Guide to Citi transfer partners

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Three Citi credit cards – including the Citi Premier® Card, Citi Rewards+® Card and Citi Custom Cash℠ Card – earn Citi ThankYou points with every purchase made.

You can redeem these points through the Citi ThankYou Rewards program for airline miles, travel bookings, gift cards, hotel stays, cash back bonuses and products from online retailers such as Amazon.

Basic Citi ThankYou points earned with Citi Rewards+ and Custom Cash cards are worth 1 cent each when redeemed through the Citi ThankYou Rewards platform.

Citi transfer partners

One of the benefits of the Citi ThankYou Rewards program is that you can transfer the points you earn with the Premier and Prestige* cards to several Citi airline partners. When using one of these cards, you can transfer Citi ThankYou points at a 1:1 ratio.

If you have a basic Citi ThankYou card such as the Citi Rewards+, you can only transfer to two travel partners, JetBlue and American AAdvantage, and you’ll earn less with your points. You’ll only earn 4 points with JetBlue for every 5 ThankYou points you transfer. And with the AAdvantage program, you’ll only keep half of the points you transfer and the partnership is temporary, set to expire Nov. 13.

ThankYou points transfer partners include these:

• Aeromexico Club Premier
• Air France-KLM Flying Blue
• Avianca LifeMiles
• Cathay Pacific Asia Miles
• Choice Privileges
• Emirates Skywards
• Etihad Guest
• EVA Air Infinity MileageLands
• Jet Airways Intermiles (not currently flying)
• JetBlue TrueBlue
• Malaysia Airlines Enrich
• Qantas Frequent Flyer
• Qatar Airways Privilege Club
• Sears Shop Your Way
• Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
• Thai Airways Royal Orchid Plus
• Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles
• Virgin Atlantic Flying Club

Citi ThankYou points transfer partners overview

Here’s a look at the transfer partners.

American Airlines AAdvantage

You can convert your ThankYou points into free miles on flights offered by American Airlines and other Oneworld partners. You can also use your points for flight upgrades, vacation packages, hotel stays and car rentals. Citi Prestige and Premier cardholders can transfer points on a 1:1 basis. If they transfer 1,000 ThankYou Points, they’ll earn 1,000 American Airlines AAdvantage Miles. Citi ThankYou Preferred and Citi Rewards+ cardholders can transfer their ThankYou Points to this program, but they’ll only earn 500 American Airlines AAdvantage Miles when they transfer 1,000 ThankYou Points. (Note: The Citi ThankYou Preferred card is no longer offered to new applicants.)

Aeromexico Club Premier

You can convert your ThankYou points to Premier Points with Aeromexico Club Premier at a 1:1 ratio and earn free flights with Aeromexico, free stays in hotels across the globe or vacation experiences when you travel to Mexico.

Coach tickets for domestic destinations in the U.S. are as low as 40,000 Premier Points, but this can fluctuate based on your travel plans and the time of year. Meanwhile, you can book a trip from the U.S. to Europe for as little as 96,000 points in coach and 220,000 for premier class.

Air France-KLM Flying Blue

The Flying Blue Loyalty Program includes 1,000 destinations across the globe. You can use Flying Blue miles for free flights, upgrades, hotel stays and car rentals. Each Flying Blue point is worth 1.2 cents.

On the first day of each month, Flying Blue releases a new list of promotional flights around Europe. You can find flights for up to 50% off, but keep in mind that most of these flights depart from airports in Europe.

As of September 2021, flights from John F Kennedy International (JFK) to Charles de Gaulle (CDG) are 22,000 miles in economy class.

Avianca LifeMiles

Through the LifeMiles loyalty program, you can turn points into airline tickets, hotel stays and car rentals. Avianca, a member of Star Alliance, serves more than 100 cities in North, Central and South America and Europe. A LifeMiles point is worth 1.7 cents.

Cathay Pacific Asia Miles

The Asia Miles program includes more than 700 partners across the globe, including 27 airline partners. You can redeem Asia Miles for flight awards, hotel stays, dining packages, gift cards and concert tickets. Each Asia Miles point is worth 1.3 cents.

Choice Privileges

The most recent addition to Citi’s transfer partner list, Choice Privileges is the issuer’s first hotel partner. Choice Hotels is one of the largest hotel chains in the world with more than 7,000 properties around the world, ranging from luxury to affordable. The average point value is 0.6 cents per point, according to The Points Guy valuations.

Emirates Skywards

You can turn your ThankYou points into free Emirates airline tickets, hotel stays, shopping and excursions. Furthermore, once you transfer your ThankYou points to Emirates SkyMiles, you can pay for flights with a combination of miles and cash, so you don’t need to worry about having enough miles to cover the entire cost.

Emirates Skywards also allows customers to purchase extra miles – 1,000 for $30. This puts the price at about 33 cents per mile.

Etihad Guest

ThankYou points can be converted to flights and upgrades with Etihad Guest. You can also spend Etihad Guest Miles on shopping deals at the program’s Rewards Shop or use points to move up to business and first-class status on Etihad flights.

EVA Air

Taiwanese airline EVA Air connects to more than 60 cities across Asia, Europe and North America. You can turn your ThankYou points into free flight miles on this airline.

Jet Airways InterMiles

Note that Jet Airways is not currently flying, but plans to resume travel in 2022. When the airline is in service, you can convert ThankYou points into free miles on Jet Airways flights, free hotel stays, fuel and more than 2,500 items at the InterMiles Reward Store.

JetBlue TrueBlue

JetBlue, based in New York, flies across the U.S., Caribbean, Latin America and the UK. You can use your ThankYou points to earn free miles on this airline. Citi ThankYou Premier, Citi Prestige and Citi Chairman cardholders earn points on a 1:1 basis. Citi ThankYou Preferred, Citi Rewards+ and Citi Custom Cash cardholders earn points on a 5:4 basis. This means that 1,000 ThankYou points for these cardholders would only equal 800 TrueBlue points.

Malaysia Airline Enrich

Based in Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia, Malaysia Airlines flies to more than 60 destinations across the globe. You can turn your ThankYou points into free miles on Malaysia Airlines and participating Oneworld airlines.

Qantas Frequent Flyer

Qantas is Australia’s national airline. You can use your ThankYou points to fly with Qantas to more than 1,200 destinations. You can also use them for flight upgrades and hotel stays.

Depending on how far you go, flights can be booked for as little as 8,000 and up to 55,200 miles, based on the airline’s rewards chart.

Qatar Privilege Club

Qatar Airlines is the national carrier of the nation of Qatar and is wholly owned by the Qatari government. You can use your ThankYou points to earn free miles on this airline.

Sears Shop Your Way

Shop Your Way is the loyalty program of Sears Holding Corporation. You can turn your ThankYou Points into Shop Your Way points for purchases made at Sears and Kmart and their online stores.

Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer

If you transfer your points to the KrisFlyer program, you can earn free miles to more than 1,000 destinations in more than 170 countries. You can also earn upgrades on Singapore Airlines, SilkAir and other airline partners.

Thai Royal Orchid Plus

Thai Airways International Public Company Limited is the national carrier of the Kingdom of Thailand. You can convert your ThankYou Points into free miles on this airline. However, most miles valuation come from flights originating in Bangkok, since this is an international airline. But you could book a flight to other Thailand destinations for about 7,500 miles in economy class.

Turkish Airlines Miles & Smiles

Miles & Smiles is the frequent flyer program of Turkish Airlines. You can turn your ThankYou Points into free miles with the airline and upgrades to more than 290 destinations.

Virgin Atlantic Flying Club

The Virgin Atlantic Flying Club, the frequent flyer program of Virgin Atlantic, offers three membership tiers. You can use your ThankYou Points for free miles and upgrades on this airline.

How to get Citi ThankYou points

Currently, only three Citi credit cards earn ThankYou points and are available to new applicants.

Citi Rewards+

Welcome bonus: Earn 20,000 bonus points after spending $1,500 within the first three months of opening your account. This is redeemable for $200 in gift cards.

Rewards rate: You’ll earn two ThankYou Points for every dollar you charge at supermarkets and gas stations for the first $6,000 a year. You’ll earn 1 point for every $1 you spend after hitting this mark. You’ll also earn 1 point for every dollar you charge on all other purchases. Citi will round up to the nearest 10 points on every purchase you make.

Annual fee: $0

The ongoing variable APR for the Rewards+ card is 13.74% to 23.74% and it offers a 0% introductory APR on purchases and balance transfers for 15 months. When you earn ThankYou points, they can be redeemed for gift cards, shopping and travel, but travel must be booked through Citi’s ThankYou Travel Portal. However, there are no blackout dates, no annual fee and no limit to how many points you can earn with this card.

Citi Custom Cash

Welcome bonus: You’ll earn $200 cash back when you spend $750 on purchases within the first three months of opening your account.

Rewards rate: Earn 5% in your top spending category on up to $500 during each billing cycle, then 1% back in that category once you hit this limit. You’ll also earn 1% cash back on all other purchases. Cash back is earned as ThankYou Points.

Annual fee: No annual fee.

With the Citi Custom Cash, you’ll enjoy an introductory 0% APR for 15 months on balance transfers and new purchases. Afterward, the card’s variable APR of 14.24% to 24.24% kicks in. Unfortunately, you can’t transfer the ThankYou Points you earn on this card to any of Citi’s partners except for JetBlue, at a reduced transfer ratio of 5:4.

Citi Premier

Welcome bonus: You’ll earn 60,000 bonus points after spending $4,000 in purchases with your card within the first three months of opening your account. You can redeem these bonus points for $600 in gift cards.

Rewards rate: You’ll earn 3X ThankYou Points for restaurants, supermarkets, gas stations, air travel and hotel stays and 1X for everyday purchases.

Annual fee: $95

The Citi Premier comes with a variable APR of 16.24% to 24.24% based on your creditworthiness, and you can earn $100 off a single hotel stay of $500 or more once every calendar year. As a decent travel credit card, it also comes with no foreign transaction fees.

Citi ThankYou Rewards cards

Bottom line

Is a Citi card that generates ThankYou Points a smart choice? That depends on your travel and spending habits. Frequent flyers can find plenty of value by transferring their points to the many airlines with which Citi partners. One caveat: This is a better deal if you have a premium Citi card such as the Citi Premier card since they earn the most value from ThankYou Points.

*Information about the Citi Prestige Card has been collected independently by CreditCards.com. The issuer did not provide the details, nor is it responsible for their accuracy.