Citi Reducing Points Transfer Rates on No-Annual-Fee Credit Cards

Less than 24 hours after we learned Citi would reduce the transfer ratio for points transfers to Emirates Skywards, Citi is back in the news with another bummer: The issuer is reducing transfer ratios on its no-annual-fee credit cards.

These cards have a reduced — but useful — list of transfer partners, and the number of points you’ll get from sending your ThankYou Points to Choice Privileges, JetBlue TrueBlue, and Wyndham Rewards will drop in July.

Let’s take a look at what’s happening.

Citi Reducing Points Transfer Rates on 3 Partners

Citi has an abundant list of transfer partners that you can access with your ThankYou Points if you have the right credit card. However, those with cards like the Citi Double Cash^® Card, Citi Rewards+^® Card (discontinued; replaced with the Citi Strata℠ Card), and Citi ThankYou^® Preferred Card (closed to new applicants) have access to a short list of transfer partners, which includes the following programs:

• Choice Privileges
• JetBlue TrueBlue
• Wyndham Rewards

Starting July 27, 2025, however, the transfer ratios for these programs will decrease. Here’s a comparison of the new and old transfer rates:

The transfer rate reduction doesn’t stop there. Transfers to Emirates will lose 20% of their value on July 27, 2025, though this transfer option isn’t available for no-annual-fee credit cards. You’ll need to hold one of Citi’s more premium credit cards, such as the Citi Strata Premier℠ Card or Citi Prestige^® Card (not available to new applicants), to send points to Emirates Skywards.

What Does This Mean for Your Citi ThankYou Points?

This is bad news — there’s no way to sugarcoat it. Several of Citi’s transfer partners will decrease their transfer ratio on July 27, meaning you’ll get less value from your points going forward.

While those with the Citi Prestige card and Citi Strata Premier card may feel disappointed about the change to points transfers to Emirates, they likely won’t feel the sting as much. They still have over a dozen transfer partners that aren’t being devalued.

Those with only a no-annual-fee Citi credit card, however, will feel this devaluation. All of their points transfer options are losing value — 6.67% in the case of Choice and 12.5% for the other 2 partners.

To avoid the sting of these reductions, there are 2 things you can do:

• Transfer points now if you have a plan for redeeming them: We don’t recommend moving points to these transfer partners speculatively, but if you know you’ll use them, transferring points before the devaluation hits on July 27 could be wise.
• Reconsider your earning strategies: You may want to consider earning another type of points or cash-back going forward, rather than using these credit cards to earn Citi ThankYou Points. That will require a wider consideration of how you use your points, the value you get from them, and other options for credit cards that earn well on your most common expenses.

Final Thoughts

If you use points transfers from no-annual-fee cards like the Citi Double Cash card, the rate at which you transfer points will decrease on July 27. This applies to the 3 points transfer options available for cardholders, providing a negative (and significant) move that should make cardholders reconsider their earning and redeeming strategies going forward.