While airline and hotel loyalty programs devalue their points all the time, we rarely see the same from bank programs. Sometimes they lose partners. For instance, when Korean Air did an exclusive deal with their co-brand credit card partner U.S. Bank, Chase lost the ability to transfer to Korean.
However we don’t see bank programs frequently break their 1:1 points transfer ratios. Some transfers get introduced at less than 1:1. Capital One launched points transfers at less than 1:1 and then improved most of those. That was huge!
Yet Citibank shared that starting July 27, transfers to Emirates will no longer be 1:1. They’re moving to 1 Citi ThankYou point to just 0.8 Emirates Skywards points.
- In a way that’s strange, because Emirates points just aren’t very valuable outside of upgrades from business class to first class.
- But Emirates is chintzy with its points, especially to non-elite premium class flyers. That’s by design.
- So I presumed they’re asking more money, and Citi made the economics work by passing along this change to customers.
Emirates A380 First Class Suite
Now we see a couple more dominos in a pattern. Both American Express and Chase say that transfers will be unavailable for about a month.
My American Express account shows,
Beginning May 28th, the ability to transfer Membership Rewards® points to Emirates Skywards® Miles will be temporarily unavailable. Please visit Emirates.com for more information. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.
Emirates A380 First Class Shower
And on the Chase Ultimate Rewards website a similar message:
Transferring Chase Ultimate Rewards® points online or over the phone to Emirates Skywards will be unavailable between 12:00 AM ET 5/29/25 and tentatively 6/30/25. We apologize for the inconvenience.
Yquem in New Emirates First
Emirates is expensive to deal with! That’s why Air Canada Aeroplan introduced a separate award chart just for Emirates redemptions when first launching that partnership.
On the other hand, their first class product is excellent (their business class offering is mid at best, and on 777s worse than that). And pricing isn’t horrible for shorter flights like New York JFK – Milan where availability can also be quite good (it has been very good recently).
‘New’ Emirates Business Class, Credit: Emirates
Seeing Emirates transfers disappear for a time from both Chase and American Express, following the announcement of a devalued transfer ratio from Citi, suggests a move by Emirates rather than by any one bank. Remember when Emirates demanded Alaska stop offering awards through their old partnership so cheap – overnight – and Alaska found themselves making a no-notice devaluation and refunding points purchases?
(HT: Doctor of Credit)
If Emirates is just demanding higher costs from their bank partners, why are AMEX and Chase suspending transfers instead of just decreasing redemption rates like Citi is doing?
I agree the actions are related, it just seems strange to suspend transfers for a given time as a consequence.
I would rather they suspend transfers than create precedent to devalue below a 1:1 ratio.
Although they already do that with B6, but you have to be crazy to transfer to B6 99% of the time.
Emirates just seems to have awful decorum when it comes to contractual relationships. In that regard, Emirates remind me of the current US President.
Uh oh. I have an itinerary with them, soon, which I did use Amex to transfer points for. Am I lucky, or are they going to undo, cancel, create some pretext to screw me? I usually expect the worst. Bah!
@GUWonder — Apt analogy. Both seem unreliable. Disingenuous. ‘Bad faith.’ Not great.
GUWonder – I’ll take a flight on an airline with awful decorum rather than a flight with a pilot asleep at the switch. Enjoyed flying Emirates in business class from Mauritius this winter on the A380, but business class on the 777 was ho-hum.
I wouldn’t be surprised if the 30 day suspension is a negoiation tactic (a temporary suspension can beome permanent if Emirates is obstinate). Both Amex and Chase have a strong incentive to keep airline transfers at 1:1 (with the exception of transfer bonuses and km-based currencies like Aeromexico) whenever possible to prevent their transferrable points currencies from becoming floating-rate currencies, since customers could just use dollars to pay the cash rate if they wanted a fully dynamic priced experience.
Emirates is a powerful airline, but its power is not infinite. The taxes and fees it charges for premium cabin awards are horrendous. While potentially losing Emirates as a transfer partner would be harmful, the precedent set by devaluing the 1:1 peg for a foreign carrier might be worse, triggering a wave of concession demands from airlines around the world and degrading the value proposition of MR ahd UR relative to cash-back cards from competitors.
Best Wishes for those seeking the “Game Changer” As I wind down my hobby, I’ve got Award First seats DXB HND DXB. Then home to IAD with a Shower for 2025 Birthday Trip.
Not all fun and games – flying to DXB in BA First 😉
This will do it for me on EK. Also, I’ve seen the sun set from the 156 level of the Burj Kalifa.
I prefer Qatar and especially Etihad – love Abu Dhabi! But waiting for more museums to open before returning
Safe Travels
What is wrong with the 777 business class seats? They recently refurbished them and you even have a picture of it. Is the soft product a problem?
Amex Middle East sent the below with a slightly different date.
—
We would like to inform you that due to scheduled system maintenance, the option to transfer your Membership Rewards® points to Emirates Skywards will be temporarily unavailable from May 27th to June 18th, 2025*.
Whether you’re booking your next getaway or simply indulging in something special, your points go where you go. To explore redemption options, click here.
We appreciate your understanding and apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. Thank you for your continued loyalty.
*Please note that these dates are subject to change, and we will keep you updated should there be any adjustments.
I couldn’t care less if Emirates is suspended/devalued/ (hopefully) cut by Citi, Amex and Chase. Their product is way overhyped (thank you, vloggers) and the taxes/surcharges on some segments are so high it makes redemptions not worthwhile. If you find a reasonable redemption from the US — it’s usually an overnight flight so you can’t really enjoy it. Its less-than-fair award availability on Air Canada is a joke. Why doesn’t Emirates get out of the awards game entirely? It’s pretty clear to me they don’t like people who book award tickets — so leave. No one will miss you.