Citi’s list of ThankYou Rewards transfer partners just gained another airline.
As of Sunday, October 25, Copa Airlines now appears on Citi’s Points Transfer page. And effective immediately, eligible cardholders can transfer ThankYou Points to the airline’s ConnectMiles program.
Copa is a Star Alliance carrier based in Panama City (PTY), and ConnectMiles can be used to book flights on Copa, other Star Alliance airlines, and a handful of non-alliance partners.
The program can be quirky to use, but it’s a neat addition for Citi.
How Citi–Copa Transfers Work
As with other Citi transfer partners, the transfer ratio depends on which Citi card you have.
Premium ThankYou cards — including the Citi Strata Elite, Citi Strata Premier, and Citi Prestige (no longer open to new applicants) — transfer at a 1:1 ratio. The AT&T Access More card also offers 1:1 transfers.
Citi’s no-annual-fee, points-earning cards, including the Citi Double Cash, Citi Strata, and Citi Custom Cash, transfer at a 1,000:700 ratio.
More on This: How to Convert Credit Card Points to Airline Miles
What You Can Do With ConnectMiles
Copa ConnectMiles publishes a fixed award chart for Copa-operated flights and a separate chart for partner flights.
Here are a few examples of one-way Saver award rates:
- North America 1 to Panama, Central America, or the Caribbean: 15,000 miles in Copa economy or 30,000 in Copa business. This region includes Florida, Texas, Georgia, and several nearby Southeastern states.
- North America 2 to those same destinations: 20,000 miles in Copa economy or 40,000 in Copa business. This region covers the rest of the continental U.S. and Canada.
- U.S. or Canada to Europe on Star Alliance partners: 30,000 miles in economy or 70,000 in business.
You can review Copa’s award regions here.
Beyond Copa’s own flights, ConnectMiles can book flights on Star Alliance carriers, including United, Avianca, ANA, Singapore Airlines, and Turkish Airlines. Non-alliance partners you can also book with miles include Emirates, Azul, GOL, and KLM.
Partner awards are generally limited to Saver availability, although Copa also offers Standard United awards. That gives you more booking options for United flights, though Standard awards cost double that of Saver awards.
One particularly notable redemption is Emirates business class from the U.S. to Dubai, which can cost 80,000 ConnectMiles one-way with relatively low taxes. However, finding available award seats is by no means easy.
All in all, though, this is a welcome addition to Citi’s transfer partner lineup, particularly for travelers looking to book Copa or other Star Alliance flights.
But as always, we’d recommend finding the award you want before transferring any points. Flights you find on other Star Alliance sites (say, United) don’t always appear on Copa’s site. Plus, other Citi airline partners may offer the same flights at different rates, so it’s worth comparing your options before initiating an irreversible transfer.
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