Citi ThankYou Points (TYP) Guide and Uses: Can You Transfer to JAL?

Citi has made a big move for TYP points: you can now see JAL listed as a transfer partner on the official website! This is the same kind of major upgrade as AA being added! Especially for those flying back to China or heading to Japan and similar trips, JAL has a lot of sweet-spot redemptions. The transfer ratio is still unknown. My guess is 1:1, so we’ll wait and see.

About ThankYou Points

Citi ThankYou Points (abbreviated TYP) is Citi Bank’s points system. It has been around for a long time; my own introduction to ThankYou Points began in 2010, when I applied for my first credit card, the Citi Forward.

After ten years, that veteran Citi Forward card had reached the end of its life at the end of 2017 and was forced to convert into ThankYou Preferred. However, ThankYou Preferred belongs in the “eight major losers” category, and just the other day I finally converted it into Rewards+ in a fit of frustration.

Once again, let me repeat the point I’ve made repeatedly in past posts — changes are usually changes for the worse! Back when the no-annual-fee Citi Forward could earn 5x at restaurants and bookstores (Amazon was also coded as a bookstore, so it could earn 5x too, making this a pretty overpowered card in those days); look at things now: the $495 annual-fee Citi Prestige only gives 5x on dining, and doesn’t include 5x at bookstores (Amazon).

Enough said. Let’s get to the point. This article will explain TYP points in two parts:

• How to earn points — how to get the most TYP possible.
• How to use points — how to squeeze the most value out of TYP.

Accumulating ThankYou Points

For most people, welcome bonuses are our main source of TYP. Card spending can certainly earn points, but unless your spending is very large, the points you earn a little at a time from swiping the card are tiny compared with a sign-up bonus. If you want to rack up tens of thousands of TYP this way, it would take forever. First, here are a few good cards for earning TYP.

Credit Cards

• If you don’t like carrying a lot of cards, the Citi Strata Premier basically covers all of your everyday and travel spending, and it can also rack up TYP quickly. The 60,000 welcome bonus is pretty good too.

• Citi Premier is a credit card with a $595 annual fee. Booking hotels and flights through Citi Travel can earn a lot of TYP. Dining at designated times can also earn up to 6x, so you can basically go big on weekend meals. Although the annual fee is high, it comes with quite a few credits, and if you can use them all, you can still make back the annual fee. The 80,000 welcome bonus is also pretty good.

• Citi Strata Card is a no-annual-fee credit card. Citi Travel hotel, car rental, and entertainment bookings earn 5x; groceries, select transit, gas, and charging earn 3x; choose one category (gyms, streaming, online entertainment, beauty salons, pet supply stores) for 3x; dining earns 2x. For a no-annual-fee card, that’s a pretty good earn rate. The 30,000 welcome bonus is also pretty good.

• Citi Double Cash is also no-annual-fee, and it earns 2x TYP on all purchases. It’s probably best to keep one of these cards around so you have a 2x floor.

• Citi Custom Cash’s biggest feature is this: the category with the highest spending each billing month earns 5x, capped at the first $500. You just need to put a specific category on this card. It can be used to fill in categories you’re missing above.

Other noteworthy cards include

• Citi Prestige: a credit card with a $495 annual fee. It earns 5x ThankYou Points (TYP) on airfare, third-party booking sites (priceline, orbitz), and dining; 3x on hotel bookings and cruise spending. However, this card has been discontinued and can no longer be applied for.
• Citi AT&T Plus: earns 3x TYP on gas or charging.
• Citi AT&T Access: earns 3X points on online shopping (specific list); 3X points on spending at travel-related websites (official explanation); 3X on spending at AT&T; however, this card has been discontinued

Notes

• Points expiration issue — after closing the card, TYP earned through that card will expire after 60 days... this... is a bit sneaky. The solution: use up all your TYP before closing the card, or product-change to the no-annual-fee version (I believe many people close it because of the annual fee).
• Multiple TYP accounts can be combined. You can do it online via combine points, and you need to make sure the personal information, mobile number, and email address on each TYP account are exactly the same.

Points Sharing person-to-person transfers (ended in 2026.5)

Redeeming ThankYou Points

All right, look at the forum name — US Credit Card 101! For credit card players like us, the goal is of course to figure out how to squeeze the maximum value out of TYP. These days, the redemption options shown on Citi ThankYou’s homepage are as follows in the image below. Honestly, that page changes every few days, even faster than Sichuan opera face-changing. Who knows, maybe one day there will be a few more or fewer redemption options...

In summary, the redemption options include:

• Common: transfer points to partner airlines or hotel programs, transfer to someone else (becoming someone else’s TYP source, as mentioned above), redeem for Cash
• Other: book flights, hotels, or cruises through Citi’s own travel agency Portal, Shop with Points, redeem for gift cards, redeem for Statement Credit, donate

Transfer points to partner airlines.

The earliest TYP could not be transferred. It wasn’t until around 2015 that TYP finally opened up transfer functionality, allowing transfers to partner airlines and other programs.

The prerequisite for transferring points is that you need to hold a premium card with an annual fee, such as Citi Premier, Citi Prestige, or Citi Strata Elite. Transfers on the no-annual-fee versions are restricted. Double Cash and the no-annual-fee Strata card only have some weaker transfer partners, and the rates are low too, so they’re not recommended.

Here’s a quick look at the airlines:

• AA: Citi finally enabled AA miles redemptions in 2025. AA miles are very worthwhile for booking JL business class and first class between China and the U.S.!
• Singapore Airlines Krisflyer: a cheap way to redeem Singapore Airlines business class / first class suites awards back to China. It’s also a transfer partner for MR/UR/SPG, so points are easy to pile up, and booking award tickets close to departure doesn’t incur extra fees. A one-way ticket back to China is relatively expensive, requiring 52,500/102,500/132,500.
• Avianca (LifeMiles): basically can substitute as a mini-UA account, but customer service is very hard to deal with, so be prepared
• Turkish Airlines: some short-haul redemptions are very worthwhile
• Asia Miles: Can be used to redeem Cathay Pacific tickets back to China. The pricing is fairly reasonable, but during holidays award seats are basically impossible to book (yes, even booking earlier doesn’t always help; in fact, a few weeks before departure, CX may suddenly release award seats).
• EVA Air Infinity MileageLands: Can be used to book tickets back home, but it is not a great deal. Economy, business, and first class are 115,000/175,000/210,000 miles respectively.
• Virgin Atlantic Flying Club: Has the potential to redeem good tickets back home. It is also an MR/UR/SPG transfer partner, miles are easy to accumulate, and there are many airline partners for award redemptions, but the restrictions are relatively strict.
• Etihad Guest Rewards: Not a good choice for flying back home; the redemption value is not very high.
• Air France/KLM Flying Blue: Promo Awards at the beginning of each month offer super cheap flights to Europe. If you’re going to Europe, don’t miss them. For flights back home, you can redeem on China Eastern and China Southern, with fuel surcharges, but they are not high.
• Malaysia Airlines Enrich: The famous Malaysia Airlines, for those brave enough to challenge the limits. The blogger wishes you a safe journey.
• Qantas Frequent Flyer: Not very worthwhile; redemption value is low.
• Qatar Airways Privilege Club
• Thai Airways Royal Orchid Plus
• Garuda Indonesia Frequent Flyer
• JetBlue: 1.5:1 ratio, which is poor
• Emirates: The transfer ratio is 1:1. In addition to redeeming Emirates flights, Emirates miles can also be redeemed for partner airlines such as Japan Airlines JL, Korean Air, and Qantas. Redeeming Emirates business and first class, as well as Japan Airlines business and first class, are all good choices. However, taxes and fees can easily be very high, so you need to pay close attention when redeeming.

Transfer to hotel partners

• Choice Hotels as a transfer partner has a ratio of 1:2. Choice points are worth about 0.5-0.6 cents per point, so overall transferring TYP is not a loss, but hotels in specific times and locations can still offer high value, so the addition of a new partner is still welcome!
• Wyndham is also a hotel partner, with a 1:1 ratio. Not much point.
• In 2023, Citi added Accor as another hotel partner, with a transfer ratio of 2:1. Accor hotel points are basically worth the same as cash; 2,000 points = 40 euros, with a value of about 2.1c/p-2.2c/p. On that basis, transferring is not especially compelling, but if there are transfer promotions later, it may be worth considering.

• Citi added another transfer partner, the hotel group Leader Club, with a transfer ratio of 1000 to 200. But their points seem to be quite valuable, and booking is dynamically priced, with an approximate redemption value of 8c/p. So overall, the transfer value of TYP comes to 1.6c/p, which is still quite good. Prices at this kind of independent hotel group are often higher than those of traditional hotel groups, so everyone should still consider price and other factors comprehensively.
• Citi added another transfer partner, I Prefer Hotel, with a transfer ratio of 1000 TYP = 4,000 I Prefer points. Their points can be redeemed for free stays, with a minimum of 15,000 and a maximum of 150,000. However, for top-tier hotels, one night may cost $1,000, so using TYP to redeem can still be worthwhile. Preferred Hotels & Resorts introduction

Transfer to other people (become someone else’s source of TYP, as mentioned above)

Since this transfer method was already discussed above, I won’t repeat it here. Just remember two things:

• First: Each person can only cumulatively transfer out 100,000 and transfer in 100,000 TYP points per Calendar Year. If you need more, plan the timing and transfer across year-end.
• Second: Points received through Points Sharing will expire after 90 days, so calculate the date carefully and use them quickly to avoid getting burned by Citi.

Other uses

• Citi Travel use: The ratio is still 1:1. It is better to cash out first and then buy tickets with cash (the old premier prestige 1.25/1.5 ratio was still somewhat useful; now it is just dead weight).
• Cash out: If you plan to redeem TYP for cash, it is best to transfer TYP points to Double Cash or Custom Cash, which can be done at 1:1. Premier has a lower cash-out ratio.
• Shop with points: After linking with certain designated shopping websites, you can use TYP to offset payment on those sites. The most worthwhile deal here is Amazon Shop With Points, similar to AMEX’s Shop With Points. For details on Amazon Shop With Points, please refer to: Amazon Shop With Points introduction
• Redeem gift cards: It seems that no matter which issuer’s points you have, this redemption option is available, and you will often receive emails saying—hey, you already have enough points to redeem a $100 gift card, bulabula... and so on. But when you click through and check the redemption cost... 2,500 pts generally only redeem for a $25 gift card (1.00 cpp), leaving no room for arbitrage. The main problem is that many gift cards can be bought for less than 10% off through AMEX Offer, Chase Offer, and similar deals at many stores. So there is really no need to turn hard-earned points into gift cards!
• Donate: If you have too many points and nowhere to burn them, donate them, and then claim more deductions when filing taxes next year so the IRS refunds more? Anyway, I don’t have that kind of spare time. If you really want to donate — 2,500 TYP is equivalent to $25, 5,000 TYP to $50, and 10,000 TYP to $100.

Summary and notes

Alright, that’s enough for now. Here is a summary of the characteristics and usage recommendations for Citi ThankYou Points (TYP).

• Credit card welcome bonuses are still the main source of TYP. However, Citi already has the sneaky 48-month rule, and the once-mighty Citi Forward has long since passed into the great beyond. The old generous Citi has become a stingy landlord, and TYP is now much harder to come by. Those who can still earn signup bonuses should cherish them.
• Points from different ThankYou Points cards can be pooled into the same ThankYou Points account (similar to AMEX MR), without having to move points around between different UR cards like Chase.
• Points can be transferred between different people, whether or not they are relatives living at the same address. This is much nicer than Chase UR and AMEX MR. But don’t forget the blogger’s long-standing warning about devious intentions, so you don’t let your points expire and get burned by Citi.
• Similar to Chase UR and AMEX MR, if you can, try to use points through transfers to squeeze out the highest value.
• Points from different Citi TYP cards may look pooled together, but expiration is tracked separately. This will matter when closing or product-changing cards, so be sure to ask clearly which portion of TYP will expire and prepare transfer plans in advance.