FINALLY! - Citi launching Citi Prestige with Visa Infinite

[exp1k]

A few questions about the stay 4 pay 3 offer:
1. I assume you don't earn hotel points (SPG, HH, etc)?
2. Does this apply to prepaid rates as well? Unlike FHR offers which apply only to flexible rates.
3. Can this be combined with their other hotel offers listed here (e.g. Starwood, Ritz Carlton etc.) that provided guaranteed upgrade: https://www.citibank.com.au/yourprestige/pdf/Terms-and-conditions.pdf

Another question regarding the meet & greet and the limo transfer offers: it says all charges must be made with the Prestige card. What exactly does that mean? The flight, the hotel? Do these have to be booked via the concierge to be eligible bookings? Or can I also use these two services for award booking and third party bookings?

 

[Cruiser Elite]

@exp1k

A few questions about the stay 4 pay 3 offer:
1. I assume you don't earn hotel points (SPG, HH, etc)? NO - bookings are made through 3rd party being hotels.com
2. Does this apply to prepaid rates as well? Unlike FHR offers which apply only to flexible rates. You can book non-refundable / refundable - basically any rate that hotels.com offer is bookable
3. Can this be combined with their other hotel offers listed here (e.g. Starwood, Ritz Carlton etc.) that provided guaranteed upgrade: https://www.citibank.com.au/yourpres...conditions.pdf IME no - but may vary from booking to booking - may also vary depending on status you hold in a program and individual hotel's discretion. I have 4nts booked at Waldorf Astoria in PVG in May - I have already contacted directly with WA Asst Gen Man and she had guaranteed me WA will honour all Diamond benefits.

Another question regarding the meet & greet and the limo transfer offers: it says all charges must be made with the Prestige card. What exactly does that mean? The flight, the hotel? Do these have to be booked via the concierge to be eligible bookings? Or can I also use these two services for award booking and third party bookings? YES YES YES - Meet and Greet and Limo Transfer Service are Prestige Card benefits - you get 2 x each calendar year regardless of how where why your travel arranged - you must book these services directly with Citibank Concierge - have never used M & G but IME Limo Service a great little benefit and so simple to book / use.

 

[cove]

Thank you for the Q&A CE.
i had dreamt I would get Hilton loyalty points but that dream was dashed.

 

[Cruiser Elite]

exp1k, cove and others - having posted what I have - who knows what might happen in any individual case.

IMHO the 'Stay 4 / Pay 3' promo is just a winner - ~22% disc to basically best available rates is fantastic - clearly their may well be better options around like SPG BRG etc - but if specific accom in specific dests is your want rather than chasing status / pts in individual loyalty programs as is our position most times - then this program ideal.

That doesn't mean you don't try each and every time - like front up with your loyalty card and request the tier benefits applicable if you book direct - gotta keep trying - gotta keep playing this fabulous game - no doubt some will sneak through to the keeper - double bonus in that case

 

[cove]

We rarely stay in a hotel for 4 nights so my biggie is the points earn.

 

[exp1k]

Thanks Cruiser!

Sounds like you are not missing your black card much. What would you say are the main pros and cons between the two cards? Anything that justifies (part of) the 4k+ difference in anual fees?

 

[Cruiser Elite]

TBH the comp insurance is only thing I miss from Cent - Hilton Dia I loved - is that still included? And CX Dia or whatever their top tier is was great whilst it lasted - but Prestige in general much better value at $0 ann fee

 

[cove]

Hey CE that zero number has always been a favourite number but I only got half off so you are a better negotiater. I do enjoy seeing how many points we have earned on our two cards.

 

[exp1k]

Hey CE that zero number has always been a favourite number but I only got half off so you are a better negotiater. I do enjoy seeing how many points we have earned on our two cards.

The point earning sounds good at 2/$ domestic and 5/$ overseas, but that only converts to 1 mile/$ domestic and 2.5 miles/$ overseas and only for Virgin and SQ, less for Emirates. My guess would be that I'm averaging just as many points with my Amex and they can be transferred much more widely.

Cruiser, yes, HH Diamond still included, also Shangri La Diamond. Of course there are also the "hidden" status benefits you get when checking in with your card.

 

[Cruiser Elite]

Cruiser, yes, HH Diamond still included, also Shangri La Diamond. Of course there are also the "hidden" status benefits you get when checking in with your card.

Oh ya - the Black Card has punch no doubt - but $4K of punch? I just could not substantiate it for my spend pattern.

What I miss most by not holding Cent? When you handed card to merchant and they would say 'Gee that is a heavy card' - to which I would respond 'That's 'cause it is laden with debt!' - I would crack myself up almost every day.

 

[petejay]

Just made 3 hotel bookings across HK and Japan for July - 3 free nights, total saving approx. $670. Annual fee justified this year..

P

 

[gizzard]

I just tried to book a limo from my place to Melbourne Tullamarine, something I did twice last year with Citi. This time I find that I am 3km outside the complimentary area now that it's been reduced to 25km. They wanted US$22 for those extra 3km. Looks like the 901 bus instead and I will use the limo for something else. Either that or I can get them to pick me up in the city.

 

[Moindardt]

Just made 3 hotel bookings across HK and Japan for July - 3 free nights, total saving approx. $670. Annual fee justified this year..

P

Are you comparing this with rates you could get with Best Rate guarantee type prices? I haven't even been able to come close to the same pricing without all the limitations of it only being for 4 nights.

 

[Pele]

Gday

I have had this card for about three months now so will share my experiences.

Pro's
- good to have a decent earn Visa card with wide array of transfer partners.
- chauffeur service is good. Used it twice for Tokyo to Narita. First car was ok. Second was a gem. Merc S400 hybrid. Was a true car to be chauffeured in. So many ways to adjust the rear seat.
- bonus points on sign up.
- priority pass is unlimited and i think it includes you and a guest.
- stay 4 pay 3 could be a huge winner if you travel for work alot. I used it once and had a legit saving of ~$300 over best price available elsewhere.

Con's
- forex fee of 3.4% is high
- whole booking process for stay 4 pay 3 is coughbersome. They need to make a live online interface that cut out the concierge.
- concierge has proved totally useless. Couldn't tell me where a specific football match would be showing in a foreign country, couldn't make any restaurant bookings in a foreign country.
- customer service is not what i would expect from a $700 a year offering. My bone of contention is around the devaluation of the points on 18 March 2016. I did a transfer on 12 March, went through fine at the old rates. Did another one on 17 March and it went through at the new(inferior) rates. Raised this with customer service and they said even though the transfer was initiated on 17 March it was processed on the 18 March so therefore it would be transferred at the new rates. I said wtf you have screwed me. I have an email from citi, my citi rewards account, and my Krisflyer account all saying the transfer happened on 17 March. The said bad luck but as a goodwill gesture we will give you 8000 citi points to make up for it. I said can you at least compensate me by the amount of Krisflyer points you gipped me out of and they said we can raise it to 10000 citi points and that is the max. I didnt even bother replying. It just made up my mind that i will be cancelling the card very soon and when i refinance my loans in the next three months citi wont even make the starting line up.
- free hotel night is useless. Have not been able to find a hotel anywhere that has a night available when i need it. Booking process for this is also coughbersome.

Overall i am disappointed, mainly by the response to them not even honouring their own timeline for the points deval. If you can use the stay 4 pay 3 then you could justify the $700 fee but i dont so i cant.

Pele.

 

[Cruiser Elite]

Pele some valid points - 'Stay 4 / Pay 3' is indeed a serious winner - but I certainly do not find the booking process at all difficult.

As for points transfer I transferred all mine out before 15th - everybody was given ample warning - it is Citi after all that we are dealing with here and to leave it to last day is just courting trouble - IMHO of course.

 

[thehound]

Con's
- forex fee of 3.4% is high
- whole booking process for stay 4 pay 3 is coughbersome. They need to make a live online interface that cut out the concierge.
- concierge has proved totally useless. Couldn't tell me where a specific football match would be showing in a foreign country, couldn't make any restaurant bookings in a foreign country.
- customer service is not what i would expect from a $700 a year offering. My bone of contention is around the devaluation of the points on 18 March 2016. I did a transfer on 12 March, went through fine at the old rates. Did another one on 17 March and it went through at the new(inferior) rates. Raised this with customer service and they said even though the transfer was initiated on 17 March it was processed on the 18 March so therefore it would be transferred at the new rates. I said wtf you have screwed me. I have an email from citi, my citi rewards account, and my Krisflyer account all saying the transfer happened on 17 March. The said bad luck but as a goodwill gesture we will give you 8000 citi points to make up for it. I said can you at least compensate me by the amount of Krisflyer points you gipped me out of and they said we can raise it to 10000 citi points and that is the max. I didnt even bother replying. It just made up my mind that i will be cancelling the card very soon and when i refinance my loans in the next three months citi wont even make the starting line up.

If you missed out on a decent chunk of points, Pele, then if it was me I'd take it further. I imagine that a complaint to the ombudsman would be very fair - and reasonably well evidenced given your written confirmations of the T&Cs of Citi and the transfer confirmations. If you're going to cancel anyway then nothing to lose other than your time.

Having now made 7 bookings this year with the stay 4 pay 3, I agree that the booking process is a little coughbersome. Some are easy and some have been hard. But I've saved $2208, so the savings have paid the annual card fee 3 times over!

 

[thehound]

Here's my latest with Citibank - I received a letter stating "In accordance with our obligations under the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act, we have reviewed our records and identified that you may have an association with the United States". They have hence requested that I fill out some attached US IRS tax forms declaring myself as either a US or non US person.

I have absolutely no connections with the US whatsoever, and am an Australian citizen and resident for tax purposes. So how did I receive this rubbish? I'm pretty sure it's because on a recent trip to the US I tried to book a stay 4 pay 3 hotel through Concierge, and with the new security requirements the Concierge needed me to read them back the 6 digit security code SMSed to me when they tried to put through the transaction. When in the US I use in a local T-Mobile sim card, so of course I couldn't receive on my usual number. I changed my primary contact using Citi online to the US mobile number so I could book the hotel.

The number has now been changed back, but it looks like me changing my primary number to a US cell phone for a week has flagged to Citibank that I'm a US person!!

The letter goes on to say that if I don't send them the tax forms and a certified copy of my passport within 30 days they'll apply back up withholding tax to my account. I'm not sure what real impact this would have since at any one time there's less than $1k in my CitiPlus account, and presumably this won't impact my Prestige or Signature cards at all.

Shall I just ignore it? Otherwise what a waste of my time.

 

[DaveB]

Citi for the past 12 years has always been my main go to card despite during the period having cards with just about every bank other than ANZ. Discovering putting spend on rewards cards has made trips a regular occurrence and never again from the back of the bus.

You never know which end of the snake you are holding with Citi have the card blocked twice the past two weeks without warning and now four times this year. The latest one crazily triggered with two direct debits for phone and toll accounts that had been ongoing for years. This time I ensured I received half the annual fee credited to the account for my troubles.

 

[cove]

Don't ignore it thehound.
Enjoy responding to your communication as Officer Martinez may get you in for examination.
I was referred to the Homeland Security by the DMV when I thought I should get a drivers licence in California.
No problem and I enjoyed the communication.

 

[diningdecadence]

anyone tried out the dining privileges "Customized experiences and amenities at 30 best restaurants such as Meet the Chef, PrivateTour, signed menu, additional dessert, and so on." (clause 3.4 of here - http://www.citibank.com.au/yourprestige/pdf/Terms-and-conditions.pdf)



this was the generic response i got when i questioned concierge re it

1. I'm afraid there is no distributed list of participating restaurant as the restaurants change frequently. However, if you advise us of a destination you're interested in we can provide you with the current participating restaurants in that area. 2. The special perks you receive are subject to availability and different per restaurant. The restaurant will advise this information upon booking.

must say i was quite jealous of watching tables around us visit the kitchen at EMP in NYC so it's nice to see this is offered - but they can't tell me what is offered! not particularly helpful