Citibank "4th night free" perk

[N860CR]

Did you get a booking confirmation from Expedia? I suspect their templates are out of date.

 

[Cruiser Elite]

Did you get a booking confirmation from Expedia? I suspect their templates are out of date.

Citibank Concierge is the only entity referenced anywhere on either Booking Confirmation.

 

[N860CR]

Citibank Concierge is the only entity referenced anywhere on either Booking Confirmation.

Suspect it’s through their internal system then. Expedia bookings would generate an Expedia confirmation. When I last spoke to them they said they were no longer using Expedia.

 

[Cruiser Elite]

Suspect it’s through their internal system then. Expedia bookings would generate an Expedia confirmation. When I last spoke to them they said they were no longer using Expedia.

I will call Concierge tomorrow and ask who supplier is

 

[Cruiser Elite]

I will call Concierge tomorrow and ask who supplier is

Response to my direct questions from Citibank yesterday:

Dear Mr. Elite,
Greetings from the Citi Prestige Concierge.
I apologized If I was not able to call you back yesterday.
For this question below, I did confirm with our team that we still cater this benefit below.

**For Citi Prestige Visa cardholders: You will be charged for 3 nights only.
You can check the hotels available in via Hotels.com

**For Citi Prestige Mastercard cardholders:
You will be charged 4 nights and receive a credit for the 4th night.

Please note that you will only receive the credit within 6-8 weeks from completion of full payment and stay.
You can check the list of participating hotels via Expedia.com.

The question I am asking is the above still applicable?
**For Visa Cardholders do you still check Hotels.com?
**For Mastercard Cardholders do you still check Expedia.com?

To view the current terms & conditions of all your benefits please visit:

https://www.citibank.com.au/global_docs/pdf/citi-prestige-credit-card
-benefit-terms-and-conditions-effective-1-june-2023.pdf

It has been my pleasure to assist you, and I look forward to your response. Kindly contact me if you need any further assistance.
Kind regards,
Axx_xx
Citi Prestige Concierge

 

[LieFlatFly]

Thanks for everyone for above information. First time using this benefits, I called twice to ask for various quotes and called once more time to booking. (Took forever T.T)

Informaiton gathered:

• The email I got say the number to call is +61 2 8225 0042, but if you call that need a transfer every time, actual direct line should be 1800 782 948.
• Conceirge say refer to expedia.com.au for availability and price reference, but after comparing several hotels' quote I'm quite convinced the price quoted is in line with au.hotels.com when I logged in as a member.
  • The rebate will get is in line with when you click "Price Details" on the room type you want (The one night base price will be the rebate amount, that's excluding tax, it it will be slightly less than the actual 4 nights average from the total amount)

So overall, next time if I were to do it, will find out the pricing from hotels.com, decide on exactly one or two hotels and room type, then call the direct line to confirm and book directly. Then hopefully the booking process can be done in 5-15 min.

 

[N0mad]

Thanks for everyone for above information. First time using this benefits, I called twice to ask for various quotes and called once more time to booking. (Took forever T.T)

Informaiton gathered:

• The email I got say the number to call is +61 2 8225 0042, but if you call that need a transfer every time, actual direct line should be 1800 782 948.
• Conceirge say refer to expedia.com.au for availability and price reference, but after comparing several hotels' quote I'm quite convinced the price quoted is in line with au.hotels.com when I logged in as a member.
  • The rebate will get is in line with when you click "Price Details" on the room type you want (The one night base price will be the rebate amount, that's excluding tax, it it will be slightly less than the actual 4 nights average from the total amount)

So overall, next time if I were to do it, will find out the pricing from hotels.com, decide on exactly one or two hotels and room type, then call the direct line to confirm and book directly. Then hopefully the booking process can be done in 5-15 min.

it's probably quicker if you send the hotels and details over email first. Then call after you get the automated email with your reference number.

 

[Hunter4vr]

it's probably quicker if you send the hotels and details over email first. Then call after you get the automated email with your reference number.

Yeah, this is what I've done a few weeks ago and it worked well. I've just sent a list of hotels to the concierge email who gave me the total pricing for each option and the 4th night rebate amount. Much easier than trying to get pricing for 5+ hotels over the phone.

 

[furiousmango]

Just got an email from Citi - they're changing the benefit to be through Luxury Escapes as the portal and capping at $1,000 per redemption as of June 1st but probably an easier experience than the process now

 

[Kscf]

Just got an email from Citi - they're changing the benefit to be through Luxury Escapes as the portal and capping at $1,000 per redemption as of June 1st but probably an easier experience than the process now

Downside is not many hotels show up on luxury escapes compared to expedia

 

[robbo135]

Downside is not many hotels show up on luxury escapes compared to expedia

Did a quick spot check of some of my usual hotels, out the 5 I checked, Luxury Escapes had higher pricing for the same room type/rate compared with Expedia for 4 hotels whilst being cheaper than Expedia for 1. And as you noted, much smaller range than Expedia.

Not looking like a great change !

 

[tororm]

Did a quick spot check of some of my usual hotels, out the 5 I checked, Luxury Escapes had higher pricing for the same room type/rate compared with Expedia for 4 hotels whilst being cheaper than Expedia for 1. And as you noted, much smaller range than Expedia.

Not looking like a great change !

It's a poor change, given the state of the AUD too. Especially as you cannot stack the 10% off deal with the 4th night free. I'm glad I'll be able to scrape in a couple of final bookings on the old process before the change.

 

[Airbumps]

This is a terrible change - The hotel options are drastically reduced and the prices more expensive.

 

[N0mad]

Just tried to book Hilton Tokyo Bay with this benefit and been told they don't have access to the stock on Expedia. Anyone else had this before, plenty of rooms available via Expedia but nothing from Concierge?

 

[vantage03]

I was looking at this last night, and when applying the “CitiPrestige” promo code, the code applied successfully but it takes -$0.00 from the total, saving nothing.
Has anyone used this since the changeover?

 

[risaka]

That’s how it is. As long as the promo code was entered, the credit will post (usually within a couple of days) once you have completed the transaction.

 

[mushypeas]

the luxury escapes partnership is a shambles -- poor stock availability and when you do identify a property of interest, you can find cheaper pricing direct with the hotel or another OTA. not sure why they persist with these gimmick "add ons" in order to justify significantly overpriced annual fees.

 

[N860CR]

not sure why they persist with these gimmick "add ons" in order to justify significantly overpriced annual fees.

Answered your own question there.

The concierge service with this card has always been an absolute joke (much like Citi in general). NAB are clearly trying to move away from the “premium” Citi products and just focus on the money makers (ie; high interest lending to people who can’t really afford it).

 

[N0mad]

i found 1 hotel on par with direct and another more expensive than other options but still reasonably better off after the discount.

it also seems both times i used this i received exactly 25% cash back so at least they rebate higher than previously which excluded taxes from the rebate calculation.

 

[Hunter4vr]

I just booked a hotel in Osaka through luxury escapes, it has free cancellation but the entire amount was prepaid already, does the credit still post a few days after the transaction or only after the stay?