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Citi Loses a ThankYou Transfer Partner

J. Scott Clark
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J. Scott Clark is a seasoned road warrior and avgeek. He is a contributor at TPG covering news, deals, points and miles.
Aug. 17, 2019
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3 min read
Citi Loses a ThankYou Transfer Partner
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If you were hoping to transfer some ThankYou points to book an award flight using GarudaMiles, we've got bad news: Garuda Indonesia is no longer a transfer partner for Citi, according to the site Mile Lion.

GarudaMiles has a distance-based award program that makes the most sense when you are crossing regions of traditional award programs. The program also offers a good opportunity to use miles for relatively short-haul flights between Asia, Europe and North Africa. The biggest problem is that you have to call to book these awards.

While not being able to transfer ThankYou points to GarudaMiles might not seem like a big deal, the larger point here is that there is now only one remaining SkyTeam program that you can transfer ThankYou points to: Flying Blue. (For more info, check out our guide to the best ways to redeem Citi ThankYou points on SkyTeam airlines.)

Garuda, the national carrier of Indonesia, joined the SkyTeam alliance back in 2014 and then shortly thereafter entered into a mileage partnership with ANA. Citi announced that Garuda would be one of eight new ThankYou points transfer partners back in July of 2014. The airline flies to 40 domestic destinations and 14 international destinations in 12 countries, and carries 19 million passengers annually — though it does not currently fly to the US. However, it does service various other interesting destinations, including Amsterdam and Bali.

As we've mentioned before, transferring Citi ThankYou points to airline partners is where you can get the very best value, such as premium-cabin redemptions to international destinations that normally cost thousands of dollars. In order to be able to transfer your points to most ThankYou partner loyalty programs, you must hold either the Citi Prestige or Citi Premier® Card. For more on Citi's ThankYou rewards program, read our comprehensive guide.

TPG has reached out to Citi for additional information on the removal of Garuda as a transfer partner and will update this post with any additional information.

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Editorial disclaimer: Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, airline or hotel chain, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities.