Citi ThankYou points - cancel, downgrade & expiration considerations (2012 - 2023)
 

I have a question regarding Citi TYP expiration, and I trust board experts more than a Citi rep. I have a Citi Premiere card for which I earned 55,000 points this year with the 50,000-point intro promo. The annual fee is due in November. If I signed up for a Citi checking account to earn TYPs, and the points posted in time, could I cancel the credit card before the annual fee is due in November and retain the 55,000 points? Or would they be lost if I canceled the card and didn't burn the points first?

I'd like cancel the card and hang onto the TYPs if I can.

I'm pretty sure after the account is canceled, you have 60 days to use the points.

without the checking account you have 30 days to use up the TYPs after cancelling the Premier card.

with the checking account you have 60 days to do so.

so getting a checking account buy you an additional 30 days to hang on your TYPs.

Citi ThankYou points - cancel, downgrade & expiration considerations
 

Note, from the T&C: "You may transfer some or all of your available qualifying ThankYou Points as a gift to another ThankYou Member...Transferred Points received expire 90 days from the date they are received."

Whoa! I did not see the 90 day thing. That's not good! I transferred all of my wife's points to my account. Has to have been more than 90 days ago though I think. Need to check on that!

@#$%, i got bitten by those terms, lost 30k points, ugh. Emailing them immediately about this.

Hope things work out for you. It is not surprising that people might be unaware of this stipulation - since normally, in other airline and hotel programs that I am aware of, transferring points or miles to another's account does not have such an expiration clause. It seems that in the process of transferring points online they should make this expiration matter very transparent and clear, perhaps by having the customer check/tick a box which states that they are aware that the points will expire in 90 days.

Expiry of X-fered points
 

Muji - Thanks for pointing this out! Citi's being quite sneaky. They advertise Points Transfer - but don't mention the expiry bit at all. I thought this was a great feature. but couldn't find the catch!

Now I've gotto find a good use for those points...

Bite your tongue! Incompetently run organizations create opportunities for assistance in the relocation of frequent flyer miles.:D

What do you mean.
It clearly says
Start sharing your ThankYou Points today. All you need to begin is:

The recipient's full name
The recipient's ThankYou Member Account Number or corresponding Credit Card or Checking Account Number*
The number of points you want to transfer**
You will also need to agree to the terms and conditions.


*Citi® ThankYou Points can only be transferred to another ThankYou Member Account.
**Once points are transferred, recipients will have 90 days to [redeem them before they expire.

It is on the same page as when you transfer.It is right in the terms and conditions. Plus when I called to have someone do it they always made sure I knew about the expiry date.

Its in these footnotes for a reason - and THAT's exactly my point. Footnotes are meant to be read only by the careful folks...

Also, they've got small ads on thankyou.com, that only talk to about points transfer with ZERO mention of expiry.

Anyway, this expiry is new on transferred points. E.g. :SPG doesn't have this nonsense

I ended up calling them and acted like I was unaware of the expiration date. He said that the miles expired FRIDAY (july 6th). He said that he talked to someone in the credit card department to see if they can be reinstated and I will hear back in a few days. He did say that when people call over the phone to transfer miles, they make it very clear that they expire in 90 days. I said that I did the transfer online and did not see any such expiration date. He went back and checked and confirmed the 90 days listed in the terms, I said that now I see it too. I recommended that they put that stipulation right on the main transfer page since it's that big of a deal, but we'll see if that feedback makes it up the chain or not.

I will report back if they decide to reinstate my points. Hopefully so since it is only 36 hours past the expiration date!

...., now I see it... ugh.

If they want their customers to be aware of the rules, and want to keep their customers happy, they should take your recommendation.

I would think you'd get your points back, but maybe they'll then want you to use them within a few days. Just my speculation.

Go to this page and click the orange Terms & Conditions link to read the additional rules:

https://www.thankyou.com/transferPoints.jspx#

In particular:

1. Points earned through banking cannot be transferred.

2. Points already within 90 days of expiration cannot be transferred.