Citibank upgrading fee free Gold to fee free Platinum

[wandering_fred]

I'll not hold my breath waiting for my Gold Citivisa account to be upgraded since it is a New York rather than Oz account.......

Fred

 

[Cynicor]

So my new card has come through and been activated (I think. Haven't tried it yet...)but the number hasn't changed on my citibank online log in.

Has anyone else got their new card entered under the old log-in or do you need to make a new account again?

As my card was cancelled once because I used it in Singapore, I'm worried I will make a new account only to have it cancelled in Nov after my short China trip. Their site makes me absolutely love the American Express one, which seems to work 99% of the time.

Jon

 

[jenno]

Fee free platinum? not bad at all! I had Citibank gold (normal fee-paying) and they kept sending me invitations to upgrade which I ignored. Then in Oct last year they gave up and just sent me the same thing - a new platinum card in the mail with a letter saying that it will be for the same fee as i always paid with the gold card (except in my case $119). The annual fee date came around in May and sure enough they did correctly charge $119. When I confirmed with them on the phone they said it would always be $119.

better than $250, but not as good as a fee-free platinum!

anyone know why they make higher fees off platinum? and how much?

 

[StevePER]

Has anyone else got their new card entered under the old log-in or do you need to make a new account again?

On the login page it says Recently upgraded and having trouble signing on? If so you may need to create a new User ID and Password.

 

[Cynicor]

That's true, and while I read the linked page, I don't have any trouble logging on. Hence the question. Thanks for the quick reply though.

Jon

 

[Alanslegal]

I also got the offer to upgrade to CB Platinum for the same cost as the CB Gold card - which is $0.

Looks I'll be taking up this offer however in the event Citibank unilaterally decides to add on any yearly fees in the future - I will cancel this card.

 

[oz_mark]

If the RBA gets its way, you may have another problem, and this is with premium cards generally.

They are looking at a further watering down of the "Honour All Cards" rule so that merchants can elect to decline scheme cards that have higher fees than others. It seems this would allow merchants to decline a platinum card, but still accept the non-premium cards. Of course, Visa and Mastercard are less than amused by this proposal, so maybe the alternative of surcharging more for premium cards will come to pass.

If that happens, we may all be downgrading our cards!

 

[gregff]

I think "premium cards" include all international cards, and also affinity cards. Affinity cards include cards such as qantas brand (ANZ), bp citibank mc, and a whole host of other cards. Premium cards are just the platinum ones but are much more ubiquitous than one imagines.

 

[MDC]

Looks like they are upgrading fee free Silver cards too. My platinum arrived in the mail this week.

Something seems a bit fishy. I can understand Gold to Platinum but Silver to Platinum?? I can also understand a high spending Silver to Platinum upgrade, but my spend on the Silver is only 5k pa.

MDC

 

[NM]

Looks like they are upgrading fee free Silver cards too. My platinum arrived in the mail this week.

Something seems a bit fishy. I can understand Gold to Platinum but Silver to Platinum?? I can also understand a high spending Silver to Platinum upgrade, but my spend on the Silver is only 5k pa.

MDC

Simplifying their portfolio of products, perhaps?

So they earn more in "premium" transaction fees from a Plat card than from a Gold or Silver card?

 

[oz_mark]

Looks like they are upgrading fee free Silver cards too. My platinum arrived in the mail this week.

Since they are hading out fee free plat cards I think I will give my remaining Citibank accounts the bullet! No sense me subsidising you lot (They were on their last legs anyway, but this now gives me an excuse when I they ask why I am closing the account!)

 

[johnmc]

Just received my new card today and rang the 1300 number. Spoke to a lady in the Phillipines who confirmed it would still be free. Told me a new pin would arrive in a few days and everything will continue althoug it will be necessary to re-register on line to access account. I knew my old card number of by heart and now will have to learn a new one (curses)

 

[kamchatsky]

Well I have not yet received the offer to upgrade to Platinum card. So I maybe I should be jealous?!

Anyway I am happy with the card I have (which is Gold) ...... I am just worried that if I get the Platinum instead (if ever I get the offer) then some merchants will reject the card, and I need another Visa/Mastercard for non-Platinum V/MC merchants?!

 

[oz_mark]

Anyway I am happy with the card I have (which is Gold) ...... I am just worried that if I get the Platinum instead (if ever I get the offer) then some merchants will reject the card, and I need another Visa/Mastercard for non-Platinum V/MC merchants?!

Don't know that there are any such merchants at the moment, but the RBA is pushing for that option to be available.

 

[CreditsRUs]

Has anyone got the free upgrade on a Visa card type???

My sister-in-law has the upgrade from Mastercard gold to Platinum and she spends less than $1000 pa!

 

[pauly7]

Has anyone got the free upgrade on a Visa card type???

My sister-in-law has the upgrade from Mastercard gold to Platinum and she spends less than $1000 pa!

Yep I got the offer on Visa...

 

[pauly7]

I received my "FREE" out of the blue platinum card today to supposedly upgrade my "no annual fee EVER" gold card.

I think everyone needs to tread carefully before upgrading.

I checked out the original offer on the gold card I signed up to. The fine print relating to "no annual fee EVER" said "No annual fee will be charged on your credit card account for the life YOUR ACCOUNT REMAINS OPEN"

If you look carefully, you will see that the account number is different from the gold card to the platinum card.

I am no lawyer, but in my view this could technically mean by upgrading you have closed your gold card account and opened your new platinum card account thereby canceling the fee free offer and opening up the ability for Citibank to charge an annual fee in the future.

I will ring Citibank to verify.

Interesting pick up.... what did they say?

 

[Bali Belly]

This is all very interesting as i have just has my plat for 3 months under the old fee free for first year wounder what will happen next year also any additional cards i pay extra for maybe time to ring and ask the question

 

[deepakabc]

how do i get free offer from citi bank? i applied gold card about 4 months ago and i m paying about 119$ per year .....

 

[spa]

hmm.. yeah, i too just received a free-free platinum visa in the mail too.... will be interesting to see how this thread goes...