Travel Codex

Your Resource for Better Travel

Are Bank Rewards Programs Killing Frequent Flyer Miles?

From the desk of the Devil's Advocate... All good things come to an end. Or they're replaced by something better. Travel loyalty programs are one of the greatest marketing inventions of modern times. From the first mileage-based frequent flyer program launched by Texas Air in 1979 to today's programs that boast of tens of millions of members, travel loyalty programs have grown massively and become hugely … [Read more...]

Citi Makes ThankYou Rewards Easier to Understand

Citi's ThankYou Rewards program is one of my main credit card rewards programs, and also my longest tenured program - I've been a member for almost 8 years now.  In recent years, the value of ThankYou Points has actually increased. I used to value them at around 1¢ per point, since the best you could do was cash them out to pay for a mortgage or student loan. I now value them at around 1.6¢ per point, mainly because … [Read more...]

Free Points or Free Cash? The Hard Choices of a Citibank Retention Call

From the desk of the Devil's Advocate… I hate making retention calls. I always feel the need to go through this ridiculous kabuki dance when I get on the phone with the retention specialist, claiming that I'm "ready to cancel" when in reality I'm just fishing for an offer. Sometimes it feels like the rep and I are both just waiting to see which one of us will blink first. Will he cough up a worthwhile offer? Or will … [Read more...]

Is the Citi Prestige Already Ripe For a Devaluation?

From the desk of the Devil's Advocate… There's been boatloads of talk over the last year about the improvements to Citibank's ThankYou points program. A great deal of that talk has been regarding the value of the Citi Prestige card, which has recently seen a rather impressive increase in posts around the blogosphere discussing it. While I won't get into the myriad reasons for that increase in posts, let's just … [Read more...]

Get 1.6 Cents Per Point on Codeshares When Using Citi Prestige ThankYou Points

One of my favorite credit card programs is Citi ThankYou Rewards. While they’ve really bolstered the program lately with cards like the Citi Prestige, it has a special place for me since my first credit card was a Citi MTVu card, that is now a Citi Forward card that still earns 5X ThankYou Points at restaurants. It also helps that my favorite domestic airline is American Airlines. With the Citi Prestige card, I … [Read more...]

Why Is Citi Sending Surveys that Ask about Taxing Miles?

Tax time is upon us, and sometimes people get concerned about the taxable value of their frequent flyer miles and hotel points. Between my wife and I, we have about 3 million points across various accounts. This could be worth between $30,000 and $300,000 depending on your valuation. (Most of them are high-value points like Ultimate Rewards, not Hilton HHonors or Club Carlson points.) I am not an attorney, tax … [Read more...]