While Citi has managed to systematically remove all of the things that made the Prestige a valuable card to use when booking travel, it still earns 5x ThankYou points for restaurant expenses and 3x points for hotel expenses.
I decided to keep the card for at least one more year since I have a specific use in mind that makes it worthwhile. I have a sizeable balance of ThankYou points linked to this card, and because Citi doesn’t let you keep your points if you cancel a card, I’m looking to burn some points while I can.
The Citi ThankYou program has several airlines where you can transfer your points:
- Aeromexico Club Premier
- Avianca LifeMiles
- Flying Blue (Air France/KLM)
- Cathay Pacific Asia Miles
- Etihad Guest
- Eva Air
- JetBlue (fixed value program)
- Malaysia Airlines
- Qantas Frequent Flyer
- Qatar Privilege Club
- Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
- Thai Airways Royal Orchid Plus
- Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles
- Virgin Atlantic Flying Club
- Sears Shop Your Way (1 point = 12 SYW points)
There are several programs on that list that are interesting, such as LifeMiles, Singapore, Turkish, Virgin Atlantic, and even Qantas.
The one where I could most easily use miles is with JetBlue. Since their redemptions are a fixed value, you can use points on any flight that has space available. The points price will depend on the cost of the ticket.
How To Transfer Citi ThankYou Points To JetBlue
To transfer ThankYou points, you need to log into your account at Thankyou.com
Click on the “More Ways to Redeem” tab
You then need to click on the “Points Transfer” option. This will lead you to a list of frequent flyer programs. Since I want to send miles to JetBlue’s TrueBlue program, I clicked on that box.
If you have a Citi Prestige or Premier, ThankYou points transfer to JetBlue at a 1:1 ratio. The next step is to choose the number of points to transfer. Transfers have to be completed in 1,000 point increments.
You then have to enter your TrueBlue account information. Note that you have to send points to your own JetBlue account. If you need to transfer points to another person’s account, you’re able to take advantage of JetBlue’s points pooling feature.
There’s a confirmation page that says transfers may take up to 14 days. Don’t worry too much about that, as long as you’ve entered all of your information correctly.
One more review page. Note that this one says the process may take up to five days. In my experience and from what I’ve read, transfers from Citi to JetBlue usually happen instantly.
After clicking TRANSFER NOW, you’re set. The next page should be the confirmation of the transfer.
When I transferred points, I went back to the JetBlue website and logged out of my account. When I logged back in, my account balance was updated.
Why Am I Using Points This Way?
While it’s true that redeeming points through JetBlue isn’t a great value, it’s not bad either.
I was able to book a $164 one-way ticket for 11,000 TrueBlue points plus $5.60. That’s a value of 1.44 cents per point. Figure than on average, I earned 4x ThankYou points per dollar with the Prestige. That turns out to be a 5.76% return on spending.
In the long run, it’s not worth keeping the card for that return, because of the high annual fee, but for burning my ThankYou points, transferring them to JetBlue is a solid option for me. I’m sure that some of you would have different uses for ThankYou points and that’s great. Your Mileage May Vary.
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This post first appeared on Your Mileage May Vary
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