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Last chance before this temporary transfer option ends: transfer Citi ThankYou Points to American AAdvantage before the option ends on November 13, 2021.
If you already have ThankYou Points, you can take advantage of this valuable new option right away. If you were saving up ThankYou Points for another redemption, you can recharge your points balance with the Citi Premier® Card‘s record-high signup bonus.
- 60,000 point signup bonus worth $600 in gift cards or travel rewards at thankyou.com, or potentially much more when transferred to airline partners
- 3X points per $1 on airfare and hotels and at gas stations, restaurants, and supermarkets
- Annual Hotel Benefit: Save $100 off a single hotel stay of $500 or more (excluding taxes and fees) when you book through ThankYou.com
- No foreign transaction fees
- $95 annual fee
- 3X points per $1 spent on airfare, hotels, and at gas stations
- 3X points per $1 spent on dining at restaurants, including cafes, bars and lounges
- 3X points per $1 spent at supermarkets
- 1X points per $1 spent on all other purchases
Prior to this announcement, ThankYou Points got their fair share of criticism. Although the program has many excellent transfer partners, the lack of a direct 1:1 transfer to one of the legacy U.S. airlines left something to be desired. Chase Ultimate Rewards transfer to United Mileage Plus, Amex Membership Rewards transfer to Delta SkyMiles, and now Citi ThankYou Rewards transfer to American AAdvantage.
AAdvantage is arguably the best oneworld frequent-flyer program that partners with flexible bank rewards. Except for short direct flights, AAdvantage offers far better pricing than British Airways Executive Club—especially for business- and first-class awards. And with 22 partner airlines, American miles can take you almost anywhere.
Key Terms
- The temporary transfer partner option runs from July 18 to November 13, 2021
- Must transfer in increments of 1,000 points
- Not all ThankYou Points-earning cards are eligible to transfer at 1:1 ratio
Eligible Cards and Transfer Ratios
Citi has several cards that earn ThankYou Points, but not all of these cards are eligible for this offer. You'll need to hold one of the following cards to take advantage of this opportunity. Also note that the transfer rate varies from card to card, as well.
Cards that transfer at a rate of 1:1 — meaning if you transfer 1,000 ThankYou Points, you will earn 1,000 AA miles:
- Citi Premier® Card
- Citi Prestige® Card (no longer open to new applicants)
- Citi Chairman® Card (no longer open to new applicants)
Cards that transfer at a rate of 2:1 — meaning if you transfer 1,000 ThankYou Points, you will earn 500 AA miles:
- Citi ThankYou® Preferred Card (no longer open to new applicants)
- Citi Rewards+® Card
If you hold either the Citi Premier or Prestige Card, you can pool Citi ThankYou points earned across all ThankYou Points-earning cards. Then, you can transfer these points to airline partners — including American Airlines through November 13, 2021.
How to Transfer Citi ThankYou Points to American Airlines
To transfer your ThankYou Points to American Airlines, head over to ThankYou.com and log in to your account. The option to transfer to AAdvantage is advertised on the front page. Click on the option, and you will be redirected to the transfer page.
You can transfer your ThankYou Points in increments of 1,000. You can transfer up to 500,000 ThankYou Points at a time. According to Citi, the transfer may take up to 5 days. Your first and last name on your Citi ThankYou account must match your AAdvantage account information.
American Airlines Sweet Spots
American Airlines has effectively moved to a dynamic pricing system, so finding sweet spots can be a little complicated. But, that doesn't mean they don't exist.
US to Central America in Economy
One of my favorite award redemptions with AA is flights from the United States to Central America. Flights run as low as 10,000 AAdvantage miles plus minimal taxes and fees. Even better, AA often offers at least 6 award seats available on many dates.
Flights from Salt Lake City to Guatemala City in economy are just 10,000 AA miles for much of October — one of the best times to visit as it's the tail end of the rainy season.
Domestic AA Web Specials
Web Specials are another great way to snag a fantastic deal on award flights. We've seen domestic AA flights drop as low as 5,000 miles each way — including flights across the country. Web Special pricing is now in place on all American routes. For example, we've seen rates from the United States to Peru for as low as 9,000 AA miles each way.
Japan Airlines Business and First Class Awards
Flights to Tokyo on partner airline Japan Airlines (JAL) cost just 60,000 AAdvantage miles in business class or 80,000 AAdvantage miles in first class. These tickets normally cost thousands of dollars. Using AA miles and paying the small fee of $5.60 is a fantastic example of how to extract serious value out of this loyalty program.
Related Content: Sweet Spots with American Airlines AAdvantage Awards
Final Thoughts
Being able to transfer your Citi ThankYou Points to American Airlines AAdvantage is huge. Unfortunately, it's only temporary, and it's ending soon. We hope this test run will result in a positive outcome and Citi and AA will continue forward with this option. If you are looking for an opportunity to land a huge haul of American miles, the Citi Premier premier card is currently offering a record-high signup bonus of 60,000 points after you spend $4,000 in purchases within the first 3 months of account opening.
Will you be transferring your ThankYou Points to American Airlines?
The comments on this page are not provided, reviewed, or otherwise approved by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser's responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.
I can’t figure out how to transfer those ThankYou Points to American. I don’t see that link on the main page you are talking about and when I log into my account, American is not one of the options to transfer to. Ideas?
This temporary transfer option ended last year. Unfortunately, it’s no longer available.
I hope this partnership returns soon!
Thank you for the post. This is great! AA miles are very valuable. I wasted some Thankyou points for cash redeem. I wish I had this option back then.
AAdvantage used to be a friendly loyalty program. Go with them!!!
Any insight into if AA will partner with another card?
I still think AAdvantage is one of the best FF programmes out there
I wish they would make this transfer permanent or at least allow UR to be transferred to AA.
Hope they resume the partnership in the future!
Any word on this being extended or made permanent? I’m guessing not, but seems like a missed opportunity.
This is good news to me,as I am short of some AA miles for a redemption.
Really wish Citi Australia would partner with AA. It would be great if there were more Aussie or UK options to earn AAdvantage points, since MBNA canned their AA cards there’s no alternative.
Was there an MBNA Australia AAdvantage card?
Does it worth to transfer citi points to AA with 1:1 rate? I feel like citi points worth more somehow.
It all depends on how you use them! If you’re booking high-value AAdvantage awards (Japan biz class, Qatar Qsuite), it can make sense to transfer Citi to AA. But, I’m holding my Citi points where they are for now.
Thanks for the info about the Citi Premier Card and the ability to transfer those bonus points to AA. I was not aware of this policy. Hope it sticks.
Wow, I’ve been waiting for this for a long time….with the United/Chase Point/Southwest and Delta/AMEX points partnerships, it seems like the Citi Thank You points/AA transfer option is way overdue….hoping this is just a trial run for a permanent relationship…having this option would greatly alter my redemption and spending choices for Citi points.
It was the sweepstakes a few months ago. Now, it is the transfer. That’s great.
Not a great transfer at 1:1
Citi has been upping its game recently!!
This is great development. I used some AA miles recently for a trip to Morocco and my balance dropped below an aspirational QSuites flight I’ve been dying to try, so this will be a great way to raise it up. Thanks!
Let’s hope they extend this option! Have some bookings coming up in the fall but won’t transfer until I see the cost for award flights. AA award flights have been very high the last few times I have looked.
Yes, I suspect you’re seeing high award costs right now because AA wasn’t exactly ready for the surge in demand as travel picks up. As a result, they’re mostly flying at capacity and thus charging more for reward seats.
I’m not sure how this is done, even if I have thank you points available. Please advise me on this.
Love this! One of the reasons I got the Premier card was in hopes this would happen eventually. Hoping for a more permanent thing in the future