Avios is the currency that is earned by members of the BA Executive Club program, the Iberia and Royal Maroc programs as well. British Airways Executive Club is a transfer partner for Citibank in India. In India, the following Citibank Credit Cards offer the ability to convert to Avios:
- Citi Ultima
- Citi Prestige (1 point = 4 Avios)
- Citi PremierMiles (2 PremierMiles = 1 Avios)
Over the years, Citi and Avios have frequently run transfer offers where there is an increased points bonus offered on conversion. In 2015, they offered a 20% bonus, while back in the day in 2012, they offered a 30% bonus.
Transfer Citi points to Avios with 50% conversion bonus
Through September 30, 2016, you can get a 50% bonus when you convert your Citibank points to Avios. I’ve already shared above the ratios on a normal day, but if you use your points to convert during the current promotion, you should get the following bonuses:
- Citi Prestige: 1 point = 6 Avios
- Citi PremierMiles: 2 PremierMiles = 1.5 Avios
Avios are some pretty valuable currency if you’re based where I am. The whole gamut of oneworld partners can be booked using Avios. For instance, I recently used 37,500 Avios per head to book a business class ticket between Hong Kong to Mumbai on Cathay Pacific. Last year, during my #redcarpettrip, I used Avios for a shorthaul redemption between Washington DC and New York at only 4500 Avios in Economy (since changed to 7500).
Should you transfer?
I don’t usually like redeeming for British Airways using Avios, because of the horrible fuel surcharges and APD that is charged per ticket even on redemption tickets. But there are so many partner airlines that BA deals with, such as Cathay Pacific, Qantas, Alaska Air, American Airlines and so on, that it is a very valuable offer in my view. Plus, the 50% transfer is a very big one, and not something I’ve seen in the recent years. I would even be transferring some points speculatively, even though I already have a six figure balance in my Avios kitty right now with all the flying I’ve been doing on British Airways recently.
Bottomline
While your mileage may vary, I do recommend transferring some points to Avios, since these kind of big bonuses do not come very often.
Join over 5000 people who check-in daily to find out about the best in travel.
Free emails (once-a-day) | RSS Feeds | Facebook Updates | Twitter | Instagram
I transferred 1L prestige points to 4L Avios, they siad the base points will get credited in 5 working days but the bonus points of 2 will get credited ONLY by end october.
I had seen someone asking for how long the points are valid if you are on the base tier- I believe it is for 2 years.
I was planning to redeem a first class ticket on an A380 but the availability is crazy.
Transferred the points to my BA account today, the Citi agent was aware of the 50% bonus offer and confirmed that i will get 6 avios per Citi prestige point. Thanks Ajay.
Strangely enough, the Citi agent i had placed the request with called me back after about 45 mins and told me that the bonus offer was valid from 7th Sep till 30th Sep. He advised me to call again on 7th and place the request afresh, otherwise i would get the standard 4 avios as of now. Although I do believe he was mistaken / mis-informed but I figured there was no point in taking a risk when 7th Sep is just around the corner. I ended up asking him to ignore the earlier request.
@Amit – I converted around 65k points of citi prestige and got 50 % bonus on 30th Aug
@ AG – As suspected the Citi agent was mistaken, that’s clear from your experience. I decided to wait out the 3-4 days as recommended by him and placed the request afresh on 7th Sep as advised. Now waiting for the miles and the bonus to post. How long did it take in your case ?
@Ajay – Are there any more confirmations or communication with any party ? Is there any cap on bonus ? Till when it is valid?
Anyone recieve any official communication from Citi or BA on this yet?
@KTSB I wonder why the official communication is necessary. People have started confirming the 50% bonus posting so that should be enough to take a call on this.
If you don’t have status on BA/One World, how long do you have before the miles from any Citi points you transfer expire?
@Ajay
Can you share any link of Citi or BA website regarding this offer. As I called up Citi and they are not aware of this offer.
@Rishi communications will be out soon too. Someone got the transfer bonus and hence the confirmation.
@Ajay Finally got email confirmation from Citi stating that this offer is currently paused and will be effective again from 7th to 30th September 2016.
I am confused. The Prestige earns ThankYou points in the United States. BA is not even a transfer partner in connection with the ThankYou points program. What is a Citi point and is there any way for someone with ThankYou points to take advantage of this? Thanks.
Hi
Thanks for the info. Is there a URL where I can see the details? Is this for India or it is global? Thanks.
Okay, my bad – he said Prestige….
Ajay, what were the taxes/fees on the CX award, and does status help with reducing fees on BA using Avios? Thanks.
@SuperFlyBoy It was a couple of 1000 INR and 37500 Avios per person per way.
Did this promotion just start today? I transferred 12k points to about 48k Avios yesterday (talk about bad timing!) and called the Citi Prestige line to see if my transfer would get the bonus. They are not aware of this offer. I’m hoping that I’ll be pleasantly surprised with the bonus avios in my account soon.
@Neal I suspect it was available yesterday too!
Ajay, I just received the Avios in my account today and the 50% bonus is present!! I’m so glad I switched to this card on your recommendation! With this bonus I’ve effectively earned 4 avios per dollar (8 per on my USD/GBP spends) for the past few months I’ve had this card.
@Neal good to hear that it worked for you.
I gather you mean that you transferred 48k PM to 12k Avios, right?
@SuperflyBoy prestige transfers 1 point equal to 4 avios
I was just correcting his post.
In any case, you are stating that normally 1 Prestige point = 4 Avios??
Is that really the case, while it is the reverse for PremierMiles?
If so, I had better push to upgrade my cc! (Not that I fly BA at all – or have for the past 15 years or more…)
@Superflyboy he wrote correctly that he should get 4 avios per prestige point. And premiermiles is 2 PM=1 avios. All written up in the post above!