Travelers with cards like the Citi Strata Premier℠ Card or the Citi Prestige Card now have a brand new transfer partner to use their ThankYou points: ALL – Accor Live Limitless.
Accor is the French hospitality giant comprised of 45 different hotel brands, ranging from luxurious Fairmont properties to the more economy-minded Ibis brand. Citi added Accor's Live Limitless program Sunday as its third hotel transfer partner and 17th travel partner overall.
With under 50 properties in the U.S., Accor is a relatively unknown hotel program to many. Its points program isn't as valuable as other, bigger chains – plus, they'll transfer from Citi on a 2:1 ratio. That means you'll have to transfer 1,000 ThankYou points to get 500 Accor points.
Still, more options to redeem your ThankYou Points is always a good thing in our book. You can redeem ALL points to cover hotel stays as well as other experiences like dining, sports, and more.
Only cardholders with the Citi Strata Premier℠ Card or the Citi Prestige Card (which is no longer open to applications) can transfer points to Accor.
Have Citi points but not sure what transferring them is all about? Read our guide to Citi ThankYou transfer partners!
Here's the full list of Citi transfer partners with this latest addition:
| Program | Type | Transfer Ratio | Transfer Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aeromexico | Airline | 1:1 | Instant |
| Air France/KLM | Airline | 1:1 | Instant |
| Avianca LifeMiles | Airline | 1:1 | Instant |
| Cathay Pacific | Airline | 1:1 | 12-24 hours |
| Emirates | Airline | 1:1 | Instant |
| Etihad | Airline | 1:1 | Instant |
| EVA Air | Airline | 1:1 | 1-3 days |
| JetBlue | Airline | 1:1* | Instant |
| Qantas | Airline | 1:1 | 1-2 days |
| Qatar Airways | Airline | 1:1 | 1-2 days |
| Singapore | Airline | 1:1 | 12-48 hours |
| Thai Airways | Airline | 1:1 | 4-7 days |
| Turkish Airlines | Airline | 1:1 | Instant |
| Virgin Atlantic | Airline | 1:1 | Instant |
| Accor | Hotel | 2:1 | TBD |
| Choice Hotels | Hotel | 1:2* | Instant |
| Wyndham Rewards | Hotel | 1:1* | Instant |
| The Leading Hotels of the World (LHW) | Hotel | 1:0.2 | TBD |
| Preferred Hotels and Resorts | Hotel | 1:4 | TBD |
If you're short on ThankYou Points and want another way to accrue points with Accor, you can also transfer Capital One Venture Miles at the same 2:1 ratio.
How Valuable is the ALL Program?
Accor has a wide range of properties, including many in the high-end luxury category that are great for aspirational stays. Booking them, however, could be a challenge.
The downfall with the Accor program is that it's impossible to get the same outsized value from your points that you can with other hotel and airline loyalty programs. That's because Accor ‘s revenue-based system means these points work much like cash: 2,000 points gets you 40 euro (roughly $44 USD) off your hotel stay.
That makes points easy to redeem, as you can simply chip in Accor points in increments of 2,000 to reduce (or eliminate) the cash stay of your reservation. But it also means you're always getting the exact same bang for your buck no matter where you go.
Using the picturesque Fairmont Banff Springs as an example, you could pay $561 per night out of pocket – or you could transfer 51,000 Citi ThankYou Points to Accor and cover the cost in full as an award night. For some, transferring points from Citi would be a better option than outright paying cash for this castle in the Rockies.
That's not an awful way to use your Citi ThankYou points … but there are also far more valuable redemptions like booking Qatar Qsuites or Turkish Airlines business class. Then again, compared to redeeming ThankYou points for for gift cards or other “cash out” options, this could certainly be a good option for you.
Thrifty Tip: Transfer Citi Thank YouPoints to Virgin Atlantic to book Delta flights for far less than Delta charges in SkyMiles!
Bottom Line
Citi recently added ALL – Accor Live Limitless as its latest ThankYou Points transfer partner at a 2:1 ratio. Only travelers with the Citi Strata Premier or the Citi Prestige Card have this option.
This won't be the most valuable way to use your Citi ThankYou Points – but it's also far from the worst. Giving travelers more options for redeeming their points is always a positive thing.
Featured image courtesy of Fairmont Hotels & Resorts
