Citi ThankYou Points First Transfer Bonus: 25% to Etihad Miles, but…

Citi ThankYou Points transfer 1:1 to 12 types of airline miles. If you transfer your points to miles, they become those miles with all the related rules, restrictions, and award charts. Transferring ThankYou Points to miles is the main alternative to using them like cash toward any flight.

Two weeks ago, several blogs reported that transfers from Citi ThankYou Points to Etihad Guest miles made before May 15, 2015 would have a 25% bonus.

To me, this was huge news because this was the first transfer bonus of Citi ThankYou Points to airline miles.

How to Share Your Citi ThankYou Points with Anyone

You can share your Citi ThankYou Points with anyone else who has a ThankYou account completely free of charge. This is way better than Chase Ultimate Rewards and American Express Membership Rewards, which only allow sharing with a spouse.

I've already covered how to combine all your own ThankYou Points into one account. That way if you get both the Citi ThankYou® Premier Card and Citi Prestige® Card, which offers 40,000 bonus points after spending $4,000 in the first three months, you can combine points from both cards into one account. Sharing extends that even further.

ThankYou Points Worldwide

I was eating a burrito at an obvious Chipotle knockoff in Bogota, Colombia (Sipote, it's awesome), and when I moved my tray, I noticed I had been sitting at a Citi ThankYou Points sponsored table.

Generally we Americans have by far the best credit card and frequent-flyer-mile-earning options, but ThankYou Points and Membership Rewards are offered to people around the world.

The program here in Colombia looks remarkably similar to what Citi offers Americans.

First, I can clearly see the Citi ThankYou® Premier Card on the table, which was actually the card I bought my dinner with to earn 3x

Citi ThankYou Points Free Sharing Between Accounts

Citi ThankYou Points, which transfer to nine airlines plus Hilton, can be freely shared among ThankYou accounts.

Right now the Citi ThankYou® Premier Card offers 40,000 bonus ThankYou® Points after spending $3,000 in the first three months.

If you and your travel partner have both offered this card or if you have opened the ThankYou Premier and the Citi ThankYou® Preferred Card, you can freely combine balances before redeeming the points for airline miles or free flights.

What is the one big restriction on shared points?
What are the two best ways to redeem ThankYou Points?

Sharing Points

How Long Does It Take to Transfer ThankYou Points to Flying Blue Miles

Last week, Citi announced that ThankYou Points are now transferable to Air France/KLM Flying Blue miles.

Do This to Avoid an Error When Transferring ThankYou Points

I got an error when I tried to transfer ThankYou Points to Air France Flying Blue miles. A Citi representative called me to let me know that my transfer would be cancelled, and I could re-initiate at my leisure.

The problem was that I had put my 10 digit Flying Blue number in when asked my Flying Blue number.

Should You Buy Citi ThankYou Points?

Should you buy Citi ThankYou Points for 2.5 cents each?

ThankYou Points got a whole lot more valuable and more interesting last month when Citi announced that people with a Citi ThankYou® Premier, Citi Prestige®, or Citi Chairman card can transfer Citi ThankYou Points at 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
Thai Airways Royal Orchard Plus

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

There are some amazing redemptions with Singapore miles like booking Singapore