Citi ThankYou Transfer Limits
Oh, Citi. For a long time you were the no common sense giant bank that everyone loved to hate. Your two browser trick and AAdvantage cards kept you relevant, but your ThankYou points program sort of sucked and you were a pain to deal with. Then, you changed. You came out with nice sign-up bonuses, attractive cards, good retention offers and even added transfer partners. Life was good.
Of course that isn’t the case anymore. Citi has recently taken 4,000 steps in the wrong direction with new “per product family” bonus restrictions, the elimination of bonuses on some cards, the disappearance of the AT&T Access More card and the complete gutting of the Citi Prestige. Things aren’t so rosy on the Citi card front anymore.
New Transfer Language Added
Today it looks like some more bad news has dropped in what I consider a stealth devaluation. Previously one of the bright spots of Citi ThankYou was the ability to transfer unlimited amounts of points to anyone. Unfortunately new language has been added that severely limits transfers. Here is what the Citi ThankYou site now says:
The total number of points a member can share is 100,000 Points in a given calendar year and the total number of points a member can receive from other members is 100,000 Points in a given calendar year.
Now you can only send 100,000 points and receive 100,000 per year. It isn’t clear if this is per ThankYou account or per person. It seems to be per person, but it remains to be seen how that will be enforced. It seems people should be able to share points between their own accounts in unlimited numbers.
Why Is This Bad
Family members/friends could save up points and then pool them together on a ThankYou account with increased benefits such as 1.33 cents airfare with the Prestige or points transfers with the Premier or Prestige. For example, if you earn a lot of points on an AT&T Access More card and transfer them to a friend’s Prestige card to book AA airfare at 1.6 cents each. That will now be capped at 100K per year.
Why Do This?
I clearly think this is a way for Citi to segment their ThankYou points and keep them from being redeemed for high dollar uses. For example the AT&T Access More card is the highest earner by far, but it doesn’t have the ability to transfer points to partners or book travel at higher valuations. By limiting transfers at 100K, they are basically locking those points in at a lower value in many cases.
To be fair, I am sure there is a certain amount of points selling that goes on and this new rule also limits your ability to sell points to others. With that said, it does have other negative side effects for customers who work to maximize the value of their points and I doubt that breaks Citi’s heart.
Conclusion
While this is a small change, it is one that can have a big impact on the overall value of your points. Other banks have moved to combat points brokers in other ways that are more elegant, but Citi hasn’t done much that is remotely elegant lately. Hopefully I understand the rule correctly and unlimited transfers between your own accounts will still be allowed, because if not, then things are even worse than expected.
HT: @IadisGr8 on Twitter via Flyertalk
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[…] these changes several weeks ago and failed to notify cardholders. Come on, Citi! Read the post on Milestomemories on why you should care about these changes. In all honesty, this new rule isn’t likely to […]
Well it seems it was just Chrome on Win10 preventing the button from working. Using Edge works.
I’m not sure if i’m missing something here but I can not transfer points out of my wifes new prestige account into my TYP account. The option to share is no longer in the “see all” more ways to redeem section. I can no longer press “right” and there are only the three options.
Has it been moved?
What was the two browser trick? I hadn’t heard of that.
I ended in 2013, but you used to be able to get 2X of the same Citi card if you submitted the applications at the same time in different browsers.
[…] Who is counting anymore? Another Stealth Devaluation: Citi Limits ThankYou Points Transfers […]
I also plan to cancel the Prestige since I now have the Chase Reserve. Sooner on that cancellation is better since it starts clock ticking again.
One could move 100K in Dec. and then 100K in January unless there was language to prevent this.
I hope to change one of our Citi cards, maybe Prestige, for the ATT Access More Card. That 3x internet spending could be nice.
Any chance other banks follow suit?
Well most banks have restrictions on who you can transfer to so I’m not sure a limit on the number of points is as important to them.
[…] Citi has added restrictions on how much you can transfer your ThankYou points. […]
And this is just another reason with my acquisition of the Sapphire Reserve I will be cancelling my Prestige next August when my renewal comes due.
In my opinion there is very little reason to keep Prestige after next year for most people.
Shawn, while you may have just noticed the language, the change went into effect several weeks ago. Apparently, Citi was trying to be very stealth.
Several months*
Thanks Veejay.
What is the best way to use Thankyou points from a Preferred card which is no longer wanted?
If you don’t have any other cards like the Premier or Prestige, you can cash them out via gift cards or get a check to pay your mortgage at $.01 each. If you do have the Premier or Prestige, you could transfer them to those cards to book travel at 1.25-1.33 cents per point, but they expire 90 days after transfer.
Shawn, A few questions:
1. If I close an account, how long do I keep those thank you points before they will expire, or be gone?
2. If transfer TY points to my wife’s account, how long before those transferred points expire?
3. If I move the points to an airline, I presume those now will be part of that program and not expire, unless I let the airline program expire?
Thanks
1. 60 days.
2. 90 days. Your spouse is treated the same as any other TYP member.
3. Correct. They become part of the new program and subject to that program’s rules.
It really makes no sense to keep these cards (3) at this time. I just need to be sure which program they go into to make sure I have a way to keep them from expiring and put to good use for future travel. Or, just keep paying the $95 on two of the accounts and disperse the Prestige account to an airline.
I have the same concern for my SPG points. Got 3 accounts with points there. I can never imagine Marriott giving us anything close to what these points are worth. Just need to find the best place to move those points. Right now that 20 to 30k with AA is very nice. Any idea on how quickly the point move is within SPG if I move points from my personal card to my business card account.?