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
Dec 9, 2018, 4:01 pm
#571
Moderator
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Miami, Mpls & London
Programs: AA & Marriott Perpetual Platinum; DL & HH Gold
Posts: 48,952
Dec 13, 2018, 5:26 pm
#572
Join Date: Sep 2014
Location: Metro ATL
Posts: 359
DP:
Transferred 90 k TYP on 11/15 to TK, just 2 days before their big software update.
My last year transfer took less than 24 hours but this one went on for 29 days. It required 5-6 (TK) online submissions, 3 calls to CITI (not able to help at all) and 5-6 calls to TK 800 (US) number. Twitter "TK help" not able to help at all.
It took persistence and luck to get the right rep whom sent an email to the right place and points were finally credited within 24 hours.
Luckily, I was still able to book desired award ticket (3.4C/1TYP).
Transferred 90 k TYP on 11/15 to TK, just 2 days before their big software update.
My last year transfer took less than 24 hours but this one went on for 29 days. It required 5-6 (TK) online submissions, 3 calls to CITI (not able to help at all) and 5-6 calls to TK 800 (US) number. Twitter "TK help" not able to help at all.
It took persistence and luck to get the right rep whom sent an email to the right place and points were finally credited within 24 hours.
Luckily, I was still able to book desired award ticket (3.4C/1TYP).
Jan 9, 2019, 9:10 pm
#574
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: SFO
Programs: AS MVP, Hyatt Globalist
Posts: 803
How long does it take to transfer to flying blue now? The wiki says instant however it doesn't seem to be so for a transfer just made.
UPDATE: received after 30 mins.
UPDATE: received after 30 mins.
Last edited by zig2; Jan 9, 2019 at 10:03 pm Reason: Update
Jan 24, 2019, 5:24 am
#575
Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: Seattle
Programs: AS MVP100K, Hilton Diamond, IHG Gold
Posts: 3,215
Probably not the best place to post this, but with the added bonus and points now, where do most people redeem them at? I was thinking Lifemiles since they offer good redemption rates for J/F travel internationally.
Jan 24, 2019, 7:12 am
#576
Moderator
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Miami, Mpls & London
Programs: AA & Marriott Perpetual Platinum; DL & HH Gold
Posts: 48,952
Citi ThankYou added Avianca LifeMiles as transfer partner
Feb 4, 2019, 1:01 am
#577
Join Date: Jan 2014
Programs: SPG Platinum, Marriott LT Platinum, Hilton Diamond, Hyatt Globalist, AA Platinum Pro, AS MVP Gold
Posts: 215
Just wanted to provide another data point that the Citi ThankYou -> Flying Blue transfer was instant and without issue.
Previously you may need to add two 0's in front of your Flying Blue account #, now you no longer need to do so.
Previously you may need to add two 0's in front of your Flying Blue account #, now you no longer need to do so.
Feb 9, 2019, 10:46 pm
#580
Join Date: Jul 2014
Posts: 483
Transferred 90k points (after bonus) to TK Friday at noon. Still not in my account but Cit lists the transaction as complete. Anecdotes and blog posts state the transfer takes a day. I did this with a specific redemption in mind and I don’t want to lose out on it If space dries up.
Feb 9, 2019, 11:39 pm
#581
Join Date: Jul 2014
Posts: 483
DP:
Transferred 90 k TYP on 11/15 to TK, just 2 days before their big software update.
My last year transfer took less than 24 hours but this one went on for 29 days. It required 5-6 (TK) online submissions, 3 calls to CITI (not able to help at all) and 5-6 calls to TK 800 (US) number. Twitter "TK help" not able to help at all.
It took persistence and luck to get the right rep whom sent an email to the right place and points were finally credited within 24 hours.
Luckily, I was still able to book desired award ticket (3.4C/1TYP).
Transferred 90 k TYP on 11/15 to TK, just 2 days before their big software update.
My last year transfer took less than 24 hours but this one went on for 29 days. It required 5-6 (TK) online submissions, 3 calls to CITI (not able to help at all) and 5-6 calls to TK 800 (US) number. Twitter "TK help" not able to help at all.
It took persistence and luck to get the right rep whom sent an email to the right place and points were finally credited within 24 hours.
Luckily, I was still able to book desired award ticket (3.4C/1TYP).
I can't let this drag on for a month, I need to book in the next few days.
Feb 9, 2019, 11:42 pm
#582
Join Date: Jul 2014
Posts: 483
I had 28k in my account. Transferred 62k from Citi, and redeemed 90k (upgrade from V to J), leaving me with only 7 miles. Today, I have 62k in my account again. The new amount I have is exactly the same with the amount that I transferred from Citi. My TK miles statement shows two transfer from Citi.
Feb 10, 2019, 12:42 am
#583
Join Date: Sep 2011
Programs: Virgin Atlantic Silver, IHG Diamond, Bonvoy Gold, Hilton Diamond, AA Platinum Pro
Posts: 1,386
DP:
Transferred 90 k TYP on 11/15 to TK, just 2 days before their big software update.
My last year transfer took less than 24 hours but this one went on for 29 days. It required 5-6 (TK) online submissions, 3 calls to CITI (not able to help at all) and 5-6 calls to TK 800 (US) number. Twitter "TK help" not able to help at all.
It took persistence and luck to get the right rep whom sent an email to the right place and points were finally credited within 24 hours.
Luckily, I was still able to book desired award ticket (3.4C/1TYP).
Transferred 90 k TYP on 11/15 to TK, just 2 days before their big software update.
My last year transfer took less than 24 hours but this one went on for 29 days. It required 5-6 (TK) online submissions, 3 calls to CITI (not able to help at all) and 5-6 calls to TK 800 (US) number. Twitter "TK help" not able to help at all.
It took persistence and luck to get the right rep whom sent an email to the right place and points were finally credited within 24 hours.
Luckily, I was still able to book desired award ticket (3.4C/1TYP).