Can You Convert Citi ThankYou Points to American Airlines Miles?

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Million Mile Secrets reader, Robert writes:

So do I understand correctly, Citi ThankYou points can’t be converted directly to American Airlines miles?  It’s a cash incentive, albeit a good 1 in straight dollar amounts. Except I rarely PAY for an airline ticket since I use miles!

Are there any credit cards that currently have a sign-up bonus for 50,000 American Airlines miles?

Robert can use certain Citi ThankYou points as a credit towards American Airlines flights.  And if he prefers award flights, there are plenty of ways to earn American Airlines miles.

How You Can Use Citi ThankYou Points With American Airlines?

Robert’s correct, you can NOT convert Citi ThankYou points to American Airlines miles.  Instead you can redeem them to cover the cost of your paid flight.

If you have the Citi Prestige, you can redeem Citi ThankYou points for most flights at 1.33 cents per point through July 23, 2017.  And if you book an American Airlines flight through the Citi Travel Center, you’ll get a 30% bonus for a total of 1.6 cents per point through July 23, 2017.

This is better than the rate of 1.25 cents per Citi ThankYou point on all flights you’ll get if you do NOT have the Citi Prestige card.

There are great perks that come with using Citi ThankYou points to book American Airlines, including:

• NO blackout dates
• Still earn American Airlines miles for your flight

The Citi ThankYou points Robert earns will cover the cost of his flight, just as miles do.  So he will still pay NO money out of pocket.

Bottom Line

When you have the Citi Prestige card, you can use Citi ThankYou points to book flights on American Airlines through the Citi Travel Center at a rate of 1.6 cents per point through July 23, 2017.

The points cover the cost of a paid flight, so you won’t have to worry about blackout dates and you’ll still earn miles for your flight.