Citi Slashing Transfer Rates on Two ThankYou Partners

Flagged by Gary at View from the Wing, Citi will be reducing the rate at which Citi ThankYou points transfer from I Prefer (Preferred hotels and Resorts) and Choice Privileges. He cites emails going out to cardmembers, though I haven’t received mine yet.

I Prefer will get knocked down by half from 1,000 ThankYou = 4,000 I Prefer while Choice will take a 25% haircut going from 2,000 Choice points per 1,000 ThankYou transferred to 1,500 Choice per 1,000.

Both of these have long been hidden gems for those willing to go out of their way to consider these brands that most points enthusiasts sleep on, with the I Prefer ratio (at present) leading to outsized redemptions. 

I’ve long said that ThankYou is a very strong program, but tilts towards advanced players because of its non-standard partners like I Prefer (now also a Capital One Miles partner, though at just 1:2) and Choice as well as air partners like EVA. 

For those power ThankYou users, this is a loss. Oddly, I personally just realized the tremendous value of Citi to I Prefer and have been actively looking to booking things. My timetable may have just gotten sped up.

Thoughts?

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