Citibank keeps adding airlines as transfer partners for the ThankYou Points program so that your Citi ThankYou Premier Card and Prestige Card’s points are getting more useful. They don’t have any of the major US airlines as partners, but those are diminishing in value, they have niche carriers which offer value if you pay attention and look.
In the spring they added Jet Airways as a partner then in August it was Turkish Airlines.
Now they’ve added Star Alliance member Avianca’s LifeMiles program.
That makes their airline transfer options:
- Star Alliance: Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer, EVA Air Infinity MileageLands, Thai Airways Royal Orchid Plus, Turkish Airlines Miles & Smiles, Avianca LifeMiles
- Skyteam: Air France-KLM, Garuda Indonesia GarudaMiles
- oneworld: Cathay Pacific Asia Miles, Malaysia Airlines Enrich, Qatar Airways Privilege Club, Qantas Frequent Flyer
- Non-alliance: Etihad Airways Guest, Virgin Atlantic Flying Club, jetBlue, Jet Airways JetPrivilege
LifeMiles is a fantastic Star Alliance program.
- No fuel surcharges
- Reasonable award chart
Not all connections are bookable, you’re pretty much limited to the options you see on their redemption website (which is serviceable) and telephone customer service is challenging (e-mail is better). I’m a fan of the program and have a few hundred thousand miles there myself.
That said LifeMiles often sells miles inexpensively, less than 1.5 cents apiece, so it’s hard for me to make the case to transfer Citi points there rather than buying LifeMiles as-needed and transferring elsewhere.
Continue reading Citibank Just Added Star Alliance Member Avianca LifeMiles as Points Transfer Partner…