Overwater villas, white sand and strawberry daiquiris — these are the images we conjure up when thinking about the Maldives. One of the most aspirational vacations for every type of traveler, we often spend years saving up for the ability to sleep a few nights above the waves. But these perfect beaches can come at a hefty price.

Travelers don’t always have to break the bank to get to paradise. There are plenty of affordable options when it comes time to redeem points for these hotels. A recent partnership between Choice Hotels and Citi ThankYou points has dropped costs even further. Whether you’re looking for Maldives hotels for a honeymoon or just wondering how to go to the Maldives for cheap, here’s a look at how to stay in a resort for rock-bottom pricing.

The Citi ThankYou and Choice Hotels partnership

Earning Choice Privileges Rewards points is easy thanks to its co-branded credit card and partnership with three different flexible point currencies. Two of these, American Express and Capital One, allow you to transfer points at a 1:1 ratio. This means that one AmEx or Capital One point will become one Choice point.

However, Citi ThankYou points have also launched a transfer partnership with Choice, and its rates are far better than those offered by AmEx and Capital One. The exact ratio you’ll receive depends on which Citi card you hold:

The Citi Premier® Card and Citi Prestige® Card transfer at a 1:2 ratio.

The Citi Double Cash® Card and Citi Rewards+® Card transfer at a 1:1.5 ratio.

Being able to transfer your points over to Choice Privileges at up to a 1:2 ratio effectively halves the cost of all award bookings using your Choice points — even in the Maldives.

Booking Preferred Hotels & Resorts with Choice points

Choice is generally known as a budget-friendly option for travelers, with a wide footprint and locations across the world. It doesn’t feature many high-end hotels, which has long left it out of the running when it comes to aspirational vacations.

However, Choice also has a partnership with Preferred Hotels & Resorts, a portfolio of luxurious independent properties where you can redeem Choice points. Redemptions range from 25,000 to 55,000 points per night, and although there are over 650 Preferred Hotels & Resorts locations, just 398 of those participate in this partnership with Choice.

You can find which hotels are involved by visiting the dedicated page, which allows you to search for hotels by location, including an enticing property within the Maldives.

How to go to the Maldives for cheap

The Noku Maldives is a 50-room hotel participating in the partnership with Choice Hotels. When using Choice points to book, you’ll be staying in the base room; at this hotel, that means you’ll be tucked away inside a 1,800-square-foot beach villa.

Rooms at this property cost 55,000 points per night, which is a steal considering the nightly rate, including taxes, stretches to nearly $1,000 for two people.

But remember that the Citi and Choice partnership allows you to transfer Citi points at a 1:2 ratio. You can probably see where we’re going with this.

If you hold either the Citi Prestige® Card card or the Citi Premier® Card, you’ll need to transfer 27,500 points per night needed to stay at this hotel. You can only transfer points in increments of 1,000, so it's probably best to transfer enough points for two, four or six nights, so you don't have any leftover.

At this rate, you’re redeeming your Citi ThankYou points for a rate of 3.4 cents each, more than double NerdWallet’s valuation of 1.3 cents per point.

Earning Citi ThankYou Points

Now that you’ve figured out where and how to stay in the Maldives for cheap, you’ll want to earn some Citi ThankYou points. If you don’t already have the Citi Premier® Card, acquiring one now can jump-start your stay in the Maldives:

Citi Premier® Card: Earn 60,000 bonus ThankYou® Points after you spend $4,000 in purchases within the first 3 months of account opening. Plus, for a limited time, earn a total of 10 ThankYou® Points per $1 spend on hotel, car rentals, and attractions (excluding air travel) booked on the Citi Travel℠ portal through June 30, 2024.

At this rate, earning the welcome bonus can snag you a little over two nights at the Noku Maldives. You can continue to earn more Citi ThankYou points with 3 points per dollar spent on hotels, air travel, restaurants and gas.

However, if you’re really looking to amp up your earnings, you can choose to pair your Citi Premier® Card with either the Citi Double Cash® Card or the Citi Custom Cash® Card.