$250 Air Travel Credit from Citi Prestige

I have talked a few weeks ago about why you should get the Citi Prestige credit card right away. Here’s a quick recap on the amazing perks and benefits you get from carrying the Citi prestige:

• Earn 50,000 bonus ThankYou^® Points after $3,000 in purchases within 3 months of account opening.
• Bonus on everyday spend
  • 3 ThankYou Points per $1 spent on Air Travel and Hotels
  • 2 ThankYou Points per $1 spent on Dining Out & Entertainment
  • 1 ThankYou Point per $1 spent on other purchases
• Several Airline and Hotel transfer partners
• $250 Air Travel Credit
• Complimentary 4th night stay at any hotel of your choice.
• Enjoy complimentary access to American Airlines Admirals Club^® lounges
• Enjoy complimentary access to hundreds of VIP lounges through Priority Pass^TM Select membership.
• Global Entry or TSA Pre ✔ ® Application Fee Credit
• Three complimentary greens fees at more than 2,400 public and private golf courses around the globe
• No foreign transaction fees on purchases

One of the main reasons for the urgency to get the card back in November is the $250 Air Travel Credit from Citi Prestige which is a calendar year benefit. This means that if you got the Citi Prestige back in November, you’d have at least one statement period in 2015 which is this December. So if you paid for a flight or even got $250 worth of airline gift cards within your December statement period, you’ll receive $250 statement credit now and that benefit will reset next month in 2016 and you can get another $250. Those two statement credits mean you’d be offsetting the $450 annual fee for the first year of card membership and getting you an extra $50. Not bad for carrying one of the best high end credit cards on the market right now.

How does the statement credit work?

Every time you make a purchase directly through an airline company you will receive a credit toward your statement within 1-2 billing cycles until you reach the $250. It doesn’t have to be all at once. So if you spend $150 one month and $300 the next month, you’ll receive $150 credit toward your first purchase within 1-2 billing cycles then you’ll receive another $100, to reach the total of $250, towards the $300 purchase within 1-2 billing cycles after you make that purchase.

How quickly does the statement credit post?

I went for getting the whole $250 credit in one statement to guarantee it posting in 2015 and then I’ll get the next $250 sometime in early 2016.

As you can see above, on October 30^th I made two $170 purchases with Hawaiian Airlines for a trip next May. My statement closed on November 16^th and the very next day my $250 statement credit posted.

You’ll see on your statement a meter telling you how much you used out of the $250 credit. Mine also says that this benefit will reset on 12/16/15 which is when my last statement of 2015 closes. So technically I can get another $250 in December as long as my airline purchase is after 12/16/15.

Bottom Line:

I wrote before on how much I love the Citi Prestige card due to the variety of perks and benefits you get with it. And there’s no doubt this $250 Air Travel Credit from Citi Prestige is a huge factor in that because I consider it as good as cash. The fact that you can get this benefit twice in your first membership year makes this benefit even sweeter.

If you have any questions please tweet me @pointspointers or email me at pointspointers@gmail.com