While ThankYou points came out less valuable than Chase or Amex points when we last updated our Reasonable Redemption Values (See: A big change to Frequent Miler’s point values.), ThankYou points still have plenty of great uses (some of which are shared with those other transferable currencies). Here are some of the easy ways to get good value out of your Citi ThankYou points. Note that this post does not cover all of Citi’s transfer partners, but rather the ones where you’ll find easy value.
Getting value out of Citi ThankYou points with Domestic US flights
One thing that stands out about Citi ThankYou points as compared to Ultimate Rewards or Membership Rewards is that Citi doesn’t have a single domestic US airline legacy program partner. They do partner with JetBlue, though since TrueBlue is revenue-based and opportunities to use points with partners are nearly nonexistent, it is harder to get outsized value. Ironically, despite not partnering with American Airlines, United, or Delta, they still have some of the best partners to use for domestic US flights.
Avianca LifeMiles (for United)
- The short story: Avianca LifeMiles offers one-ways on United within a single "zone" at excellent prices. Some flights price even less than the "official" rates.
- Miles required: As per the old award chart, the US is split into 3 zones. Within a single zone, awards typically cost 7.5K one-way in economy class or 10K one-way in business class. Between Zone 1 (most of the East Coast) and Zone 2 (most of the states apart from the far west) is 10K one-way in economy or 15K in business class. Note that some routes price below the chart for no clear reason. Note also that mixed-cabin itineraries can price favorably in some instances. See: Avianca LifeMiles' awesome mixed-cabin award pricing. First class for less.
- How to find awards: Search for available space at LifeMiles.com (you’ll need to create a free Avianca LifeMiles frequent flyer account)
- How to book awards: Book online at LifeMiles.com.
- Change and cancellation fees: Theoretically $50 within a region, though flights between regions can cost $200 to cancel.
- Key warnings: Availability at LifeMiles.com does not always match what you’ll find at United.com. Phone agents generally do not see better availability than what is shown at LifeMiles.com. Always check the LifeMiles site before transferring points.
- Transfer from: Amex, Bilt, Citi, Capital One, Marriott
Turkish Miles & Smiles (for United Airlines)
- The short story: Turkish offers very good value on domestic Star Alliance flights. This makes Turkish the absolute cheapest way to book flights within the US on United -- including to Alaska and Hawaii.
- Miles required: 10K miles each way in economy class or 15K miles each way in business class domestically on United within the US or domestically on Air Canada within Canada (can include connections for the same price). For North American international flights (e.g. US to Canada or Mexico), Turkish is no longer a good value at 30K each way in economy class.
- How to find awards: Search United.com and look for "Saver Awards". You can also try searching via the Turkish Airlines website, but it does not always show full availability.
- How to book awards: Try booking at TurkishAirlines.com using the Star Alliance search tool (click "Award ticket" on the home page, then select the Star Alliance tool after logging in). If all else fails, try booking via email. See our guide for booking United flights with Turkish for more detail.
- Change and cancellation fees: The fee to change or cancel is $70 per passenger, though I've been unsuccessful in finding agents who know how to change a partner award. Thus cancelling for $70 is your best bet.
- Key warnings: Turkish phone agents often can't see availability on United metal. You may just have to try again with a different agent or try emailing many different ticket offixes. Irregular operations can cause a huge headache in getting in touch with Turkish to get your flight fixed. Booking via Turkish is not for the faint of heart (or those who can not drop back 10 yards and punt when things go sideways).
- Transfer from: Bilt, Citi Thank You, Capital One, Marriott Bonvoy
Singapore KrisFlyer (for United)
- The short story: Singapore KrisFlyer charges the same 12.5K miles each way in economy class both within the US and between the US and Canada. While not the best deal in all situations, Singapore miles are easy to accumulate since they are partners with all of the major transferable points.
- Miles required: 14K miles each way in economy class (business class is 26K each way)
- How to find awards: Search for available United Airlines space at United.com (Note: Do not log in — logging in may show you expanded availability based on your credit card or elite status that is not available for partner bookings) or SingaporeAir.com (See: Book United flights online with Singapore miles).
- How to book awards: Book online at SingaporeAir.com or over the phone with Singapore KrisFlyer.
- Change and cancellation fees: $50 change fee, $75 redeposit fee for saver awards.
- Key warnings: Singapore allows a maximum connection time of 4 hours on a domestic itinerary and will not allow a stopover on a one-way domestic award. Be aware that United.com will show availability for flights with longer/overnight connections that are not available with Singapore KrisFlyer miles, so be sure to double check availability at SingaporeAir.com or with a phone agent before booking. Also note that transfers to Singapore KrisFlyer are not instant. Transfers typically take 12-24 hours (from all major transferable currencies) and Singapore does not hold award tickets.
- Transfer from: Amex, Capital One, Chase, Citi, Marriott
Qantas Frequent Flyer (for American Airlines)
- The short story: Qantas offers better pricing than traditional American Airlines award prices on itineraries with a distance of 1200 miles or fewer each way and has no close-in booking fee. This could be especially good for those who need to connect on short itineraries as Qantas measures cumulative distance rather than pricing segments separately.
- Miles required: 8,000 miles for itineraries covering a distance up to 600 miles or 12,000 miles for itineraries covering a distance up to 1200 miles. (See: Strengths of Qantas for AA redemptions). No fuel surcharges on American or Alaska.
- How to find awards: Search for available space at Qantas.com (you’ll need to create a free Qantas Frequent Flyer account). Note that for Alaska space you'll need to search AA.com.
- How to book awards: Book online at Qantas.com for American Airlines. Call for Alaska.
- Change and cancellation fees: 5,000 miles per passenger to change / 6,000 miles per passenger to cancel.
- Key warnings: Avios might be a better value if you have direct flights if you have access to points which transfer to Avios. However, for flights with connections, Qantas can be a better deal.
- Transfer from: Amex, Citi, Capital One, Marriott
Air France / KLM Flying Blue (for Delta)
- The short story: Air France sometimes charges far fewer miles for Delta flights than Delta charges its own members.
- Miles required: Variable, but starting around 10.5K one-way in economy, or 28K one-way in business class.
- How to find awards: Use the Virgin Atlantic 5 week award search to find availability (see this post for details). Next, confirm your findings at AirFrance.us (you’ll need to create a free Flying Blue frequent flyer account to search)
- How to book awards: Book online at AirFrance.com. Can also book via phone or app when the website returns errors.
- Key warnings: Air France's website is buggy and will often return errors when trying to complete a booking. If that happens, try calling. Note also that for very short-distance flights, you may be able to save some miles by booking via Virgin Atlantic.
- Transfer from: Amex, Bilt, Capital One, Chase Ultimate Rewards, Citi Thank You Marriott Bonvoy, Wells Fargo.
Virgin Atlantic Flying Club (for Delta)
- The short story: In some instances, Virgin Atlantic offers Delta flights for fewer miles than Delta would charge for the same itineraries.
- Miles required: Virgin has a distance-based award chart for domestic US travel on Delta that ranges from 7,500 miles (for flights up to 500 miles in distance flown) to 27,500 miles (up to 5,000 miles flown, which would cover New York to Honolulu). Taxes & fees are just $5.60 on domestic flights. See the full award chart here.
- How to find awards: Search for available space at VirginAtlantic.com
- How to book awards: Book online at VirginAtlantic.com. See: How to book Delta flights with Virgin Atlantic miles.
- Key warnings: Virgin Atlantic charges each segment separately, so they are not a good choice for connecting itineraries.
- Transfer from: Amex, Capital One, Citi, Chase, Marriott, Bilt, Wells Fargo
JetBlue TrueBlue
- The short story: JetBlue TrueBlue points are typically only worth about 1.33c towards the cost of a flight (See: What are JetBlue TrueBlue points worth?), but in some instances it may be possible to do a bit better.
- Miles required: Varies by route but can be less than other options when cash prices are low.
- How to find awards: Search for available space at JetBlue.com.
- How to book awards: Book online at JetBlue.com.
- Change and cancellation fees: None for award tickets except for Blue Basic. For those Blue Basic fares, changes are $100 on itineraries in the U.S., Caribbean, Mexico, Central America or $200 for other routes.
- Key warnings: Note that transfers from Membership Rewards cost a small excise fee. Transfers are free from other transferable currencies.
- Transfer from: Amex, Citi, Chase, Marriott
Great value for Citi ThankYou points to Hawaii
While saver business class awards to Hawaii can be difficult to find (and even rarer in lie-flat seats), Citi has, hands-down, the best value for awards to Hawaii with Turkish Miles & Smiles. While the booking process is perhaps the slowest and/or more convoluted of any of the sweet spots on this page, the value of flying to Hawaii in economy class for 7500 miles each was or in business class for 12,500 miles each way is hard to beat.
Turkish Miles & Smiles (for United Airlines)
- The short story: Turkish offers the same pricing on flights to Hawaii as for other domestic US awards, making them an unbelievable value for flights to Hawaii.
- Miles required: 10,000 miles each way in economy class or 15,000 miles each way in business class (can include connections for the same price)
- How to find awards: Search and book awards at TurkishAirlines.com. Note that you can also try searching AirCanada.com for additional space that should be bookable via email.
- How to book awards: Some awards can be booked online at TurkishAirlines.com (click "Award Ticket" on the home page, then log in and choose the "Star Alliance" tab on the award search tool). If you see an award on AirCanada.com that is not available at the Turkish website, you can try an email booking. Once an email agent sets up the reservation, you can call to pay the taxes and ticket rather than emailing back with the requested screen shots of your credit card and ID.
- Key warnings: Turkish appears to have a max connect time of 4 hours on a domestic itinerary, so itineraries with a longer connection would require 2 awards. Also, for an unknown reason, Turkish phone agents often can't see award space that other partner airlines can see. Booking over the phone can be very challenging. We highly recommend calling to put an award on hold before you transfer points to Turkish miles.
- Transfer from: Bilt, Citi Thank You, Capital One, Marriott Bonvoy
Singapore Krisflyer (for United Airlines)
- The short story: Singapore KrisFlyer charges fewer miles for domestic flights to Hawaii than United does for the same flights. Additionally, they have a great chart for Alaska Airlines for those originating in parts of the US other than the East Coast.
- Miles required: For United flights: 19,500 miles each way in economy or 39,000 in business (as compared to 22.5K / 40K through United). For Alaska Airlines flights: award prices range from 13.5K to 14K one-way in economy class.
- How to find awards: Search for available United Airlines space at United.com (Note: Do not log in — logging in may show you expanded availability based on your credit card or elite status that is not available for partner bookings) or SingaporeAir.com (See: Book United flights online with Singapore miles– but note that business class prices have increased since that post was written). For Alaska Airlines award space, search at AA.com
- How to book awards: Book online at SingaporeAir.com or over the phone with Singapore KrisFlyer. Alaska awards must be booked over the phone.
- Key warnings: Singapore allows a maximum connection time of 4 hours on a domestic itinerary and will not allow a stopover on a one-way domestic award. Be aware that United.com and AA.com will show availability for flights with longer/overnight connections that are not available with Singapore KrisFlyer miles, so be sure to double check availability at SingaporeAir.com or with a phone agent before booking. Also note that transfers to Singapore KrisFlyer are not instant. Transfers typically take 12-24 hours (from all major transferable currencies) and Singapore does not hold award tickets.
- Transfer from: Amex, Chase, Capital One, Citi
Virgin Atlantic (for Delta Airlines)
- The short story: Virgin Atlantic often offers Delta flights to Hawaii for many fewer miles than Delta would charge for the same itineraries. Virgin Atlantic also partners with Hawaiian and charges the same rates as Hawaiian when saver availability is present, though it can be a better deal through Virgin Atlantic if you catch a transfer bonus.
- Miles required: Varies by distance. See the full award chart here. Nonstop routes from the west coast of the US should run 22K in economy or 70K in business (business class is not a good deal). Alternatively, nonstop routes on Hawaiian Airlines cost 20K each way in economy class or 40K each way in business class. Those rates match what Hawaiian charges when saver awards are available, but it could be a better through through Virgin Atlantic if you catch a good transfer bonus.
- How to find awards: Search for available space at VirginAtlantic.com
- How to book awards: Book online at VirginAtlantic.com.
- Key warnings: Virgin Atlantic charges each segment separately, so they are not a good choice for connecting itineraries.
- Transfer from: Amex, Chase, Capital One, Citi, Bilt
Citi ThankYou points sweet spots for Europe
While Membership Rewards points may offer more sweet spots to Europe at first glance, Citi ThankYou points shares many of the same sweet spots while adding one more with redemptions on Royal Air Maroc via Etihad Guest.
Virgin Atlantic (for Delta Airlines)
- The short story: Virgin Atlantic often offers Delta flights for many fewer miles than Delta would charge for the same itineraries. This can be a particularly good value for Delta’s life-flat routes to Europe. While Virgin Atlantic changed most Delta awards to a distance-based award chart in early 2021, they have maintained the old zone-based pricing for Delta flights to/from Europe.
- Miles required: 50K miles each way in business class (for direct flights) between the US and Europe (excluding the UK, which uses a separate chart).
- How to find awards: Search for available space at VirginAtlantic.com. See: Book Delta with Virgin Atlantic miles online.
- How to book awards: Book online at VirginAtlantic.com.
- Key warnings: Virgin Atlantic charges each segment separately, so they are not a good choice for connecting itineraries. Note that Virgin Atlantic adds significant surcharges on Delta flights to and from Europe. Some major European airports are not loaded into Virgin Atlantic’s website, so you may have to call to check availability / book.
- Transfer from: Amex Membership Rewards, Bilt Rewards, Capital One Miles, Chase Ultimate Rewards, Citi Thank You Rewards, Marriott Bonvoy
Avianca LifeMiles (for Star Alliance)
- The short story: Avianca LifeMiles offers competitive business class pricing for Star Alliance awards to Europe, with no fuel surcharges.
- Miles required: 70K each way in business class with no fuel surcharges. Note that there is some variance, with some routes pricing well below the official award chart, such as the US Northeast to Ireland and the UK for 45K miles in business class (See: The secret LifeMiles award chart). Also see: Avianca LifeMiles’ awesome mixed-cabin award pricing for ways to fly for even fewer miles).
- How to find awards: Search for available space at LifeMiles.com (you’ll need to create a free Avianca LifeMiles frequent flyer account) or with any of several tools that support LifeMiles (see: Which award search tool is best?)
- How to book awards: Book online at LifeMiles.com. Can also book via email. Phone bookings are known to be a hassle but also possible.
- Key warnings: Availability at LifeMiles.com does not always match what you’ll find at United.com. Phone agents generally do not see better availability than what is shown at LifeMiles.com. Always check the LifeMiles site before transferring points. Keep in mind that the mandatory $25 booking fee (added to all bookings) is the same whether one-way or round trip, so book round trip to save.
- Transfer from: Amex Membership Rewards, Capital One, Citi Thank You, Bilt, Wells Fargo, Marriott Bonvoy
Air France / KLM Flying Blue (for Sky Team)
- The short story: Monthly Flying Blue Promo Awards and even regular standard awards can sometimes offer excellent value between the US and Europe.
- Miles required: Varies. Air France no longer has an award chart, but business class awards between North America and Europe start at 50K one way. Promo awards often offer better value, with business class awards often available in the 40K’s. On rare occasion, we have seen some destinations price in the 20K's one-way in business class.
- How to find awards: Search for available space at AirFrance.us (you’ll need to create a free Flying Blue frequent flyer account to search)
- How to book awards: Book online at AirFrance.com. Can also book via phone.
- Key warnings: Air France / KLM do add fuel surcharges, though they are often reasonable (about $150-$250 in taxes and fees each way)
- Transfer from: Amex, Bilt, Capital One, Chase Ultimate Rewards, Citi Thank You Marriott Bonvoy, Wells Fargo.
Etihad Guest
- The short story: Etihad Guest offers ok prices for flying on American Airlines, Brussels Airlines, or Royal Air Maroc between the US and Europe, but watch out for the punitive cancellation policy.
- Miles required: 80K each way in business class on Brussels Airlines or to Casablanca on Royal Air Maroc (connections to Europe will add additional miles now, fuel surcharges around $170 each way) or in business class on American Airlines (no fuel surcharges).
- How to find awards: Search for Brussels award space on United.com, American award space on AA.com (you may want to double-check availability at Qantas.com), or Royal Air Maroc award space on RoyalAirMaroc.com (you'll need to create a free Safar Flyer account)
- How to book awards: AA can be booked online at etihadguest.com. For all others, call Etihad Guest at 1-877-690-0767.
- Key warnings: Etihad has a highly punitive cancellation policy. You'll pay a cancellation penalty of 25% of the miles used if you cancel 21 days or more in advance, 50% of the miles for cancellations between 7 and 21 days, 75% for cancellations between 24 hours and 7 days, and 100% of the miles for cancellation within 24 hours.
- Transfer from: Amex Membership Rewards, Bilt Rewards, Capital One, Citi Thank You Marriott Bonvoy
Great value Citi ThankYou points options for Asia
While Virgin Atlantic stands out as the hands-down best value here, Avianca LifeMiles may also be a good choice for routes to Asia, especially if you’re able to take advantage of mixed-cabin pricing referenced in the Avianca sections above.
Virgin Atlantic (for Delta Airlines)
- The short story: Virgin Atlantic used to offer very competitive pricing for Delta business class between the US and Asia. Unfortunately, Virgin now uses a distance-based award chart which has dramatically increased prices. They may still offer better pricing than Delta does and in some cases you may find multiple seats available, so this can be a useful option for those looking to fly several passengers (though it is pricey and availability is inconsistent and unpredictable). Taxes leaving the US are just $5.60 one way.
- Miles required: From 105K miles each way in business class from the mainland US. 80K each way in business class from Hawaii to Northern Asia (Honolulu to Tokyo, Nagoya, or Osaka). See the distance bands here and use a tool like gcmap.com to calculate distance between airports.
- How to find awards: Search VirginAtlantic.com to find Delta award space.
- How to book awards: Book online at VirginAtlantic.com or call Virgin Atlantic Flying Club at 800-365-9500.
- Key warnings: Virgin Atlantic charges each segment separately, so this award is best for direct flights.
- Transfer from: Amex, Bilt, Chase, Citi, Marriott
Virgin Atlantic (for ANA)
- The short story: Virgin Atlantic devalued ANA first class awards in March 2023 and then followed up by doing the same got business class awards in 2024. However, both are still very good redemptions between the US and Japan.
- Miles required: 72.5K / 85K one-way for first class between the US West Coast / US East Coast and Japan or 52.5K / 60K miles in business class
- How to find awards: Search United.com to find ANA partner award space. An easier option is to use Seats.Aero. Use the tool's Explore United MileagePlus feature to find ANA flights.
- How to book awards: Call Virgin Atlantic Flying Club at 800-365-9500.
- Key warnings: Virgin Atlantic charges each segment separately, so this award is best for direct flights. They also add fuel surcharges for ANA flights, which as of 2024 are about $360 from the US to Japan or $450 from Japan to the US (or around $730 if booked as a round trip).
- Transfer from: Amex, Chase, Capital One, Citi, Bilt, Marriott
Avianca LifeMiles (for Star Alliance)
- The short story: Avianca LifeMiles has reasonable-ish business class rates to Asia and may still be a good deal since they are semi-hackable by finding the right partners and/or adding a long economy class leg.
- Miles required: From 85K each way in business or 120K each way in first class, no fuel surcharges. Those prices are not very good, but note two things: first, there is sometimes variance by partner or city pair (See: The secret LifeMiles award chart). Second, it is possible to pay less by combining a long-haul premium cabin flight with a long-haul economy class flight. See: Avianca LifeMiles’ awesome mixed-cabin award pricing: First class for less).
- How to find awards: Search for available space at LifeMiles.com (you’ll need to create a free Avianca LifeMiles frequent flyer account). Note that you may need to toggle between "Smart Search", "Star Alliance", and a specific airline in the drop-down menu above city pair to find availability.
- How to book awards: Book online at LifeMiles.com. Can also book via email. Phone bookings are known to be a hassle but also possible. In a pinch, you can try a manual booking, though that process is quite slow and is best used when you aren't concerned about award availability changing.
- Key warnings: Availability at LifeMiles.com does not always match what you’ll find at United.com. Phone agents generally do not see better availability than what is shown at LifeMiles.com. Always check the LifeMiles site before transferring points (and keep in mind the need to toggle between Smart Search, Star Alliance, and an individual airline when searching to see all availability). The mandatory $25 booking fee (added to all bookings) is the same whether one-way or round trip, so book round trip to save.
- Transfer from: Amex, Bilt, Capital One, Citi, Wells Fargo, Marriott.
Citi ThankYou points for Caribbean / Latin America
Similar to domestic US flights, Avianca LifeMiles and Qantas can offer better value than United and American for the same flights.
Avianca LifeMiles (for Star Alliance)
- The short story: Avianca LifeMiles offers one-ways on United to the “rest of North America” (i.e. not the US) for 17,500 miles each way in economy class.
- Miles required: 17,500 miles each way in economy or 30,000 in business for flights to the Caribbean.
- How to find awards: Search for available space at LifeMiles.com (you’ll need to create a free Avianca LifeMiles frequent flyer account)
- How to book awards: Book online at LifeMiles.com. Can also book via email. Phone bookings are known to be a hassle but also possible.
- Key warnings: Availability at LifeMiles.com does not always match what you’ll find at United.com. Phone agents generally do not see better availability than what is shown at LifeMiles.com. Always check the LifeMiles site before transferring points.
- Transfer from: Amex, Citi, Capital One, Marriott
Qantas (for American Airlines)
- The short story: Qantas offers better pricing than traditional American Airlines award prices on itineraries with a distance of 1200 miles or fewer each way and has no close-in booking fee.
- Miles required: 8,000 miles each way for itineraries covering a distance up to 600 miles (like Miami to Grand Cayman) or 12,000 miles each way for itineraries covering a distance up to 1200 miles (like Miami to most of Central America and the Caribbean). (See: Strengths of Qantas for AA redemptions).
- How to find awards: Search for available space at Qantas.com (you’ll need to create a free Qantas Frequent Flyer account)
- How to book awards: Book online at Qantas.com.
- Key warnings: Alaska Mileage Plan might be a better value if you have direct flights and Finnair will be significantly cheaper on flights over 1,200 miles.
- Transfer from: Amex, Citi, Capital One, Marriott
High value Citi ThankYou points to Africa
It’s hard to beat the value of using Etihad Guest for Royal Air Maroc to get to Africa, especially considering the fact that Royal Air Maroc serves many destinations that may be otherwise more difficult to reach on an award ticket. That said, Turkish and Avianca offer some advantages on Star Alliance routes.
Etihad Guest (for Royal Air Maroc)
- The short story: Etihad Guest offer decent value a good value on Royal Air Maroc between the US and Casablanca.
- Miles required: 80K miles each way in business class between North America and Casablanca plus about $170 in fuel surcharges one-way. Additional segments are priced individually.
- How to find awards: Search for award space at RoyalAirMaroc.com. You’ll need to create a free Royal Air Maroc Safar Flyer account to search.
- How to book awards: Call Etihad Guest at 1-877-690-0767.
- Key warnings:Etihad has a highly punitive cancellation policy. You'll pay a cancellation penalty of 25% of the miles used if you cancel 21 days or more in advance, 50% of the miles for cancellations between 7 and 21 days, 75% for cancellations between 24 hours and 7 days, and 100% of the miles for cancellation within 24 hours.
- Transfer from: Amex Membership Rewards, Bilt Rewards, Capital One, Citi Thank You Marriott Bonvoy
Avianca LifeMiles (for Star Alliance)
- The short story: Avianca LifeMiles offers competitive pricing for Star Alliance awards with no fuel surcharges.
- Miles required: Officially, 78K each way in business or 105K each way in first class with no fuel surcharges. Note that there is some variance (See: The secret LifeMiles award chart). Also see: Avianca LifeMiles’ awesome mixed-cabin award pricing: First class for less for ways to fly first class for even fewer miles). In short, it is possible to pair the long-haul flights in business with connecting segments in economy class to pay fewer total miles.
- How to find awards: Search for available space at LifeMiles.com (you’ll need to create a free Avianca LifeMiles frequent flyer account)
- How to book awards: Book online at LifeMiles.com. Can also book via email. Phone bookings are known to be a hassle but also possible. Finally, it may be possible to email for a manual booking if individual segments are available but don't show up together.
- Key warnings: Availability at LifeMiles.com does not always match what you’ll find at United.com. Phone agents generally do not see better availability than what is shown at LifeMiles.com. Always check the LifeMiles site before transferring points. Keep in mind that the mandatory $25 booking fee (added to all bookings) is the same whether one-way or round trip, so book round trip to save.
- Transfer from: Amex Membership Rewards, Citi ThankYou points, Capital One miles, Marriott Bonvoy
Turkish Miles & Smiles (for Star Alliance)
- The short story: Turkish offers high award pricing to North Africa on Star Alliance carriers and near-extortionate award pricing to Central and Southern Africa.
- Miles required: 105K miles each way in business class to North Africa, 125K miles each way in business class to Central Africa, and 140K each way in business class to Southern Africa
- How to find awards: Search for available space at united.com and call Turkish to book or go to turkishairlines.com, log in to your account, go to "Miles transactions" to find the Star Alliance booking tool and click "book now" to go to that search tool (not the tool on the home page at turkishairlines.com). Note that there may be bookable options that do not appear on the site (hence checking United and calling when necessary).
- How to book awards: Book online at turkishairlines.com using the instructions above or over the phone at 1-800-874-8875 or via email
- Key warnings: Turkish is sometimes unable to see Star Alliance availability for no explicable reason. Turkish allows awards to be put on hold, so if you can not see the award you want online, you should get an itinerary on hold via phone or email before transferring points.
- Transfer from: Bilt, Citi Thank You, Capital One, Marriott Bonvoy
Citi ThankYou points for Australia / New Zealand / Oceania
Ever popular destinations, Australia, New Zealand, and the South Pacific are notoriously challenging to reach on an award ticket. Flights are long, prices are high, and availability is scarce. However, if you can find availability, these are your best bets.
Avianca LifeMiles (for Star Alliance)
- The short story: Avianca LifeMiles might have somewhat hackable awards if you could find premium cabin space on the long-haul.
- Miles required: 80K miles in business class from the US to Australia / New Zealand / Oceania, but see Avianca LifeMiles' awesome mixed-cabin award pricing for info on how this might be hackable if premium space exists. Note also that Air New Zealand economy class flights price lower than the chart shows for flights to/from Los Angeles. Business class may also price lower if you can find availability.
- How to find awards: Search for available space at LifeMiles.com (you’ll need to create a free Avianca LifeMiles frequent flyer account)
- How to book awards: Book online at LifeMiles.com. Can also book via email. Phone bookings are known to be a hassle but also possible.
- Key warnings: Availability at LifeMiles.com does not always match what you'll find at United.com. Phone agents generally do not see better availability than what is shown at LifeMiles.com. Always check the LifeMiles site before transferring points.
Etihad Guest (for American Airlines)
- The short story: Etihad Guest offers high-ish prices for flights on American Airlines or Virgin Australia.
- Miles required: 140K each way in business class, 200K each way in first class
- How to find awards: Search for American saver award space on AA.com (you may want to double-check availability at Qantas.com)
- How to book awards: AA and Virgin Australia can be booked online at etihadguest.com. All other carriers can be be booked by calling Etihad Guest at 1-877-690-0767.
- Key warnings: Etihad phone agents have historically had trouble booking partner awards, though the new call center in Serbia appears to be quite competent. If your agent appears to be having trouble, you might want to HUCA (hang up, call again). Note that finding saver premium cabin availability on American Airlines is only slightly more likely than getting struck by lightning.
- Transfer from: Amex Membership Rewards, Bilt Rewards, Capital One, Citi Thank You
Virgin Atlantic (for Delta Airlines)
- The short story: Virgin Atlantic used to offer a decent sweet spot for Delta flights to Oceania. Unfortunately, they now use distance-based award chart and prices have skyrocketed. This option is only worth considering if your flying a family as Virgin sometimes has access to multiple seats on Delta flights (though availability is often tough to find to/from Oceania)
- Miles required: 165K miles each way in business class on routes of 6,000 miles or more (from the mainland US to Oceania), which makes this a relatively poor value.
- How to find awards: Search for available space at VirginAtlantic.com. See the distance bands here and use a tool like gcmap.com to calculate distance between airports.
- How to book awards: Book online at VirginAtlantic.com. See: How to book Delta flights with Virgin Atlantic miles.
- Key warnings: Virgin Atlantic charges each segment separately, so they are not a good choice for connecting itineraries.
Virgin Atlantic (for Air New Zealand)
- The short story: Virgin Atlantic offers very good deals for Air New Zealand premium cabin flights - if you can actually find availability.
- Miles required: 62.5K each way in business class between New Zealand to North America.
- How to find awards: Search for available space at United.com (Air New Zealand space does not show up at VirginAtlantic.com).
- How to book awards: Book over the phone with Virgin Atlantic Flying Club at 800-365-9500. You'll need the dates that you found saver award availability on United's website.
- Key warnings: Virgin Atlantic charges each segment separately (i.e. an itinerary with a single connection will cost 25K miles), so they are not a good choice for connecting itineraries. Furthermore, Air New Zealand business class award space is extremely rare.
Qantas
- The short story: Qantas's low-cost-carrier Jetstar flies between Hawaii and several Australian cities and can be booked with Qantas points.
- Miles required: 61,500 miles one-way in business class from Honolulu to Sydney.
- How to find awards: Search for available space at Qantas.com (you’ll need to create a free Qantas Frequent Flyer account)
- How to book awards: Book online at Qantas.com.
- Key warnings: Jetstar flights can be quite cheap. While their business class is much more expensive than their economy class fares, it's worth comparing to cash fares to be sure you're getting a decent value.
Qantas (for Emirates)
- The short story: While the award cost here is substantially higher than most others, it may be worth it to those who really want an indulgently long experience in Emirates business class. It is possible to spend upwards of ~30 hours in A380 business class by routing via Dubai (note that some US cities have 777 service, which is likely angled in business class).
- Miles required: 159,000 miles one-way in business class between North American cities and those cities served by Emirates in Australia and New Zealand.
- How to find awards: Search for available space at Qantas.com (you’ll need to create a free Qantas Frequent Flyer account)
- How to book awards: Book online at Qantas.com.
- Key warnings: Choose A380 routes to get a fully-flat aisle access business class seat with a bar at the rear of the plane.
- Transfer from: Amex, Citi, Capital One, Marriott
High value Citi ThankYou points sweet spots: Bottom line
Citi ThankYou points often get little attention compared to Ultimate Rewards and Membership Rewards. While Chase and Amex offer some even better transfer partners, Citi is not without good value spots (as seen above). Keep in mind that this post does not list all of the value spots in Citi’s transfer partners but rather easy (or easy-ish) ways to get good value from ThankYou points. If you’re willing to put in some more time and effort, programs like Turkish Miles and Smiles and EVA MileageLands may also offer solid value for Star Alliance flights. However, if you’re looking for relatively simple values, there are plenty to be had with ThankYou points.
For sweet spots in other programs, see:
Amex Membership Rewards sweet spots
Chase Ultimate Rewards sweet spots
Marriott Bonvoy airline partner sweet spots
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Hi there Nick! Thank you. Just transferred the points from Citi to Qantas to book AA and the point transfer was immediate.
I do have a question – it looks like seat selection is not available in Economy for the bookings. I am travelling with kids and am now concerned that I won’t be seated next to them. Any guidance you have to help solve for this ?Thank you so much!!!
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Nick – how about 45k each way on Delta in J using Virgin Atlantic from the US to South America? I am looking at ATL-SCL as one good value, for example.
I think it also worth mentioning that before using points for award tickets one should always check the cash price of an airline ticket, and consider using thankyou points to buy a cash ticket. Some domestic routes are quite inexpensive. Currently, for example, you can purchase a one-way first class ticket between SFO and LAS for as little as $99 on Alaska Airlines. So that cash ticket would be only 9900 TY points through the Citi travel portal. Less, actually, if you have the Citi Premier card and take advantage of the 1.25 cents per point through April of 2021. And with cash tickets you also get mileage credit for your flight.
Excellent, comprehensive list. I just downgraded my Prestige to Rewards + thanks to your earlier posts. I already have the Premier so perhaps I’ll now add Double Cash to my mix.
Isn’t Turkish 45k in business from North America to Europe on star alliance? Seems like a sweet spot to me
I know you are not big fans of EVA redemptions, but they are my TYP go to. They have great availability, low fees, and I’d say a top 3 business class product worldwide (EVA, new ANA, Qatar). 75k one way to SE Asia is a little more than Avianca on ANA, but in normal times good luck finding any ANA availability through partners except at schedule release. In addition, if you do round trip you can do a free stopover, and check out the Taipei night markets. It’s a unique partner of TYP, and a great option to have if you can’t find availability elsewhere.
It’s not that I’m “not a fan” per se, it’s that at 75K they don’t offer a particularly notable value to Asia. I know that by all accounts EVA business class is terrific. But as I’ve said before, if EVA has saver-level space available to partners, you’ll pay many fewer points to book the same seats via other Star Alliance programs (in the case of ThankYou points, EVA will cost fewer points if booked with Avianca LifeMiles than if you book with with EVA). The stopover can be nice though if you want one in Taipei. I know the night markets are the big thing there, but I’d recommend the Beitou hot springs area during the day as I found it surprising to see something like that in the middle of a city.
That said, since they are known to offer more award space to their own members, I’ll work on adding them.
By the way, you also mentioned the other day “good luck finding any ANA availability through partners”. I’ve long found ANA to have excellent award availability, and not only at schedule release. Perhaps you’re checking a particularly high-demand route? The times I’ve looked, I’ve nearly always found availability on ANA in business or first class through one US gateway or another (I’m usually checking all of them though rather than a single specific one since I don’t mind positioning).
Perhaps I’ve had a different experience than you, since I’m out of SFO, a star alliance captive market. ANA availability to Tokyo pre-pandemic is very tight, and EVA availability to partners was equally tight. EVA direct though has been a reliable backup plan to get to asia if no other <2week availability opens up. It’s not necessarily a sweet spot, but from a practical standpoint it’s very valuable.
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I transferred 50K citi to Asia miles for a business class seat to or from Europe – not a bad value either.
Nick, surprised you didn’t add Singapore for Europe as there are some huge values there as well?
Great post. Thank you!!!
Darcie