Starting in 2026, Citi will become the exclusive issuer of American Airlines AAdvantage-branded credit cards in the U.S. As part of this deal, Citi will also acquire Barclays' American Airlines co-branded card portfolio, transitioning cardholders to Citi products.
But what really has points enthusiasts buzzing is the likelihood that American Airlines AAdvantage will become a Citi ThankYou transfer partner. While no official announcement has been made, Citi’s statement about aligning the ThankYou program with AAdvantage strongly hints at this development, as theorized by One Mile at a Time and others. If confirmed, this would be a game-changer for Citi ThankYou Rewards, significantly increasing the program's appeal.
This move aligns with how other U.S. airlines partner with their respective banks—American Express with Delta and Chase with United and Southwest—where all have their loyalty programs integrated as transfer partners. Adding AAdvantage as a ThankYou transfer partner would make Citi’s points ecosystem much more competitive.
Why This is Big for Citi ThankYou Rewards
Now that Citi is willing to pay for exclusivity with American, the value of Citi ThankYou Rewards could see a huge boost. While Citi already has some solid transfer partners, adding AAdvantage (one of the most valuable loyalty programs) would make its offering far more attractive. I consider AAdvantage miles as significantly more valuable than miles at most other U.S. airlines. For example, I recently booked Japan Airlines business class flights for just 60,000 AAdvantage miles per person from San Francisco to Tokyo.
Currently, Citi points are harder to earn compared to those from competitors like Chase and Amex, due to fewer cards and smaller sign-up bonuses. Furthermore, their existing award partners lack the standout appeal of AAdvantage. However, adding American Airlines as a partner would completely transform the desirability of Citi ThankYou points, especially given the incredible value AAdvantage miles offer.
American Airlines Sweet Spots
American Airlines is quite literally the last bastion of the old points guard. While pretty much every other major program has gone under a devaluation recently, AA has kept its fantastic award pricing... so far. This section will feature 2020-esque award deals that are among the best in the game.
You can use Roame to easily find valuable AA awards while being able to compare against other options. Especially considering some fares are much harder to find than others, using SkyView to set alerts & monitor for new options is a good move as well.
USA <> Japan On Oneworld Partner Business Class: 60k Miles One Way
Among the major US carriers, they are the only option left where you can book a fully refundable award ticket to Japan for just 60,000 miles + $5.60 USD in taxes one way (excluding Alaska Airlines from Seattle). Notably, this includes JAL's nonstop routes from Boston, which is just 60,000 miles as well.
Since this is such an incredible deal, it can be a bit difficult to find award availability. Given that AA releases all of its award flights 331 days in the future, it's probably in your favor to book as far in the future as you can.
However, if you're looking 1–10 months out, you might be out of luck. In this scenarios, I would recommend you set a series of award alerts to monitor that route on SkyView. On the other hand, if you are flexible, Japan Airlines typically releases more award availability starting just 14 days before departure.
Flights found using Roame SkyView
USA <> India On American Airlines Business Class: 65k Miles One Way
Another incredible deal is the ability to fly to India from USA airports for just 65,000 miles one way. What's awesome is that this pricing remains the same even if you need to reposition to JFK from a different airport.
Again, given how amazing this deal is, it can be a bit difficult to find this award. You'll need to look far ahead, close in, or set alerts to monitor for random award drops.
Flights found using Roame SkyView
USA <> Middle East On Qatar Airways Business Class: 70k Miles One Way
This deal is more normalized across the Oneworld booking channels, but is still a fantastic way to use your miles. Specifically, you can fly from all major US airports to Doha for just 70,000 miles each way on Qatar Airlines business class. This also includes destinations like the Maldives, which is also priced that exact way.
Flights found using Roame
USA <> Africa On Oneworld Partner Business Class: 75k Miles One Way
In an almost on brand kind of way, American Airlines flights to Africa are also an incredible deal, especially once you consider the fact that you're basically getting 2 business class flights for just 5-10k more miles than the other options.
Finding these flights might be even harder than some of the other options we talked about because of the nature of the type of the flights here. Getting two long haul business class flights on the same ticket can be incredibly difficult. You're going to want to be on top of these seats when they get first get released.
Europe <> Asia On Oneworld Partner Business Class: 75k Miles One Way
Booking partner flights between Europe and Asia can also prove to be an incredibly fruitful effort. This route only costs 75,000 AA miles each way for a flight that is well over 12 hours. Notably, it should be a bit easier to actually use your AA miles on this route since not many Americans are flying this, so there are less people with this many AA miles competing for the limited number of seats on this route.
Conclusion
Citi’s exclusive agreement with American Airlines has the potential to dramatically enhance the ThankYou Rewards program. While we’ll likely need to wait until 2026 for AAdvantage to become a transfer partner, this development is worth getting excited about. AAdvantage miles are among the best for international premium cabin redemptions, and having a way to transfer Citi points into the program would make it significantly easier to earn and use them.
For now, we recommend keeping an eye on this development and considering ways to prepare—whether that’s strategizing to earn more Citi ThankYou points or learning how to maximize AAdvantage miles.
Stay tuned for updates, and as always, Roame will help you find and book the best deals with your points and miles!
