Citi has announced it's adding one more airline to its Citi ThankYou rewards program: Emirates Skywards, known for one of the most luxurious first-class products in the sky. While Emirates only services a few major airports in the United States, it's a dominant airline in Europe and the Middle East. So if you have a large amount of Citi ThankYou points and plan on making a trip over the Atlantic Ocean, you now have a new transfer option.
Citi ThankYou points to Emirates Skywards
You are now able to transfer your Citi ThankYou points to Emirates Skywards at a 1:1 ratio. You will need to transfer at least 1,000 Citi ThankYou points, and this transfer cannot be reversed.
While Emirates is not part of an airline alliance, it has multiple airline partners. With Emirates Skywards points, you can book flights with:
- Air Mauritius
- Alaska Airlines
- Bangkok Airways
- Copa Airlines
- easyJet
- GOL
- Japan Airlines
- JetBlue
- Jetstar
- Korean Air
- Malaysia Airlines
- Qantas
- S7 Airlines
- South African Airways
- TAP Portugal
In addition to having several flight partners, Emirates flies a long list of routes. However, there are few, if any, routes within the United States.
Unfortunately, Emirates is not the best transfer partner. You will need a significant amount of points for many flights, and many of these come with fuel surcharges that can run in the hundreds of dollars. Plus, if you primarily travel within the U.S., this partner doesn’t help much.
How does Citi’s list of travel partners compare?
Citi’s transfer partners are great for international travelers. At first pass, there are not any options available for domestic travel. However, some of these airlines are part of airline alliances that have domestic airlines as partners.
For example, AeroMexico is part of the SkyTeam alliance with Delta Air Lines. Also, Singapore Airlines is part of the Star Alliance with United Airlines. Unfortunately, transferring your points to an airline program to then use with one of their partners may not be the most valuable use of them, since points tend to lose value as they move through different programs. Before you decide to transfer your points, analyze the point value to determine whether the redemption is worth it.
Citi transfer partners
| Partner | Transfer ratio |
|---|---|
| AeroMexico | 1:1 |
| Asia Miles | 1:1 |
| Avianca LifeMiles | 1:1 |
| Emirates | 1:1 |
| Etihad Airways | 1:1 |
| EVA Air | 1:1 |
| Flying Blue (Air France/KLM) | 1:1 |
| JetPrivilege | 1:1 |
| Malaysia Airlines | 1:1 |
| Qantas | 1:1 |
| Qatar Airways | 1:1 |
| Singapore Airlines | 1:1 |
| Thai Airways | 1:1 |
| Turkish Airlines | 1:1 |
| Virgin Atlantic | 1:1 |
Other credit card issuers with transfer partners
American Express
- AeroMexico
- Air Canada
- Alitalia
- Aer Lingus
- ANA
- Avianca
- British Airways
- Cathay Pacific
- Delta Airlines
- El Al
- Emirates
- Etihad Airways
- Flying Blue (Air France/KLM)
- Hawaiian Airlines
- Iberia
- JetBlue
- Qantas
- Singapore Airlines
- Virgin Atlantic
- Choice Privileges Hotels
- Hilton Honors
- Marriott Bonvoy
Chase
- Aer Lingus
- British Airways
- Flying Blue (Air France/KLM)
- Emirates
- Iberia
- JetBlue
- Singapore Airlines
- Southwest Airlines
- United Airlines
- Virgin Atlantic
- World of Hyatt
- IHG Rewards Club
- Marriott Bonvoy
Capitol One
- Aeromexico
- Air Canada (Aeroplan)
- Air France & KLM (Flying Blue)
- Alitalia
- Avianca
- Cathay Pacific
- Emirates (2:1)
- Etihad
- EVA Air
- Finnair
- Hainan Airlines
- JetBlue
- Qantas
- Qatar Airways
- Singapore Airlines (2:1)
- Wyndham Rewards
- Accor Live Limitless (ALL) (2:1)
How do the changes affect Citi point value?
Citi ThankYou points are generally valued around 1.5 cents per point. Many of the redemption options for these points (i.e. gift cards, statement credits and purchasing merchandise) earn a modest 1 cent per point. As with many credit card rewards points, the best redemption is going to be on travel.
The addition of Emirates Skywards does not improve the value of Citi ThankYou points. Emirates is a difficult partner to utilize because of low point value and high fuel surcharges on award tickets.
Which Citi Cards let you transfer points?
The Citi Prestige® Card and Citi Premier℠ Card allow you to transfer Citi ThankYou points. They are not uniform in their benefits:
| Rewards rate | Sign-up bonus | Annual fee | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Citi Prestige® Card | 3x points on air travel and hotels, 2x points on dining at restaurants and entertainment and 1 point per $1 spent on other purchases. | ||
| Citi Premier℠ Card | 3x points on travel, including gas, 2x points on dining out and entertainment and point per $1 spent on other purchases |
You also earn ThankYou points with the Citi Rewards+℠ Card and Citi Rewards+℠ Student Card. While these cards don't allow you to directly transfer points to Citi's transfer partners, you can transfer points from these cards to the Citi Prestige® Card or Citi Premier℠ Card.
| Rewards rate | Sign-up bonus | Annual fee | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Citi Rewards+ Card | |||
How to Transfer Citi ThankYou points
If you would like to transfer Citi ThankYou points to one of Citi's airline partners, it is a simple process:
- Go to your Citi customer portal. Find the section on the right titled “thank you from citi.” Click the “points summary” tab.
- In the top header, find the blue box titled “Do more. Ways to use points.”
- Find the program you want to transfer points to and click “transfer now.”
- Link your frequent flyer account for the respective program.
- Finalize the transfer.
It is important to know that points transfers can sometimes take a few days to process. So if transferring points is your plan, be sure to give yourself enough time to transfer the points and book the flight accordingly.
Is it worth it to transfer Citi ThankYou points?
The short answer to this question is “maybe.” Each redemption is unique, so each potential redemption should be calculated individually.
How do you know if transferring Citi ThankYou points is worth it?
Citi ThankYou points are generally worth 1.5 cents per point. If you are able to find a redemption that earns around 1.5 cents per point, it can be worth it. To calculate the value of the transferred points, use this equation:
Cash price (minus any taxes and fees that you would have to pay with an award booking) / Number of points needed for flight = Value of transferred miles