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It is a known fact that Amex, Chase & Citi are big players when it comes to issuing credit cards. These banks not only have co-branded cards but also issue cards under their  proprietary rewards program. These are considered as flexible currency as they offer a lot of flexibility in terms of how we can spend these points.

Here is a comparison of all the features of the three programs – Amex Membership Rewards, Chase Ultimate Rewards & Citi ThankYou points.

	Amex Membership rewards	Chase Ultimate Rewards	Citi ThankYou points
Cards that will earn the reward points	Amex Platinum Card Amex Business Platinum Amex Premier Rewards Gold card Amex Business Gold Rewards Card Amex Everyday Amex Everyday Preferred Amex Blue Business Pus Credit Card Amex Green Card	Chase Sapphire Preferred Chase Sapphire Reserve Chase Freedom Chase Freedom Unlimited Chase Ink business preferred Chase Ink business cash	Citi ThankYou Premier Citi Prestige Citi ThankYou Preferred AT&T Access Card From Citi AT&T Access More Card from Citi ( possible with product conversions only)
Airline Transfer Partners (1:1 except as noted)	AeroMexico Club Premier: 1,000 MR points =  1,600 Premier points Air Canada Aeroplan Flying Blue Alitalia MilleMiglia ANA Asia Miles British Airways Delta SkyMiles El Al: 1,000 MR points = 20 Matmid points Emirates Skywards Etihad Guest Hawaiian Airlines Iberia Plus TrueBlue points (250 MR Points = 200 TrueBlue Points) Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer Virgin Atlantic Flying Club	British Airways Executive Club United MileagePlus Southwest Rapid Rewards Singapore KrisFlyer Virgin Atlantic Flying Club Flying Blue	JetBlue TrueBlue: 1,000 TY points = 800 Turkish Airlines Miles & Miles Asia Miles Avianca Life Miles Etihad Guest Eva Air Flying Blue Garuda Indonesia Jet Privilege Malaysia Airlines Enrich Qantas Frequent Flyer Qatar Privilege Club Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer Thai Royal Orchid Plus Virgin Atlantic Flying Club
Hotel Transfer Partners (1:1 except as noted)	Choice Privileges Starwood Preferred Guest (1000:333) Hilton  Honors (1000:1500)	IHG Rewards Club World of Hyatt Marriott Rewards Ritz Carlton Rewards	None
Cash Redemptions	0.6 Cents per point towards Statement Credit	1 Cent per point towards statement credit or ACH transfer	1 Cent per point towards statement credit
Redeem towards travel (Air travel, Hotel and Car Rental on the respective portal)	1 Cent per point. (Get 35% of the points back if you hold Business Platinum card and booked with qualifying airline)	1.5 Cents/Point with Sapphire Reserve or 1.25 Cents/Points with Sapphire Preferred	1.25 cents per point (with Prestige or Premier card)
Points Sharing	Points Sharing not allowed	Points can be shared with another household member	Can be shared with anyone holding ThankYou card. Transferred points expire after 90 days of transfer

 

Key Things to note:

Some of the cards offer all the features when combined with a premium card. For example, Chase Freedom and Chase Freedom Unlimited alone can not unlock the full potential of Chase Ultimate Rewards program, but when combined with Chase Sapphire Preferred or Sapphire Reserve. Similarly, Citi ThankYou preferred offers full value when combined with ThankYou premier or Prestige card

It is generally not a good idea to redeem points towards Merchandise or gift cards

Singapore Airlines Krisflyer, Virgin Atlantic Flying Club & KLM/Airfrance – Flying Blue are common transfer partners for all 3 reward programs – so you could pool points from the three rewards programs for something big.

Which rewards program is best?

The true answer is “It depends“.  Each program has its own advantage depending on your requirement and type of cards held. For example, if you have Chase Sapphire Reserve card – you get more value when redeeming towards travel rewards like flight, hotel & car rentals.

You should also consider that the card issuers have recently tightened the rules around the new card approvals, so it may be worthwhile to invest in all the 3 programs.

But, here are some of the strong aspects of each program in different scenarios:

Best program for transferring points to Hotel loyalty programs:

World of Hyatt is associated with Chase Ultimate Rewards and could offer great value when redeemed thoughtfully.  Transferring to Marriott Rewards, Ritz Carlton Rewards and IHG Rewards Club is not generally NOT recommended as it is very easy to earn these  points at less than 1 cent/point.

Best program for transferring points to Airline loyalty programs:

This is very tough one, as there are sweet spots with each airline loyalty program. But, here are our recommended Airline transfer partners for each program that could offer great value

Amex Membership Rewards: Air Canada -Aeroplan, Delta Sky Miles, British Airways Executive Club, ANA Mileage Club, Singapore Krisflyer, Asia Miles

Chase Ultimate Rewards: United MileagePlus, British Airways Executive Club, Southwest Rapid rewards, Singapore Krisflyer

Citi ThankYou points: Avianca Life Miles, Singapore Krisflyer, Etihad Guest, Asia Miles

Best Program for Travel rewards:

All three programs allowing Flight, Hotel & Car rental bookings through their respective portal. In this case, the best program would be Chase Ultimate Rewards (If you hold the Chase Sapphire Reserve – 1.5 cents/points) or Amex membership Rewards  (If you hold Amex business platinum cards – 1.54 cents/point).

If you do not hold the premium cards, then Citi ThankYou Points (1.25 cents/point) and Chase Ultimate Rewards (1.25 cents/point) offer great value.

What is your favorite program and your consideration for choosing that program?

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