The Citi Premier is currently at its high of 80,000 points for a sign-up bonus. That is a really nice deal, especially for people who have maxed out at Amex or Chase for a while. One of the great things about the Citi Premier offer is that it almost gets you a business class trip from the US to Europe and back. Here is how that is.
The Citi Premier Offer = Great Business Class Opportunity
Link: Citi Premier 80,000 Point Offer (this is an affiliate link that supports the site – thanks for the support!)
Citi ThankYou points have a number of transfer partners but there is one in particular that I want to highlight and that is Turkish Airlines and their Miles & Smiles program. Currently, the only other transfer partners are Marriott, Bilt, and Capital One. With the exception of big offers from Capital One, the Citi Premier card offer is the best way to get a lot of points to transfer to Turkish now.
Turkish Airlines Business Class Awards
Turkish Airlines has one of the best deals for business class between the US and Europe at just 45,000 miles one way in business class. There is a big negative with Turkish, however, and that is fuel surcharges but that doesn’t have to be that bad, especially if booking with partners like United who do not pass on fuel surcharges.
New Turkish Airlines business class
Turkish Airlines is one of my favorite business class cabins and the fact that you transit through Istanbul means that you have plenty of time to enjoy everything Turkish has to offer onboard. When you are in Istanbul waiting for your connection, you get to try out the awesome Turkish Airlines Business Class lounge which has many amenities for their customers.
Turkish Airlines lounge in Istanbul
If you want to book Turkish Airlines, you can transfer your newly acquired Citi ThankYou points over to Turkish at a 1:1 ratio. That can take up to 2 days. That is ok, however, because Turkish Airlines will let you hold awards for up to 48 hours, as long as your scheduled travel is at least 7 days out. To make a hold, you will have to call it in (or via e-mail) as it is not possible to do this online.
You can book awards with Turkish Airlines online, over the phone, or via e-mail. The phone number for such reservations is 800-874-8875. Although you can book Star Alliance partners online, you may need to call in when some awards are not showing up. You can find that out by searching with United on their website first to see what is really available.
For business class, you will pay 45,000 miles one way. For first class, you will pay 67,500 miles one way. Turkish Airlines will pass on the fuel surcharges for all carriers except Air Canada, SAS, or United. If you choose Turkish or LOT, your fuel surcharges will be much lower than SWISS, Lufthansa, and Austrian (I strongly suggest you book those awards using a partner like Air Canada, Avianca, or United to avoid the huge fuel surcharges assessed by the Lufthansa Group).
Also, Turkish Airlines sometimes has promotions where you can save even more on your award redemptions!
Downsides
Just be aware of these downsides with Turkish before transferring points over.
- Miles expire every 3 years (and you cannot keep them alive by transferring more)
- Fuel surcharges with some partners can be very high
- Once your miles are there, you cannot transfer them out so make sure you have a plan to use those miles and that the availability is there!
Bottom Line
Turkish Airlines is actually a great transfer partner to use even for things like United business class in the United States (including Hawaii) for just 12,500 miles one way! Or, you can book economy for 7,500 miles one way.
But, if you want to enjoy business class between the US and Europe at one of the lower levels, then transferring Citi ThankYou points to Turkish Airlines could be the way to go for you.
