Last Chance to Transfer Citi Reward Points to Overseas Airlines
If you have Citi reward Points earned on an Australian Citibank credit card, you’ll only be able to transfer them to an international frequent flyer program until 16 November 2025.
Citi Rewards removing overseas airline transfer partners
Currently, Citi Prestige cardholders earn Citi reward Points which can be transferred to five frequent flyer programs, as well as Flybuys. Virgin Australia Velocity and Flybuys will remain as the only points transfer partners after 16 November.
The following notice appears on the Citi Rewards website if you log in as a Citi Prestige cardholder:
Changes to Points transfer partners:
Cathay Pacific, Etihad Guest, Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer and Qatar Airways Privilege Club will no longer be available as Points Transfer redemption partners effective 16 November 2025.
If you have points earned on a Citi Prestige card, the following transfer rates to overseas airlines continue to apply until 16 November 2025:
- Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer – 2.5:1 rate
- Cathay – 2.5:1 rate
- Qatar Airways Privilege Club – 3:1 rate
- Etihad Guest – 3:1 rate
Meanwhile, Citi Premier and Citi Rewards cardholders can currently transfer points to Velocity, Flybuys or Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer (but not Cathay, Qatar Airways or Etihad). Transfers to KrisFlyer will be available only until 16 November 2025, and are at the following rates:
- Citi Premier cardholders – 2.5:1
- Citi Rewards cardholders – 3:1
Citi credit cards rebranding as MyCard
The change comes as Citibank’s Australian credit cards are currently in the process of rebranding as “MyCard”. This process will be completed on 24 November 2025.
Citibank is not currently accepting applications for new credit cards in Australia until the rebranding is complete.
National Australia Bank (NAB) purchased Citibank’s Australian retail banking business in 2022. The Citibank website has more information about the NAB acquisition and the switch to MyCard.
It’s getting harder to earn points in Australia with overseas airlines
Last month, CommBank Awards axed all of its international airline and hotel program partners. This leaves CommBank Awards cardholders with only two options to earn airline points: They can either transfer their Awards points to Velocity Frequent Flyer, or opt in to earn Qantas Points for an additional $90 per year.
Next month, Amex Membership Rewards will devalue the rates at which its points transfer to many of its international airline and hotel partner programs.
It’s becoming harder to earn points that you can transfer to overseas frequent flyer programs at competitive rates with Australian credit cards. There are still some good options, but they’re decreasing.
And there are no longer any co-brand credit cards in Australia that partner with an international airline or hotel. All the co-branded rewards cards in Australia now earn either Qantas, Velocity or Flybuys points. In the past, there had been co-brand credit cards in Australia affiliated with programs including Emirates Skywards, Hilton Honors and Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer.
More than 1 in 3 credit card transactions in Australia already earn Qantas Points directly. These kinds of changes could further cement Qantas’ (and to a lesser extent, Velocity’s) already dominant positions in the Australian credit card market.
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