Citi Prestige Benefits Changes – Not Great!

Last year Citi announced some negative changes to the Citi Prestige card that will take effect on July 23rd 2017. This week Citi announced some more Citi Prestige benefits changes. These new changes will take effect on July 23rd as well. I’m not sure what to make of these new “benefits”. I think it will depend on how you  value your points earning; especially from hotel stays.

Citi Prestige Benefits Changes

• A New Card
  • You’ll be receiving a first release Citi Prestige^® metal card in the coming months. Please activate your new card immediately upon receipt. Your account number will be identical; however, your CVV and expiration date will change.
• Complimentary 4th night benefit has been updated
  • You can now take advantage of your complimentary 4th night benefit through thankyou.com!You can also redeem ThankYou^® Points for all or part of your stay and get a complimentary 4th night. The complimentary 4th night savings will be applied at checkout; you’ll no longer have to wait to receive a statement credit when you book at thankyou.com.
  • The complimentary 4th night benefit will be calculated based on the average nightly rate of your complete stay. Taxes will no longer be included within the statement credit. You’ll still be able to enjoy your benefit at any hotel with no restrictions on the number of times you can use this benefit.
• Redeeming ThankYou Points for cash rewards
  • You’ll receive greater value for cash reward redemptions with ThankYou Points. For example, previously you could redeem 50,000 ThankYou Points for $250. As of July 23rd, 50,000 points will be redeemable for $500. There’s no annual dollar cap or limit to the number of cash redemptions you make. All cash redemptions are final.

Reminder of Changes announced last year going into effect on July 23, 2017

• Lounge access
  • Access to American Airlines Admirals Club^® lounges will no longer be available with your Citi Prestige^® card. You’ll continue to have complimentary and unlimited access to Priority Pass^TM Select lounges. You, your authorized users, immediate family or up to two guests traveling with you will continue to enjoy access to more than 1,000 airport lounges worldwide.
• Redeeming ThankYou Points for flights
  • You’ll only receive 25% greater value versus gift cards on all airfare redemptions at thankyou.com. You’ll no longer receive 60% greater value on American Airlines flight redemptions and/or 33% greater value on all other airfare redemptions. For example, 50,000 ThankYou Points will now be redeemable for $625 in airfare on all airlines available at thankyou.com.
• Complimentary international golf
  • The three complimentary rounds of golf will no longer be offered with your card. You’ll continue to have access to more than 2,000 celebrated and legendary golf properties around the world with access to select TPC properties provided by Mastercard.

Citi Prestige Benefits that will remain unchanged

• Annual $250 Air Travel Credit
• $100 statement credit for your Global Entry or TSA Precheck application fee
• No foreign transaction fees on purchases
• 24/7 access to Citi Prestige Concierge
• 3X points on air travel and hotels, 2X points on dining and entertainment and 1 ThankYou Point per $1 spent on all other purchases
• Travel & Emergency Assistance, Trip Cancellation & Interruption Protection and Trip Delay Protection
• If you have an eligible banking relationship, you’ll continue to receive your Relationship Bonus

Citi Prestige Benefits Changes Bottom Line:

These new changes don’t make much of a difference to me. Having another metal card just makes my wallet heavier :). The one takeaway here is being able to book the 4th night free online. However, this is not necessarily a good thing. It’s definitely convenient to easily book your hotel online without having to call or email the Citi concierge. The downside though, you won’t earn points or stay benefits with the hotel chain you’ll be staying at since this will be considered a “third party” booking. If I will use the 4th night free benefit at SPG, Hilton, Hyatt or IHG hotels I will still email or call the Citi concierge in order to earn valuable hotel points and enjoy any elite status perks I have with theses hotel chains. I recommend you do the same as well.

What do you make of these new Citi Prestige changes?

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