cent per point, you’ll pay 20,937 Citi ThankYou points for your stay.
So you’ll still save ~6,000 Citi ThankYou points (worth $60 in travel)!
Note: Because the Prestige card allows you to book any airline at 1.33 cents per point, your points can go much farther on airfare than by booking hotels this way.
With either card, it’s a significant savings in this case to book your room directly with Citi ThankYou points instead of transferring them to Hilton.
And remember, there are no blackout dates. Plus, you’ll earn Hilton points if you add your Hilton account number to your reservation. Because it’s a paid stay, not an award night!
2. London, UK – Hilton London Syon Park
A Hilton category 7 hotel, the Hilton London Syon Park costs 60,000 Hilton points per night in May 2016.
You’d have to transfer 40,000 Citi ThankYou points to Hilton to get the points required for an award room (40,000 Citi ThankYou points X 1.5 = 60,000 Hilton points).
Folks with the Citi ThankYou Premier can book the same room for 25,276 Citi ThankYou points at 1.25 cents per point. That’s a savings of almost 15,000 Citi ThankYou points (worth ~$188 in travel)!
Remember, if you have both the Citi Prestige and Citi ThankYou Premier, you can book hotels at the better 1.25 cents per point rate.
3. Chicago – Hampton Inn & Suites Chicago / Hoffman Estates
Not all hotels are a better deal if you book them with Citi ThankYou points directly. For example, the Hampton Inn & Suites Chicago / Hoffman Estates is a Hilton category 2 hotel, and costs 10,000 Hilton points per night.
You’d have to transfer 7,000 Citi ThankYou points to Hilton for an award stay at this hotel (7,000 Citi ThankYou points X 1.5 = 10,500 Hilton points).
You’ll pay more Citi ThankYou points when you book this hotel through the Citi ThankYou Travel Center. Citi ThankYou Premier cardholders will pay 10,126 Citi ThankYou points. That’s over 3,000 points more.
And Citi Prestige cardholders would pay 12,658 Citi ThankYou points. Over 5,000 points more!
Do the math to be sure, but in general, you’ll get a better deal transferring Citi ThankYou points to Hilton only when you book their category 1 and 2 hotels. Or if the paid rate for a room is very expensive. Otherwise you can use fewer Citi ThankYou points buying the room directly through the Citi Travel portal.
Here’s the rule of thumb if you have the Citi ThankYou Premier card. Your Citi ThankYou points are worth 1.25 cents each when used toward paid Hilton stays through the Citi ThankYou Travel Center.
So you can use this chart if you have the Citi ThankYou Premier:
| Hilton Points Required for an Award Night | Citi ThankYou Points Required for an Award Night (Transfer at 2:3 Ratio, in 1,000 Point Increments) | Value of Citi ThankYou Points at 1.25 Cents per Point | Rule of Thumb |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5,000 | 4,000 | $50 | If Paid Stay Costs More Than $50 per Night, Transfer to Hilton |
| 10,000 | 7,000 | ~$88 | If Paid Stay Costs More Than ~$88 per Night, Transfer to Hilton |
| 20,000 | 14,000 | $175 | If Paid Stay Costs More Than $175 per Night, Transfer to Hilton |
| 30,000 | 20,000 | $250 | If Paid Stay Costs More Than $250 per Night, Transfer to Hilton |
| 40,000 | 27,000 | ~$388 | If Paid Stay Costs More Than ~$388 per Night, Transfer to Hilton |
| 50,000 | 34,000 | $425 | If Paid Stay Costs More Than $425 per Night, Transfer to Hilton |
| 60,000 | 40,000 | $500 | If Paid Stay Costs More Than $500 per Night, Transfer to Hilton |
| 70,000 | 47,000 | ~$588 | If Paid Stay Costs More Than ~$588 per Night, Transfer to Hilton |
| 80,000 | 54,000 | $675 | If Paid Stay Costs More Than $675 per Night, Transfer to Hilton |
| 95,000 | 64,000 | $800 | If Paid Stay Costs More Than $800 per Night, Transfer to Hilton |
Use this next chart if you only have the Citi Prestige card, because your Citi ThankYou points are worth 1 cent each toward hotel stays. If you have both the Citi ThankYou Premier and Citi Prestige, use the Citi ThankYou Premier table above instead.
| Hilton Points Required for an Award Night | Citi ThankYou Points Required for an Award Night (Transfer at 2:3 Ratio, in 1,000 Point Increments) | Value of Citi ThankYou Points at 1 Cents per Point | Rule of Thumb |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5,000 | 4,000 | $40 | If Paid Stay Costs More Than $40 per Night, Transfer to Hilton |
| 10,000 | 7,000 | $70 | If Paid Stay Costs More Than $70 per Night, Transfer to Hilton |
| 20,000 | 14,000 | $140 | If Paid Stay Costs More Than $140 per Night, Transfer to Hilton |
| 30,000 | 20,000 | $200 | If Paid Stay Costs More Than $200 per Night, Transfer to Hilton |
| 40,000 | 27,000 | $270 | If Paid Stay Costs More Than $270 per Night, Transfer to Hilton |
| 50,000 | 34,000 | $340 | If Paid Stay Costs More Than $340 per Night, Transfer to Hilton |
| 60,000 | 40,000 | $400 | If Paid Stay Costs More Than $400 per Night, Transfer to Hilton |
| 70,000 | 47,000 | $470 | If Paid Stay Costs More Than $470 per Night, Transfer to Hilton |
| 80,000 | 54,000 | $540 | If Paid Stay Costs More Than $540 per Night, Transfer to Hilton |
| 95,000 | 64,000 | $640 | If Paid Stay Costs More Than $640 per Night, Transfer to Hilton |
So you’ll have to compare to see which is the better deal for you!
Keep in mind, you will NOT earn Hilton points for award stays! But you will when you book a paid room through the Citi ThankYou Travel Center using your Citi ThankYou points.
That said, using Citi ThankYou points for Hilton stays (either by transferring them to Hilton or booking through the Citi ThankYou Travel Center) isn’t generally the best use of Citi ThankYou points!
Better Ways to Use Citi ThankYou Points
You can often get better value from your Citi ThankYou points when you transfer them to airline partners, like Singapore Airlines.
For example, you could transfer 34,000 Citi ThankYou points to Singapore Airlines for a round-trip coach ticket between New York and Frankfurt, worth $900 or more. That’s a value of ~2.6 cents per point ($900 cost of flight / 34,000 points).
And you could get an even better deal if you redeem your Singapore Airlines miles for expensive First or Business Class award seats.
If you have the Citi Prestige, you can also use Citi ThankYou points to book paid airfare on American Airlines (and codeshare partners such as Japan Airlines) at a rate of 1.6 cents per point through July 23, 2017. Or 1.33 cents per point on other airlines through July 23, 2017.
Plus, there are so many other ways to earn Hilton points!
That said, transferring Citi ThankYou points to Hilton could also make sense if you’re close to having the number of Hilton points needed for an award stay.
Bottom Line
There are 2 ways to use your Citi ThankYou points to stay at Hilton.
- Transfer points to Hilton for an award stay
- Pay for your room with Citi ThankYou points through the Citi ThankYou Travel Center
And you’ll earn Hilton points booking through the Citi ThankYou Travel Center. (Award nights do not earn points.)
That said, I prefer using Citi ThankYou points with partners such as Singapore Airlines instead of Hilton. Because the points are worth more that way. And because there are so many other ways to earn Hilton points.
But as always, use your points for the type of travel that’s important to YOU!