I'm wondering how that dissolved relationship will affect Hilton
as a transfer partner of Citi and if this promotion has anything to do with Citi maybe having a surplus of Honors points on the shelves.
I'll admit that it would be a bit strange to remove American
Airlines as a transfer partner when (a) Marriott doesn't appear too selective when it comes to picking airline partners and (b) when there's a 20 % transfer bonus to American right now....
News that Citi has added Avianca LifeMiles
as a transfer partner for its ThankYou points program but, as I explain, I'm not sure this is particularly good news.
Let's take a look at a round trip flight from LAX - JFK in September and evaluate the costs in cash, points using Chase's program, and points using
United as a transfer partner.
Any time you are calling with a question regarding transfers to an airline program, try to set the airline up
as a transfer partner before you call, or at least make sure you have your membership number readily accessible.
Sometimes the banks will add new transfer partners, thereby actually increasing the value of your points, as we saw earlier this year when Chase added Flying
Blue as transfer partner of Ultimate Rewards (see previous post).
Chase also offers three co-branded Southwest cards that sometimes come with 60,000 point sign - up bonuses so there's some serious value to capture with
Southwest as a transfer partner.
There have been a few comings an goings in the world of the transferable currencies recently with Citi removing Hilton as a ThankYou transfer partner (after it lost the right to issue Hilton co-branded cards) and then adding Avianca
LifeMiles as a transfer partner just a few days later.....
Rumors are that Citi was unable to secure
AA as a transfer partner due to costs, so I'm not sure if Barclays would be able to seal the deal.
Why Singapore Krisflyer Singapore Air's Krisflyer program is one of the easiest programs to acquire points in which played a huge part in picking
Krisflyer as the transfer partner.
American Express added the Etihad Guest
program as a transfer partner last year, and if you're willing to go through the hassle of booking with inept agents, you can get some great value from the program.
Amex lists
SPG as a transfer partner, but you'd never want to take advantage of this with such an unfavorable transfer ratio.
Citibank will be losing Hilton
Honors as a transfer partner in just a few weeks time but, while that will leave the ThankYou Points program without any hotel partners at all, at least Citi is still working on the airline side of things.
You can transfer Avios to Iberia via British Airways so not having
Iberia as a transfer partner isn't a huge loss for Chase; however, it is a headache to make that transfer to Iberia sometimes.
Since the start of 2015, Membership Rewards introduced a 30 % rebate when you use an Amex Business Platinum card to Pay With Points, SPG just added Korean
Air as a transfer partner, and Citibank has completely revamped ThankYou Rewards to the point that it's a true competitor.
Valuation: Like Citi, SPG is losing Virgin
America as a transfer partner, making it one of the most short - lived transfer options I can remember (the partnership started in April of 2016).
Citi has added Turkish Airlines Miles & Smiles loyalty program
as a transfer partner from Citi ThankYou points, the transfer rate is 1:1 (minimum of 1,000 miles at a time).
2x Dining Removed 4th Night benefit applied only twice per calendar yr $ 250 Airline credit now applicable only to airline incidentals like baggage, seats... etc just like Amex Citi Portal for booking hotels and earn extra points (concept like rocketmiles) Maybe add AA as a transfer partner
Citibank has announced that, from December 2017, it will be dropping
Hilton as a transfer partner for its ThankYou points program and this will leaves Citi with no hotel transfer partners at all.