How Long Do Citi ThankYou Points Transfers Take? [2019]

If you’re collecting miles & points through credit card spend, I always recommend doing what you can to accrue transferable points currencies.

That’s because these points are much more flexible than when you’re earning an individual airline or hotel points currency. You have the flexibility to transfer these points to all kinds of travel partners, and you’re safeguarded from a devaluation in a specific points currency.

With that in mind, in this post, I wanted to address all the basics of transferring Citi ThankYou points. How many partners does Citi ThankYou have, how long does it take for points to transfer, who can you transfer points to, etc.

How many airline partners does Citi ThankYou have?

As of now, Citi ThankYou has 15 airline transfer partners (and no hotel partners).

Garuda Indonesia is a Citi ThankYou transfer partner

How long does it take to transfer Citi ThankYou points?

Below is a chart with how long it typically takes to transfer ThankYou points:

As you can see, surprisingly few ThankYou transfer partners allow instant transfers, so, for the most part, you should expect for it take at least a couple of days for points to transfer.

Are there fees associated with transferring Citi ThankYou points?

Nope, there are no fees associated with transferring Citi ThankYou points.

Can you transfer Citi points to someone else’s Citi account?

Citi lets you transfer ThankYou points to anyone else’s ThankYou account, regardless of whether they’re related, live at the same address, etc. However, there are a few restrictions to be aware of:

• Shared points expire 90 days after they’re received, so you can’t “hoard” someone else’s points in your ThankYou Rewards account
• The recipient of shared points can’t share those same points with another member
• You can share at most 100,000 points per calendar year, and can have at most 100,000 points shared with you per calendar year

So while there are some restrictions, this is an area where Citi ThankYou is more generous than other programs.

Can you transfer Citi points to someone else’s airline account?

No. While you can transfer your Citi ThankYou points to someone else’s Citi ThankYou account and then they can transfer it to their preferred loyalty program, you can’t transfer your ThankYou points directly to someone else’s loyalty program account.

The name of the Citi ThankYou account and loyalty program account have to match.

Can you combine Citi ThankYou accounts?

While Citi is generous in letting you transfer ThankYou accounts to someone else’s ThankYou account, they actually have a rather strict policy when it comes to combining your own ThankYou points accounts.

For example, let’s say you have both the Citi Premier℠ Card and Citi Prestige® Card. Now let’s say you close down one of those accounts. While you can combine the points, the points from the card that you shut down expire 60 days after the account is closed. So you have to transfer those points to a partner program within 60 days, or else the points will be forfeited.

What cards earn Citi ThankYou points?

The following two cards earn Citi ThankYou points directly:

• The Citi Prestige® Card offers 5x points on air travel and restaurants, and 3x points on hotels and cruise lines; the card has a $495 annual, though offers a $250 travel credit every calendar year that helps offset it
• The Citi Premier℠ Card offers 3x points on travel and gas, and 2x points on dining and entertainment; the card has a $95 annual fee, though it’s waived the first year

In addition to those two cards earning ThankYou points that can directly be transferred to airline partners, the following card earns ThankYou points that can be transferred to airlines in conjunction with one of the above cards:

• The Citi Rewards+℠ Card rounds up purchases to the nearest 10 ThankYou points, and offers 2x points at supermarkets and gas stations, for the first $6,000 spent every year; the card has no annual fee

Citi ThankYou® Rewards Earning Cards

Citi Rewards+℠ Card

Earn 15,000 Bonus Points

Citi Premier℠ Card

Earn 50,000 bonus ThankYou® Points

Citi Rewards+℠ Student Card

Earn 2,500 Bonus Points

Should you transfer Citi points to travel partners?

In general, the best use of Citi ThankYou points is to convert them into airline miles. Personally, my favorite transfer partners include Air France KLM Flying Blue, Etihad Guest, JetBlue TrueBlue, and Singapore KrisFlyer.

However, you only want to transfer points once you’ve figured out the award you want to book, have verified availability, and are sure you understand how that program works.

Air France Flying Blue can be a great transfer partner for Citi points

If you’re someone who prefers to redeem your points as cashback towards travel, points earned on the Citi Premier℠ Card can be redeemed for 1.25 cents each towards the cost of an airline ticket, while points earned on the Citi Prestige® Card can be redeemed for one cent each towards the cost of an airline ticket.

Generally speaking, I think transferring Citi points to airline partners represents a better value.

Bottom line

To me, the value of Citi ThankYou points has grown significantly the past couple of years, thanks to additional transfer partners as well as useful transfer bonuses. Add in the fact that Citi cards have some fantastic category bonuses for spending, and earning ThankYou points has been easier than ever before.

If you have any data points on how long Citi ThankYou points transfers have taken you, please share them below, so that I can keep the chart as accurate as possible!