The effects of structural design on the thermal durability of Yb-Gd-Y-based thermal barrier coatings (TBCs) were investigated through thermal cyclic exposure tests, such as furnace cyclic thermal fatigue (FCTF) and jet engine thermal shock (JETS) tests. The effects of composition in the bond coat and feedstock purity for the buffer layer on its lifetime performance were also examined. To overcome the drawbacks of Yb-Gd-Y material with poor thermal durability due to poor mechanical properties and low coefficient of thermal expansion, a buffer layer was introduced in the Yb-Gd-Y-based TBC systems. In the FCTF tests, the TBC with the CoNi-based bond coat and the buffer layer of regular purity showed a longer lifetime performance than other TBCs, especially the TBCs without the buffer layer.In the JETS tests, the TBC with the Ni-based bond coat and the buffer layer of high purity showed a sound condition after 2000 cycles, showing better interfacial stability for TBC with the Ni-based bond coat rather than that with the CoNi-based bond coat in the single layer coatings without the buffer layer. The buffer layer effectively enhanced the thermal durability in slow temperature change, while the bond-coat composition and the feedstock purity for the buffer layer were found to be important factor to improve the thermal durability of the TBC in fast temperature change. Finally, these research findings allow us to control the structure, composition, and feedstock purity in TBC system for improving the thermal durability in cyclic thermal environments.