Aug 5, 2014, 12:17 pm
Last edit by: mia
Q. Can I transfer Thank You points to airline programs?
A. Yes, but only from a TYP account tied to one of the following premium (fee-based) Citi cards:
Exception: Citi Preferred or Rewards+ cardholders can transfer to JetBlue at a less favorable rate (1000:500). They cannot transfer to other airline or hotel programs except as explained in the next paragraph .
Points earned through other cards -- such as the Citi Preferred or Rewards+ -- are eligible for transfer to airline programs, provided you also hold one of the premium cards listed above.
ThankYou Points earned through banking and customer service adjustments are called Taxable Points. Citi reports them as taxable when they are redeemed, not when they are earned. Citi does not allow Taxable Points to be Shared or Transferred, because they cannot determine a monetary value for those redemptions. However, the IT implementation of this policy may be imperfect. In 2015 one member was able to Transfer points earned through banking shortly after combining two ThankYou Rewards accounts. See posts 207-210, but no one has replicated this success.
Q. Which airline programs can I transfer TYP into?
A. TYP may be transferred 1:1 to these airline programs:
OneWorld
SkyTeam
Star Alliance
Independent
and to these hotel programs:
and to this retail program:
Q: After I transfer, when will my miles expire at that airline/hotel program? Is there anything I can do to avoid expiration there?
The Miles/Points that Do and Don't Expire wiki now lists all of the above Citi TYP airline/hotel transfer partners and their respective expiration policies.
Q. Are transfers instant?
A. Not necessarily. Although Citi's FAQ states that it may take up to fourteen days for the ThankYou Points to post to your participating travel loyalty program member account, anecdotal evidence suggests that many transfer times will be much shorter. A summary:
Q. Can I transfer to another person's airline or hotel program account?
A. Per the Citi FAQ,
We do not have many reports describing how strictly this rule is applied/enforced, nor any reports on workarounds. One FTer, in his first post ever, claimed success in transfering TYP to another person's Etihad (EY) account.
Keep in mind that TYP may be freely Shared with another TYP member's account (with the points expiring 90 days after transfer). If the recipient member has a transfer-eligible card (as described above), s/he can Transfer points to airline or hotel partners.
A. Yes, but only from a TYP account tied to one of the following premium (fee-based) Citi cards:
- Premier
- Prestige
- Chairman
Exception: Citi Preferred or Rewards+ cardholders can transfer to JetBlue at a less favorable rate (1000:500). They cannot transfer to other airline or hotel programs except as explained in the next paragraph .
Points earned through other cards -- such as the Citi Preferred or Rewards+ -- are eligible for transfer to airline programs, provided you also hold one of the premium cards listed above.
ThankYou Points earned through banking and customer service adjustments are called Taxable Points. Citi reports them as taxable when they are redeemed, not when they are earned. Citi does not allow Taxable Points to be Shared or Transferred, because they cannot determine a monetary value for those redemptions. However, the IT implementation of this policy may be imperfect. In 2015 one member was able to Transfer points earned through banking shortly after combining two ThankYou Rewards accounts. See posts 207-210, but no one has replicated this success.
Q. Which airline programs can I transfer TYP into?
A. TYP may be transferred 1:1 to these airline programs:
OneWorld
- Cathay Pacific Asia Miles (CX)
- Malaysia Airlines Enrich (MH)
- Qantas Frequent Flyer (QF)
- Qatar Airways Privilege Club (QR)
SkyTeam
- Aeromexico Club Premier
- Flying Blue: Air France (AF), KLM (KL) and others
- Garuda Indonesia GarudaMiles (GA)
- Virgin Atlantic (VS)
Star Alliance
- Avianca LifeMiles (AV)
- EVA Air Infinity MileageLands (BR)
- Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer (SQ)
- Thai Airways Royal Orchid Plus (TG)
- Turkish Airlines (TK)
Independent
- Etihad Guest (EY)
- Emirates Skywards (EK)
- Jet Airways (9W)
- jetBlue (B6) (TYP 1000 = 800 B6)
and to these hotel programs:
- ALL - Accor Live Limitless ( TYP 1000 = 500 ALL)
- Choice Privileges (TYP 1000 = 2000 Choice)
- Leading Hotels of the World Leaders Club (TYP 1000 = 200 LC)
- Wyndham Rewards
and to this retail program:
- Shop Your Way (Sears) (at ratio 1 TYP: 12 SYW)
Q: After I transfer, when will my miles expire at that airline/hotel program? Is there anything I can do to avoid expiration there?
The Miles/Points that Do and Don't Expire wiki now lists all of the above Citi TYP airline/hotel transfer partners and their respective expiration policies.
Q. Are transfers instant?
A. Not necessarily. Although Citi's FAQ states that it may take up to fourteen days for the ThankYou Points to post to your participating travel loyalty program member account, anecdotal evidence suggests that many transfer times will be much shorter. A summary:
- AF/KL: As of March 2016, instant. (Was previously 1-5 days.)
- AM:
- AV: Instant to ~5 days - mixed reports: https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/citi...r-partner.html
- B6: Instant
- BR: One business day in theory, but see post 417
- CX: One business day
- EY: Reports and discussion HERE.
- FB: less than 4 hours (11/16/17 after I added 00 to the front of my FB number) Make sure you have a 12 digit number or transfer will die.
- GA:
- MH: Two days
- QF: Two days (per post 273). Eight per post 368. 36 hours per post 440. 23 hours per post 512. Less than 24 hrs per post 547.
- QR: 2 days per post 418
- SQ: Variable--anywhere from two business days (per post #120) to 2.5-3 calendar days (per post 382) to next day per post 287
- TG:
- TK: Took 16-24 hours to transfer (12/28/17). No fees.
- VS: As of March 2016, instant. (Was previously done overnight: report 1; report 2).
Q. Can I transfer to another person's airline or hotel program account?
A. Per the Citi FAQ,
No. The first and last names on both the ThankYou Member Account and the participating travel loyalty program member's account must match in order to transfer points using the Points Transfer feature.
Keep in mind that TYP may be freely Shared with another TYP member's account (with the points expiring 90 days after transfer). If the recipient member has a transfer-eligible card (as described above), s/he can Transfer points to airline or hotel partners.
Citi ThankYou Points (TYPs): airline and hotel transfer partners
Jul 22, 2014, 9:53 am
#46
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Upper Sternistan
Posts: 10,037
Jul 22, 2014, 11:25 am
#49
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Mountain View, CA (near SJC and SFO)
Programs: Hilton Gold, Marriott Gold, IHG Platinum, and no status whatsoever on the airlines (!)
Posts: 468
Mia, thanks much for letting me know about the point transfers!
Now I'm just crossing my fingers that Citi Forward will continue to count Amazon as a 5x partner :-)
Now I'm just crossing my fingers that Citi Forward will continue to count Amazon as a 5x partner :-)
Jul 22, 2014, 11:35 am
#50
Join Date: Feb 2012
Location: LAX
Programs: AA, TY, UR, UA, US, WN, MR, SPG
Posts: 1,453
Depending on whether you have a flight point balance, it is 2x for MS purposes. And most people took advantage of the 5x drugstore card (now defunct), which was a beast for MS. I MS $1K/mo to slowly burn through my flight points balance. The rate I've been traveling, though, I'm going to be building FPs faster than I burn them.
Jul 22, 2014, 1:19 pm
#51
Join Date: Jan 2009
Posts: 476
Jul 22, 2014, 1:29 pm
#52
Join Date: Jun 1999
Location: NYC/LA
Programs: DL Plat, AA Plat Pro, Marriott Titanium, IHG Diamond Amb
Posts: 7,486
Premier cardholders are supposed to get 1.25 cents/pt redemption value for flights through the travel portal, with Prestige cardholders getting 1.33 cents/pt and, for AA/US flights only, 1.6 cents/pt.
Jul 22, 2014, 1:50 pm
#53
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: On strike
Posts: 8,135
Jul 22, 2014, 4:22 pm
#55
Moderator
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Miami, Mpls & London
Programs: AA & Marriott Perpetual Platinum; DL & HH Gold
Posts: 48,954
Problems with Amazon useage discussed in this thread:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/credi...ies-music.html
Last edited by mia; Jul 22, 2014 at 4:32 pm
Jul 22, 2014, 4:28 pm
#56
Join Date: Feb 2012
Location: LAX
Programs: AA, TY, UR, UA, US, WN, MR, SPG
Posts: 1,453
I think it is inevitable that the 5X rewards will end, but no idea when. Problems with Amazon useage discussed in this thread:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/credi...ies-music.html
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/credi...ies-music.html
Jul 22, 2014, 8:42 pm
#57
Suspended
Join Date: May 2012
Location: ORD
Programs: AA, UA, AS, DL, BA, F9, IHG Plat, HH Gold, CC Gold, SPG Gold, MR Silver
Posts: 1,786
Jul 22, 2014, 8:57 pm
#58
Formerly known as FTRox87
Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: TX
Programs: AA/US 1M, AS, BA, CX, EK, EY, JL, KE, LH, NH, OS, QF, QR, TG, UA/CO | *$G
Posts: 1,428
more like 6-7 hours max, that too only on a cpl routes. def not worth it to start collecting now (even via MS cause theres more value elsewhere)... but if you already had a good stash and rly wanted to try it and could find a seat, you might as well.
altho me personally, I'd still convert 2MM TYPs into $10k cold hard cash.
Jul 23, 2014, 8:35 am
#59
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: NYC
Posts: 1,756
good luck finding a seat, if they even release the Res for mileage... they charge something like 1.8 million for their reg 1st class one way (not saver rate) which will be classified as 1st studio on a cpl routes now.
more like 6-7 hours max, that too only on a cpl routes. def not worth it to start collecting now (even via MS cause theres more value elsewhere)... but if you already had a good stash and rly wanted to try it and could find a seat, you might as well.
altho me personally, I'd still convert 2MM TYPs into $10k cold hard cash.
more like 6-7 hours max, that too only on a cpl routes. def not worth it to start collecting now (even via MS cause theres more value elsewhere)... but if you already had a good stash and rly wanted to try it and could find a seat, you might as well.
altho me personally, I'd still convert 2MM TYPs into $10k cold hard cash.
Jul 23, 2014, 9:38 am
#60
Formerly known as FTRox87
Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: TX
Programs: AA/US 1M, AS, BA, CX, EK, EY, JL, KE, LH, NH, OS, QF, QR, TG, UA/CO | *$G
Posts: 1,428
I'm not, I'm just gonna work on a way to fly The Res another way. besides its not worth $20k to me, or even $10k for that matter. unless it was for a special occasion, like honeymoon with my bride to be and I wanted her to have the best of the world, and experience the finest of everything on offer 
p.s. the lowest I've seen it go for is about 2.56MM.
p.s. the lowest I've seen it go for is about 2.56MM.