Odd: Citi ThankYou Devalues Emirates Skywards Transfer Ratio

The Citi ThankYou program has just announced a devaluation to the transfer ratio for one of its partners. It’s probably not a huge deal for most, but I don’t love the precedent this sets.

Citi to Emirates transfers devalued to 1,000:800 ratio

The Citi ThankYou program has nearly 20 airline and hotel transfer partners, and currently, transfers to all airline partners are at a 1:1 ratio. That will be changing.

As of July 27, 2025, the Citi ThankYou program will be devaluing the transfer ratio for Emirates Skywards. With this change, points will start transferring at a 5:4 ratio (or 1,000:800 ratio, if you prefer).

In isolation, this probably isn’t a huge deal for most, given that the program has so many transfer partners. Furthermore, Emirates Skywards partners with all other major transferable points currencies, including Amex Membership Rewards, Capital One, and Chase Ultimate Rewards, and at least as of now, all of those transfers continue to be at a 1:1 ratio.

Still, it’s certainly a slippery slope, as I don’t think any of us want to see these programs suddenly have all kinds of different transfer ratios, with the standard not being 1:1.

Admittedly different transferable points currencies place different value on the 1:1 consistency. For example, with Chase Ultimate Rewards, all transfers are at a 1:1 ratio, while Amex Membership Rewards and Capital One have a limited number of partners with different ratios.

What’s driving this points devaluation?

When you move your transferable points to an airline or hotel currency, money is obviously changing hands. The reimbursement rate varies between partners, as there’s not one set rate across programs. The idea, of course, is that the various partners balance out, and the cost for these transfers remains acceptable for the credit card companiy.

So, it’s interesting to see Emirates Skywards transfers devalued in this way:

• I’m not surprised if Emirates Skywards is one of the higher cost transfer partners for the major points currencies, since we almost never see transfer bonuses for the program, suggesting that they don’t want to incentivize transfers
• I’m curious if the contract between Citi and Emirates is up for renewal, and Emirates suddenly wants more money for transfers, or if the volume of transfers combined with the higher cost is just more than Citi wants to keep paying at the old ratio

Here’s to hoping that this is a one-off change, and isn’t indicative of a larger strategy shift with points currencies.

Bottom line

As of July 27, 2025, the Citi ThankYou program will be devaluing its Emirates Skywards transfer ratio, and points will start transferring at a 1,000:800 ratio. Up until now, all airline transfers from Citi ThankYou have been at a 1,000:1,000 ratio, so this is unfortunate to see. Here’s to hoping this doesn’t become more commonplace.

What do you make of this Citi ThankYou development?