A Guide to the Citi Travel Portal

The Citi Travel portal was recently revamped and it is now partnered with Booking.com and powered by Rocket Travel Inc. Citi Travel with Booking.com uses the features and booking availability of Booking.com's brands. The website offers over 1.4 million hotel and resort options worldwide, including properties in Citi's two hotel programs: the Hotel Collection and Luxury Collection. Here we will go over the benefits of the Citi Travel portal, learn about drawbacks, and clarify which cards can be used to access the portal.

Overview of Citi Travel

Citi Travel with Booking.com is similar to online travel agencies like Expedia or Travelocity. You can use the platform to search for and book flights, hotels, rental cars, and attractions based on your travel dates, destinations, and other preferences. When you book through the portal, you can use ThankYou Points, your eligible Citi card, or a combination of both to pay for your booking.

When you use your ThankYou earning Citi credit card (not ThankYou Points) to pay for hotels, car rentals and attractions at CitiTravel.com, you will earn higher rewards. Depending on the Citi card you have, you can earn up to 10 points per dollar spent and get other perks:

- with the Citi Strata Premier℠ Card, you can earn 10 points per dollar spent on reservations for hotels, car rentals, and attractions. Plus, once per calendar year, you can get $100 off your single hotel stay of $500 or more booked through Citi Travel;

- with the Citi Rewards+^® Card, you can earn a total of 5 points per dollar spent on reservations for hotels, car rentals, and attractions booked through Dec. 31, 2025;

- with the Citi Double Cash^® Card, you can earn 5% total cash back on reservations for hotels, car rentals, and attractions booked through Dec 31, 2025;

- with the Citi Custom Cash^® Card, you can earn additional 4% cash back on reservations for hotels, car rentals, and attractions booked through June 30, 2026.

Citi Travel with Booking.com is basically a one-stop shop for your vacation. It allows you to book hotels, flights, car rentals, and even tickets to tourist attractions in one place. Additionally, you can get access to various benefits and perks, like exclusive offers, same-day booking opportunities, 24-hour cancellation window for full refunds, and flexible payment options. Here are credit cards that will help you unlock Citi Travel's benefits:

- Citi Strata Premier℠ Card

- Citi Rewards+^® Card

- Citi Double Cash^® Card

- Citi Custom Cash^® Card

- AT&T Points Plus^® Card from Citi

- Citi Premier^® Card (not available to new applicants)

- AT&T Access Credit Card From Citi (not available to new applicants)

- Citi Prestige^® (not available to new applicants)

- Citi ThankYou^® Preferred (not available to new applicants)

How to book travel using the Citi Travel portal

There is basically just a single login for using the Citi Travel portal and managing your Citi card account. You can access the travel portal from your Citi account, Citi Mobile App, or directly at CitiTravel.com. The portal functions similarly to other portals, so you shouldn't have any problems with booking flights, finding accommodations, purchasing tickets to tourist sights or guided tours, and renting a car. The service allows you to use different filters to refine your search based on price, dates and times, ratings, and more.

Once you are ready to pay, you will be offered several options: ThankYou Points, Citi credit card, or a mix of the two. When you use points to pay at Citi Travel, the redemption rate is 1 cent per point. If you want to maximize your points value, you can consider transferring your points to Citi's transfer partners.

Pros and cons of booking travel through the Citi Travel portal

Some travelers avoid travel portals because they don't give the maximum value for rewards. Avid travelers prefer transferring points to redeeming them directly through the issuer. However, booking travel through Citi Travel portal has its advantages, too. Below you will find some pros and cons of using Citi Travel.

Pros

- You can book award travel on the dates you want because there are no blackout dates.

- You are not limited to one hotel chain and can book award stays at all kinds of properties outside of popular brands.

- You can get additional perks (like free breakfast, complimentary Wi-Fi, early check-in, late check-out and more) when book properties from Citi's Hotel Collection and Luxury Collection.

- You can earn extra points for bookings with eligible Citi credit cards.

- You can earn airline miles and status qualifying miles if you add your airline frequent flyer number to the reservation.

- You can pool ThankYou Points from different credit cards.

Cons

- You won't earn hotel points or elite status and might not have your hotel elite status recognized.

- You are not guaranteed the best price when book through the portal.

- You may get more value from your points when transferring them to partners.

Bottom line

Citi Travel with Booking.com is a great tool to search and book travel reservations for flights, hotels, rental cars, and attractions. It offers simplicity and smooth experience when you redeem ThankYou Points, and it also offers extra rewards when you pay with a credit card.

Additionally, cardholders of the Citi Strata Premier℠ Card can use their hotel benefits through the portal.

However, it's also important to consider drawbacks and understand what you can earn and what you can lose when using the Citi Travel portal. Still, the portal is super convenient, which may become your deciding factor.