One of the things that I am always surprised with is how long it takes to transfer points between programs. I totally get it that IT is hard, but, seriously, this isn’t rocket science. So when I submitted a request to transfer Citi Thank You Points to Etihad Guest a few weeks ago, I was being overly optimistic to hope to book a trip a few days later.

You see, I’m spoiled. I’m used to transferring Chase Ultimate Rewards Points to Hyatt or United, where it is instantaneous. 

How Long Does it Take to Transfer Citi Thank You Points to Etihad Guest?

Of course, before making the transfer to Etihad Guest, I did some research. On Twitter, I learned that it could take 5-6 days, however, @Roar-Singh stated that he thought it was every Monday or Tuesday. Was there a lead time to be “queued” for Monday or Tuesday. 

Both Lucky and The Points Guy further confirmed that it could take as many as 6 days. I was hoping for quicker, but, it was good to have a baseline for how long I should expect it to take. I already had it in my mind that there was a chance they might not make it in time to book my desired award on Royal Air Maroc.

I initially put in the transfer on 22 July, it was a Saturday evening. I saw the points were in fact taken out of my Thank You Points account on the same day. I then started religiously checking my account every single day for the next 2 weeks. Every day, hoping to see the points show up.

It was not until I received an e-mail on 7 August that the points showed up in my Etihad Guest account. 16 days later! 

Finally, I had 88,000 Etihad Guest miles in my account.

Wrapping Up

I think the bottom line here, is that not all points transfers can be quick. Upon further research, I found that there was also a known issue with transferring Citi Thank You Points to Flying Blue nearly the same time. Overall though, treat this as a cautionary tale – transfer your points early if you know what you want. 

Have you tried to transfer Citi Thank You Points to Etihad Guest? Share your experience in the comments.