The addition of hotels partners to transferable point credit cards and hotel loyalty programs isn’t something you hear often. And when you do hear a new hotel transfer partner not named World of Hyatt, the news is generally underwhelming. However, Citi ThankYou Rewards addition of Choice Privileges has the potential to be a rare case of an interesting hotel partner addition.
Choice Hotels International is the brand behind the Choice Privileges loyalty program. This hospitality franchisor owns hotel brands worldwide that range from economy to upscale. Its upscale brands include the Ascend Hotel Collection and Cambria Hotels. In addition, Choice Hotels has a partnership with Preferred Hotels that allows you to redeem Choice Privileges points book Preferred Hotel stays.
Citi ThankYou Rewards Choice Privileges Partnership
Citi has uniquely structured its first hotel partnership. With the Citi Prestige and Citi Premier card, you can transfer Citi ThankYou points to Choice Privileges at a 1 Citi ThankYou Point to 2 Choice Privileges’ points ratio. Citi ThankYou Preferred, Citi Rewards+, and Citi Double Cash cardmembers can transfer Citi ThankYou points to. Choice Privileges at a 1 Citi ThankYou Point to 1.5 Choice Privileges Points ratio.
In addition to Choice Privileges, cardmembers can transfer Citi Thankyou Points to the following partner loyalty programs: Aeromexico Club Premier, American Airlines AAdvantage (temporarily from July 18th, 2021 – November 13, 2021), Cathay Pacific Asia Miles, Avianca LifeMiles, Emirates Skywards, Etihad Airway Guest, EVA Air Infinity Mileage Lands, Flying Blue Air France KLM, InterMiles, Malaysia Airlines Enrich, Qantas Frequent Flyer, Qatar Airways Privilege Club, Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer, Thai Airways Royal Orchid Plus, JetBlue TrueBlue, Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles, and Virgin Atlantic Flying Club.
Choice Privileges
The loyalty program of Choice Hotels is called Choice Privileges. Points earned in this program are called Choice Privileges points. When making a hotel stay using Choice Privileges points, your reservation must be made within 100 days of the date you book your stay. Free nights range from 8,000 points per night up to 35,000 points per night. The number of points required varies upon the time of year of your stay.
Choice Privileges Credit Card
Barclays issues the Choice Privileges Visa Signature Card. New card members earn 32,000 bonus points after spending $1,000 in the first 90 days of card membership. Cardmembers also earn 8,000 bonus points every year if they spend at least $10,000 on the card in a calendar year. The card earns 5x points at Choice hotels and 2x points on all other purchases.
Choice Privilegs Brands
Choice Hotels portfolio includes Upscale, Midscale, Extended stay, Economy, and Vacation rentals properties as follows:
Upscale
- Ascend Hotel Collection
- Cambria Hotels
Midscale
- Comfort (Economy in Norway, Sweden and Lithuania)
- Sleep Inn
- Clarion Hotels (upscale in Australia, Norway, Denmark, Sweden and Finland)
- Quality Inn
Extended stay
- MainStay Suites
- Suburban Extended Stay Hotel
- WoodSpring Suites
Economy
- Econo Lodge
- Rodeway Inn
Vacation rentals
- Vacation Rentals by Choice Hotels
Cambria Hotels
Cambria Hotels is one of two brands in the Upscale portfolio. Interesting hotels in this portfolio and the number of points required include:
- Cambria Hotel Napa Valley 30,000 points/night
- Cambria Hotel Washington, D.C. Convention Center 20,000 points/night
- Cambria Hotel Washington D.C. Capitol Riverfront 20,000-25,000 points/night
- Cambria Hotel New Orleans Downtown Warehouse District 20,000-25,000 points/night
- Cambria Hotel Charleston Riverview 20,000 points/night
Ascend Hotels
The Ascend Hotels brand joins Cambria Hotels in the Choice Hotels Upscale portfolio. Properties to check out and the number of points to book a stay include:
- Church Street Inn, Ascend Hotel Collection 30,000 points/night
- Inn At I’On, Ascend Hotel Collection 30,000 points/night
- Hotel Blake, Ascend Hotel Collection 30,000 points/night
- Grand Hilton Head Inn, Ascend Hotel Collection 20,000-30,000 points/night
- Hotel Napa Valley, Ascend Hotel Collection 30,000 points/night
- The Capitol Hotel Downtown, Ascend Hotel Collection 30,000 points/night
- Avenue Hotel, Ascend Hotel Collection 25,000 points/night
Choice Hotels Partnership With Preferred Hotels
Another interesting aspect of Citi ThankYou Rewards adding Choice Privileges as a transfer partner is the ability to book Preferred Hotels with Choice Privileges points. As a Choice Privileges member, you can book a Prefered Hotels stay from 25,000-55,000 points per night. This translates from 12,500-17,000 points per night to 27,500-37,000 points per night, depending upon which Citi credit card that you have.
One downside with this Preferred Hotels partnership is that have to call Preferred Hotels & Resorts at 888-770-6800 to book a stay with points. Unfortunately, booking stays online is not possible. While some of the properties below have mixed reviews, here’s a list of Preferred Hotels and the number of points required:
- NOPSI New Orleans 45,000 points/per night
- Bienville House New Orleans 35,000 points/per night
- Hotel Monteleone New Orleans 45,000 points/per night
- Windsor Court Hotel New Orleans 55,000 points/per night
- The Post Oak Hotel at Uptown Houston 55,000 points/per night
- The Whitehall Houston 25,000 points/per night
- Bobby Hotel Nashville 45,000 points/per night
- The Hermitage Hotel Nashville 55,000 points/per night
- NoMo SoHo New York 45,000 points/per night
- The Kitano Hotel New York 55,000 points/per night
- The Michelangelo New York – Starhotels Collezione 55,000 points/per night
- The Sherry-Netherland New York 55,000 points/per night
- The Maritime Hotel New York 55,000 points/per night
- The Dominick New York 55,000 points/per night
- Hotel Hayden New York 45,000 points/per night
- The Redbury New York 45,000 points/per night
- The Henderson, a Salamander Beach & Spa Resort Destin 45,000 points/per night
- The Jefferson, Washington, DC 55,000 points/per night
- The Watergate Hotel Washington, DC 45,000 points/per night
- ARC THE.HOTEL, Washington, DC 35,000 points/per night
- SOPHY Hyde Park Chicago 35,000 points/per night
- Huntley Santa Monica Beach 55,000 points/per night
- The Wort Hotel Jackson Wyoming 45,000 points/per night
- Oceans Edge Resort & Marina Key West 35,000 points/per night
- Inn By the Sea Maine 55,000 Points/per night
- French Lick Spring Hotel Indiana 35,000 Points/per night
- La Valencia Hotel San Diego 55,000 Points/per night
- Pendry San Diego 45,000 Points/per night
- Rancho Bernardo Inn San Diego 35,000 Points/per night
- Sundance Resort Utah 55,000 Points/per night
Choice Privildges FAQS
What is Choice Privileges membership?
Choice Privileges is a free membership allowing its members to access exclusive cash rates and earn points that can be redeemed for hotel stays, gift cards, and more. Here’s a link to sign up.
Do Choice Privilege points expire?
As long as you’re an active Choice Privileges member that completes qualifying activity every 18 months, your points will not expire. Points expiration for Elite members has been paused through December 31, 2021. Check out the FAQs page for more info.
How many points do you need for a free night with Choice Privileges?
Reward nights range from 6,000 to 35,000 points, excluding the Asia-Pacific region where points per night can go up to 75,000. Most Choice Hotels require 8,000 or more points to book an award stay. Choice Privileges Reward Nights has more information.
How do I contact Choice Rewards?
You can contact Choice Rewards at 888-770-6800 or by e-mail at choice_privileges@choicehotels.com.
Choice Privileges Conclusion
It’s exciting to see Citi add its first hotel transfer partner. This gives more flexibility to Citi cardmembers by allowing them to redeem points for airfare and hotel stays. The transfer ratio from Citi to Choice Hotels is favorable, which means fewer Citi points required a hotel stay than having Choice Privileges points outside of point transfer.
What do you make of Citi adding Choice Privileges as a transfer partner? Please let me know in the comments below or by sending me an email on my contact page.
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