Will I Earn Elite Status for Citi ThankYou Hotel Bookings?

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Citi is a TPG advertising partner

TPG reader Tony messaged me to ask a question about Citi ThankYou Rewards:

"Do you know if the hotel nights booked using Citi ThankYou points are eligible for elite night accrual in hotel programs?"

Using Citi ThankYou points for hotels can be a good value, especially if you have the Citi Prestige card, which offers the fourth night free benefit that you can even pair with AAA or AARP rates. To answer Tony's question, yes, your hotel stays booked with Citi ThankYou points through the Citi ThankYou Travel Center do count toward elite nights.

Generally, you're not eligible for elite nights when you book through online travel agencies (like Orbitz and Priceline) or Hotel Tonight (though I'll share a little secret — I've actually gotten some elite nights when using Hotel Tonight ... shhhh). However, Citi books hotels as a corporate travel agency, not as an OTA or discount agency, so you should receive elite credit if you're booking eligible rates via the Citi ThankYou Travel Center.

I have an upcoming stay booked through Citi, so I'll report my own experience soon, but everything I've read and heard seems to point toward getting credit. If you've experienced the contrary and haven't gotten credit, please let us know by sharing in the comments below.

If you have any other questions, please tweet me @thepointsguy, message me on Facebook or send me an email at info@thepointsguy.com.