40% Bonus Transferring Citibank Points To Qatar Airways, Move To British Airways If You Wish

by Gary Leff

I receive compensation for content and many links on this blog. Citibank is an advertising partner of this site, as is American Express, Chase, Barclays and Capital One. Any opinions expressed in this post are my own, and have not been reviewed, approved, or endorsed by my advertising partners. I do not write about all credit cards that are available -- instead focusing on miles, points, and cash back (and currencies that can be converted into the same). Terms apply to the offers and benefits listed on this page.

Qatar Airways Privilege Club is offering up to a 40% bonus converting bank points to Avios through June 30, 2022.

  • 20% bonus when you convert up to 20,000 points
  • 40% bonus converting 20,000 points or more
  • The bonus is per-transaction (each transaction has to be 20,000 points or more to earn the 40% bonus) rather than based on the total you transfer, if making multiple transactions

This bonus won’t appear immediately and won’t show up when you go to make your transfer. It is awarded by Qatar Airways Privilege Club after the fact, not by your bank. The terms of the offer give Qatar up to 45 days to post the bonus.

Since Qatar Airways Privilege Club Avios transfer to British Airways and Iberia accounts (as long as those accounts are at least 90 days old and have had some activity) this can be effectively used as a 40% transfer bonus to those programs as well, just transfer to Qatar Airways first and then onto your preferred program.

The following bank partners whose points are transferable are eligible for the bonus:

The participating partners are Ahli Bank Qatar, Ahli United Bank, Ahlibank Oman, Air Miles, American Express, Amex Centurion Design Cards by Hyundai Card (Korea), Citibank, Commercial Bank of Qatar, Doha Bank, Dukhan Bank, Hana Members, HSBC (Greece, Mexico, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Hong Kong), Kuwait Finance House, Masraf Al Rayan, Ping An E-wallet (Wanlitong), Qatar International Islamic Bank (QIIB), Qatar Islamic Bank (QIB), Qatar National Bank (QNB), CIMB, KBank, Standard Chartered Bank Singapore, BSF (Banque Saudi Fransi).

You’ll notice that American Express Membership Rewards is listed, but the U.S. Amex program isn’t a Qaar partner. Among U.S. banks Citi is unique with transfers to Qatar Airways.

In the fall I was approved for a Citi Premier® Card, which currently has an initial bonus to earn 60,000 bonus ThankYou® Points after you spend $4,000 in purchases within .the first 3 months of account opening. I need to decide how to use these points, as the up front bonus is highly compelling but the card’s 3 Points per $1 spent at Restaurants and Supermarkets and 3 Points per $1 spent at Gas Stations, Air Travel and Hotels largely duplicates earning I generate on other cards.

Citi’s points can be transferred to a variety of frequent flyer programs, including:

  • SkyTeam: Aeromexico Club Premier, Air France KLM Flying Blue

  • oneworld: Cathay Pacific Asia Miles, Malaysia Airlines Enrich, Qantas Frequent Flyer, Qatar Airways Privilege Club

  • Star Alliance: Avianca LifeMiles, EVA Air Infinity MileageLands, Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer, Thai Airways Royal Orchid Plus, Turkish Airlines Miles & Smiles

  • Non-alliance: Emirates Skywards, Etihad Guest, JetBlue TrueBlue, Virgin Atlantic Flying Club


Qatar Airways al Safwa Lounge, Doha

If Citi is able to bring back American Airlines AAdvantage as a transfer partner many will prefer it, though with my large AAdvantage balance I’m not necessarily looking for more there. I can earn most of the other strong currencies elsewhere, and would primarily consider transferring to Turkish. However a 40% bonus with Qatar is pretty compelling – especially since Qatar Airways redemption rates for their own flights are downright reasonable; they offer one of the best products in the sky; and their route network is outstanding for flights to the Mideast, Africa, and parts of Asia.

(HT: @roniwalakandou)

About Gary Leff

Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel - a topic he has covered since 2002. Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »

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Editorial note: any opinions, analyses, reviews or recommendations expressed in this article are those of the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any card issuer. Comments made in response to this post are not provided or commissioned nor have they been reviewed, approved, or otherwise endorsed by any bank. It is not the responsibility of advertisers Citibank, Chase, American Express, Barclays, Capital One or any other advertiser to ensure that questions are answered, either. Terms and limitations apply to all offers.

Comments

  1. Looks like a good deal. AMEX was offering a 40% transfer bonus in the last month or two.

    Gary, are you SURE that the U.S. Citi program is eligible. All the other banks listed are outside the U.S. (sans AMEX). Just want to be sure.

  2. @Daniel the offer t&c says Citibank is eligible. It links to a partner page that’s inclusive of the US program currency. I don’t see why these transfers wouldn’t be eligible for the bonus

  3. Gary, do you think that Citi will bring back AA transfers any time soon?

    I just don’t see it, personally…but I have been wrong before!

  4. Gary, when is the AA – Citi contract up for renewal? Perhaps that might be a negotiation point.

  5. For what it’s worth, if one doesn’t need Priority Pass or has it via another card and if one doesn’t care for travel portals, the Citi Premier Card is a better all-around card than the Sapphire Reserve for feeding the Avios ecosystem . . . at a fraction of the annual fee.

  6. I would like to transfer to SR privilege club from American express. However, they are not a transfer partner. Any ideas?

    Len

  7. AMEX does not show Privilege Club (QR) as a transfer partner. Any ideas?

    Len

  8. I just tried to transfer from Citi and the Qatar option does not show up. I looked and found one TAQ that there was no minimum to transfer, just 1,000 increments. But the only airline I see for transfer is JetBlue. I’ll have to assume there is a minimum number of points required.???

  9. Do u have to transfer Qatar Avios to British Airways or can u redeem directly using Qatar Avios ?

  10. @Lingaraj Len Mishra – the U.S. Amex Membership Rewards program is NOT a transfer partner with Qatar, as I note in the post

  11. @Kathie I – You need a Citi Premier card or Prestige card (perhaps there are others) in order to transfer Citi TY points to airline programs.

  12. Hi, Gary.

    You wrote: “40% bonus converting 20,000 points or more” but the terms and conditions on the Qatar website say:

    “The bonus Avios awarded will be 20% of base Avios (up to 20,000) converted in a single transaction and will be 40% of base Avios (20,001 and above) converted in a single transaction.”

    I just transferred 20,000 Citi points so will miss the 40% bonus – if Citi qualifies at all.

Comments are closed.