Updated 10/18/23 at 5pm PT: ~24 hours after completing my profile, I received the 500 bonus points. 

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Good morning everyone, I hope your week is going well.  I had a great time presenting at the Chicago Seminars over the weekend and seeing some new and familiar faces.  Yesterday, Frequent Miler wrote a post about Leading Hotels of the World (LHW) becoming the latest Citi ThankYou Point transfer partner.  More transfer partners are always appreciated, so I decided to sign up for a free LHW account and search around.  As of today (October 17), there are 415 high end boutique properties spread out across the world.

12-24 hours after creating my LHW account, I received this email from LHW saying that I could get 500 bonus points for completing my profile.  Considering that 1,000 Citi ThankYou Points = 200 LHW Points (5:1 transfer ratio), getting 500 LHW points is worth 2,500 Citi ThankYou Points.

Here are the terms and conditions at the bottom of the email:

1. 1. This is an estimate of the average benefit value based on a 12-month Leaders Club membership term during which 2 stays with a minimum of 2 nights per stay at double occupancy are completed. This value is an estimate only and is not guaranteed.
   2. Leaders Club benefits will only be provided on publicly available rates and Leaders Club special members only rates reserved through an eligible booking channel. If your reservation was booked with a corporate or negotiated rate, you will be eligible to receive Leaders Club points but are not eligible to receive other Leaders Club benefits.
   3. You must complete a paid stay as a Leaders Club member to qualify to receive your first pre-arrival Upgrade.
   4. You will earn one (1) Leaders Club point for every USD 1.00, or the currency equivalent, you spend on the room rate at a Member Hotel for each Qualified Stay. Maximum of three (3) rooms per booking. Your Leaders Club account must be associated with the booking prior to your arrival to earn Leaders Club points for that stay.
   5. To receive this offer, you must login to lhw.com and complete all fields in the personal information section within your member profile. This offer expires 60 days from October 16, 2023. It may take up to ten (10) days for reward points to appear in your account.

I clicked the link in the email, signed in, and then landed on the My Profile page.  If you are eligible for the 500 bonus points, you should see this yellow box.  It took me about 60 seconds to fill in the 5 missing pieces of information.

After filling in the missing information, the page updated and said that I should receive the 500 bonus points in the next 48 hours.  I will report back when I see the points in my LHW account.

On the Manage Points page, I clicked the My Points Activity button to see if the points had posted to my account.

Unfortunately, the 500 bonus points do not post immediately.

Back on the Manage Points page, I clicked the Transfer Points button to transfer Citi ThankYou Points to my LHW account.

I signed into my ThankYou account, navigated to the Points Transfer page and found the LHW transfer partner.  As mentioned before, 1,000 Citi ThankYou Points transfers into 200 LHW points (5:1 ratio).

I did a test transfer of 1,000 points.

My transfer was submitted.

I received the confirmation email that said that transfers are “completed within 24 hours, however the process may occasionally take up to 5 business days.”

I went back to the Manage Points page and clicked the My Points Activity button.

The 200 points were immediately / instantly available in my LHW account.  It says 200 points is worth $16 in value (8 cents per point).  I also learned that LHW points expire after 24 months if there has not been any earning or redeeming activity.  Therefore, another transfer of 1,000 Citi ThankYou Points to LHW will reset the 24 month clock if your points are close to expiring.

~24 hours after completing my profile, I received the 500 bonus points.  I now have 700 points worth $56 toward a hotel stay.

There are a few beautiful (and expensive) LHW properties that I have my eye on, so I am exciting to use my LHW points for a stay in the future.  If you have any questions about LHW, transferring Citi ThankYou Points, or the 500 bonus points for completing your profile, please leave a comment below.  Have a great day everyone!