Reduction in Transfer Rates to Velocity/Krisflyer

[Alanslegal]

haha, no that was me ! I'm Leigh also

haha ok, thanks for liking my post

 

[lmere12]

a big shout out to daveozsydney for his words on Citi's facebook and to his efforts in getting legal words rolling and hopefully helping catch the attention of citi management. now to book a flight !!!

 

[sr81]

Let me add myself to the chasing Citi crowd. Nothing but blank surprise over the phone but have followed up with email and F-book.

Happy to be a part of the daveozsydney team as well. Props to the big man for getting this moving.

 

[CJEMNMAC]

Great news

I will be transferring my points and whilst continuing to use the card will not let the balance get too high.

I am thinking along this line as well.

Although I would suggest waiting until we see what Citi are actually saying... If you are emptying your account I would leave at least 15000 points in balance to enable you to transfer the entire balance if needed.. If you transfer everything now and then end up with a further 8000 points in there, there is a minimum 15000 balance to be able to transfer to VA / SQ

 

[deluxeflyer]

Good to read Citi's numerous replies on FB.
I note though that the Citirewards website has not been amended yet, still showing 2:1.
Call me impatient but, well....can I really trust Citi again ?

 

[ted123]

I have been contacted by Citi relations team just now who apologizedabout the whole fiasco and informed the change to the old rate will happen this Saturday.

 

[yohy?!]

Statement to Ausbt from Citi: http://www.ausbt.com.au/citibank-re...&utm_medium=flipper&utm_campaign=home-flipper

UPDATE | Citibank has confirmed to Australian Business Traveller that the unannounced and unexpected cuts to frequent flyer 'conversion rates' in the Citibank Rewards program introduced on November 1 will be overturned and restored to the previous, more generous figures.The changes introduced served to increase the number of Citi Rewards Points needed to receive a frequent flyer point with Virgin Australia Velocity and Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer, which came without any prior notice and had the effect of instantly devaluing points that had alreadybeen earned on Citibank credit cards.By reverting its decision, Citibank cardholders will be able to swap those Citi Rewards Points for airline frequent flyer points at the rates advertised when those points were originally accrued.The Citibank spokesperson continued in saying that "we expect the changes to be made as soon as possible, but (it) will likely be a couple of days (before these take effect)."We're also told that the previous airline conversion rates as effective on October 31 2015 will remain in place for the time being, subject to any future changes – for which we'd expect the bank to provide ample notice to customers.

 

[VAG newbie]

Thank you everyone.

Citibank really ought to fire the idiot that came up with this idea. Did they really think people are that stupid and won't notice? Now they will probably be seeing thousands of people transferring millions to billions of points over now. I hope they have the cash flow. This is like Great Depression, when a bank lost the trusts from customer, people will want to withdraw all their money out!

I have already switched back some of my direct debits to Amex, even if I have to pay higher surcharge, I can't trust Citi, so I'd rather earn points in other bank's currency than Citi's. I was thinking of investing $100k to get Citigold, but I don't trust them anymore, so I'll keep my money with other banks that I can trust.

Well done citibank, not only you haven't gain anything out of this, you have lost the trusts of many customers and gain a lot of bad publicity! (And not to mention loss from those compensation of 10000 points or $350 that were given out) At the end, you end up at square one!

 

[daveozsydney]

Ladies, Gents,

It appears People Power prevailed and we may just have won!

I got a written PM on Facebook also

"Hi David. The conversion rate for the two airline programs will be returned to the rate that applied at 31 October. Thanks!"

It seems the threat of legal action and the comprehensive breach of so many laws and loss of customer goodwill has convinced them to change this decision.

As a result of this, we will put the legal letter on hold (a shame really, as it was such a good letter in the end!) but saves everyone a lot of hassle.

I have also asked Citibank if they will be compensating people with some bonus points as a thankyou for all the time spent/wasted on this...

Thank you everyone for responding so quickly and getting behind this. It shows if we combine resources we really can make huge organisations change their ways.
In fact huge organisations come down to just the individuals within them and a lot of people at Citibank would also have been taken by surprise on this one.

Thanks to AFF for providing this resource and Pointhacks and Ausbt for their coverage.
I've conversed with many of you over the past few days and happy to be a part of this community...

to be continued.....

 

[Cruiser Elite]

If indeed that does eventuate then well done to dave and ALL others who have contributed their time and effort.

 

[Supersonic Swinger]

Well done to the efforts to have this reversed.

Personally, this has shot any level of trust I might have had for them and will be avoiding anything to do with Citi in the future.

 

[LordGarlic]

team effort!!! hooray!!!

 

[Cryptarcadian]

Yeah they've sure started getting the word out... I just got the exact same reply from them on Twitter.

Hi C. Thx for getting in touch. Conversion rate for the two airline programs will be returned to the rate as at 31 October.

What a bone-headed move to try and think they could get away with this. Now they've surely lost a boatload of customers, without getting anything out of it.

The only remaining question is, when to get out? Is it worth waiting to see if there'll be another 15% off deal? I doubt it, but I think we can be confident they won't try changing it without giving notice again!

 

[JohnJa]

After the rate is changed back, who's expecting a clearly worded change to the T&C's to allow them to make unannounced changes in the future?

 

[turnip666]

After the rate is changed back, who's expecting a clearly worded change to the T&C's to allow them make make unannounced changes in the future?

Possible. However how many points will you leave with them? 0 for me. I'm off.

 

[JohnJa]

I'll leave 15,000 to ensure that I can transfer any future earned points and keep the fee free card for the Priority Pass.
Already in the process of taking my everyday banking elsewhere though...

 

[daveozsydney]

After the rate is changed back, who's expecting a clearly worded change to the T&C's to allow them to make unannounced changes in the future?

I expect many of us will be scrutinising any terms and conditions changes that come through the post for this programme...reading the statements fine print etc....

 

[CJEMNMAC]

I expect many of us will be scrutinising any terms and conditions changes that come through the post for this programme...reading the statements fine print etc....

Here is something off the Citi Rewards T&C site. In Citi Rewards the redemption of airlines points and the like is referred to as point transfers....

I am not suggesting this has been changed.. Just that there are alot of T&C that apply to many different scenarios..



3.6.4. We may change the Points Transfer program rules including participation of travel loyalty program providers, regulations, policies, benefits, conditions of participation or points/mileage levels (if applicable), in whole or in part at any time with or without notice.

 

[kyle]

After the rate is changed back, who's expecting a clearly worded change to the T&C's to allow them to make unannounced changes in the future?

They sure can, but we can still complain to ACCC for misrepresentation.

 

[daveozsydney]

That must be new as it is not in my archived copy of the terms and conditions...
On my issued version they stop at 3.4 on page 5 then start at 4. on page 6

Here is something off the Citi Rewards T&C site. In Citi Rewards the redemption of airlines points and the like is referred to as point transfers....

I am not suggesting this has been changed.. Just that there are alot of T&C that apply to many different scenarios..



3.6.4. We may change the Points Transfer program rules including participation of travel loyalty program providers, regulations, policies, benefits, conditions of participation or points/mileage levels (if applicable), in whole or in part at any time with or without notice.