Mia of Flyertalk discovered that Citi recently added a new restriction which limits us to sharing no more than 100,000 ThankYou points and receiving no more than 100,000 ThankYou points, per calendar year.
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.
The new rule hits particularly hard for a couple who together hold one premium card for better redemption options, and transfer over all the points to that premium account.
But the truth is it’s bad news even for a single go-getter:
While the Prestige 1.6% AAdvantage rate will be relegated to the dustbin next year, we still need a Prestige or Premier card to be able to transfer to travel partners and to get the 1.25% travel redemption rate. Someone who earns most of their ThankYou points via their AT&T card, for example, will be limited to Sharing just 100,000 points from their AT&T to their Prestige/Premier card. After that point, you’ll have to use non-premium redemptions or wait until the next calendar year.
There are, however, two methods to unlock premium redemptions: points pooling and points sharing. If all points are pooled from the outset, there won’t be any limit to your premium redemptions.
Until now, many preferred not using the points pooling options for reasons related to points expiration. Going forward, those who share a lot might decide to use the points pooling option so as not to have to deal with the 100k limit.
Note, pooling only helps for an individual; two people always have to use the Sharing option, and are now limited to 100k. Also, bear in mind that if you have both Premier and Prestige non-pooled, you can transfer 100k to each.
I’m not sure exactly when the 100k limit went into effect, but it’s apparently a somewhat recent.
Hat tip to viewfromthewing and milestomemories
