Cashing Out Points From Your Citi Credit Card Will Be 25% Less Valuable in August

Updated: May 20, 2025, 8:16am CDT

Edited by:

Jump to Section

Table of Contents

Citi Changing Points Values for Statement Credits
What Should Cardholders Do?
Final Thoughts

We may be compensated when you click on a link, when an application is approved, or when an account is opened from one or more of our advertising partners. Terms apply to the offers below. See our Advertising Policy for more about our partners, how we make money, and our rating methodology. Opinions and recommendations are ours alone.

Redeeming your points for cash isn’t always the best option, as there are many other ways to use your points that can give you much more value. After August 24, 2025, that argument will be further underscored when Citi reduces the value of cashing out points.

Presently, those with the Citi Strata Premier℠ Card and Citi Prestige^® Card can redeem points as a statement credit at 1 cent apiece (note that the latter card is closed to new applicants). Now, Citi is emailing cardholders to let them know about the reduced value. While 3 months’ notice is nice, the change itself is bad news and reinforces our views on how to best use your Citi ThankYou Points.

Here’s what you should know.

Citi Changing Points Values for Statement Credits

Those with the Citi Strata Premier card and Citi Prestige card (which is closed to new applicants) can redeem their ThankYou Points in numerous ways, including gift cards, transfers to airline and hotel partners, and redeeming points as cash in the form of a statement credit on their account. Presently, redeeming points for a statement credit is done at a rate of 1 cent per point.

That means you can redeem 10,000 points for a $100 statement credit — until the change on August 24, 2025, that is.

Starting on August 24, you’ll redeem 10,000 points for a $75 statement credit — making points worth just 0.75 cents each, which is a 25% reduction in value. Citi is emailing cardholders to let them know about this change.

Citi Strata Premier points cash out rate change 2025 — Email sent to those with the Citi Strata Premier card. Image Credit: Citi

News from Citi hasn’t been great recently. On July 27, 2025, Citi’s transfer ratio to Emirates Skywards will drop by 20%. Additionally, those with no-annual-fee Citi cards will see their transfer ratios drop with 3 partners on July 27.

What Should Cardholders Do?

There’s good news and bad news in this announcement. The bad news is that Citi Strata Premier card and Citi Prestige card holders will lose 25% of the value when redeeming points as a statement credit, starting on August 24.

The good news is that this may not affect you at all. That’s because we don’t recommend using your points this way.

There are many ways to redeem Citi ThankYou Points, and these other options aren’t losing 25% of their value.

Hot Tip:

Citi has a robust list of points transfer partners, and using your points with these airlines and hotels is the best path to getting top value from your points.

Final Thoughts

Citi has announced several changes to its ThankYou Rewards program recently, and none of them are positive. Points transfers to several programs will use a new, reduced transfer rate starting on July 27. Now, the latest news is that redeeming your points for a statement credit with the Citi Strata Premier card and Citi Prestige card will offer 25% less value in August. The good news is that other ways to redeem points for better value still exist.