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In a surprising announcement sent to Citi ThankYou Rewards members, the credit card program has announced a devaluation of one of its 20 airline and hotel transfer partners, Emirates Skywards.
Currently, Citi Strata Premier® Card (see ) cardholders can transfer their ThankYou Rewards points to Skywards at a 1:1 rate. However, beginning on July 27, the transfer rate will devalue by 20%, which means for every 1,000 ThankYou Rewards points you transfer to Emirates, you'll get a value of 800 miles.
While devaluations are never a positive, could this move spark a larger trend of other credit card programs following suit?
Related: Citi transfer partners: Maximize your ThankYou points with these loyalty programs
Citi devalues Emirates Skywards point transfers
As we mentioned above, if you hold a Citi rewards card, transferring your points to Emirates will no longer yield you a 1:1 transfer rate. Instead, for every 1,000 ThankYou Rewards points you transfer, you'll receive just 800 Skywards miles — now a 5:4 transfer ratio.
Though Emirates has undergone a string of devaluations in the past few years and has added high surcharges to business and first-class award flights, there are still some sweet spots to find. Specifically, Emirates flies two fifth-freedom routes to Europe from the U.S.: from New York City's John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) to Milan Malpensa Airport (MXP) and Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) to Athens International Airport (ATH) in Greece.
