I know most of us have a good credit score and many of us are taking advantage of the credit score to make some free money. However, some of my readers are afraid of lowering the credit score if he/she applies for too many credit cards. It’s true that credit inquiries (hard pulls) will temporarily lower your credit score. But the influence will be not so obvious after 6 months or so. I would say credit score is nothing if you’re not using it. If you are not going to buy a house (or apply for a mortgage) in the next two years (Credit inquiries will disappear from your credit report after 24 months.), you are free to use your credit. Credit inquiries will slightly influence your mortgage rate but not influence the auto loan (as long as your credit score is 700+).

This post is to tell you how to get a free trip to Europe or Asia by redeeming Citi ThankYou Points for an airline ticket. You can redeem your ThankYou points for an airline ticket because ThankYou Network provides Fixed Flight Travel option:

Eligible Citi cardmembers can also take advantage of our fixed flights option for air travel by calling one of our ThankYou Network Travel Specialists. You can count on getting a ticket for the date you want to fly. Note: please book 14 days in advance and plan for a Saturday overnight stay. Tickets are subjected to availability.

Account or the following Card Accounts are eligible for fixed flight airline tickets at fixed ThankYou Point amounts: Citi PremierPass Card, Citi PremierPass Card - Elite Level, Citi PremierPass Card – Smith Barney Elite Level, Citi PremierPass / Expedia.com Card, Citi PremierPass / Expedia.com Card - Elite Level, Citi Professional Card with ThankYou Network, CitiBusiness PremierPass Card, CitiBusiness Card with ThankYou Network, Citi Chairman Card and Citi Chairman American Express Card. This list is subject to change without notice. Fixed flight option Travel Rewards are only available when you call the ThankYou Service Center (800-842-6596). Agents will work to offer you the best deal on available flights – you are not required to select the fixed flight option.

According to the ThankYou Network, if you have 60,000 ThankYou points, you can redeem them for a free airline ticket to Asia and Europe. (Only 25,000 ThankYou points are needed for flights anywhere in the continental US and Alaska at any time of year.)

So the goal is to get enough ThankYou points (You should have one of the above mentioned cards which are eligible to use the fixed flight travel option.) Here are some recommendations for you:

• CitiBusiness Card with ThankYou Network (10,000 ThankYou Points—see this post)
  
• Citi Professional Card with ThankYou Network (15,000 ThankYou Points—see this post)
• Citi PremierPass Card-Elite Level (20,000 ThankYou Points)
• Citi PremierPass Card (10,000 ThankYou Points)
• CitiBusiness PremierPass Card (15,000 ThankYou Points)

Other methods to earn ThankYou points:

Use Citi checking/saving account and debit card (Citi Bank will send about 300 ThankYou points every month. If you use all of the banking services provided by Citi Bank, you may get up to 800 points per month.) You can also use other credit cards like Citi mtvU card and Citi Diamond Preferred Rewards card to earn ThankYou points.

So remember, if you have a decent credit score with solid credit history, you can do a ThankYou Points AOR to get enough points for a free trip to Europe or Asia.