Reduction in Transfer Rates to Velocity/Krisflyer

[perthtraveller]

I don't get point 2 as they've changed the T&Cs to say no notice is required? Conflicting much?

Anyways, thanks heaps to Dave and the other AFF members who were getting ready to battle it out legally with Citi on behalf of all of us and everyone else!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Just relaying what the rep said

 

[mmchow]

Are people still going to use their Sig/Plat cards?
I guess I will, but obviously transfer points across more frequently.

I will as well especially abroad as they still offer good earning rates despite the international transaction fees. Annual fee was refunded this afternoon after pressing them for the lost time and stressed caused. Have myself the High Flyer Card and AMEX Velocity Platinum for the 2x and 3x earn on hotel, restaurant/cafe and virgin flight bookings.

Out of curiosity, noted a few free for life Signature card holders here but when asked about this, the rep said they don't have such product. How do one get a free for life Signature?

 

[M@rcoPolo]

Out of curiosity, noted a few free for life Signature card holders here but when asked about this, the rep said they don't have such product. How do one get a free for life Signature?

They used to run promotions offering free for life Platinum and/or Signature cards on a regular basis but I have not seen anything along these lines from Citi for several months now...

 

[theblank]

Out of curiosity, noted a few free for life Signature card holders here but when asked about this, the rep said they don't have such product. How do one get a free for life Signature?

it was a widely circulated special (on social media/forums) called "Family and Friends" was available for at least a couple years. It may have also been off and on a couple of times. IMO it was the best credit card deal ever! It finished at least a year ago.
No bonus points on signup though, but no annual fee is worth a lot more than that.

 

[Isochronous]

So they have now changed their Terms and Conditions without notice which in itself breaches point 2 of 6.2. they just don't learn these guys. And who was it suggesting this was just an error not a massive breach of good faith (yep and I can see two more pigs just flying by my office!)

We will give you 30 days written notice of other changes to these Rewards Program Terms and Conditions;

I will give this some thought, but this may well be a good reason to complain to ASIC anyway.

 

[Danger UXB]

I will give this some thought, but this may well be a good reason to complain to ASIC anyway.

I don't think this clause 3.6.4 is new it's been on the rewards t+c's for a while . This clause was my concern way back at the start of the commotion.
Either way amazing result by all concerned. These corporates don't like viral stuff on their social media do they!!!
I for one am now amassing a pdf file of the the card providers T+C's I deal with and double checking the small print...just to be sure some other tool in the back office doesn't come up with a great idea on how to save the credit card company a fortune

 

[tonkytruck]

Cancelling all of my accounts with Citibank anyways including the free for life Signature after this episode. Have just been approved for ANZ Frequent Flyer Black card and got 75k bonus points and $0 annual fee for first year so have 12 months to think about it. I'ts comparable earn rates on VISA and slightly higher on AMEX anyways.

Cancelling out of principal as I refuse to bank with such a terrible bank, the atrocious app & internet banking and long long payment times I could (barely) put up with but this was the final nail in the coffin. Adios!

 

[GalaxyNexus]

...

Cancelling out of principal as I refuse to bank with such a terrible bank, the atrocious app & internet banking and long long payment times I could (barely) put up with but this was the final nail in the coffin. Adios!

From experience payments used to be processed really quickly, and then they "upgraded" the system, making it _always_ fall into the longer end (sometimes even beyond) of the acceptable processing time that they advertised. There's only one reason that makes sense to me: it's done intentionally.

 

[tonkytruck]

From experience payments used to be processed really quickly, and then they "upgraded" the system, making it _always_ fall into the longer end (sometimes even beyond) of the acceptable processing time that they advertised. There's only one reason that makes sense to me: it's done intentionally.

I've had transactions not appear for days and days on end. It's simply not good enough when I run everything through this card. Plenty of other smaller banks can get it right. I have a feeling the customer experience will be far superior with ANZ based on friends reports.

 

[JinbaIttai]

Wow, I step away from this forum for a few days and this whole thing blows up.
As I was reading this thread I was getting more and more concerned as I have a 420,000+ Citi points balance, I was thinking I just lost 70,000 KF miles.

I am glad to see the good news posted today, and hope Citi carry though with this and don't change their minds again.
And I think I will be transferring the bulk of my points as soon as they revert the rates... Obviously "warehousing" the points at Citi without expiry isn't all that they promised it to be.

What a great resource this forum is, and special thanks to daveozsydney to getting the ball rolling on the joint action.

 

[ninja-tim]

Cancelling all of my accounts with Citibank anyways including the free for life Signature after this episode. Have just been approved for ANZ Frequent Flyer Black card and got 75k bonus points and $0 annual fee for first year so have 12 months to think about it. I'ts comparable earn rates on VISA and slightly higher on AMEX anyways.

Cancelling out of principal as I refuse to bank with such a terrible bank, the atrocious app & internet banking and long long payment times I could (barely) put up with but this was the final nail in the coffin. Adios!

It really depends on which airline you prefer, SQ or VA.

If you prefer SQ, then keep Citibank, but if you prefer VA then swap to ANZ.

ANZ black Visa $1=.66KF or 1 VA (transfers to SQ to become $1=0.74)
Citibank Sig $1=0.75 KF/VA miles (post conversion), but now $1=1 KF/VA miles (pre-conversion changes)

 

[burmans]

Well I think they will change the T&Cs but I do think they have learnt their lesson and will give notice. Well this time anyway!

 

[Eggsbenedict]

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!

Agreed, I had just gone though the process of moving everything over to Citibank card even giving up on 1.5PPD using Westpac Amex Black for places that don't surcharge due to the simplicity of a single card. Now I'll be changing everything back to Amex where no surcharge and transfering Citibank points regularly.

 

[theblank]

Cancelling all of my accounts with Citibank anyways including the free for life Signature after this episode. Have just been approved for ANZ Frequent Flyer Black card and got 75k bonus points and $0 annual fee for first year so have 12 months to think about it. I'ts comparable earn rates on VISA and slightly higher on AMEX anyways.

If I was putting >$160k through my credit card per annum I would ditch citibank for ANZ Black too, because thats about the break even point to cover the $425 annual fee (plus $55 for extra cards) but I wouldnt get carried away and cancel the Citibank. Moreso I wouldn't trust ANZ so much, the may well eventually follow suit.

 

[leyy]

that is excellent news all.

kudos to dave and the team for sorting this mess out.

 

[ninja-tim]

If I was putting >$160k through my credit card per annum I would ditch citibank for ANZ Black too, because thats about the break even point to cover the $425 annual fee (plus $55 for extra cards) but I wouldnt get carried away and cancel the Citibank. Moreso I wouldn't trust ANZ so much, the may well eventually follow suit.

You don't need to trust them to keep using the card. Just transfer points to VA/KF regularly. Just means you'll have to watch the point expiry on those points, but who takes 3 years to use points anyways.

 

[DaveB]

Fantastic effort everyone!!!
This time last year, Citi were sending out invites to Otto's to launch the Prestige card.
Maybe they could throw another party for aggrieved Citi card holders but me thinks none of us will have time transiting thru Singapore for the foreseeable future.

 

[VAG newbie]

You don't need to trust them to keep using the card. Just transfer points to VA/KF regularly. Just means you'll have to watch the point expiry on those points, but who takes 3 years to use points anyways.

At the end, the take home message is, don't stockpile too many points. Points ultimately depreciate and devalues. The problem with Citi this time is not because they devalue the points, but because they didn't tell us.

From now on I'll try to redeem first class whenever possible. Less and less airlines will continue to have first class and every FFP will devalue over time. (Who knows? If I transfer all the points over to KF and what if they devalue their chart in Jan....) So might as well enjoy it while it last! Just gotta put up with the hassle of transiting in SYD as no F service to BNE with SQ...

 

[theblank]

You don't need to trust them to keep using the card. Just transfer points to VA/KF regularly. Just means you'll have to watch the point expiry on those points, but who takes 3 years to use points anyways.

AFAIK, Velocity points dont expire as long as there is activity on the account.

 

[Isochronous]

I've had transactions not appear for days and days on end. It's simply not good enough when I run everything through this card. Plenty of other smaller banks can get it right. I have a feeling the customer experience will be far superior with ANZ based on friends reports.

Yes. Suncorp do a good job - their app is fantastic, as is their online banking. Customer service on the phone goes to a call centre in Brisbane who are always very good. Branch staff very friendly. I signed up back in 2008 before the RBA changed the ATM fee rules - pre-change, Suncorp cardholders had free ATM withdrawals outside Queensland since their branch network was small at the time. That's changed but I kept my account with them - can't fault them at all.

On the other hand, if you pay your Citi credit card from a Citi transaction account, it takes 24 hours at least to show up. With every other bank I use, that process is instantaneous.