CitiBusiness Gold - 80k points cap?

[wafliron]

I've had a CitiBusiness Gold card for a number of years but have unfortunately just run into the 80,000pa points cap for the first time - and I'm likely to continue to run into it in future years.

Has anyone had any luck getting CitiBank to remove / increase this points cap on a CitiBusiness Gold card? I just tried and they said no - offered me a Platinum card but that has a higher annual fee and lower 1:1 points earn (rather than 1.25:1 on the CitiBusiness Gold). Admittedly I didn't push too hard (yet) though. I should be a pretty good customer in their eyes - decent (and increasing) spend, pay my balance in full every month, etc.


Failing that, any suggestions for either:

1) A good second card - to justify a second card it would probably need to be free, and offer a QFF-linked rewards program. Amex Discovery seems like one option (The Qantas American Express Discovery Card | American Express Australia) - any other suggestions? I should note that for a second card I'd be OK with one that met my criteria but was only free for the first year (through some sort of promo) - can always haggle with them after that and/or cancel.

2) A good replacement card - would need to offer a QFF-linked rewards program, have a reasonable annual fee and at least 1:1 earn rate. I've had a bit of a look around but everything suitable I've found (QFF linked, 1+:1 earn rate) seems to have a $250+ annual fee, which I don't think would be justified for me (currently only paying $89pa for 1.25:1 and 80k cap).

 

[Deleted User]

I've had a CitiBusiness Gold card for a number of years but have unfortunately just run into the 80,000pa points cap for the first time - and I'm likely to continue to run into it in future years.

Has anyone had any luck getting CitiBank to remove / increase this points cap on a CitiBusiness Gold card? I just tried and they said no - offered me a Platinum card but that has a higher annual fee and lower 1:1 points earn (rather than 1.25:1 on the CitiBusiness Gold). Admittedly I didn't push too hard (yet) though. I should be a pretty good customer in their eyes - decent (and increasing) spend, pay my balance in full every month, etc.


Failing that, any suggestions for either:

1) A good second card - to justify a second card it would probably need to be free, and offer a QFF-linked rewards program. Amex Discovery seems like one option (The Qantas American Express Discovery Card | American Express Australia) - any other suggestions? I should note that for a second card I'd be OK with one that met my criteria but was only free for the first year (through some sort of promo) - can always haggle with them after that and/or cancel.

2) A good replacement card - would need to offer a QFF-linked rewards program, have a reasonable annual fee and at least 1:1 earn rate. I've had a bit of a look around but everything suitable I've found (QFF linked, 1+:1 earn rate) seems to have a $250+ annual fee, which I don't think would be justified for me (currently only paying $89pa for 1.25:1 and 80k cap).

Qantas Everyday Rewards Credit Card... 16k sign on points, 1:1 earn rate, $89 annual fee

Everybody on AFF should have one of these me thinks...

 

[doczim]

Is this card linked to QFF rewards or Citi Rewards? I thought it was CitiReward and these weren't transferable to QFF?

 

[gumpy]

Is this card linked to QFF rewards or Citi Rewards? I thought it was CitiReward and these weren't transferable to QFF?

This card is a direct link QFF card. The actual card is done by HSBC.

It's a decent card. Luckily with my Amex and Citibusiness combo I don't ever hit the 80k points cap.

 

[Dantine]

In the same predicament myself. Through my professional organisation (Engineers Australia) Amex offers a fee-free Gold card with 1:1 QFF direct sweep earn. I know other professions (eg. law, accountants etc.) offer the same deal so if you're a member of one, could be worth looking into.

I just offset some of my Amex-friendly spending to the Amex. Just got to be diligent enough to know your anniversary and get the CitiBusiness Visa close to the $64,000 annual cap but not over to maximise the points earn.

Customer service is excellent too - a welcome change from Citibank.

 

[wafliron]

Qantas Everyday Rewards Credit Card... 16k sign on points, 1:1 earn rate, $89 annual fee

Everybody on AFF should have one of these me thinks...

I had considered that option, but I don't think it's the best idea for me for a couple of reasons:

1) Given I already have a Visa card as my "primary" card, as a secondary card the Amex Discovery card seems to offer all the benefits of the Everyday Rewards card (minus the 16k signup bonus) but without the annual fee.

2) If I'm going to go for a second card (as opposed to a replacement card) I'd prefer (need?) no annual fee... I haven't crunched the exact numbers but I suspect I'd be better off just hitting the points cap rather than outlaying $89 for another card with my current spend.

 

[wafliron]

Is this card linked to QFF rewards or Citi Rewards? I thought it was CitiReward and these weren't transferable to QFF?

I assume you're asking about the CitiBusiness Gold card? If so, in my case it's linked to CitiRewards at a 1.25 CitiRewards points to $1 spent ratio.

However, I can still redeem CitiRewards points for QFF points at a 1:1 ratio (so 1.25 QFF points : $1 spent ratio), just like you used to be able to on most (all?) cards before the big QFF credit card shake-up (when they moved most QFF earning cards to direct-sweep only). The option to redeem to QFF points isn't available online as it's not standard for most CitiRewards users, I have to ring up to do it.

I'm not sure if this is "normal" for this card, or if this is a special arrangement for cardholders who had this card prior to the QFF credit card shake-up - maybe someone else can clarify? Either way, even if it's now direct-sweep-only for new carholders, it's still the best Visa/MC card out there for people who want to earn QFF points (until you reach the points cap at least ).

This card is a direct link QFF card. The actual card is done by HSBC.

See above - certainly not a direct-sweep card for me. Are you /sure/ it is for you? If so, when did you sign-up for it?

It's a decent card. Luckily with my Amex and Citibusiness combo I don't ever hit the 80k points cap.

Which Amex card do you have?

 

[wafliron]

In the same predicament myself. Through my professional organisation (Engineers Australia) Amex offers a fee-free Gold card with 1:1 QFF direct sweep earn. I know other professions (eg. law, accountants etc.) offer the same deal so if you're a member of one, could be worth looking into.

I'm not a member of any organisations like these, but it sounds like the Qantas American Express Discovery Card (The Qantas American Express Discovery Card | American Express Australia) offers the same benefits to anyone - no annual fee and 1:1 QFF direct sweep earn?

As far as I can see getting one of these as a second card is my best option at the moment, however I'm still hopeful someone may pipe up with a better second card (or replacement card) option

Customer service is excellent too - a welcome change from Citibank.

That would be a nice change :-/

 

[wafliron]

As a FYI, just in case anyone else is looking for the answer to a similar question in the future and stumbles across this thread:

I ended up going for a second card - took advantage of CBA's "no annual fee for the first year" offer and signed up for a Platinum Amex/MC combo.

The Amex card earns 1.5 QFF points per $1 spent and the MC earns 0.5 QFF points per $1 spent, all for the low low price of $10 over the next 12 months (the $10 is an extra annual fee for sweeping CBA Rewards points to Qantas FF points). This has given me an Amex card which "permanently" earns me QFF points at a higher rate than my current CitiBusiness Gold card - at least where it's possible/economical to use Amex - plus a MC that is largely irrelevant but will at least enable me to earn some QFF points on non-Amex purchases until the annual points-cap rollover date arrives for my CB Gold card. Once 12 months is up I'll simply cancel the CBA cards and re-evaluate.

If it hadn't of been for the CBA special offer I would most likely have gone with the Amex Discovery Card I mentioned earlier in the thread ($0 fee, 1:1 points earn) - which is probably more relevant info for any future readers given the time-limited nature of the CBA offer.

 

[Cruiser Elite]

Interesting reading - I recently took up the CitiBusiness Gold but I am going to reach the 80,000pt earn ($64,000 spend) in the first 2 months.I am then going to let it sit dormant for a month then try to talk them into either giving me a CitiSelect card or I will cancel completely.Unlike most of you guys I am chasing KF points not QF - am still so pissed off with Westpac SQ Visa earn rate being halved.

 

[cove]

Cruiser Elite I have tried twice to negotiate the Citi Select price down but No Deal. I have paid $1,449 annually but if you look at the net points cost the annual fee has been spread over many points.Capped cards are a risk if you are not paying attention and keep spending on a capped card for zero benefit.The in between Citi Platinum could work and you could always do a his and hers if you are approaching the points cap limit on one card.Woolworths EDR and Citi must be really carving up the big 4 banks on their MasterCard and Visa point per dollar cards!Amex is the supreme leader in the point and a half stakes with so many selling a version of their cards.

 

[wafliron]

Interesting reading - I recently took up the CitiBusiness Gold but I am going to reach the 80,000pt earn ($64,000 spend) in the first 2 months.I am then going to let it sit dormant for a month then try to talk them into either giving me a CitiSelect card or I will cancel completely.Unlike most of you guys I am chasing KF points not QF - am still so pissed off with Westpac SQ Visa earn rate being halved.

Interesting - hadn't heard of this card before - just Googled it.

Looks to be a pretty awesome card for those with a big enough spend to justify the annual fee (or those who have a moderately high spend + are already paying for Priority Pass membership). I assume that even though it earns 2 rewards points per dollar you still only get a 1 KF point for every 2 rewards points - so in effect you're earning 1 KF point per $1 spent?

Good luck with the negotiations - I had no luck when I tried to negotiate with CB recently, and I'd like to think that they would regard me as a good (albeit relatively modest spending) customer. Tried to get them to waive/increase the CB Gold points cap, upgrade me to Platinum but keep the 1.25:1 CB Gold earn rate, even give me a Platinum card (with reduced 1:1 earn rate) at same annual fee as my current CB Gold - no on all counts :-(

 

[cove]

The $1,449 is for 2 cards on Citi Select being $749 for QF points and $700 for the non QF points.Clearly if you are not near a capped limit you would run with the lower cost card.

 

[Cruiser Elite]

Cove I have AMEX Cent so the AMEX side of things is well taken care of.Just need to get 1:1 on Visa / MC for KF pts earn.I don't intend to grovel to Citi looking for discounted or fee free offers - I won't say NO if they offer - but 300K+ annual spend on non AMEX means plenty points to spread over the card fees.Cruiserette also has Plat AMEX and Plat Westpac Amex / Visa - unfortunately she applied for and was given that useless Virgin card and now she can't reapply for another Citi Card for 6 months. Jeez they make life hard.As for points transfer I think it is 1.5 Citi pt = 1 KF point is it not cove? So 2:1 earn would give you 1.33 KF points / $ spent? Am I correct here?

 

[cove]

You will end up at one per dollar for SQ points using Citi Select. All the other Citi cards do seem to have capping if you are pushing $300k thru so that is why I went Select.

 

[wafliron]

Just a quick update on this old thread in case someone stumbles across it in the future:

CitiBank recently (~2 months ago) lifted the annual points cap on my CitiBusiness Gold card to 250,000pa (from previous 80,000pa). Not due to any special request from me - just a random notice printed at the top of a monthly bill.

A very welcome change which makes this card even better value than it already was: a Visa card that allows up to 250,000 QF points per annum at an earn rate of 1.25 points per $1 spent, for $89/year (at least in my case - not sure what the new cardholder annual fee is).

Note I'm not 100% sure if this points-cap change applies to all cardholders / new cardholders, but I assume it probably does.

 

[cove]

Cruiser Elite I could not edit my June post so I am correcting it now.

CitiSelect earns 1.333 SQ KRIS points per dollar of on their Visa.
The card is uncapped.
You can warehouse the points in Citi so that the 3 year expiry starts later once you transfer them to SQ KRIS.
The fee I paid for the KRIS points card was $700.

Citi Business sounds pretty good so you could do two if you have a partner to double the cap without it costing too much.

I have asked for limit increases on both our CitiSelect cards and I have increased our BPay transfer limit by getting a BankWest private banker.

 

[Stephen65]

Just a quick update on this old thread in case someone stumbles across it in the future:

CitiBank recently (~2 months ago) lifted the annual points cap on my CitiBusiness Gold card to 250,000pa (from previous 80,000pa). Not due to any special request from me - just a random notice printed at the top of a monthly bill.

A very welcome change which makes this card even better value than it already was: a Visa card that allows up to 250,000 QF points per annum at an earn rate of 1.25 points per $1 spent, for $89/year (at least in my case - not sure what the new cardholder annual fee is).

Note I'm not 100% sure if this points-cap change applies to all cardholders / new cardholders, but I assume it probably does.

Yes it was an across-the-board increase for all holders. I had reached my cap and after they increased it I started earning points again. The new 250,000 point cap is in the latest T&Cs:

http://www.citibank.com.au/global_docs/pdf/MCG10972.pdf

 

[skeeo]

Jebus, talk about shoddy customer service.

Applying for the card, they are seeking more info from me and have sent like 4 emails (which i faxed through all the info after the 1st email), called my home phone and my emergency contact but decided not to try my mobile.

The amount of contact/harassing nature they are making is actually turning me off them as a company.

 

[TonyHancock]

Jebus, talk about shoddy customer service.

Applying for the card, they are seeking more info from me and have sent like 4 emails (which i faxed through all the info after the 1st email), called my home phone and my emergency contact but decided not to try my mobile.

The amount of contact/harassing nature they are making is actually turning me off them as a company.

Sounds like my experience when I applied. In the end the 40,000 points were worth it, but it was very frustrating.