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The Points Guy believes that credit cards can transform lives, helping you leverage everyday spending for cash back or travel experiences that might otherwise be out of reach. That's why we publish a variety of editorial content and card comparisons: to help you find a great card to turn your goals into reality.
Our site may earn compensation when a customer clicks on a link, when an application is approved, or when an account is opened with our partners, and this may impact how or where these products appear. While we don't cover all available credit cards, our editorial team creates and maintains all of the analysis of these cards, and our content is not influenced nor subject to review by any credit card company, bank or partner prior to (or after) publication. Please view our advertising policy and product review methodology for more information.
Guides
Complete guide to booking Citi Prestige complimentary fourth-night hotel stays
Katie Genter is a digital nomad who has traveled full time since June 2017. She writes and edits stories about points and miles, and loyalty programs, often letting her personal experiences color these stories.
October 19, 2024 • 7 min read
The cards we feature here are from partners who compensate us when you are approved through our site, and this may impact how or where these products appear. We don't cover all available credit cards, but our analysis, reviews, and opinions are entirely from our editorial team. Terms apply to the offers listed on this page. Please view our advertising policy and product review methodology for more information.Editorial disclaimer: Opinions expressed here are the author's alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, airline or hotel chain, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities.
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Quick summary
A premium travel card offers a complimentary fourth night on up to two hotel stays per calendar year when booking through its travel portal or designated phone line.
The benefit applies only to bookings of four consecutive nights and is calculated based on the average nightly rate, excluding taxes and fees.
This perk is most valuable at luxury hotels or properties outside major loyalty programs, but bookings typically do not earn hotel loyalty points or elite benefits.
Rates through the travel portal may be higher than direct bookings, so comparing net costs is recommended.
What to consider
Only one complimentary night is allowed per stay, and back-to-back reservations at the same property count as a single stay.
The benefit is not available for group bookings, certain property types or stays booked outside the travel portal or phone line.
Redeeming points for hotel bookings through the portal yields a lower value than TPG's October 2024 valuation of 1.8 cents each.
What you'll miss from the article
A step-by-step guide to booking a fourth-night-free stay and detailed comparisons of when this benefit provides the best value.
Generated by AI with support from our editorial team.
Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.
Editor’s note: Citi is a TPG advertising partner.
Citi closed applications for its premium ThankYou Rewards card, the Citi Prestige® Card, in July 2021. However, some cardmembers, myself included, have kept the card and continued paying its $495 annual fee because of its valuable benefits.
Our Citi Prestige Card review explains all the benefits and why you should consider keeping the card if you already have it. But in this guide, I'll discuss just one of the card's unique perks: its complimentary fourth-night hotel benefit. This benefit, more commonly known as the Citi Prestige fourth-night free, gives you a fourth night free on up to two stays per calendar year. Here's what you need to know.
The information for the Citi Prestige has been collected independently by The Points Guy. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.
What is the Citi Prestige fourth-night free benefit?
The complimentary fourth-night hotel benefit is a perk available to Citi Prestige cardmembers. This perk gives you a fourth night free on up to two hotel stays each calendar year.
To enjoy a complimentary fourth night, you must:
Book a minimum of a four-consecutive-night hotel stay through the Citi Travel site or by calling 1-833-737-1288.
Pay for your stay with your Citi Prestige Card, Citi ThankYou points or a combination of ThankYou points and your Citi Prestige Card.
Citi bases the fourth night benefit on your stay’s average nightly rate, excluding taxes and fees. The price you pay during booking includes the fourth-night benefit savings. Additionally, the fourth-night benefit has the following restrictions and requirements:
Bookings can only be made in the primary cardmember's or authorized user‘s name.
Only one complimentary night is possible per stay. Citi considers back-to-back stays to be one stay, so you can’t use two fourth-night benefits on back-to-back reservations at the same property.
For group reservations or other reservations consisting of multiple rooms, only one room will qualify for a complimentary night.
Reservations made through any party or channel other than the Citi Travel site or 1-833-737-1288 are not eligible for the fourth-night benefit.
Discount rates such as corporate codes, loyalty program member rates, government rates and AAA rates can't be used. You can only book rates that are available through the Citi Travel website.
Finally, the fourth-night benefit doesn’t apply to some stay types. For example, it excludes yachts, riverboats, cruises, campgrounds, castles, safaris, villas, apartments and any properties not bookable through the Citi Travel website.
You can book a complimentary fourth-night stay in two ways: online through the Citi Travel site or by calling 1-833-737-1288. Since Citi removed the ability to book hotels that didn't appear on the Citi Travel website over the phone on Oct. 1, 2021, now there's no benefit to booking over the phone. So, here’s the process for booking a fourth-night stay online through the Citi Travel site.
Enter dates and destination
After you log in to your Citi account and navigate to the Citi Travel portal, select “Hotels” and enter your destination, dates and the number of guests before clicking "Search."
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Select a hotel
The next page should return a list of available properties near your destination. You can filter the results by property type, collection type, star rating, neighborhood, room offers, payment options, property facilities, guest rating and more.
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Choose your room and rate
Once you select a hotel, you’ll usually see multiple room types available for booking.
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Pay for your stay
On the next page, you can decide whether to use your complimentary fourth-night hotel benefit. For this stay, doing so would drop the four-night cost from $1,847 to $1,531.
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Once you confirm your guest details, click "Continue to payment." On this page, you can choose how many points (if any) you'd like to redeem.
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You can apply points to hotel bookings at a rate of one cent per point. But this is far below TPG’s October 2024 valuation of Citi ThankYou points at 1.8 cents each. So I don’t recommend redeeming Citi ThankYou points for hotel bookings through Citi Travel.
Unfortunately, stays booked through Citi Travel usually won't be eligible for points earning and elite benefits through hotel loyalty programs. The frequently asked questions section of the Citi Prestige card benefits notes, "Frequent traveler accounts cannot be used when booking via ThankYou.com or when calling the ThankYou travel center."
This being said, you can always ask the hotel to add your loyalty number at check-in. Most hotels won't offer elite benefits and earnings when you book through an online travel agency such as the Citi Travel portal. But even if you don't earn points and stay credit, the individual property could decide to offer you some on-site elite benefits.
The lowest rates available through the Citi Travel website are often higher than the member rates available when booking directly with the hotel loyalty program. Plus, you usually won’t get elite benefits and earnings when booking through Citi Travel.
However, in some cases, you’ll find that Citi Travel offers rates similar to booking directly. For instance, booking the example stay discussed above directly with Atlantis would actually cost me a few cents more than booking through Citi Travel without the fourth-night benefit (and $317 more than booking through Citi Travel with the fourth-night benefit).
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Likewise, booking a flexible member rate at The Coral through Marriott Bonvoy would cost $1,808 — $39 less than through Citi Travel without a fourth night free but $277 more than through Citi Travel with a fourth night free. However, I'd get Marriott Bonvoy earnings on my room rate if I booked my stay through Marriott.
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In general, you’ll get better value from the complimentary fourth-night benefit when you use it at luxury hotels and hotels that don't participate in major loyalty programs. However, I recommend considering the net cost — the out-of-pocket cost minus elite earnings and credit card earnings — of each of your favorite booking methods when deciding how to book a stay.
Longtime cardholders will lament how the Citi Prestige fourth-night-free benefit is not nearly as valuable as it once was. Indeed, this perk was once one of the best Citi Prestige benefits, whereas now I don't even use it once most years since I value getting hotel elite status benefits and earnings on my stays. However, the perk can still provide value, especially if you carefully consider when and how to use your two free-night benefits each year.
By commenting, you agree to our Community Guidelines to help create a positive space for conversation. The responses below are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser, our partners, or The Points Guy (“TPG”). They have not been reviewed, approved, or otherwise endorsed by any of these parties. All responses are submitted by individual contributors, and neither the bank advertiser, our partners, nor TPG are responsible for ensuring that all posts and/or questions are answered.
