Citi Fixes AA Premium Cabin ThankYou Redemption Issue

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Last week, we began hearing from readers who have been experiencing issues redeeming ThankYou points for American Airlines business and first-class flights at the advertised 1.6-cent rate for Citi Prestige cardholders. Generally, it appeared that the premium-cabin fares listed through Citi's ThankYou Travel Center were far pricier than those available elsewhere. Naturally, this impacts the value of ThankYou points, so we reached out to Citi for clarification. While we were told that a fix is currently in the works, it does appear to have rolled out, as you'll see below.

For example, a round-trip first-class American Airlines flight from JFK to Los Angeles can be booked through AA for $1,626 (which is a pretty decent fare).

The same flight is now pricing at the same $1,626 (or 101,637 points) through the ThankYou Travel Center.

To make sure the fix isn't limited to a certain route, we tried a one-way flight from JFK to Bermuda as well. Here it is for $306 on AA's site.

And $306 (or 19,112 points) through the ThankYou Travel Center.

So, based on the examples above, it looks like AA's premium fares on Citi's site now match those available elsewhere, which is great news if you're planning to redeem ThankYou points, since you'll truly receive 1.6 cents per point in value if you have the Citi Prestige card. You'll also earn miles for your flights, since Citi books you into revenue fare classes. If for some reason you're still seeing a discrepancy, please let us know in the comments and call Citi ThankYou at 1-800-842-6596 to book.