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
Feb 15, 2019, 2:43 am
#586
Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: Seattle
Programs: AS MVP100K, Hilton Diamond, IHG Gold
Posts: 3,215
Transferred in 30K LifeMiles, and it was instant.
Still unsure what the best program is to use TYP for best international F and J. Traditionally used Krisflyer, but people have said Virgin Atlantic is a good option.
Never used Virgin Atlantic FF program, and not sure of their partners. I know there is a thread on it, but can anyone off the top of their heads just quickly explain why Virgin Atlantic is a good transfer partner, and what are the best sweet spots? All I care about is getting the biggest bang for my buck on F/J international redemptions.
Still unsure what the best program is to use TYP for best international F and J. Traditionally used Krisflyer, but people have said Virgin Atlantic is a good option.
Never used Virgin Atlantic FF program, and not sure of their partners. I know there is a thread on it, but can anyone off the top of their heads just quickly explain why Virgin Atlantic is a good transfer partner, and what are the best sweet spots? All I care about is getting the biggest bang for my buck on F/J international redemptions.
Feb 16, 2019, 7:00 am
#589
Join Date: Sep 2014
Location: Metro ATL
Posts: 359
It is a pain to deal with their CS but one has to follow certain (weird) rules.
If you go to their web page or the App look for help and FEEDBACK form.
Follow instructions and after entering your issue you will need image of your ID uploaded as well.
Then if no response within 1-2 business days you can call their US number 1 800 874 8875 and I think choose option 6.You will get your reference number via email after submitting feedback form.
Then with some luck your issue will be addressed (Turkish) timely.
You can try Twitter as well (@TK_TR).
If you go to their web page or the App look for help and FEEDBACK form.
Follow instructions and after entering your issue you will need image of your ID uploaded as well.
Then if no response within 1-2 business days you can call their US number 1 800 874 8875 and I think choose option 6.You will get your reference number via email after submitting feedback form.
Then with some luck your issue will be addressed (Turkish) timely.
You can try Twitter as well (@TK_TR).
Last edited by touristtrap; Feb 16, 2019 at 7:02 am Reason: Clarification
Feb 24, 2019, 4:15 am
#591
Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: Seattle
Programs: AS MVP100K, Hilton Diamond, IHG Gold
Posts: 3,215
You may wish to review this thread, because the transfer function seems to be unreliable and Citi doesn't appear equipped to resolve failures.
Citi ThankYou added Avianca LifeMiles as transfer partner
Citi ThankYou added Avianca LifeMiles as transfer partner
Feb 25, 2019, 8:58 am
#593
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: home = LAX
Posts: 25,933
There's a link in the wikipost above to a list which shows expiration policies for all TYP-transferable airline.
Last edited by sdsearch; Feb 25, 2019 at 9:03 am
Mar 26, 2019, 6:28 am
#595
Join Date: Sep 2011
Programs: Virgin Atlantic Silver, IHG Diamond, Bonvoy Gold, Hilton Diamond, AA Platinum Pro
Posts: 1,386
I have a transfer to Qantas going on 3 full days now, whereas two previous transfers were completed in under 24 hours. Does anyone know if there's a problem with Qantas now?
EDIT: The transfer went through a few hours after writing this post, total time was approximately 86 hours (3.5 days).
EDIT: The transfer went through a few hours after writing this post, total time was approximately 86 hours (3.5 days).
Last edited by moe8555; Mar 27, 2019 at 1:14 am
May 23, 2019, 9:28 pm
#600
Join Date: Apr 2019
Location: LAX/ONT
Programs: AS 100K, Hilton Diamond, IHG Plat, Marriott G, Hertz PC, Avis PC
Posts: 518