Yikes: Citi ThankYou Rewards devalues Emirates Skywards point transfers

An amazing announcement sent to Thank you Citi You’ll be grateful for the reward The member credit card program has announced a devaluation of one of the 20 airlines and hotel transfer partners. Emirates Skyward.

the current, City Strata Premium Card (look Fees and fees) Cardholders can transfer thanks reward points to Skywards at a 1:1 rate. However, the transfer rate will fall by 20% from July 27th. This means getting a value of 800 miles for every 1,000 thanks points transferred to the Emirates.

Underestimation is by no means positive, but could this move lead to a larger trend in other credit card programs that follow?

Related: City Transfer Partners: Maximize your appreciation points with these loyalty programs

City lowers Emirate Skyward Point Transfer

As mentioned above, if you have a City reward card, transferring points to Emirates will not give you a 1:1 transfer rate. Instead, you’ll receive just 800 Skywards miles for every 1,000 thanks reward points you forward. Currently, the transfer rate is 5:4.

But Emirates has been underrated in a series Over the past few years, we’ve added high extras to business and first class award flights, but there are still some sweet spots. in particular, Emirates will fly two fifth Fridom routes From the US to Europe: from John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) in New York City to Milan Malpensa Airport (MXP) and Newar Liberty International Airport (EWR) to Athens International Airport (ATH) in Greece.

You can book an economy flight from JFK to MXP to MXP for just 17,500 miles plus $54 taxes and fees plus $54 taxes and fees plus $30,000 miles from EWR. These are great deals for travel in Europe with low fuel charges compared to other transatlantic award flights.

Therefore, with the latest devaluation of City’s partnership with Emirates, instead of transferring 18,000 thanks points to book a flight of awards from JFK to MXP, you will need to transfer 22,000 points.

Fortunately, Emirates is also a transfer partner. American Express Membership Rewards, Bilt’s reward, Capital 1 mile and Track the ultimate rewardAll of these credit card partner programs will be transferred to Skywards at a 1:1 rate to Emirates.

So if you want to book three round-trip economy flights from New York to Italy, you can do that Welcome bonus for one card – Save thousands of dollars.

Do credit card companies follow Citi’s lead?

A value-loss program is never a good thing, but it’s even more concerning whether other credit card companies, airlines, or hotel partners follow suit. Rather than using one airline or hotel co-brand card to put eggs in one basket, leveraging the flexibility of your travel reward card is key to gaining great value in points and miles.

As credit card fees continue to rise, card partnerships with airlines and hotels will end, and program devaluations will become more frequent. Can a cut in transfer rates between partners be the following trend? I think I’ll have to wait and see.