Gary Leff from View from the Wing is reporting that Citi has added a new ThankYou transfer partner, Virgin Atlantic Flying Club. Virgin Atlantic is known for their high fuel surcharges on award flights, so for most people this won’t be an attractive transfer option. American Express Membership Rewards points & Chase Ultimate Rewards Points can already be transferred to Virgin Atlantic. It seems that it’s already being enabled and you can currently transfer ThankYou points to Virgin Atlantic at a rate of 1:1 at the following URL:Â https://www.thankyou.com/transfer
More transfer partners is always better than less, but I think everybody can agree that the main transfer partner people are wanting Citi to add is American Airlines. Their inability to do so is perplexing given that Citi is in charge of the American Airlines co-branded credit cards. I think this speaks volumes to who currently has the upper hand in contract negotiations, the economy is stronger than it has been in the past and airline profits are up. At this stage the credit card issuers need the airlines more than the airlines need the credit card issuers.
Citi ThankYou points can now be transferred to the following travel partners:
| Emirates | EVA Air Infinity MileageLands | Malaysia Airlines Enrich |
| AirFrance-KLM Flying Blue | Etihad Guest | Qatar Airways Privilege Club |
| Asia Miles | Accor Hotels (1:0.5) | Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer |
| Thai Airways Royal Orchid Plus | Virgin Atlantic Flying Club | Qantas |
| JetBlue (1:0.8 rate, 0.5 with Preferred) | Sears SYWRP (1:12) | Jet Airways JetPrivilege |
| Turkish Airlines Miles & Smiles | Avianca LifeMiles | Club Premier Aeromexico |
| Choice Hotels (1:2) | Leading Hotels of the World (5:1) |
Also just a friendly reminder that it might be possible to get an increased sign up bonus of 50,000 ThankYou points on the Citi Prestige card. I’d also be very surprised if Citi didn’t add any other transfer partners in the short term.
