A reader today asked whether there was any news about Citi allowing point transfers to AA. He said that when looking at his Prestige account online, he found an American Airlines transaction flagged as a “New Points Transfer Partner”.
I was excited for moment. AA point transfers would be a great new option for Citi ThankYou points. And, it seems reasonable that Citi would add American Airlines as a transfer partner. They do already partner with AA with several credit cards. And, now that AA has devalued their award chart, maybe AA would more readily agree. I predicted this in my 2016 predictions.
I logged into my own account to try to find a recent American Airlines transaction. I didn’t find one, but I did find Hyatt and the same words: “New Points Transfer Partner.” Wow, Hyatt too? That would be amazing!
The idea that Citi will add AA as a transfer partner is easily believable. Hyatt? Not so much. Hyatt, after all, is closely aligned with Chase.
My excitement soon dimmed. I remembered that I’ve seen this tease before. It’s not new. I clicked on the “>” arrow and found this:
The New Points Transfer Partner is not AA, and it’s not Hyatt. It’s Virgin Atlantic. And, the reader in question confirmed that he found the same.
Wait a minute… Is Virgin Atlantic really a new transfer partner? Is 16 months old considered “new”?
Frequent Miler Quick Deal: Citi adds Virgin Atlantic as transfer partner (dated January 18th 2015)
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