Citi ThankYou Adds Japan Airlines (JAL) as Transfer Partner + 30% Bonus

Well, the rumor was true.

About two months ago, Japan Airlines Mileage Bank mysteriously started appearing as an option to link inside Citi ThankYou profiles. There wasn’t actually any way to transfer points to JAL yet, but it sure looked like something was coming.

As of today, September 20, it’s official.

Citi ThankYou has added Japan Airlines Mileage Bank as a transfer partner. And Citi is launching the new partnership with a 30% transfer bonus from Citi ThankYou to JAL through October 24, 2026.

For eligible Citi cardholders with an annual-fee ThankYou card, the normal transfer ratio will be 1:1, with the launch bonus increasing that to 1,000 ThankYou Points = 1,300 JAL miles.

Even Citi cardholders without an annual fee can transfer to JAL, although at a reduced ratio.

Citi ThankYou to JAL Transfer Ratio

Here is exactly how the new Citi to JAL partnership works:

The eligible annual-fee ThankYou cards are the Citi Strata Elite℠, Citi Strata Premier®, Citi Prestige® and AT&T Access More.

The Citi Prestige and AT&T Access More are legacy products that are no longer available to new applicants, but existing cardholders still qualify for the full transfer ratio.

All eligible ThankYou-earning cards without an annual fee transfer to JAL at the lower 1:0.7 standard ratio. During this promotion, the 30% bonus bumps that up to 1:0.91.

How Does Citi Compare to the Other JAL Transfer Partners?

JAL Mileage Bank has become dramatically easier to access over the last year.

In the “old days,” Marriott was the only route in.

More recently, before Citi, you could transfer to JAL from Bilt Rewards, Rove Miles and Capital One Miles.

Here’s how they now compare:

You can always check the YBCC Transfer Partner Matrix to see which transferable currencies work with JAL, along with the transfer ratios and current bonuses.

So, at launch, Citi’s 30% bonus for eligible annual-fee cardholders gives you the best current transfer ratio into JAL Mileage Bank.

It’s not the biggest JAL transfer bonus we’ve ever seen, though.

Rove launched its JAL partnership with a 50% transfer bonus, and Bilt has offered an up to 100% transfer bonus to JAL on Rent Day.

Still, a 30% bonus from a major bank currency is quite good. And more importantly, Citi’s ongoing 1:1 ratio on eligible annual-fee cards remains competitive even after the promotion ends.

Why I’m Excited About Citi Adding JAL

If you don’t have the other currencies that transfer to JAL, you may not be familiar with the program or why it’s exciting.

Earlier this year, I needed three Air France Business Class seats from Paris to New York.

Flying Blue wanted 92,000 miles per adult plus roughly $600 in taxes and fees. Factoring in the discounted child award, my total would have been 230,000 Flying Blue miles + roughly $1,800.

Then the award price went even higher.

So I checked JAL Mileage Bank.

Yes, JAL is a oneworld airline and Air France is SkyTeam, but the two airlines have a separate partnership.

The exact same Air France Business Class flight was just 42,000 JAL miles + $285 per person.

I transferred 126,000 Rove Miles to JAL and booked all three seats.

Compared with the Flying Blue option I had been looking at, I saved 104,000 miles and about $1,000 in fees.

So if that exact redemption were available today, 97,000 Citi ThankYou Points would be enough for the same three Air France Business Class seats I booked.

You can read the full story of how I booked Air France Business Class for just 42,000 JAL miles.

Of course, booking JAL itself is also sweet. Below is the old First Class which I flew years ago and absolutely loved. 

And a few months ago I used Rove Miles to book the new JAL First Class from NY to Tokyo and back for next year. It was 125,000 miles there and 110,000 miles back. Steep, sure, but not compared to the cash price!!

What Are the Best Uses of JAL Miles?

I recently wrote a complete guide to JAL Mileage Bank sweet spots, award rules and how to redeem JAL miles, so I won’t repeat the entire thing here.

But JAL Mileage Bank has some really interesting uses.

There are the Air France awards I just mentioned. Emirates Business Class from New York to Dubai, or even onward to the Maldives, can price at 85,000 JAL miles without the crazy surcharges Emirates itself is now infamous for.

JAL’s distance-based partner and oneworld award charts can also be used to build some very interesting multi-city itineraries, including a pseudo Round the World itinerary with up to seven stopovers.

And then, of course, you can use JAL miles to fly Japan Airlines.

JAL First Class between the U.S. and Japan currently starts at 110,000 miles one way during low season and goes as high as 140,000 miles during high season. (The flights I booked were in that range and during Cherry Blossom season, no less.)

With Citi’s 30% bonus, a 110,000-mile JAL First Class award would require just 85,000 Citi ThankYou Points.

I actually flew JAL First Class from New York to Tokyo many years ago on the old 777 First Class product and loved it. In fact, the First Class seat from that trip is the main image on this article.

You can read that very old school JAL First Class review here.

And, as mentioned, I’ll be flying JAL’s much newer A350 First Class product to Tokyo early next year, so I’m personally pretty happy to have another 1:1 path into JAL Mileage Bank.

I Do Miss One Amazing JAL Sweet Spot: JetBlue

One of my favorite uses of JAL miles used to have nothing to do with Japan.

JAL miles used to be an incredible way to book JetBlue, particularly JetBlue Mint.

There were some fantastic pricing opportunities, including domestic Mint, the Caribbean and even transatlantic JetBlue flights.

Sadly, JAL and JetBlue ended their partnership on March 31, 2026. That hurt.

Luckily, Qatar can book JetBlue partner awards, and Qatar recently removed the awful qualifying-activity restriction that had made it much harder to book Avios awards for other people. I tested the change myself this week and Qatar confirmed it to me, so Qatar Avios is once again a much more usable option for booking JetBlue awards.

So while I wish we still had the JAL to JetBlue sweet spot, at least there is another option.

Two Important JAL Mileage Bank Rules

Before you transfer a giant pile of Citi ThankYou Points because you see “30% BONUS!!!,” there are two JAL rules you need to know.

First, JAL miles hard expire 36 months after they are earned.

Many U.S. frequent flyer programs either don’t expire miles at all or allow activity to reset the expiration clock. JAL doesn’t work that way. ANA is the same, by the way.

So this is definitely not a program where I’d recommend making a huge speculative transfer just because there’s a bonus.

Second, JAL has an unusual rule for new Mileage Bank members.

Normally, you cannot redeem miles until your JAL Mileage Bank account has been open for 60 days.

Some transfer partners have negotiated much better terms.

Bilt and Capital One reduce the wait to seven days. Rove negotiated an even better arrangement where a new JAL Mileage Bank member can book starting at 6:00 p.m. Japan time following their first transfer.

I’ve asked Citi what rule will apply to ThankYou transfers and will update this article once I have confirmation.

We also still await datapoints on transfer time.

In the meantime, if there is even a chance you’ll want to use JAL miles someday, it costs nothing to open a JAL Mileage Bank account now and start the clock.

And as always, try to find the award you want before moving transferable points whenever possible. Transfers are one-way.

You Can Even Get oneworld Status Through JAL

There is one other reason to care about JAL Mileage Bank that has nothing to do with redeeming miles.

Marriott and JAL recently launched a partnership that gives Marriott Bonvoy members FLY ON Points based on their Marriott elite status.

Notably, Marriott Bonvoy Titanium members and above can potentially receive instant oneworld status through JAL.

A Titanium member can receive enough FLY ON Points for JAL Crystal, which maps to oneworld Ruby.

I know, unrelated to today’s Citi news, but yet another reason JAL Mileage Bank has suddenly become a more interesting program for U.S. travelers.

Bottom Line

I’m very happy to see Citi ThankYou add Japan Airlines Mileage Bank.

Bilt and Rove already transfer to JAL at 1:1, while Capital One transfers at a weaker 1:0.75 ratio. Citi now gives eligible annual-fee cardholders another permanent 1:1 path into JAL, and it’s launching with a 30% transfer bonus through October 24.

That launch bonus is particularly interesting if you already have a JAL redemption in mind.

While I worry that too many inbound paths to JAL will continue to weaken JAL’s own award availability, and we’ve already seen cracks with even its higher-priced “expanded availability” awards becoming less available, Citi’s addition of JAL is good news.

Thoughts?

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