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Last week, Citi announced that ThankYou Points are now transferable to Air France/KLM Flying Blue miles. You can now transfer Citi ThankYou Points from the Citi ThankYou® Premier, Citi Prestige®, or Citi Chairman card a 1:1 ratio to:

  • Cathay Pacific Asia Miles
  • EVA Air Infinity MileageLands
  • Etihad Guest
  • Garuda Indonesia Frequent Flyer
  • Qatar Privilege Club
  • Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer (transfer in 22-36 hours)
  • Thai Airways Royal Orchard Plus
  • Air France/KLM Flying Blue
  • Malaysia Airlines Enrich

You can also transfer 1,000 ThankYou Points to 1,500 Hilton HHonors points.

I singled out Flying Blue as the second best transfer partner of ThankYou Points because of 12,500 mile awards to Europe and Israel and 15,000 mile awards to Hawaii and the Caribbean.

I wanted to test the transfer time from ThankYou Points to Flying Blue miles, so folks can plan ahead for future Flying Blue redemptions.

It took me two attempts to have one successful transfer.

  • What was the process to transfer Citi ThankYou Points to Flying Blue miles?
  • What time did I transfer the points and when did they arrive as Flying Blue miles?

Failed Attempt

At 5:00 AM ET on August 26, I transferred 1,000 ThankYou Points to 1,000 Flying Blue miles at thankyou.com.

I got this confirmation screen, saying it could take up to 14 days for my miles to post in my Flying Blue account.

Screen Shot 2014-08-25 at 11.06.53 PMImmediately I received an email acknowledging my transfer request.

Then, 2.5 days later at 3 PM ET on August 28, I got a voice mail that said that my transfer had not gone through. The full story is here. The bottom line is that you need to enter a 12 digit Flying Blue account number, which means adding 00 before your 10 digit number.

Successful Attempt

I re-initiated my transfer at 4 PM on August 28 with a 12 digit Flying Blue account number. This time I did not get an immediate confirmation email. It came four hours later.

Screen Shot 2014-09-03 at 11.54.26 AM

The 1,000 miles posted to Flying Blue by 3 AM ET on Tuesday September 2. That means the transfer took no more than 4.5 days.

I didn’t check for the day and a half prior to the miles posting, so it took between 3 and 4.5 days for the ThankYou Points to show up as Flying Blue miles.

A lag on transfers can be annoying, but I am always willing to risk award space disappearing because:

  1. Award space does change frequently, but I have luckily never missed out on an award because space disappeared while a miles transfer was in progress.
  2. If one award falls through, the transferred miles are hardly worthless. You can use them for your Plan B award.

Getting ThankYou Points

The easiest way to earn a bundle of ThankYou Points is with the Citi ThankYou® Premier Rewards Card, which has a huge sign up bonus and big category bonuses.

My Review of the Citi ThankYou® Premier Rewards Card

 

  • Earn up to 50,000 bonus ThankYou® Points. Bonus points are redeemable for up to $500 in gift cards, up to $625 for airfare or other great rewards
  • Earn 20,000 points after $2,000 in purchases within the first 3 months of account opening
  • Earn an additional 30,000 points after another $3,000 in purchases within the first 3 months of your second year of being a cardmember
  • Annual Fee: $125 (fee waived for the first 12 months). On  4/19/2015, this fee will be reduced to $95 on all accounts
  • Points do not expire and earn unlimited Thank You Points
  • Travel with ease and enjoy chip based technology

Application Link: Citi ThankYou® Premier Rewards Card

To get the full 50,000 point bonus, you do have to pay one annual fee of $125 (the annual fee is waived the first year, but you have to hold the card a second year.) Those 50,000 points could transfer to Singapore Airlines and be enough for a roundtrip to South America with two free one ways to Hawaii! Or those 50,000 points could transfer to Flying Blue for a roundtrip to South America, Europe, or Israel.

Further Reading

  1. Gold Mine Award Space to All of Argentina with Flying Blue Miles
  2. Fly to Europe or Israel for 12,500 Flying Blue Miles
  3. Citi ThankYou Points Now Transferable to Nine Airlines



Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.

Just getting started in the world of points and miles? The Chase Sapphire Preferred is the best card for you to start with.

With a bonus of 60,000 points after $4,000 spend in the first 3 months, 5x points on travel booked through the Chase Travel Portal and 3x points on restaurants, streaming services, and online groceries (excluding Target, Walmart, and wholesale clubs), this card truly cannot be beat for getting started!


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