Reduction in Transfer Rates to Velocity/Krisflyer

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I just had a lengthy discussion with one of the relationship officers regarding the changes and was advised " due to market research we are improving our service with our rewards program and the changes will better reflect our customer needs ".... now what is with a statement like that ??


She tells me that prestige is changing as well and will be notified shortly to existing customers. I asked if I could change from Signature to Prestige and she tells me I won't like the news with the prestige card either so don't bother...


Prestige will be...

BPAY no longer
18 Jan charge international fee to 3.4%
Airline changes for transfer to VA and KF 2 to 1 from 1.5 to 1

Pretty much the same changes as the signature card...

She could not give me a definite date, so take this info with a grain of salt as I have received plenty of inaccurate information from the call centre before.
 
While not happy with the changes, for a free card the earn rates is still decent.

Would have to spend a decent amount of $$$ to get a better earn rate

Will just start using my NAB Velocity Premium card for international spend where they accept Amex. Will be sad to lose those FOREX points though. Prob earned me a free flight in J to asia with SQ.

Wondering when the Amex co cards get removed by the banks, as from what I understand the RBA is going to make it so that the merchant fee is the same as for the visa or mastercard, so there wont be the higher fee to help cover the increased earning rate.
 
Jeffrey O'Neill said:
While not happy with the changes, for a free card the earn rates is still decent.

Would have to spend a decent amount of $$$ to get a better earn rate

Will just start using my NAB Velocity Premium card for international spend where they accept Amex. Will be sad to lose those FOREX points though. Prob earned me a free flight in J to asia with SQ.

Wondering when the Amex co cards get removed by the banks, as from what I understand the RBA is going to make it so that the merchant fee is the same as for the visa or mastercard, so there wont be the higher fee to help cover the increased earning rate.
Click to expand...

I'm with this guy, for those of us on the free-for-life Signature (spending sub 5k a month) its a tough sell to dump and go elsewhere for realistically a handful of points.

Either way Amex must be loving this, i've shifted all my AMEX or Visa (1pt per $) spend solely to AMEX now - i'm sure i'm not the only one.
 
CJEMNMAC said:
I just had a lengthy discussion with one of the relationship officers regarding the changes and was advised " due to market research we are improving our service with our rewards program and the changes will better reflect our customer needs ".... now what is with a statement like that ??


She tells me that prestige is changing as well and will be notified shortly to existing customers. I asked if I could change from Signature to Prestige and she tells me I won't like the news with the prestige card either so don't bother...
Click to expand...
So market research told them we want the rewards program gutted. Is a low IQ a pre-requisite for working at Citi?
 
burmans said:
So market research told them we want the rewards program gutted.
Click to expand...

yes!

There is a very select group of frequent flyers who are invited to participate in these special market research groups.

This group is responsible for many of the things we probably didn't realise we needed (at first), but have really come to appreciate thanks to their insight. This includes:

  • removal of anytime lounge access
  • simpler and fairer points earning
  • cafe breakfasts
  • etc
 
MEL_Traveller said:
yes!

There is a very select group of frequent flyers who are invited to participate in these special market research groups.

This group is responsible for many of the things we probably didn't realise we needed (at first), but have really come to appreciate thanks to their insight. This includes:

  • removal of anytime lounge access
  • simpler and fairer points earning
  • cafe breakfasts
  • etc
Click to expand...

Yeah we all prefer to work harder to earn points and dine in those cafe breakfasts rather than a la carte... Yet most cafes I go to serve far better breakfasts, so there must be another class of researchers working out what suburb has the most basic cafes that can be used as a model for service provision...

Next Virgin will be thinking frequent flyers sat in rows 3 and 4 would prefer to walk to the rear of the plan to use the economy loos. Oh hang on.... isn't low cost tiger better than that with more loos per person?
 
My Citi spend varies. Can be ~$30k during a slow month, $60k+ during a busy month.
If the Prestige is about to be devalued, I'm switching back to my ANZ Black with direct sweep to QF.
Incidently, I saw no mention of a limo or free flight when taking a quick look at the Prestige. Either it is no longer a benefit or I need to go back and read again when I'm not so busy.
 
So basically you are pissed off because you think someone else is getting something your not? You wouldn't be an only child would you? If your post warranted a further response I would gladly provide one - but IMHO it does not.

AFF - never a dull moment huh?
 
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Buzzard said:
My Citi spend varies. Can be ~$30k during a slow month, $60k+ during a busy month.

If the Prestige is about to be devalued, I'm switching back to my ANZ Black with direct sweep to QF.
Incidently, I saw no mention of a limo or free flight when taking a quick look at the Prestige. Either it is no longer a benefit or I need to go back and read again when I'm not so busy.
Click to expand...

Buzzard - I'm trying to understand the logic here...

Comparing like for like - For ANZ Black, the visa is 2 reward per $ which is the equivalent of 0.667 KF per $ or 1 VA per $. So it's worse than Citi Prestige which will still give 1 KF per $ or 1VA per $ AFTER devaluation. PLUS more partners PLUS limo benefit, plus one night in a hotel PLUS unlimited priority pass.

Comparing Amex cards - The ANZ Black Amex is 3 per $ which is 1 KF per $ or 1.5 VA per $ so worse than The Amex Business Accelerator which gives 2 KF or 2 VA per $.

ANZ FF Black Visa gives 0.75 QF per $ or the Amex 1.5 QF per $.

Why you would change to a programme where the point earn is less and the currency buys less and availability is average at best? Given there is the trust factor due to the attempted deval. without notice.

Taking every month as just a slow 30K month you mentioned, you'd be losing 119,880 points by going ANZ Rewards and 90,000 points by going ANZ FF Black. The value on these alone would be worth over $900 assuming you don't redeem for toasters!
Plus the $700 gets you all the visa infinite benefits too.

Another option if you just want VA -
The virgin high flyer card gives 1.25 VA per $ so this is the highest visa earn I could find for VA. For KF (converted via VA you'd get 0.925 per $). I understand it's also issued by Citibank.

Also no bonus earn internationally.
 
A quick reminder to anyone with Prestige that the benefits are annual calendar year so time to book the free hotel and limo transfers if not used already...
 
Talking to Citi when the points fiasco first happened, I was told it was per membership year, on 2 occasions. Was I being told the wrong thing? Citi are so inconsistent.
 
edman said:
Talking to Citi when the points fiasco first happened, I was told it was per membership year, on 2 occasions. Was I being told the wrong thing? Citi are so inconsistent.
Click to expand...

It's in the terms.

"The Complimentary Hotel Stay Benefits available to Citi Prestige cardholders (“you”) once (per account) in every calendar year"

"Offer is valid from now until 31 December 2015. Offer is valid for Citi Prestige Visa main cardholders only

Complimentary yQ airport Meet & Assist Service (MAAS) twice per calendar year
Complimentary one-way limousine service transfer to airport or from airport twice per calendar year"

Complimentary green fees for Citi PrestigeVisa main cardholders at 22 participating golf clubs.
3 complimentary green fees in any golf clubs* for Citi Prestige Visa main cardholders each calendar year



Register for a complimentary Harrods Rewards Black tier card and receive a £100 welcome gift to spend at Harrods


https://www.citibank.com.au/citiprestige/pdf/important-information.pdf
 
well that's a crock. I could have used the limo and hotel before the end of the year. They did refund me the part year fee when I upgraded in March, and half the fee for the upcoming year so its not all bad, just a waste.

Some of the benefits listed there still refer to "until 31 December 2015" so I'll be keen to see if these get renewed for next year.
 
edman said:
well that's a crock. I could have used the limo and hotel before the end of the year. They did refund me the part year fee when I upgraded in March, and half the fee for the upcoming year so its not all bad, just a waste.

Some of the benefits listed there still refer to "until 31 December 2015" so I'll be keen to see if these get renewed for next year.
Click to expand...

I've been trying to book stay 4 get 1 free benefit. Unfortunately you can't book anything after Mar 31 to get the 1 night free benefit. Apparently they've received green light according to the agent but still "waiting for the system to be activated". So not all benefits will stay for good. It gets renews year by year.
 
VAG newbie said:
I've been trying to book stay 4 get 1 free benefit. Unfortunately you can't book anything after Mar 31 to get the 1 night free benefit. Apparently they've received green light according to the agent but still "waiting for the system to be activated". So not all benefits will stay for good. It gets renews year by year.
Click to expand...

I think that's changed now and they are all ok for post March reservations - smacks of poor planning in renewing their agent agreement. ( a bit like the woolies fiasco with qantas points which I'm sure was used as a negotiation point with Qantas. Qantas fail to come to the party on price. Woollies pulling it, Qantas $%^^ing themselves and then going in with a better offer. Would love to know how much was saved by the move but also a lot of people will have switched to flybuys and EY points - the timing of this was too good for Coles!)
 
Does anyone use the golf benefit. Looks good but I don't play golf... Now that cycling is the new golf in the corporate world maybe Citibank should do triathalon entry fees or priority to Noosa triathalons etc...
A lot of my non-slothlike friends do that sort of thing!
 
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