According to Frugal Travel Guy Citibank’s Thank You Points will no longer offer ‘fixed point redemption’ come March 1, 2009.

This is a huge blow to the program. It allowed points to be worth 2-3 cents apiece, instead of the standard 1. Truly a disappointing development.

Variable point redemption lets you use points to buy flights, with the points worth a penny apiece. Fixed point redemption lets you buy tickets up to a specified dollar value for a set number of points.

Ending this option makes Citibank credit cards earning these points that much less valuable. I will be putting a bunch of money on my current Citi Platinum American Express (which is pooled with a fixed-point redemption-eligible account) to get up to 90,000 points in order to make my next redemption level. And I’ll be doing it before my statement closes, so that the points post in time!

Assuming the news is true, it’s a huge blow.