Success getting linked Diners Club card with Citibank Prestige Credit Card

[silentlysitting]

I tried to sign up in March, and I got the same "not eligible" message. I called up and they couldn't process it at the time so they lodged a complaint for which was handled by the Maintenance team. Took a few weeks but eventually got approved and I now have a Diners card.

Had the same issue and on the second time (first time must have been put through to the DC applications dept which I was told they were not available) but the rep was super helpful and called me back but ran into a similar issue that got forwarded to the Backend team too. Only time will tell if I will get one in the mail in a few weeks

 

[repete]

I wonder if anything came of this for you? I tried to apply for one via the website, only for it to say I couldn't get one. Live chat seemed to know about it but said I need to ring. So I ring and they told me it wasn't available? Confusing!

 

[micky214]

I wonder if anything came of this for you? I tried to apply for one via the website, only for it to say I couldn't get one. Live chat seemed to know about it but said I need to ring. So I ring and they told me it wasn't available? Confusing!

Hang up and call again. That's all you can do. Many CS don't know about this card. Only if you get lucky to get a right CS who can help you.

 

[grandir]

Just applied and got approved for this card - anyone know if the companion Diners Club is still a thing with this card? Their website says that I can request one as part of the application process but I never saw this option as part of my application…

 

[grandir]

Just got told by a Citi rep that NAB is shutting down the Linked Diners Club Card as of 15 October 2023 - they will cease offering them from 15 Oct 2023 onwards and all existing Linked Diners Club Cards will close on 15 Oct 2023. Was told that the official FAQs on their website and all affected customers will be notified from the legally required 60 days out from the 15 Oct so looks like the announcement will be made in a few weeks time (mid-August 2023) if what they told me is indeed true. If it is indeed true it will be a shame - it's my one gripe with the Prestige card that they charge a very high 3.4% forex fee for a card that's targeted for frequent jetsetters. For a $700 annual fee, I'd say at least lower it to around 1-2% max.

 

[spud60]

I made a purchase for 314 euro on my linked Diners (31/7) which I received two weeks ago. It is still pending at 520 AUD but a new charge has popped up at 534 AUD with a date 3 days later.(3 AUG) Is this the change in EUR/AUD rates or am I being charged an international fee. I thought this card was fee free internationally.

 

[grandir]

I made a purchase for 314 euro on my linked Diners (31/7) which I received two weeks ago. It is still pending at 520 AUD but a new charge has popped up at 534 AUD with a date 3 days later.(3 AUG) Is this the change in EUR/AUD rates or am I being charged an international fee. I thought this card was fee free internationally.

It is technically fee free but the data is difficult to confirm exactly whether the card is the best value for money. There are a number of factors:
(1) the AUD amount that gets posted to your statement is the amount at the exchange rate of the foreign currency to AUD as at date of processing i.e. not the date the transaction took place which means that depending on how the exchange rate moves from purchase date to settlement date will affect how much extra/less you ultimately pay
(2) Diners uses their own exchange rate just like Visa and Mastercard do. Diners does not have any easily accessible data on the exact rates they use unlike Visa and MC so it's difficult to determine how much better/worse Diners rates are compared to the Visa/MC rates.

I think the most commonly held theory amongst holders and users of the linked DC card is that Diners doesnt charge an international forex fee, but their rates are typically aroudn 0.5-1.5 percentage points more expensive than the comparative Visa/MC rates.

So in short in order to cheapest to most expensive would be: a 0% forex fee Visa/MC<Diners Club Linked Card no forex fee < a forex fee charging card.

 

[spud60]

It is technically fee free but the data is difficult to confirm exactly whether the card is the best value for money. There are a number of factors:
(1) the AUD amount that gets posted to your statement is the amount at the exchange rate of the foreign currency to AUD as at date of processing i.e. not the date the transaction took place which means that depending on how the exchange rate moves from purchase date to settlement date will affect how much extra/less you ultimately pay
(2) Diners uses their own exchange rate just like Visa and Mastercard do. Diners does not have any easily accessible data on the exact rates they use unlike Visa and MC so it's difficult to determine how much better/worse Diners rates are compared to the Visa/MC rates.

I think the most commonly held theory amongst holders and users of the linked DC card is that Diners doesnt charge an international forex fee, but their rates are typically aroudn 0.5-1.5 percentage points more expensive than the comparative Visa/MC rates.

So in short in order to cheapest to most expensive would be: a 0% forex fee Visa/MC<Diners Club Linked Card no forex fee < a forex fee charging card.

Thanks for your help.

 

[MELso]

And it will indeed be time to bid farewell to the linked Diners Club card. Just got an email that as foreshadowed above, it's being canned from 16 October 2023.

This is annoying as I have several Hilton bookings that I'll have to update.

Time to find a international transaction fee-free card that earns points. Will probably sign up to the Coles Mastercard when it has a better sign-up bonus than currently. (Alternatives are the Bankwest Platinum or downgrading my new Commbank Ultimate to Smart once I have the points...)

 

[grandir]

And it will indeed be time to bid farewell to the linked Diners Club card. Just got an email that as foreshadowed above, it's being canned from 16 October 2023.

This is annoying as I have several Hilton bookings that I'll have to update.

Time to find a international transaction fee-free card that earns points. Will probably sign up to the Coles Mastercard when it has a better sign-up bonus than currently. (Alternatives are the Bankwest Platinum or downgrading my new Commbank Ultimate to Smart once I have the points...)

Yea this actually annoys me quite a bit and makes me wonder how the ACCC ever allowed a Big 4 bank like NAB to suck up the 5th largest unsecured loan market in Australia without any concerns whatosever. ACCC stated that their biggest concern at the time was the loss in competitiveness in the credit card market with the acquisition of Citibank by NAB yet they allowed the purchase anyway and lo and behold, we're seeing the slow death of Citibank i.e. "There are no changes to your credit card products at this time" said Citi lol. NAB probably just wanted to acquire Citi's customer base to double the value on their books (theyre now the 2nd largest CC market in Aus since acquisition) then shut everything down and move them over to NAB's products.

The best part of the Diners Club card was the 0% forex fees - with an increasing number of merchants shifting their payment processes overseas, Ive been seeing a staggering rise in "INTL TRANS FEE" on my statement and anecdotally from my other friends even for regular purchases that have never incurred this charge before (looking at you Spotify grrr). The DC card bypassed the most irritating T&C of forex fee charged so long as merchant processes payment OS because in this day and age of online purchases, it's near damn impossible to tell if the merchant will process your payment OS or locally. The DC 0% fee gave peace of mind and great points.

The only cards left in the market now that offer points + no forex fee are as you mentioned Commbank's Ultimate and Smart Awards cards (which have terrible value in terms of points) and Bankwest's Mastercards which are not that competitive in terms of Qantas earn rates and the annual bonus points if minimum spend is met for the More Rewards variants is getting canned in Sept 2023. The Coles Mastercard is also another card that offers points + no forex fee which is quite a decent card but in terms of other perks and benefits is very lackluster. Also the capped earn rate of $3000 can be restrictive for many people

Whether NAB want to admit it or not, the linked Diners actually made Citi Cards genuinely competitive. At least we still have fee free Payall until 31 Oct but I bet NAB will shut that down too meaning once good Citi cards will be just like any other cookie cutter mediocre card from any Australian bank.

 

[wohoo]

Sad news indeed, just when I just got my diners card to see what I can do with it.

 

[spud60]

Same here. In Europe atm and giving it a fair go where possible. At least I'm here until the 16th October. If they can my prestige card I'll be pissed off as well. I'm not interested in any of NABs credit cards so they will lose a customer, not that they give a rats.

 

[grandir]

Same here. In Europe atm and giving it a fair go where possible. At least I'm here until the 16th October. If they can my prestige card I'll be pissed off as well. I'm not interested in any of NABs credit cards so they will lose a customer, not that they give a rats.

I suspect they will care - NAB specifically said that the biggest factor in their consideration of the acquisition was Citibank's unsecured lending category i.e. credit card customer base. By acquiring Citi, NAB's unsecured lending book value doubled in size and they now rival Commbank who is currently number 1 in total CC customers.

So if Citi customers start to drop off as a result of all of the shutting down of Citi products that NAB is currently doing, it wont bode well for their investors. It's a shame that customers are the ones who have to suffer and leave the bank before the bank realises that what they're doing will hurt them more in the long run

 

[Supersonic Swinger]

Just got told by a Citi rep that NAB is shutting down the Linked Diners Club Card as of 15 October 2023 - they will cease offering them from 15 Oct 2023 onwards and all existing Linked Diners Club Cards will close on 15 Oct 2023. Was told that the official FAQs on their website and all affected customers will be notified from the legally required 60 days out from the 15 Oct so looks like the announcement will be made in a few weeks time (mid-August 2023) if what they told me is indeed true. If it is indeed true it will be a shame - it's my one gripe with the Prestige card that they charge a very high 3.4% forex fee for a card that's targeted for frequent jetsetters. For a $700 annual fee, I'd say at least lower it to around 1-2% max.

That does seem like another nail in the Diners coffin, to go with them no longer offering new personal card applications.

If they are choosing to stop that volume of transactions going through the Diners network, it doesn't say much for the value they get from it.

They are probably assessing their business and corporate offerings to see how they can move that volume onto their preferred network.

 

[ChrisFlyer]

Just a quick note on avoiding foreign transaction fees. AMEX has a 3% fee when spending in a foreign currency, but not when spending in AUD with an overseas-based merchant. Obviously, always say no to 'dynamic currency conversion' at point of sale (which is rarely available on AMEX anyway), but, I have many recurring charges in AUD where the transaction is processed overseas, and this doesn't trigger the 3% fee on AMEX (so, good for Spotify, etc).

 

[grandir]

That does seem like another nail in the Diners coffin, to go with them no longer offering new personal card applications.

If they are choosing to stop that volume of transactions going through the Diners network, it doesn't say much for the value they get from it.

They are probably assessing their business and corporate offerings to see how they can move that volume onto their preferred network.

NAB's CCs are currently being used on the Visa network so your last point makes sense given that Citi's CCs are on the MC network - NAB likely has some sort of exclusion clause in their contract so they're probably scrambling to dismantle Citi's MC products ASAP before Visa slaps them with fees etc (though this is all just pure speculation).

It's interesting with NAB now also owning Diners' propriertary network - does NAB's contract with Visa also have exclusionary clauses for all other networks? Or just main competitors like MC? Either way, it doesnt really make sense because if it were really just about shifting over to Visa, then they could just keep accounts open but reissue cards to all card holders which is exactly what Citi did a few years ago when they shifted from Visa to MC.

 

[Pele]

Diners still exists in Australia because of the Federal government contract with them.

 

[MELso]

Diners still exists in Australia because of the Federal government contract with them.

Which ends on 31 December so it's not long for this world...

 

[tinkybelle]

I’ve had premier Citi for 15 yrs ( fee free forever so. Far) never knew of this diners thing until they sent message about no longer linking but I read it as just not linking after that date not reading it as closing it down

 

[Supersonic Swinger]

I’ve had premier Citi for 15 yrs ( fee free forever so. Far) never knew of this diners thing until they sent message about no longer linking but I read it as just not linking after that date not reading it as closing it down

This was posted by someone in a thread in the Diners Club forum:

Just received this for the Linked Diners Card for Citi

We want to let you know we will no longer offer the Linked Diners Club® Card from 16 October 2023, and as a result we will be closing your Linked Diners Club Card(s) on account ending in 5536.

From 16 October 2023 onwards, you and any Additional Cardholder(s) linked to your account will no longer be able to spend and earn Points on your Linked Diners Club Card. Please note, any transactions and Points earned on your Linked Diners Club Card prior to this date will continue to be transferred to your account as per the Linked Diners Club Card Terms and Conditions and Linked Diners Club Card Extra Terms.

There will be no change to your existing Citi Prestige Card and you can continue to use your Citi Prestige Card as per normal.