Citi’s Hotel Collection and Luxury Collection: Get free breakfast and premium perks

What is the Citi Hotel Collection?

Citi’s Hotel Collection is a curated list of hotels and resorts available in Citi Travel with Booking.com, Citi’s travel portal. These are all four- and five-star properties.

What is the Citi Luxury Collection?

As the name implies, the Luxury Collection is Citi’s premium accommodation offering. Booking these four- and five-star properties comes with top-tier benefits.

Main perks and benefits

Both Hotel Collection and Luxury Collection reservations offer the following guaranteed benefits:

• Daily breakfast for two people
• Complimentary Wi-Fi for the length of your stay
• No minimum stay requirements

You also may receive early check-in or late checkout privileges — based on availability.

Luxury Collection bookings include the following additional perks:

• $100 on-property credit; uses vary by property and cover eligible expenses charged to your room
• Room upgrades at check-in when available

There are some caveats to understand with these benefits. First, certain benefits are based on availability and aren’t guaranteed. The only guaranteed benefits are complimentary Wi-Fi, free breakfast and the $100 on-property credit (on Luxury Collection bookings only).

Second, you cannot receive duplicate $100 credits by making separate back-to-back reservations. Citi’s terms say that multiple reservations at the same hotel on continuous dates count as one stay, even if you check out and check in again. You’ll also need to contact the property directly to know what the on-property credit covers, as this information is not listed in Citi’s portal.

Lastly, Citi’s terms allow hotels to provide the $100 on-property credit and/or breakfast as a gift card or a credit on your final bill. Ensure you clearly understand your benefits before arriving at the hotel for check-in.

You can read the terms of these benefits by clicking on “See offers” next to any Hotel Collection or Luxury Collection labeling in Citi’s portal.

This is visible in the list of hotels in your search results (above) and when viewing details of a particular property (below).

How to book Citi Hotel Collection and Luxury Collection stays

Which Citi card to book with?

You are eligible for Citi’s Hotel Collection and Luxury Collection if you’re a cardholder of any Citi card that earns ThankYou points. If you hold several ThankYou points-earning Citi cards, it may with worth looking into which card will get you the most return on your chases.

Will I earn elite status or loyalty benefits at hotels?

If you have (or are working toward) elite status in a hotel program, here’s how that interacts with Citi’s Hotel Collection and Luxury Collection.

First, you cannot provide your loyalty number during the booking process. The option doesn’t exist on Citi’s travel portal.

You could contact the hotel directly or try adding the reservation to your loyalty account with Marriott or Hilton, for example. However, it’s unlikely that your status will be recognized during the stay or that you’ll get credit for this stay in your desired rewards program.

That’s because hotel rewards programs usually require booking directly with them to receive elite status benefits. While we have seen mixed results with American Express stays (through Fine Hotels + Resorts or The Hotel Collection), we are less optimistic with Citi. That’s due to discussions with Citi and the inability to add your rewards number when making a reservation.

If your elite status is important to you, consider that before making a reservation through this channel.

Can I use Citi points to book?

You can use your Citi ThankYou points to pay for anything you book in Citi’s portal — including stays at Hotel Collection and Luxury Collection properties.

You can redeem points at a value of 1 cent apiece. You can use as little as 1 point or as much as all of your points to offset the cost of your booking.

Using the Citi Premier $100 hotel credit

Citi Premier cardholders can get $100 back on a hotel booking of $500 or more in Citi’s travel portal once per calendar year. You can use this benefit annually, and it can be stacked with Hotel Collection and Luxury Collection bookings.

Thus, you could combine benefits like free breakfast, $100 on-property credits or room upgrades with a $100 savings on your bookings — thanks to benefits provided by these hotel programs and your credit card.

When beginning your hotel search, you’ll see these benefits highlighted if your Premier card is the active card.

Using the Citi Prestige 4th-night-free benefit

Similarly, Citi Prestige cardholders can stack their cardholder benefits with Hotel Collection and Luxury Collection benefits. Twice per year, Prestige cardholders can get a fourth night free on bookings of four nights or more. You must book through Citi’s portal to use this perk.

This is a valuable benefit in its own right. Stacking a free fourth night with other benefits from Hotel Collection or Luxury Collection stays multiplies the value.

On the payment page, a check box allows you to choose whether you’ll use the complimentary fourth night.

Are these programs worth it?

When you hear that you’ll get additional benefits when you book through Citi’s Hotel Collection or Luxury Collection, it might sound like an obvious win. However, it isn’t necessarily worth taking advantage of.

It’s worth using these programs if the price is similar to booking elsewhere or if the additional benefits overcome a higher price advertised in Citi’s portal. Compare the money you’ll save with free breakfast added to your booking against any higher upfront price when making the reservation. Which booking method saves you money in the long run?

However, you may not save money by booking through one of these collections. Since not all room rates are eligible for Hotel Collection or Luxury Collection benefits, you’ll pay more to get these perks.

Plus, multiple all-inclusive resorts are included in Citi’s Hotel Collection and Luxury Collection. These properties already include all meals with your room rate and provide Wi-Fi to all guests. Citi’s terms say you won’t receive substitute benefits and can’t cash out unused perks.

If the math of booking through one of Citi’s collections doesn’t work out in your favor, book directly with the hotel instead. The same applies to those who want elite status benefits.

It’s also not worth booking here if you can use fewer points to achieve the same result. Depending on the property, you might be able to leverage Citi’s transfer partners to book an award stay using fewer points. If you have elite status with that hotel, you might receive some of these same perks.

When to use the Citi Hotel Collection and Luxury Collection

Conversely, there are times when you should use Citi’s portal and make a Hotel Collection or Luxury Collection booking.

Use these benefits at boutique hotels where the question of elite status is irrelevant. Moreover, if the price is the same as booking another way (but without the added benefits), using these programs makes sense.

Bottom line

Citi has two hotel programs: the Hotel Collection and the Luxury Collection. The latter offers additional benefits, but it’s also more exclusive. Both programs offer benefits and the option to pay for your hotel stay with points. However, be sure this is the right way to book your next hotel stay by checking costs and what benefits you might sacrifice — or what benefits you might pay for without receiving.