Here’s how long Citi ThankYou point transfers take
Editor's Note
Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.
Citi provides a multitude of ways to redeem ThankYou points, but you'll almost always get the most bang for your buck by transferring your points to partner programs. This is especially true now that Citi removed the 25% bonus for redeeming your ThankYou Points for airfare directly through the Citi portal back in April.
The Citi ThankYou rewards program offers 16 airline partners, including excellent options like Avianca LifeMiles and Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles. Plus, Citi recently added two hotel partners: Choice Privileges and Wyndham Rewards.
Like any transferable points program, an essential aspect of using ThankYou Points is knowing how long it takes to transfer them from your ThankYou Rewards account to whichever travel partner you want to utilize. Long transfer times can make it more difficult to plan and book awards, especially when availability is limited.
American Express Membership Rewards, Chase Ultimate Rewards and Capital One Miles offer instant transfers to several partners, which is a major advantage. Meanwhile, transfers from Marriott Bonvoy to various airlines can be lengthy and less predictable.
To see how Citi ThankYou Rewards stacks up against the competition, we transferred 1,000 points to each travel partner and tracked how long it took for them to show up. Your experiences may vary, but here's what we found.
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Citi ThankYou transfer times
For most Citi cardholders, ThankYou points transfer 1:1 to 18 different partners, with the only exclusion being 1:2 to Choice Privileges. Most transfers are instant, though others can take up to seven days.
| Program | Ratio | Transfer Time |
|---|---|---|
| Aeroméxico Club Premier | 1:1 | Instant |
| Air France/KLM Flying Blue | 1:1 | Instant |
| Avianca LifeMiles | 1:1 | Instant |
| Cathay Pacific Asia Miles | 1:1 | Instant |
| Choice Privileges | 1:2 (1:1.5 for non-premium cards) | Instant |
| Emirates Skywards | 1:1 | Instant |
| Etihad Guest | 1:1 | Instant |
| EVA Infinity MileageLands | 1:1 | 3 Days |
| InterMiles (formally known as JetPrivilege) | 1:1 | Instant |
| JetBlue TrueBlue | 1:1 (5:4 for non-premium cards) | Instant |
| Qantas Frequent Flyer | 1:1 | Instant |
| Qatar Privilege Club | 1:1 | 2 Days |
| Singapore KrisFlyer | 1:1 | < 24 hours |
| Thai Royal Orchid Plus | 1:1 | 7 Days |
| Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles | 1:1 | 1 Day |
| Virgin Atlantic Flying Club | 1:1 | Instant |
| Wyndham Rewards | 1:1 (1:0.8 for non-premium cards) | Instant |
Note that the times listed above represent our personal experiences and should not be taken as hard-and-fast rules. However, others have reported a similar timeline when transferring points from ThankYou Rewards. Your transfers may be faster or slower, but you can use these times as guidelines when planning your trips.
Related: TPG's points and miles staffers reveal how they'd spend a million Citi ThankYou points
Before transferring Citi ThankYou points
The greatest risk when transferring points is that award availability can change while you're waiting for points to post to your account. Transfers are irreversible, so in the worst-case scenario, you'll be stuck with thousands of points in a program you have little use for beyond your originally intended award ticket or hotel night. Here are a few tips for how to avoid that situation:
1. Put your award reservation on hold prior to transferring. Not all programs allow you to put award tickets on hold, but for those that do, it makes things much easier. For example, Singapore KrisFlyer allows you to hold an award reservation so long as you have 50% of the necessary miles in your account.
2. Choose flights that have more than one available award seat. Use tools like ExpertFlyer (owned by TPG's parent company, Red Ventures) to see how many award seats are available on a flight. You can also do a single search for three or four passengers — that way, you can determine precisely how many seats are available. Choosing a flight with lots of award availability increases your odds of scoring an award seat by the time your point transfer is complete.
3. Consider uncommon routes. You can sometimes improve your chances of finding award space by choosing routes that are less popular or originate from non-hubs. Those often have better award availability. One example is a transatlantic flight from Raleigh-Durham (RDU) to London-Heathrow (LHR) on American Airlines which resumes March 2022.
4. Let availability determine your destination. If your original itinerary is booked up, one solution is to choose your destination based on which awards are still bookable. If you want to fly six people in business class to Hawaii over the holidays, know that award space at affordable rates will be scarce. But perhaps if you go off the beaten path, you can find that availability you are after.
Don't panic if your original flights disappear. Remember that award availability changes frequently and can increase dramatically as you get closer to your departure date. Check regularly and be ready to act quickly when seats do open up.
Related: Can I put an award ticket on hold?
Can you transfer Citi ThankYou points to someone else's account?
The ThankYou Rewards program is among the most generous when it comes to pooling your points with others. Through the program's Point Sharing feature, you can freely transfer your points to any other ThankYou Rewards member. The recipient doesn't need to be an authorized user on your account or even be a member of your household — all they need is their own ThankYou Rewards account.
This is an excellent feature as it can help you or a friend reach a specific award threshold if you're short on points for a particular redemption. However, you cannot transfer points directly from your ThankYou account into someone else's airline loyalty account.
If you decide to share your Citi ThankYou points, keep these things in mind:
- You can only share a total of 100,000 ThankYou points in a calendar year.
- You can only receive a total of 100,000 ThankYou points in a calendar year.
- Shared points are only valid for 90 days from the date they are received.
- You can't "return" shared points to the sender or share them with another account.
Related: How to transfer Citi ThankYou points between accounts
Is there a fee for transferring Citi ThankYou points?
Unlike some American Express Membership Rewards transfers, there is no fee for transferring ThankYou points. That said, like any award booking, you'll still be responsible for any taxes and fees tacked on by the airline when redeeming your miles.
Which cards earn Citi ThankYou points?
Citi currently offers several cards that earn ThankYou points, though your ability to transfer and the transfer ratio will depend on the specific card you carry. Several are no longer available for new sign-ups.
- Citi Custom Cash® Card (see rates and fees)
- Citi Premier® Card (see rates and fees)
- Citi Prestige® Card (no longer available for new sign-ups, but you can still earn, use, and transfer your points)
- Citi Rewards+® Card (see rates and fees)
- Citi Rewards+℠ Student Card
- AT&T Access Card from Citi
- AT&T Access More Mastercard from Citi (no longer available for new sign-ups, but you can still earn, use, and transfer your points)
The information for the Citi Prestige, Citi Rewards+ Student Card, AT&T Access Card from Citi, and the AT&T Access More Mastercard from Citi has been collected independently by The Points Guy. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.
Related: The ultimate guide to Citi ThankYou Rewards transfer partners
Every card in the ThankYou Rewards family allows you to redeem points toward the cost of airfare, hotels, cruises, gift cards, or loan payments at a redemption value of 1 cent per point. However, to transfer Citi ThankYou points to most travel partners, you must be a Citi Premier Card (see rates and fees) or Citi Prestige cardholder.
If you hold one of the other cards, you can combine your points to make them fully transferable. You can also convert the cash back earned on the Citi Double Cash® Card (see rates and fees) to ThankYou Points via a linked ThankYou account.
Here's a glance at the welcome bonus, earning structure, annual fee, and benefits for some of the most valuable ThankYou Rewards credit cards. Just remember that you must have at least the Citi Premier® Card or the Citi Prestige for your points to be fully transferable. You can click on the card names to learn more about the benefits they offer or visit this page for more information.
| Card | Welcome Offer | Bonus Categories | Annual Fee | Perks |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Citi Premier® Card | 60,000 points after you spend $4,000 in purchases within the first three months of account opening. | 3 points per dollar on air travel, hotels, restaurants, supermarkets and gas stations; 1 point per dollar on all other purchases.
For a limited time earn 10 points per $1 dollar spent on hotels, car rentals, attractions(excluding air travel) when book through Citi Travel portal through June 30, 2024 | $95 (see rates and fees) | No foreign transaction fees and access to Citi Entertainment. You'll get a $100 hotel savings benefit once per calendar year when you book a single hotel stay of $500 or more through thankyou.com (excluding taxes and fees). |
| Citi Rewards+® Card | Earn 20,000 bonus points after you spend $1,500 in purchases with your card within three months of account opening. | For a limited time, earn 5x points per dollar on hotels, car rentals, and attractions (excluding air travel) booked on the Citi Travel℠ Portal through June 30, 2024.
2 points per dollar at supermarkets and gas stations on up to $6,000 per year (then 1 point per dollar); earnings rounded up to nearest 10 points. | $0 (see rates and fees) | Your points are rounded up to the nearest 10 points on every purchase with no caps. You'll also get 10% of your points back on the first 100,000 points you redeem each year. |
| Citi Custom Cash® Card | Earn $200 cash back after you spend $1,500 on purchases in the first six months of account opening. This bonus offer will be fulfilled as 20,000 Points, which can be redeemed for $200 cash back. | 5% cash back on your top eligible spend category up to $500 spent each billing cycle; then 1% thereafter. | $0 (see rates and fees) | 5% eligible categories include restaurants, gas stations, grocery stores, select travel, select transit, select streaming services, drugstores, home improvement stores, fitness clubs, live entertainment. |
| Citi Double Cash® Card | Earn $200 cash back after you spend $1,500 on purchases in the first six months of account opening. | 2% cash back on all purchases (1% when you buy; 1% when you pay).
Plus, for a limited time, earn 5% total cash back on hotel, car rentals and attractions booked on the Citi Travel℠ portal through December 31, 2024. | $0 (see rates and fees) | Introductory 0% APR on balance transfers for 18 months, then a 19.24% – 29.24% variable APR applies, for an intro balance transfer fee of $5 or 3% of the balance you transfer (whichever is greater) for transfers completed within the first four months of account opening (then the fee will be 5% of each transfer (minimum $5). |
Related: The best Citi credit cards
For information on how to redeem Citi ThankYou Points for maximum value, see the following:
- Redeeming Citi ThankYou Points for maximum value
- Best ways to redeem Citi ThankYou points on Oneworld airlines
- Best ways to redeem Citi ThankYou points on SkyTeam airlines
- Best ways to redeem Citi ThankYou points on Star Alliance airlines
Bottom line
Although most Citi ThankYou Rewards' partners are non-U.S. frequent-flyer programs, there are still some terrific redemptions to be had across all of the major global airline alliances.
For instance, you can unlock cheap Delta awards to Europe by booking through Virgin Atlantic, leverage Etihad Guest for American Airlines awards and score exceptional deals on Star Alliance awards using Avianca LifeMiles. Plus, you can get a good value when redeeming points for hotel stays thanks to the addition of Choice Privileges and Wyndham Rewards as a transfer partner.
Just be aware that some travel partners are quicker to process transfers from Citi ThankYou Rewards than others. Since award availability can change quickly and these transfers are nonrefundable, you'll want to try putting your award reservation on hold before transferring if the partner allows. If that isn't an option, have a backup plan if availability for your original itinerary dries up by the time your points arrive.
As mentioned above, transfer times may vary from one person to another; please share your own experiences in the comments below, as well as your strategies for transferring and redeeming ThankYou points.
Featured photo by John Gribben for The Points Guy.