Go Back  FlyerTalk Forums > Miles&Points > Credit, Debit and Prepaid Card Programs > Citi | ThankYou Rewards
Reload this Page >

Citi ThankYou Points (TYPs): airline and hotel transfer partners

Old Aug 5, 2014, 12:17 pm
FlyerTalk Forums Expert How-Tos and Guides
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:
  • 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:

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.
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.










Print Wikipost

Citi ThankYou Points (TYPs): airline and hotel transfer partners

Old Feb 17, 2015, 6:52 pm
  #166  
 
Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: Southern California
Programs: American Airlines
Posts: 88
Originally Posted by mia
Qantas has disappeared from the main thankyou.com page, and has not been added to the redemption catalog. Could be it was posted prematurely.
OIC! Well thank you for getting clarification from Citi about this. ^
livencali is offline  
Old Feb 17, 2015, 9:31 pm
  #167  
 
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: New York, NY
Programs: SPG Plat. AA Plat. UA Gold
Posts: 236
Originally Posted by Nick92
I spoke with the TY dept and the rep told me Qantas and "Air Plan" which I'm guessing is Air Canada's Aeroplan? are coming later this month. I also saw the Qantas logo, it's still there on the mobile site when you click travel but not listed on the partner page.
The TY agent I spoke to was able to confirm that her documents stated Qantas as being available. She said there was a footnote stating that it would be 'customer facing' starting in February but there wasn't a specific date in February mentioned.

I asked about other new partners and was told that the other partners that show up as 'new' were Malaysia Airlines and Virgin Atlantic. Both of which we already know about.

Air Canada AeroPlan would definitely be a positive addition (as is any new partner really). Always better to have more choices.
islandguy84 is offline  
Old Feb 22, 2015, 4:54 am
  #168  
mia
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend; Moderator: American Express, Capital One, Citi, Chase, Credit Card Programs, Diners Club, Signatures
 
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Miami, Mpls & London
Programs: AA & Marriott Perpetual Platinum; DL & HH Gold
Posts: 48,877
Qantas has been added to the redemption catalog:

https://www.thankyou.com/pointsTrans...itemId=1867669
mia is offline  
Old Feb 22, 2015, 4:43 pm
  #169  
 
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: Down South, The Desert
Programs: Marriot Rewards, Southwest Rapid rewards, Emerald Club, Avis Preferred
Posts: 1,871
I'm not sure how much value I can get out of this. Have people been getting value?
TheDapperDon is offline  
Old Feb 22, 2015, 7:44 pm
  #170  
FlyerTalk Evangelist
 
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: DFW
Programs: AA 1M
Posts: 31,437
this is an interesting development. IIRC QF pulled out of the SPG partnership to reduce the ease of earning QF points. Wonder if this is change of heart.
UA Fan is offline  
Old Feb 26, 2015, 1:55 pm
  #171  
 
Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania
Programs: Milege+, SkyMiles, AAdvantage, HHonors Diamond, Marriott Gold
Posts: 1,684
Data Point

Data Point: Transferred 34K TYP to 51K HH points today. As soon as I logged out of Citi the points were showing on my HH account.
eajusa is offline  
Old Feb 27, 2015, 9:15 am
  #172  
 
Join Date: Jun 2014
Location: DFW
Programs: AA Lifetime Gold, Admirals Club, Global Entry
Posts: 1,139
So here's the value I see in Qantas transfers: domestic flights on American under 2400 miles roundtrip are 24,000 miles. That would cover DFW-DCA, for example. Barely.

Even there, you're better off just buying a ticket with points-for-cash (at 1.6 cents with the Prestige) since DFW-DCA is often more-or-less $400, I believe.

Am I missing something?
FallenPlat is offline  
Old Feb 27, 2015, 9:33 am
  #173  
FlyerTalk Evangelist
 
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: DFW
Programs: AA 1M
Posts: 31,437
Originally Posted by FallenPlat
So here's the value I see in Qantas transfers: domestic flights on American under 2400 miles roundtrip are 24,000 miles. That would cover DFW-DCA, for example. Barely.

Even there, you're better off just buying a ticket with points-for-cash (at 1.6 cents with the Prestige) since DFW-DCA is often more-or-less $400, I believe.

Am I missing something?
Nope, QF is very bad on the burn side.
UA Fan is offline  
Old Feb 27, 2015, 10:30 am
  #174  
 
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: DCA/IAD
Programs: AS, US, Hilton, BA, DL, SPG, AA, VS
Posts: 1,628
Originally Posted by FallenPlat
So here's the value I see in Qantas transfers: domestic flights on American under 2400 miles roundtrip are 24,000 miles. That would cover DFW-DCA, for example. Barely.

Even there, you're better off just buying a ticket with points-for-cash (at 1.6 cents with the Prestige) since DFW-DCA is often more-or-less $400, I believe.

Am I missing something?
Another value could be from the East Coast of the US to Europe in F/J. Those rates compare favorably with BA's new peak prices, LH M&M, and UA (especially for *A partner metal).

That happens to be my award goal so I'm thrilled that they've added QF, but if you're interested in something else, I don't see a great deal of value.
LETTERBOY is offline  
Old Feb 27, 2015, 10:52 am
  #175  
mia
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend; Moderator: American Express, Capital One, Citi, Chase, Credit Card Programs, Diners Club, Signatures
 
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Miami, Mpls & London
Programs: AA & Marriott Perpetual Platinum; DL & HH Gold
Posts: 48,877
Originally Posted by LETTERBOY
... rates compare favorably with BA's new peak prices, LH M&M, and UA (especially for *A partner metal).

After joining QFF I can use the award search engine to show availability, and the number of points required, but not the cash co-payments. I think this is because I do not have sufficient points in my account. Is there a way to see the surcharges before transferring?
mia is offline  
Old Feb 27, 2015, 4:02 pm
  #176  
 
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: DCA/IAD
Programs: AS, US, Hilton, BA, DL, SPG, AA, VS
Posts: 1,628
Originally Posted by mia
After joining QFF I can use the award search engine to show availability, and the number of points required, but not the cash co-payments. I think this is because I do not have sufficient points in my account. Is there a way to see the surcharges before transferring?
No idea. By "rates" I was referring to the number of points/miles required for redemption, as opposed to YQ/fees. Sorry if I confused you.
LETTERBOY is offline  
Old Mar 4, 2015, 9:59 am
  #177  
 
Join Date: May 2008
Posts: 224
Data point on TYN to SQ Transfer:

Transfer initiated on 3/3/15 @ 10:30 AM PST
Miles deposited in SQ (new account) on 3/4/15 @ 8:50 AM PST

Miles could have been deposited even earlier sometime this morning. While not instantaneous, I am very happy with the 1 business day turnaround.
stupenal is offline  
Old Mar 15, 2015, 9:02 pm
  #178  
 
Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: world
Programs: all
Posts: 1,422
Originally Posted by stupenal
Data point on TYN to SQ Transfer:

Transfer initiated on 3/3/15 @ 10:30 AM PST
Miles deposited in SQ (new account) on 3/4/15 @ 8:50 AM PST

Miles could have been deposited even earlier sometime this morning. While not instantaneous, I am very happy with the 1 business day turnaround.

with SQ my experience has been 1-3 days too
pantanal is offline  
Old Mar 24, 2015, 7:48 am
  #179  
mia
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend; Moderator: American Express, Capital One, Citi, Chase, Credit Card Programs, Diners Club, Signatures
 
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Miami, Mpls & London
Programs: AA & Marriott Perpetual Platinum; DL & HH Gold
Posts: 48,877
Transferred a small amount of points from ms mia's ThankYou account to my own account. Verified that those points were set to expire earlier than any other points (90 days), made 1,000 point transfer to Virgin Atlantic. Verified that the points which had been transferred from her account to mine were used for the transfer.

Miles credited to Flying Club account overnight. Not as fast as transfers from American Express or Chase, but very good service.
mia is offline  
Old Mar 24, 2015, 3:53 pm
  #180  
 
Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: world
Programs: all
Posts: 1,422
air france is pretty fast too..1 day for me
pantanal is offline  

Thread Tools
Search this Thread

Contact Us - Manage Preferences - Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Terms of Service -

This site is owned, operated, and maintained by MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. Copyright © 2024 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Designated trademarks are the property of their respective owners.