To summarize, it’s now 20% less worthwhile to transfer Citi ThankYou Points to Emirates Skywards Miles
The other night, I opened an email from Citi promising an “Important Update to Transferring ThankYou® Points to Travel Loyalty Program.” Thinking that maybe this was some sort of low-key announcement about a new transfer partner coming online, I was instead informed of less exciting news: Effective 07/2, ThankYou Rewards Points transfers to Emirates Skywards Miles will move from 1:1 to 1:.8 ratio, meaning every 1,000 ThankYou Rewards Points will be transferable for just 800 Emirates Skywards Miles.
It’s worth noting that, besides Citi, you can transfer points to Emirates from every other transferable bank currency, including American Express Membership Rewards, Bilt, Brex, Capital One, and Chase Ultimate Rewards.
All said this isn’t the biggest deal for me. While Emirates maintains partnerships with several prominent airlines – Air Canada, Japan Airlines, Korean Air, and Qantas, to name a few – the conventional use of Skywards Miles has always been to book flights on Emirates planes, chiefly the airline’s famed long-haul first-class product. If that’s not a near-term goal for you, then there’s not much to get upset about here. Still, this devaluation is a classic example of getting ‘less’ for your [point] dollar, so if you’re hoping to stockpile points for an Emirates redemption, you’re better off using one of the other bank points to do so for now.
