Who else still holds the Citibank Free For Life Premier Card?

[RAM]

Not so sure about NAB wanting to cancel this card (fee-free certainly an issue) since they keep offering lucrative V points offers to take up an new identical (annual fee costing) Citi Mastercard with 100K VFF points for $8k spend in 1st 3 months.

Still offering the two Priority Pass visits per year as well. Shame they discontinued the supplementary cards getting the 2 visits as well (many years back now).

Suggests that NAB are going to keep the brand alive a while yet.

 

[MELso]

Nah - they're down to close the Citi brand by the end of the year. See page 59 here: https://www.nab.com.au/content/dam/...4-full-year-results-investor-presentation.pdf

(Hopefully, they'll keep offering compelling credit cards once they do shutter the Citi brand, but I doubt it.)

 

[oz_mark]

Not so sure about NAB wanting to cancel this card (fee-free certainly an issue) since they keep offering lucrative V points offers to take up an new identical (annual fee costing) Citi Mastercard with 100K VFF points for $8k spend in 1st 3 months.

Still offering the two Priority Pass visits per year as well. Shame they discontinued the supplementary cards getting the 2 visits as well (many years back now).

Suggests that NAB are going to keep the brand alive a while yet.

Nah, they're just running late with the new unsecured lending platform, and were able to get an extension from Citi to use the brand a bit longer.

Given the issues they had with the 86400 migration, they are just being a bit careful.

 

[RAM]

Nah - they're down to close the Citi brand by the end of the year. See page 59 here: https://www.nab.com.au/content/dam/...4-full-year-results-investor-presentation.pdf

(Hopefully, they'll keep offering compelling credit cards once they do shutter the Citi brand, but I doubt it.)

Seems counter-intuitive to keep advertising to expand the Citibank mastercard product only to 'hope' to migrate it to NAB in less than a year. great way to help people justify the churning for points offers!

 

[MELso]

Seems counter-intuitive to keep advertising to expand the Citibank mastercard product only to 'hope' to migrate it to NAB in less than a year. great way to help people justify the churning for points offers!

It brings in the customers though (I suspect churners are only a small proportion of people applying for cards.)

I'm hoping Citi sticks around until November. After I got kiboshed for a Prestige card last week (I think my large Ready Credit facility with a large balance transfer killed off my application), I'm holding fire until November to try and get a Citi Clear card once I shut down my Ready Credit facility. Will balance transfer as much of my mortgage as I can.

 

[Brissy1]

Seems counter-intuitive to keep advertising to expand the Citibank mastercard product only to 'hope' to migrate it to NAB in less than a year. great way to help people justify the churning for points offers!

Managers kpi's linked to now accounts?

 

[Legoman]

The value-stripping of the FFFL Premier cards continue unabated. Not that this is a surprise to anyone, but it started (arguably) with the conversion from 55 to 44 interest free days, then ending the fee free PayAll lark, now it's halving the included travel insurances. How long before the fee free status is revoked and we're all told we're now going to have to pay $300 annual fee to keep this mostly worthless watered down card?

To be honest, the insurances I couldn't care less about. With the USA turning shockingly quickly into an authoritarian regime devoid of due process and effectively lawless, there is absolutely no chance of me travelling anywhere that involves even the briefest stopover in any US administered territory, so travel insurance is useless anyway.

I've largely stopped using the card altogether now anyway since the drop from 55 to 44 day. The loss of 11 days interest free makes it not the optimum card to use unless there's a cashback offer I wish to take advantage of. Even the cashback offers have completely dried up for major retailers too. There used to be cashbacks for Ampol, Dan Murphys, Woolworths, BP etc. Haven't seen any of them for a long time now. Only cashbacks for weird fly-by-night popup Temu fashion stores no-one's ever heard of that are located at least 1000km away from where you live.

I suspect that by the time NAB effectively kill the card stone dead with an annual fee, there will be very few holders left who actually care and stopped using it long ago anyway.

 

[RAM]

Despite the reduction in benefits - given that it is free and gives me two Priority Pass visits a year amongst other remaining benefits: It still travels in my wallet. I do like being able to warehouse points for Singapore Airlines instead of indirectly through Velocity to SIA.

The mobile phone screen insurance is also a nice freebie (must remember to get around to lodging the claim).

 

[Chicken]

The value-stripping of the FFFL Premier cards continue unabated.

I disagree with this assessment at this stage.

it started (arguably) with the conversion from 55 to 44 interest free days

Um, like, who cares?

If I spend $10000 every month, and it's 10 days difference, Australian Unity Freedom Saver is offering 4.85% unconditional, that's like $13 a month difference? Is my calculation correct?

then ending the fee free PayAll lark

1: Which other credit card in Australia offers such a feature?
2: It was a rot, by us. We were getting thousands of dollars of free money, and you complain that it's being removed? Come on, seriously.

now it's halving the included travel insurances

Not sure about that.
- death benefit was $25k for spouse, but $50k from July. That's an increase in benefit
- qualification or activation still the same
- disabled is big cut, from $300k to $50k (but shouldn't you have life and permanent disability insurance anyway?)
- international delay, was $475 after 6 hours, max $1100; after July $500 after 6 hours, max $2000. So it's an increase (to cover inflation?)
- lost luggage, cut from $16k to $15k
- international luggage delay $500 same as before
- rental car, benefits were international was $2750 domestic $2250, now $10k regardless overseas or within Australia

This card also has domestic travel insurance.

1 - The only other card which has no fee and comes with insurance is Bendigo, and how many people lost 10 years of their life expectancies just because of the application process?
2 - How many credit cards, regardless of the annual fee, comes with domestic travel insurance?
3 - How many credit cards on the market which includes car rental?

How long before the fee free status is revoked

How many years has this idea been flogged around now? Sorry but this assumption is just getting old

To be honest, the insurances I couldn't care less about. With the USA turning shockingly quickly into an authoritarian regime

- The insurance is worldwide, not just for USA (well, other than countries excluded, like my favourite destination of DPRK)
- What does USA going down the toilet have anything to do with this card???

so travel insurance is useless anyway.

This insurance is valid worldwide.

I think you need to calm down.

 

[Legoman]

I disagree with this assessment at this stage.

That's fine, you're allowed to disagree

Um, like, who cares?

I do. a 55 day card is always superior to a 44 day one on every single day of the week, for obvious reasons I shouldn't need to explain.

1: Which other credit card in Australia offers such a feature?

I won't engage in whataboutism. Arguing whataboutism is effectively a concession that you've got nothing to argue, so you'll steer it elsewhere.

2: It was a rot, by us. We were getting thousands of dollars of free money, and you complain that it's being removed? Come on, seriously.

I'm not whinging, I'm just stating a fact. The loss of the PayAll rort is a devaluation of the card. Fact. I'm not saying anything about whether it was justified or a loophole or anything else, just that it was a feature, and now its gone. Your reaction to this simple fact would indicate that you missed the boat on the PayAll gambit and are now revelling in its loss so you can feel better about missing the boat.

1 - The only other card which has no fee and comes with insurance is Bendigo, and how many people lost 10 years of their life expectancies just because of the application process?

Whataboutism

2 - How many credit cards, regardless of the annual fee, comes with domestic travel insurance?

Whataboutism

3 - How many credit cards on the market which includes car rental?

Whataboutism

- The insurance is worldwide, not just for USA (well, other than countries excluded, like my favourite destination of DPRK)

DPRK… r i g h t… okay, I see you're just trolling now.

 

[Chicken]

Your reaction to this simple fact would indicate that you missed the boat on the PayAll gambit and are now revelling in its loss so you can feel better about missing the boat.

I have had this Citi card since 2006 November, as it transformed from one card type to another in the past 20 years. I think Pay All had given me more SQ miles than I have ever deserved.

Whataboutism

They have doubled their spouse benefit from $25 to $50k, they have increased their rental car benefit from $2.5k -ish to $10k, they have increased food money for delayed flights from $475 to $500 and doubled the max pay out. Despite all these increases in benefits, you still say that they are removing benefits. That's just factually wrong.

DPRK… r i g h t… okay, I see you're just trolling now.

Trolling? OK. You can read my 2x trip reports to North Korea at:
- 2018
- 2019

The reason I care so much about this, is that my trips to North Korea taught me that most insurance policies have blanket exclusions on 'dodgy' countries, based on travel warnings from DFAT, so credit card policies are useless for my trips to 'dodgy' countries.

To me, the new insurance policy from July seems like a general tidy up, consolidation of some benefits, and increasing benefits to catch up on inflation.

 

[Brissy1]

Actually just last week I tried to do a spreadsheet comparing the costs and benefits of my 4 free travel insurance cards (Citi, Macquarie, Westpac, ANZ)
No clear winner to every situation, and can't assess the most important...ease of successful claiming. Perhaps someone has experience?

So for my next trip I've activated insurance with Macquarie (by ticket purchase) and Citi (by boat trip cost) (citi just pipped ANZ as $0 excess luggage but that changes from July).

I'm keeping my free Citi.

 

[Chicken]

Actually just last week I tried to do a spreadsheet comparing the costs and benefits of my 4 free travel insurance cards (Citi, Macquarie, Westpac, ANZ)
No clear winner to every situation, and can't assess the most important...ease of successful claiming. Perhaps someone has experience?

This is what I do, that's why I'm so quick with the post above. LOL

I have a spreadsheet, which compares the insurance from my AmEx Reserve, AmEx Edge, AmEx Gold charge, Citi Signature, Bankwest Platinum, plus my 2 churning cards from Suncorp and NAB.

This is also why I don't rely on Bankwest. Yes, Bankwest has insurance with no activation required; but it only covers 31 days max whereas Citi is much longer that it's not an issue, and Citi covers rental car up to $10k now, the second best credit card policy on the market from what I have seen (other than AmEx at $100k), Bankwest doesn't cover flight delay while Citi does, etc.

So, Citi is good, especially when it's free.

I have claimed rental car twice from AmEx Chubb, both paid out no problem. So for me, rental car is important as let's be honest, the most likely thing to happen other than fight delay is car accidents, and if my flight is delayed for a few hours, I would just go to the lounge or food court. How much can you spend in food court, comparing against a car accident ...

 

[PLANT]

I love my Citi Premier card because it's FREEEEE!
Anything else is a bonus.

 

[MarthaWolf]

Actually just last week I tried to do a spreadsheet comparing the costs and benefits of my 4 free travel insurance cards (Citi, Macquarie, Westpac, ANZ)
No clear winner to every situation, and can't assess the most important...ease of successful claiming. Perhaps someone has experience?

So for my next trip I've activated insurance with Macquarie (by ticket purchase) and Citi (by boat trip cost) (citi just pipped ANZ as $0 excess luggage but that changes from July).

I'm keeping my free Citi.

Yes I spent way too much time researching travel insurance for separate itineraries in & out of Changi on Singapore Airlines and Qatar business class fares, only to have the worst happen in Barcelona last year, where my flight was cancelled and I missed my Singapore connection home. The operator in Sydney for the overpriced insurance I had paid for assured frantic me in Doha that I could purchase another (last second, extortionate) fare and be reimbursed - and then they refused my claim! Luckily I had booked original airfares with my Citi card and their insurance came through.

 

[ecst]

separate itineraries in & out of Chang

Great point there.

Having checked many of the premium credit cards I've used in past years, a significant proportion of them define a key eligibility requirement to "book a return ticket ticket to and from Australia"*

In the past decade I had been booking separate one-way tickets to- and fro- Australia and more often than not, these usually were on different alliances (and hence couldn't be easily booked in a single nested ticket or itinerary). Or perhaps I didn't find the right travel agent.

Going into the definitions of the above, many of the newer cards' T&C's define a return ticket as a single ticket containing both flights out of, and back into Australia, Citi being one of these.

I had weighed out several scenario: where I nested a return ticket Australia-Singapore, and then Singapore to elsewhere but didn't know if I had a leg to stand on if the proverbial were to hit the fan. Standalone insurances might help but I'm not too convinced now reading @MarthaWolf 's share above

 

[Brissy1]

...
Going into the definitions of the above, many of the newer cards' T&C's define a return ticket as a single ticket containing both flights out of, and back into Australia, Citi being one of these.

I had weighed out several scenario: where I nested a return ticket Australia-Singapore, and then Singapore to elsewhere but didn't know if I had a leg to stand on if the proverbial were to hit the fan. Standalone insurances might help but I'm not too convinced now reading @MarthaWolf 's share above

Good reminder, if you activate Citi ins by the $500 spend then you still need a return overseas ticket. Not 2 x one way.
But surely having a return au-singapore ticket then complies, regardless of how/where you travel after.

Citi Definitions:
return overseas travel ticket - means an air or cruise
ticket departing from and returning to Australia.

 

[Chicken]

Having checked many of the premium credit cards I've used in past years, a significant proportion of them define a key eligibility requirement to "book a return ticket ticket to and from Australia"*

Going into the definitions of the above, many of the newer cards' T&C's define a return ticket as a single ticket containing both flights out of, and back into Australia, Citi being one of these.

Good reminder, if you activate Citi ins by the $500 spend then you still need a return overseas ticket. Not 2 x one way.

Seems like those interpretations are not correct.

So I just called Allianz a few minutes ago, and asked them if "return overseas travel ticket means an air or cruise ticket departing from and returning to Australia" means both must be on one ticket because of the word "AN", or OK if on separate tickets. (I wanted to use their online form in order to get a written response, but the submit button of their online form doesn't work)

The staff said that, the word "an" means a ticket to come back, it does not say and does not mean one ticket for going and coming. I then asked if I were to fly out on one ticket one airline, come back on a different airline on a different ticket, he said this is OK. I then asked if I take a cruise ship to another country, then fly back on another? He said this is also OK, as I have "an" return ticket to come back.

 

[theblank]

The value-stripping of the FFFL Premier cards continue unabated. Not that this is a surprise to anyone, but it started (arguably) with the conversion from 55 to 44 interest free days, then ending the fee free PayAll lark, now it's halving the included travel insurances. How long before the fee free status is revoked and we're all told we're now going to have to pay $300 annual fee to keep this mostly worthless watered down card?

NAB didnt change the FFFL Premier cards - they changed ALL the Premier cards (and the other one)

The changes are simply aligning with similar changes other banks made to the complimentary Travel Insurance. Given they are all doing it, its most likely driven by the insurers not the banks.

Most of your post is an overreaction, especialluy for someone who claims they dont use it and dont care. Plus you somehow managed to bring Trump bashing into it.

I am looking forward to the time NAB will migrate the Premier cards into their own products, I suspect we will get their Signature card, and that has no international fees. That will be a big win for those of us who have FFFL.

 

[OZDUCK]

Seems like those interpretations are not correct.

So I just called Allianz a few minutes ago, and asked them if "return overseas travel ticket means an air or cruise ticket departing from and returning to Australia" means both must be on one ticket because of the word "AN", or OK if on separate tickets. (I wanted to use their online form in order to get a written response, but the submit button of their online form doesn't work)

The staff said that, the word "an" means a ticket to come back, it does not say and does not mean one ticket for going and coming. I then asked if I were to fly out on one ticket one airline, come back on a different airline on a different ticket, he said this is OK. I then asked if I take a cruise ship to another country, then fly back on another? He said this is also OK, as I have "an" return ticket to come back.

I got the same advice leaving/arriving Perth on separate tickets/airlines.