Australia's Qantas Frequent Flyer might not be many travelers' go-to airline mileage program. But anyone with Citi ThankYou points from cards like the Citi Strata Premier℠ Card or the new Citi Strata Elite℠ Card should give it a hard look right now, whether you want to get to Australia … or book some short flights here in the U.S. … or even book a business or first class flight on Emirates.
Citi just rolled out a brand-new transfer bonus, giving cardholders a 20% boost when transferring points to Qantas. This boost ends Saturday, Nov. 8!
Not sure where to start? Read our complete guide to Citi transfer partners!
Transferring your points to one of nearly 20 Citi transfer partners is often the best way to redeem them for more value – especially with a big bonus like this. Think of it as a way to get some free points: Transfer 50,000 ThankYou points to Qantas, and you'll wind up with 60,000 Qantas points.
Still, it's rarely a good idea to transfer points speculatively without a specific plan. You'll want to have a redemption mapped out before sending your Citi points to Qantas.
Lucky for you, there are plenty of solid options.
Book Flights to Australia for Less
Of course, Qantas can get you to the Land Down Under. This 20% transfer bonus means you'll need fewer points to pull it off.
Qantas uses a distance-based award chart for redeeming points: The longer the flight, the more points you'll need to book. That means flights from the West Coast down to Australia will be cheapest.
For example, flights from Los Angeles (LAX), San Francisco (SFO), or Vancouver (YVR) over to cities like Sydney (SYD), Melbourne (MEL), or Brisbane (BNE) all clock in at under 8,000 miles each way. That means an economy seat will cost you a hair over 48,000 Qantas points each way – just 40,000 Citi points with this 20% transfer bonus!
But maybe you want a lie-flat seat for the ultra-long-haul flight to Australia or back home. No matter how many points it costs, booking business class seats to Australia is typically tough: Finding the award availability to book an award seat is a serious challenge …
… until lately: Business class award space down to Australia is heating up. We've sent Thrifty Traveler Premium a slew of award alerts to book Qantas business class for as low as 130,100 points each way. Factor in this 20% transfer bonus, and it could be yours with 109,000 Citi ThankYou points.
Even business class redemptions on the incredibly long journey from New York City (JFK) all the way to Auckland (AKL) in New Zealand opened up. At 151,800 Qantas points each way, you could transfer 127,000 Citi points and book this nearly 18-hour flight.
Forking over 100,000 points or more might not seem like the bargain of the century, but it's the only way you can book these Qantas lie-flat seats these days – Qantas has gotten incredibly stingy with releasing premium cabin award space to partner carriers like American or Alaska. This transfer bonus makes it an even better deal.
Book Short American Airlines Flights … Or Biz Class to Europe
Hopping around the good ol' U.S. of A. could cost you even fewer points with this transfer bonus, too.
No, Qantas doesn't fly domestically here … but American Airlines does. And Qantas charges reasonable rates to book partner award flights on American – so long as it's relatively short.
American Airlines-operated flights that clock in under 600 miles each way will cost you just 9,200 Qantas points. So you could transfer just 8,000 Citi points over to Qantas and book a flight from Minneapolis-St. Paul (MSP) to Chicago-O'Hare (ORD).
Not sure how long your flight is? Plug it in at GCmap.com!
There are thousands – literally, thousands – of American Airlines flights under 600 miles. The possibilities for booking domestic flights for 8,000 Citi points each way are practically endless.
Heading across the pond? Qantas also charges reasonable rates for the shortest transatlantic routes under 3,600: Think the East Coast to London-Heathrow (LHR), Dublin, or maybe even Madrid (MAD). At 68,400 Qantas points each way in business class, it's not bad … and even better with that 20% transfer bonus: Just 57,000 Citi ThankYou points!
Emirates Biz or First Class to Europe!
Emirates' fifth-freedom routes from New York City (JFK) to Milan (MXP) and Newark (EWR) to Athens (ATH) offer some of the coolest ways to get to Europe. This transfer bonus makes Qantas a sneakily good way to book them – especially with Emirates raising taxes and fees on its own awards over the summer.
The route to Milan is shorter, so that's the cheapest of the pair: Just 82,100 Qantas points in business class. With that 20% transfer bonus, it comes out to 69,000 Citi points for Emirates business class. And even though Emirates began restricting first class awards for its own Skywards members without elite status, you can still book Emirates First Class with Qantas points. The route from New York City to Milan costs 123,100 points … or just 103,000 points with this transfer bonus!
Just beware that Emirates doesn't release a ton of award availability to partner airline programs like Qantas, so actually booking at these rates can be hit-or-miss.
But if you want to book Emirates First Class for the fewest amount of points as possible, check out the airline's even quirkier fifth-freedom route from Miami (MIA) to Bogota (BOG). At just 65,300 Qantas points, you could transfer just 55,000 Citi ThankYou points and book it.
Sadly, Emirates doesn't fly one of its signature Airbus A380s on that route to South America, so you won't get the full Emirates experience with a shower onboard.
Bottom Line
Citi is out with a new 20% bonus when sending points over to Qantas Frequent Flyer.
Qantas's mileage program doesn't get nearly enough attention, but this bonus should change that. Give it a look and make use of this bonus before it ends on Saturday, Nov. 8.
