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A day after ending temporary transfers to American AAdvantage, Citi ThankYou added a new transfer partner: Wyndham Rewards.
Wyndham Rewards is Citi's second hotel transfer partner after it added Choice Privileges last month. Unlike Choice, however, Citi points transfer to Wyndham at a 1:1 transfer ratio for those with a Citi Premier® Card (see rates and fees) or Citi Prestige® Card (no longer available for new applicants).
Other cards can transfer at a lower 1:0.8 transfer ratio. This includes the Citi Rewards+® Card (see rates and fees), Citi Double Cash® Card (see rates and fees), and Citi ThankYou Preferred (no longer available for new applicants).
Wyndham is home to thousands of hotels worldwide, so this new transfer partner makes it easier to leverage your Citi points to fuel your travels with award nights. Let's take a closer look at how to transfer points from Citi to Wyndham and discuss when it makes sense to do so.
The information for the Citi Prestige card and Citi ThankYou Preferred has been collected independently by The Points Guy. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.
How to transfer Citi points to Wyndham
To transfer Citi ThankYou Rewards points to Wyndham Rewards, log in to your Citi ThankYou account here. Hover over “Travel” and then select “Points Transfer.”
Scroll down until you see the Wyndham Rewards transfer option. Click the blue "Continue" button to start your transfer.
Now, decide how many points you want to transfer and enter your Wyndham Rewards account number. Be aware that the terms note that you must have the same first and last name on your ThankYou account and Wyndham Rewards account in order to transfer.
Now, you can review and confirm your points transfer. On this page, Citi ThankYou notes, “Transfers to Wyndham Rewards® are often completed within 24 hours, however the process may occasionally take up to 5 business days.”
Related: TPG’s points and miles staffers reveal how they’d spend a million Citi ThankYou points
When to transfer Citi points to Wyndham
While a new transfer partner is always good news, it only makes sense to transfer to Wyndham Rewards if you have an immediate plan to use Wyndham points to book an award stay.
TPG currently values Wyndham Rewards points at 1.1 cents apiece, which is lower than our Citi ThankYou valuation of 1.7 cents apiece. That said, Wyndham Rewards points are more valuable — at least on paper — when compared to other popular hotel currencies like Hilton Honors and Choice Privileges.
Wyndham Rewards has one of the most straightforward award charts with only three different award pricing tiers: 7,500, 15,000, or 30,000 points per night. Because of this, you can sometimes find value when booking high-end or high-demand properties with your Wyndham points. In these cases, it might make sense to transfer your Citi points to book.
For example, a flexible one-night stay at The New Yorker costs $735 per night on New Year's Eve. Alternatively, you can book the same stay for 30,000 Wyndham Rewards points plus a $40.16 resort fee. This gives you 2.32 cents per point for your Wyndham Rewards points. That's a solid deal, and it likely makes sense to transfer your Citi points to book if you don't have Wyndham Rewards points on hand.
Another way to get good value from Wyndham Rewards points is by booking Vacasa vacation rentals. Currently, Wyndham Rewards members can book Vacasa properties for 15,000 Wyndham points per bedroom, per night. These rentals get expensive depending on location, so it could make sense to transfer Citi points to cover the bill. Read our full guide to booking Vacasa stays with Wyndham points for more info.
Related: 14 best Wyndham properties to book with points
Bottom line
It's great to see Citi add yet another transfer partner. This makes Citi ThankYou points even more valuable by providing additional flexibility to Citi cardholders. Now, cardholders have access to Wyndham’s more than 50,000 hotels, vacation club resorts, and vacation rentals located around the world.
Regardless, you should always run the numbers before you transfer your Citi points to Wyndham to see if you're getting a good deal on a redemption. If you're getting less than 1 cent per point, you may opt to book through the Citi ThankYou Travel Portal that lets Citi Premier cardholders book hotels and flights at a fixed rate of 1 cent per point.
Feature photo by Tobias Arhelger/Shutterstock.com
