American Airlines has long been the US airline hold out towards having regular flexible point programs transferring to them. The new Bilt rewards program for renters has AA as a transfer and SPG/Marriott has long allowed transfers to American Airlines as well (in addition to other hotel programs but those rates were not so good). It appears that AA has opened the door a bit for flexible point programs and this is very good news!
Transfer Citi ThankYou Points to American Airlines
Yesterday, MilesTalk wrote about how Citi ThankYou points now transfer to American Airlines. This is a limited time arrangement (at least in writing – this could change and become permanent, have the date pushed out more, or be altogether canceled after the date) where you get to make these transfers and the transfer rate does vary depending on the Citi credit card you hold.
- Citi Prestige (no longer available for new applicants) – 1:1
- Citi Premier – 1:1
- Citi Rewards+ – 2:1
- Citi ThankYou Preferred (not available for new applicants) – 2:1
As you can see, holding a Citi Premier or Citi Prestige is going to unlock more value in the transfer ratio for sure. This is great news for all those cardholders!
And the reason this is great news is because it is harder now to get an American Airlines credit card from Citi than it used to be in the past. You cannot have a new cardmember bonus if you had one in the previous 48 months (for both personal and business cards). With the Citi ThankYou cards like the Citi Premier, that timeline is 24 months. So, it is now easier to earn those points sooner than it is with AA’s own Citi cards.
It is also great news because even though the Citi ThankYou program does have transfer partners, AA makes a great one. American Airlines does not have fuel surcharges that they pass on (unlike some other transfer partners) and they (for now) have an attractive award chart for things like business class between the US – Europe (57,500 miles each way).
This limited time window for transfers is currently set to expire November 13, 2021.
How to Transfer Citi ThankYou Points to American Airlines
Simply login to your Citi account and select to initiate a Points Transfer. At the top of that field will be American Airlines and you will see either a 1,000 points – 500 mile option or a 1,000 points – 1,000 mile option, depending on the Citi card you have.
