Update 5/21/25: Dansdeals has verified with Citi that Strata Premier or Prestige cardholders who have a Double Cash Card or Custom Cash card linked to the same ThankYou account will continue to be able to cash out at a value of 1 cent per point, even after the August 24th change.
Original Post 5/19/25:
Citi has sent out an e-mail to Citi Strata Premier cardholders informing them that the rate when converting Citi ThankYou points to cash. You currently receive $100 when redeeming 10,000 points, that will reduce to $75 when redeeming 10,000 points on 8/24/25. Currently this doesn’t affect the Citi Double Cash card or Custom cash card so you could transfer to those cards then cashout if you hold them.
Most people prefer to transfer to Citi travel partners anyway, especially when Citi transfer bonuses are offered but it’s always nice to have this as a fall back option and 25% is a significant devaluation.
View Comments (61)
I assumed it would hold true that in a pooled TYP account, the best transfer rate would be the one utilized
In the old days, you would navigate from one of your cards to the rewards redemption page, and the redemption rate would be based on the card you were viewing under. Didn't matter what else was in the pool.
So the Dans Deals piece basically confirms this will apply to all Strata Premier and grandfathered Prestige cardholders. But Citi being Citi... I don't believe all card holders have even been notified yet. (I certainly have not, as a Prestige card holder who doesn't have the DC or CCC).
When does your next statement close and when is your AF gonna due? Yesterday was my Strata Premier statement date, got the TYP nerf email yesterday and AF posted today for next month's statement, so may be tied to one of those.
It makes complete sense if CCC/DC will be discontinued, and Prestige will be refreshed into the Strata Elite. R+ would also be refreshed into Strata Select with 0.75cpp.
So all the old cashback cards would be discontinued, and only Strata cards with the low cpp will remain.
For those of us holding the Premier, Rewards+ and Double cash, it still is BAU with a 1.1 cpp cash out.
How do you get 1.1 cpp?
10% redemption bonus from Rewards+
This is also on Prestige, for those of us that still have one.
Got the same email on my Citi Prestige card yesterday
just Citi being shitty
Taking a page from the US bank playbook
This kind of stinks, i have the trifecta cards and use them for cashback because my lifestyle changed :(
Sounds like you won’t be impacted then (yet)
I don't think I've ever redeemed points for actual cash, it's always been a credit to card balance. If I get a direct deposit from points, is that taxable?
Short answer: no it won't be taxed
Long answer: I asked my tax accountant why it was that I had to pay taxes on some bank bonuses and not others, and I vaguely remember that the answer had to do with a loophole, where if the cashback is considered a rebate for spending, it isn't taxable. So cashback cards, points earning, or even subs that required a purchase of some kind are all part of this. But if you earned points or cash for just signing up or by referring someone else, it can't be considered a rebate. So those have to be considered income.
Many banks word card balance transfers as a type of "cash" rewards, but it's unclear whether that's what Citi means for Strata Premier in this case.
So, unfortunately, the wording shown above is unclear to me whether it only applies to "truer" cash back like direct deposit, or also "equivalent to" cash back like card balance.
And since it's not going to go into effect for a few months (August), I don't know whether Strata Premier members can find out anything clearer about this on the Citi website now, or whether you'll have to wait.
I no longer have a Citi Strata Premier card, so I can't check that myself.
I think it's for any cash redemption. On the Thank You site, cash redemption is grouped together and you can select direct deposit, statement credit or mailed check. The points value is shown at the top of the screen, and then you just choose the method you want to receive it in.
@guest_2064388 thank you for this. If I understand you correctly, this deval is different than from US Bank because I think you still get the full 4% back (Cash+) if you deposit to a US Bank account. (unlike the other options like mailed check where the 20% deval kicks in)
Citi closed two cards I had forever in the past two months, a Citi Professional & Double Cash (product changed from a Premier), even though I was putting small charges on each every few months. A bit of a bummer because because they factored into my average credit age. Has me wondering if Citi did this because they want to overhaul their TYP.
That doesn't sound right. Why would Citi close not one, but two cards you were still using? If true, there's got to be more to the story.