Reduction in Transfer Rates to Velocity/Krisflyer

[Danger UXB]

There is precedent on this as how it should be done. Westpac in 2004 devalued the altitude points by half. Gave plenty of notice, maintained all your predevaluation points in a reserve which would convert at the old rates until exhausted. I still have a box on my monthly statement "Reserve points (pre 9-3-04) ". Citi are well.....Citi. I haven't really trusted them since the ATO thing and have only maintained a minimal 150K balance so I don't have as much to loose as some.
I vaguely recollect AMEX changing the cathay rate way back , I have recollection it went from 4:3 to 1:1 but I can't remember if it was a devaluation or a true enhancement. As for the "VA/SQ might be charging them more" thing , I think this is unlikely bearing in mind ANZ have just enhanced their VA earn rate on their Black card so the visa now earns $1:1 VA​

 

[edman]

Lol, only 1.4m points? that's still a lot of points being devalued. I'm glad you see that as a positive as I would definitely be quite the opposite

Only that if I had the 2m odd points I thought I had, that I would have lost out by a much higher margin. Glad I converted some when I did.

 

[vantage03]

I get that these products need to be economically viable for the banks, but Citi is just sneaky doing this with no notice. It's a joke that they think no one would notice.

 

[M@rcoPolo]

The way I read clause 6.2 of the Terms and Conditions for the Signature card they must provide 90 days written notice for any change in the way that points are converted.
http://citibank.com.au/global_docs/pdf/MCG12231.pdf

I sent a secure message from their website asking to convert points at the "old" 1.5 to 1 ratio to Krisflyer and I'll follow up with a call later in the week.

Will escalate for sure if I don't get a satisfactory reply - I guess the majority of their customers won't even notice but I'm sure the folks at AFF will be pretty vocal on the subject

 

[aerotravel]

With the fee free Visa Signature card, probably keep this in the drawer just for the Priority Pass lounge.

 

[paultiffen]

Just rang up and they said they had forwarded it to head office as no advance notice given of changes

 

[DaveB]

Citi's total lack of ethical behaviour strikes again.
I took a massive hit today as have always stockpiled points across the various cards with roughly 50% in Citi. Glad though that since the ATO fiasco, had started sending points early to the airlines to cover flights for the next 2 years. Total loss amounted to just over 10% of the FF points bank.
With the recent expansion of reward options, thought it only had to be a matter of time before the change as VA/SQ was pretty much a no brainer for sending the points to. I had already started sending considerable points away from SQ/VA which will now only escalate.

 

[Supersonic Swinger]

With the fee free Visa Signature card, probably keep this in the drawer just for the Priority Pass lounge.

I have just removed it from my wallet and will do the same.

I wonder if all the fee free sign-ups for the Signature card has affected the profitability of the card to the point that they are looking around at where they can save costs.

Citibank has always been notorious for poor business practices but with the fee free card I was willing to give them the benefit of the doubt. Looks like now only the doubt remains.

 

[fkcn]

I phoned Citi today to complain and was given several lines of unconvincing defence. I felt sorry for poor phone rep who presumably had to read these out.
1. 'Velocity did it, not us.' So Singapore just happened to go rogue on same day?
2. 'It was very short notice, so we didn't have time to inform customers.' Really? That's the best you can do Citi?

Stated I had lost equivalent of 5000 points which, after some discussion, were credited to my account as a 'goodwill gesture'. Not a big loss compared to some, but it's the principle.

I emphasised that lack of notice and resulting loss of points value was an appalling way to treat customers, and that new earn rate meant Citibank card was now very uncompetitive. I was told that they had multiple calls voicing similar sentiments today, so keep calling and perhaps they will reconsider. If they don't, a lot of cards will be gathering dust in drawers.

 

[Glider_]

I rang to complain too, the lady I spoke to was unaware of it and offered no explanation or sympathy or anything at all. The best she could do was to request a supervisor ring me back in a few days.
I've also written a complaint email from within the online banking site so we'll see if that works any better. I doubt it.

 

[Supersonic Swinger]

so keep calling and perhaps they will reconsider. If they don't, a lot of cards will be gathering dust in drawers.

Or save yourself a call, clean out your points balance and if you have a fee free card, put the card in a drawer. Let Citibank's business analysts work out why card usage among customers has dropped starting in November.

 

[N860CR]

The answer is to demand something big (I was going to buy a new Lexus on my card tomorrow - that's 100,000 points lost) and send it to the FOS demanding that. We all follow through, Citi gets hit with hundreds of thousands of dollars of FOS charges. The only way to make an impact.

 

[fkcn]

Or save yourself a call, clean out your points balance and if you have a fee free card, put the card in a drawer. Let Citibank's business analysts work out why card usage among customers has dropped starting in November.

That may also work in long-term, but means cleaning out points balance at a 'loss' for most. They won't be reinstating points six months from now when they look at the books. An email maybe? The phone calls are painful.

 

[trippin_the_rift]

The answer is to demand something big (I was going to buy a new Lexus on my card tomorrow - that's 100,000 points lost) and send it to the FOS demanding that. We all follow through, Citi gets hit with hundreds of thousands of dollars of FOS charges. The only way to make an impact.

Worked out I'm about 80,000 points worse off. That's a lot.
I got the BS line about how Citi can change their redemption rates at any time and publish it on their rewards site and only require to notify customers in writing if it's a material change to earning points.

It's a terribly weak argument and I asked the agent how he could possibly feed this to other customers and stand behind the position.

We do the right thing by spending big, always using it for intl transactions where they make money, pay bills on time, pay annual fees - and in return all we want is fair warning of a material change in product value.

Keep calling to voice your complaints folks... AFF can do it! We'll get out points value returned.

 

[kyle]

I just lodged a complaint via Citibank Online and seeking a credit to restore the transfer value of my existing points balance. Let's see how it goes.

 

[VAG newbie]

I got a more sympathetic but clueless agent. When I called she had no idea what I was concerned about and said the conversion rate has always been that way. She said she was unaware of any changes in their award program but she checked for me.

After about 5 min she confirmed there was change and was equally as surprised that I didn't receive any notification. She agrees it's a bad practice not letting us know in advance and agrees the T&C require written notification for at least 90 days.

I stressed the fact that Citi advertised on their website that one of the feature of Citireward points is that it never expires and no cap to it. That's the reason I banked all my points as citireward rather than transferred earlier. What's the benefit of no cap and no expiry if the points will ultimately devalue without warning.

She offered 10,000 points as a compensation in her power, but I told her my loss was greater than that and $700 annual fee is not a small fee. I requested a reduced annual fee then she say either I can take 10,000 points or get refund of the $700 annual fee. Well, I think $700 probably worth more than 10,000 points so I took the offer. I tried to push for reduced annual fee for life but no luck. Well, at least I got this card for free this year and when annual fee time comes I can threaten to cancel the card.

Anyway, you guys probably guessed it, I'm with Citiprestige so maybe that's why I had a better agent. I guess if you have a fee free for life signature card, you really can't argue much.

 

[Ghostdunks]

Just happened onto this by accident, and this is unbelievable news! I'm going to push for transfer of my points at the old rate for sure. Ridiculous that they think they can change this without any prior notice. Like everyone else, I've been warehousing points in this rewards program as the points never expired, etc..

 

[Isochronous]

Will be drafting the legal demand letter in the next day or so!

 

[M@rcoPolo]

Will be drafting the legal demand letter in the next day or so!

Any lawyers on AFF that could draft a formal request to comply with the notice period as per Citi T&Cs and share it with the rest of us?

If we make enough noise I really don't see how they could get out of it...

 

[lm118]

For Prestige, a refund of the $700 may be a good idea, as it would almost cover the value of points I've lost. Then keep the for overseas spend only, then cancel when next annual fee due. Sounds like the easy way out?