Frequent Miler on the Air - Citi devalues hotel transfers | Coffee Break Ep98 | 3-24-26

Episode Date: March 24, 2026

For many years, Chase (and later Bilt) was the only transferable points program with valuable hotel options. Namely: Hyatt. But Citi changed that with Choice and I Prefer, offering high transfer rates that made these transfers worth while.Read more about the devaluation here: https://frequentmiler.com/ouch-citi-decreasing-transfer-ratio-to-choice-and-preferred-on-4-19-26/(02:07) - Hyatt's announced award changes seemed to cement Citi as the best transferable points for hotels...(02:25) - April 19, 2026 is Citi ThankYou Rewards hotel transfer doomsday. Transfer ratios to Choice and Preferred Hotels are dropping.(03:48) - Examples(06:02) - Questions: Will the new transfer ratios still be worthwhile?(12:01) - Should we transfer before April 19th?(17:59) - Is the Citi ecosystem dead to us?Visit https://frequentmiler.com/subscribe to get updated on in-depth points and miles content like this, and don’t forget to like and follow us on social media.Music Credit – Beach Walk by Unicorn HeadsMentioned in this episode:Check out all of our other travel podcasts from around the worldThis podcast is part of Voyascape, a podcast network that brings together the world's best travel podcasts. You can find all of our podcasts from around the world at Voyascape.com. If you are interested in advertising or sponsored content on any of our shows you can find out more at the link below.Voyascape Podcast NetworkVisit FrequentMiler.com Did you know that Frequent Miller is also a website? At frequentMiller.com, you'll find all the latest deals, news about points, miles, and rewarding credit cards, the single best, Best Credit Cards page on the web, guides to all popular rewards programs, and many other terrific resources. If you'd like to get our posts sent to your email, go to frequentMiller.com/subscribe and sign up for free. https://frequentmiler.com/subscribe/

This is a Voyescape podcast. You can find all of our travel podcasts from around the world at voyscape.com. Welcome to Freakimilers Coffee Break, where we focus on a single topic related to miles and points. And each coffee break is limited to 20 minutes or less or your money back. Today's coffee break, City devalues hotel transfers. Boo! For many years, Chase was the only transformation. transferable points program with a valuable hotel option, namely Hyatt, later Billet came along,

and then there were two transferable points programs that were valuable for hotels because Hyatt points are worth a lot. So there were and still are other transferable points programs that transfer to different hotels, but most of those situations bring you poor value for your transferable points because most of those transfers are one to one and most hotel points other than Hyatt are worth less than a penny each. And so it's like, you know, it's worse than cashing out your transferable points for a penny each. Even Hilton, where Amex transfers one to two, Hilton points tend to be worth less than a half a cent each. So it's still worse than than cashing out at a penny per point.

So again, Chase and Bill were the only good options because Hyatt points were so valuable. And then city changed that in recent years because they started offering to double your points when you transferred a choice. So each city point became two choice points. And even more exciting, they started quadrupling points transferred to,

preferred hotels to their I prefer program. So you got for every one city point transfer, you've got four I prefer points. And so that was an exciting set of changes in the city ecosystem. And still many people, including most of us in Freedomimilar, still preferred transferring to Hyatt, but this was a great alternative. And then recently Hyatt announced award price changes that are coming up starting in May, I think. And it was looking like City was going to overtake Chase and Build as the best transferable points program for hotels. But, but, but unfortunately,

City has announced that as of April 19th, 2026, City thank you rewards are going to decrease in value for those transfers that Greg just mentioned. That date April 19th is sort of the hotel transfer doomsday because the transfer ratio ratios to choice privileges and to I prefer are going to decrease choice privileges will become one to one and a half so for every one city thank you you'll get one and a half choice points whereas previously it was two choice points so they're decreasing that and preferred hotels is going to become one to two so every one city point will get

you two preferred hotels, I prefer points, instead of four I preferred points. They're dropping that transfer ratio in half. So those are two pretty big drops that represent potentially significantly poorer value. Yeah, it really makes a big, big difference. So before recording this, I looked at a couple examples of how things will change with point value. And now I picked out some. options that today provide really good value and let's look at what the changes will do to your points. So one of the best awards you can use your choice points for is there's this very well-regarded hotel in Oslo called The Thief and for years it only costs 20,000 choice points per night. It's gone up now to 35,000. But still, that's a very good value. You know, cash rate for a time I looked at was

$440. So that's a, you're getting 1.25 cents per point in choice points, which is very good for choice. Or with, with the current transfer ratio of city to choice at one to two, that gives you two and a half cents per point value with your city points, which is really excellent. After the devaluation, that'll drop to 1.9 cents per point value with your city points, which is still not. It's still pretty good, but, you know, it's a significant decrease. With I prefer, I looked at the Londoner hotel because that's one of the hotels that I've used most recently to use I prefer points for. And it currently costs 100,000 points per night to use I prefer points for that.

First, after taxes and everything, about $750 a night, depending on when you stay there. So that would give you 0.75 cents per point with I prefer points or three cents per point with city under the current 1 to 4 transfer ratio. After the devaluation, though, the value from city, because it only doubles your points instead of quadruple on your points, the value from city will drop to 1.5 cents per point. Yeah. So, I mean, that's obviously a significant decrease in value. That's a place that you could current. currently book with just 25,000 city points transferred to, I prefer, but you'll need 50,000 points going forward. So that's a pretty significant increase in award cost for, you know, anything, really. I mean, doubling is, it's never a good, a good sign or never really something we're excited to see. So, so that's a pretty big devaluation. So then I've got to ask you, Greg,

Will these new transfer ratios still be worthwhile at all? Do you think there's still chances to get value? Yeah, I mean, there will be. And in fact, in the examples I just gave, you can argue that those are still decent value for your points. Choice, being able to transfer at one to one and a half. Let's look at that. When we last looked at the value of choice points, we saw that the median value is. 0.75 cents per point, but the 90th percentile, so if you're cherry picking the better awards, you're looking at one cent per point. So when you see that one cent per point or better, then you're getting with city, one and a half cents per point or better, with your city points, which is, which is okay. You know, it's decent. It's something I would consider doing, usually, but not really with the case of choice because choice frequently puts their points on sale.

You want to talk about that? Yeah. Yeah, they frequently sell points for around 7 tenths of a cent per point. We've sometimes seen it go even a little bit lower than that, but about 7 tenths of a cent per point is pretty typical when they put points on sale. And they put points on sale several times a year. And so if you look at it that way, then transferring from city to choice, at the one and a half choice points per dollar. If you say, okay, well, I can buy a choice point for seven tenths of a cent, or I can take one city point and turn it into one and a half of those,

then you're really only getting just a little tiny bit over one cent per city point. If you were to just cash out your city points at one cent per point, you could, in other words, buy almost the same number of choice points when they're on sale, potentially even a little bit more sometimes when they're on a better sale, because they do drop a little bit below that from time to time. So that just makes it seem like not a terribly good value at one to one and a half. I mean, especially if points are on sale, then you're just not getting very much value for your city points. And I probably wouldn't be transferring. I would just be looking at buying city points in that case, or I'd be looking to transfer from a different program.

Yeah, I mean, Wells Fargo, they don't have many transfer partners, but one that they do, at least as we record this is choice one to two, just like city currently has. And we haven't heard anything about Wells Fargo planning to devalue that. So hopefully that'll stick around. And if you have Wells Fargo points, then, you know, that's definitely where I would look first. Anyway, in fact, if you had both Wells Fargo and City points, even right now, I'd rather transfer from Wells to choice than from city to choice just because city has a lot more transfer partners overall where you could potentially get better value. And so I would always use my Wells Fargo points first. Yeah. Yeah. Well, I mean, into the same math here, you know, if you could buy points at seven-tenths of a cent per point,

even at one to two, you're looking at 1.4 cents per point in value, which we just a second ago said that at the 90th percentile, if you get one and a half cents in the new ecosystem, okay, but not wildly exciting. So even the one to two, truthfully, as compared to point sales, has never been amazing, in my opinion. It's been potentially good, and there are times when you can do really well. But if you could buy points on sale, I think the more accurate sort of comparison as to what it would cost you to buy the points. And so I've always found this to be a reasonable use of city points, but not wildly exciting. We hope you're enjoying the Frequent Myler on the air podcast.

Did you know that Frequent Miler is also a website? At Frequentmyler.com, you'll find all the latest deals, news about points, miles, and rewarding credit cards, the single best, best credit cards page on the web, guides to all popular rewards programs and many other terrific resources. If you'd like to get our posts sent to your email, go to Frequentmiler.com forward slash subscribe and sign up for free. Yeah, although, you know, one thing to keep in mind is that, you know, you can do the transfers any time, whereas the point sales are only available during certain times. So, you know, I've always appreciated the ability to get decent value at any time with the one to two transfer.

At 1.5, I would not be looking at it. Well, wait, just a second ago said that you get one and a half cents per point at 1.5. So if the points aren't on sale, right, and you're able to redeem your choice points for one cent per point, so you can get one and a half choice points per city point. Wouldn't you transfer? I mean, wouldn't you? Right now, like if we compare against cash prices, you're only looking at like a 1.4. But a second ago, you seem not excited about 1.5. But you could do that any time too.

Yeah, but when you're doing the transfer at any time from 1.2, you're getting the ability. to get whatever the value is at any time. I'm getting kind of lost in this conversation to do the truth. That's fair. This is supposed to be a coffee break. We need to move on. Let's talk preferred hotels. So we'll be worth it at the new transfer rate at one to two.

So here's the thing. On average, I prefer points are worth about half a cent each. So there are situations where you could get more like maybe a penny per point value. so a one to two transfer might get you up to two cents per point value. But on average, you're only looking at half a cent value for your I prefer points. So at one to two transfer, you're looking at on average one cent per point. That's not interesting at all. No, not at all.

And you could transfer from Capital One at the same one to two, from Capital One to I prefer. So I agree. I mean, maybe if you see a really outsized award value redemption, I guess maybe. But in general, probably not. I guess I've seen a few here and there where I preferred points were worth more than half a cent, but it's not as common. And so generally speaking, I think the transfers to I prefer pretty dead. Yeah, yeah.

All right. So that brings up the big question. Should we transfer before April 19th so that we get in on the current really good transfer ratios? What do you think? That's a great question. I think that's a good frequent miler question, a good Greg, the frequent miler. question. So, I mean, what would you do? Do you transfer them all now and get your one to two? What do you think? Choice or one to four? Yeah. So, you know, with choice, I wouldn't do it

prospectively. I mean, if I knew I had something I need a book, then sure, I'd consider it. But because of us talking about, you know, the sales on choice points, I would rather prospectively, like, look for the best sale and then buy some choice points. If I knew I was going to need choice points sometime in the future because it's not that amazing deal compared to the price of points when they're on sale. With I prefer, though, that one to four transfer is really, really good. The flip side is that I prefer hotels. Like, there's just not that many worldwide. Not all preferred hotels are bookable with I prefer points. And whether or not they're bookable with I prefer points also changes at times. It might have to do with how full they are or something.

I don't know. But the point is it's very hard to bank on. Like, you know, if you're not ready to book now, will you be able to find a great use of your I prefer points in the future? So it's sort of unknown, but it is a slamming good deal or can be a slamming good deal. So for me, I would, I would, would, you know, look deeply into the, I prefer the collection of hotels that are at least available today, try to determine are the ones that you would reasonably likely stay at over the next two years. Are those good values with points compared to cash? And if so, then I would think about, I would think about let's do the transfer now with the, with the, with the, hope that I'd be able to use them for good value in the future because I'm, I am likely to book

this or that hotel. It's a, it's a bit of a gamble, but I think I would do it just because it is a really good deal. I didn't know you were such a gambling man, Greg. I think, I think this is a, I think it's a stretch, to be honest. There are times when you will get good value, but like, I think that that's a pretty big story. I think it's easy for people like you and me, maybe, to say, well, you know, sometime in the next couple of years, I'll plan a trip around booking one of these. But I don't know. I feel like it's kind of a stretch to think, okay, well, yeah, I'm going to prioritize using these and only if I get good value and they may devalue. We don't know, we don't have very much history and preferred hotels to really have a solid idea as to what the value of those is going to be

a year or two from now. I think the way I'd look at it is, and this is maybe not even perspective, but if I'm willing to plan a trip near term, like within the next year, if I'm willing to willing to plan a trip around using the I preferred points and say, okay, well, you know what, I'm not going to be able to get this great value from my preferred in the future. And I probably will still get similar value out of my Hilton points and my Marriott points and whatever else next year, the year after the year after that. But this year, I'm willing to plan this year's trip around finding a great way to use this transfer, you know, bonus, this transfer ratio, I guess, while it's still in effect.

Then maybe yes, I would say, okay, you know what, if I'm willing to do that and plan the trip around the great I prefer redemption and it's going to be more near term than long term, you know, like without any plan. Then I think maybe I'd consider it. And there are some some great play. Like Rick said, there are some slamming deals. I had kind of slept on preferred hotels for a long time because I just didn't find many in places where I wanted to go. And then I got looking at planning a summertime trip in Europe in Switzerland and Austria. And I've seen all these great places that look like to be amazing if I were a skier and wanted to go in the wintertime. And so like if I were willing to say, okay, well, this winter, we're going to go skiing in, you know, the Swiss Alps, because this is the last chance to use I prefer.

Then I think I would consider the speculative transfer. Otherwise, I don't know. I'm like there's, they aren't everywhere you want to be by any stretch. So you'd have to be pretty confident that you're, you're going to be willing to go out of the way. I actually don't think you and I are saying that. We're not really saying. Because I did preface it all with, you'd have to look at the maps. You'd have to figure out.

Are other hotels that you're likely to stay at? I didn't say just, I would just do it. I don't know that I personally will do it at all. I myself need to go through the hotels and see are there ones that I'm likely to do. And if so, I'll probably transfer enough to book what I think. Of course, it's possible city will offer transfer bonuses to I prefer and choice in the future. I don't know how likely it is that they would have to offer 100% transfer bonuses. to make the I prefer thing as good as it is today.

And that seems unlikely to me that we'll see that. But with choice, I think it's pretty likely. We'll see it go back to one to two every now on that. Yeah, I think you're right. You're totally right about that. We probably will. And the thing that we haven't mentioned and probably should have with preferred hotels is that sometimes they're bookable via choice and not via I prefer.

And sometimes they're better value with one or the other. And it's not necessarily what you would expect at first glance. So it's worth looking at I prefer. also checking and seeing, oh, is that property available through choice for a better deal? Greg has a great map that you can check out. If you look up, just Google for frequent miler guide to booking preferred hotels, you'll find his map. And that's a great resource to check out to see which would be your better deal in most cases. All right.

So final question here. Big question. Is the city ecosystem dead to us? Is this it? Are you done after this transfer? These transfer ratios change on April 19th, 2026. Will you stop using city or think? of City as a hotel program?

I will definitely not stop using City. Those are two different questions, though. So City has some great airline transfer partners like American Airlines. I sometimes get unbelievable value from American Airlines, usually for booking American Airlines partners, but sometimes for booking AA itself. EVA is a great option if you want award availability to Asia. Cathay, they still have one to one, whereas Amex has reduced the transfer ratio to Cathay.

They have JetBlue at one to one, where some transferable points programs have JetBlue at worse than one to one. And, of course, the usual crowd of airline partners like you can transfer to Avios, Avi Unka Life Miles, Flying Blue, Virgin. They don't have Air Canada Aeroplans, so that is a whole in their program. But otherwise, I think they're very strong on the airline side. On the hotel side, yeah, I mean, I won't look to them going forward as like the go-to for hotel redemption. They have quite a few options, but they're all now kind of like decent but not exciting value as a way I see them. Yeah, I think that's exactly how to put it. But don't forget, they also have leading hotels of the world.

So, you know, that's one that we haven't really mentioned at all in this show because that's not changing at this point. But it's another, you know. But even that, it's like, you know, yeah. You know, you're getting around what, 1.6 cents per point or something like that. It's decent, but it's not terribly exciting to me. But, again, I mentioned this a second ago, don't forget, city does seem to like transfer bonuses these days. They did 17 transfer bonuses in 2025. They did 14 in 2024 and end in 2023 as well.

I mean, that's a lot of transfer bonuses. And so I expect that to continue. and that makes city points valuable as well. Don't forget, if you've enjoyed this and you'd like to get on our email list, you want to go to frequentmiler.com slash subscribe to join our email list, follow us on all the various social media, and check out our frequent mile around the air episodes dropping every Friday. If you love travel, but don't always have time to plan, we've got a podcast for you.

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