Who else still holds the Citibank Free For Life Premier Card?

[JohnGlav]

This is actually a big problem. Even reading the insurance PDSs from AmEx, they do specify that, if you buy something on one card, then you change to another card, then you claim, and your second card does not have the coverage you had with your first card, then you are not covered.



We got it for free for life. You tell us, where can you get a card which is free and give you free Priority Pass access? This itself is free money. Don't you like free money? Then you get VA points, travel insurance.

I have learnt that when you get something which is too good to be true, you don't throw it away. Here are my lessons.

I am currently on an AmEx promo package from decades ago, $400 annual for Reserve + Edge + Gold charge. I get $600 travel credit, yes, AmEx is losing $200 to me every year, and I get access to AmEx lounge at Sydney Airport, I also get Priority Pass access, travel insurance, and $100k rental car insurance. Where can you get all these for $400 a year today? When AmEx offered me the Edge then Gold charge, I didn't have any need for them, I could have ignored the offers, but I didn't, I took them. Imagine if I only thought about churning and didn't take this package up.

Another lesson which I regretted. Diners sent me an unsolicited offer in the mail, for a no annual free Diners. That's a Diners Diners, not Citi Diners. I thought no one takes Diners, useless most of the time, so I didn't take up the offer. What a mistake. Diners included unlimited access to lounges worldwide. Imagine if I had taken up on that offer, I would have had 20 years of free unlimited access to lounges around the world. Who cares if Diners is useless in Australia? This is the mistake I made, only focus on earning points, ignoring other considerations.

Imagine, if RBA cut interchange fees to 0% one day. Point earning cards would charge $1000 annual fees, and earn you 0.0001 VA point per dollar spend. I would still have this free for life card, which may only earn 0.0001 VA point per dollar, but at least, I would not have to pay $1000 annual fee, and I would have travel insurance without having to pay $1000 annual fee.

Hence I have learnt my lessons, if something is too good to be true, take it, don't miss it. You can always throw it away if it turns into rubbish in future; but you cannot take it back if you don't grab it when it's here.

Very well said.

 

[Buzzard]

I really don't get this.
A thread devoted to holding on to an incongruously free product from 15 years ago (which used to be great).
Card churning is a fundamental premise of this website, so why is everyone so desperate to hang on to just one card?
The benefits are now cough --- Velocity only - even for Prestige!

OPTIONS

1. Get a fee-free card.
2. Get a new card from another bank, with travel insurance included, whose benefits and introductory points outweigh the 1-yearcost.
3. Fight with NAB
4. Get over it, and acknowledge it was great while it lasted

Please feel free to respond as angrily as you like (wasn't Smith v Archer just brilliant tonight)

As a retiree, which card can I apply for that gives me complimentary travel insurance where only $500 has to be spent on said card for the TI to kick in?

 

[CaptJCool]

As a retiree, which card can I apply for that gives me complimentary travel insurance where only $500 has to be spent on said card for the TI to kick in?

My CommBank card has that facility
Not that I like using it

The citi card is now a dud
Well, this is what happens in mergers & acquisitions
Cut the earn rate
Cap the monthly spend
Get rid of the free travel insurance
Increase the annual card fee (does the new owner need to honour Past practices). Seems not and since they completely closed down Diners cards, clearly don’t

 

[JohnGlav]

Very well said.

For clarity I have not cancelled my card account. I agree that would be premature and is not in any card holder’s interests.
For further clarity I did not write a basic letter to Citibank / NAB which simply asked them if they planned to introduce fees and did nothing more. That approach doesn’t require any thought, skill or strategy. The letters (plural) that I did write took days to conceive after much thinking and took me hours to write.

 

[JohnGlav]

For clarity I have not cancelled my card account. I agree that would be premature and is not in any card holder’s interests.
For further clarity I did not write a basic letter to Citibank / NAB which simply asked them if they planned to introduce fees and did nothing more. That approach doesn’t require any thought, skill or strategy. The letters (plural) that I did write took days to conceive after much thinking and took me hours to write.

What my letters achieved was to extract a written narrative from NAB.
A written narrative which I have shared in part with you.
A written narrative which wasn't well thought out and which has content that isn't supported by their actions, the timeline or the documents they issued.
A written narrative which NAB now cannot deny or depart from without losing credibility when cardholders decide it is the correct time to challenge NAB's decisions.
Leverage against NAB isn't gained by wrestling with the bear.
It is gained by limiting the bear's room to maneuver.
Have a think about the possibilities.

 

[CaptJCool]

Imagine writing that letter to Ansett after its collapse.
“I’d like my 80,000 points back please”

At the time Citi offered Feefree for life I already had a card and loyalty. And there’s no reward for loyalty ….

 

[JohnGlav]

Imagine writing that letter to Ansett after its collapse.
“I’d like my 80,000 points back please”

At the time Citi offered Feefree for life I already had a card and loyalty. And there’s no reward for loyalty ….

Hopefully we can come through and succeed together this time Capt.
But we can't slay a bear with one stroke.
It has to be done incrementally.

 

[Legoman]

Someone loaded the CSV files in the wrong order, hence some accounts go kaput?

Don't forget that this is a brand new system, it's not a surprise that somethings would go wrong. That's why there is always a hypercare period for this sort of projects.

Finally heard back from the MyCard support children. Turns out they failed to tell anyone that they've built their Rewards Platform website to only work in Chrome browser and nothing else, so that's handy. Nice of them to let everyone know, because I don't typically use Chrome at all for anything due to it being the second worst privacy-leaking browser on the planet after Yandex (which is a literal Russian FSB data theft hacking tool based out of Moscow), so I had to go and find a specific modified version of Chrome with all the google data theft cough stripped out to install, just so I can access my rewards points.

 

[Chicken]

Turns out they failed to tell anyone that they've built their Rewards Platform website to only work in Chrome browser and nothing else

I don't typically use Chrome at all for anything due to it being the second worst privacy-leaking browser on the planet after Yandex (which is a literal Russian FSB data theft hacking tool based out of Moscow), so I had to go and find a specific modified version of Chrome with all the google data theft cough stripped out to install

I can access the point bit, using Opera and Edge. Opera is my normal web browser, Edge is just to test MyCard. Yeah, both use Chromium.

The only browser I can think of which doesn't use Chromium is Firefox? But it's sooooo slow so memory hog so painful ...

 

[Legoman]

I can access the point bit, using Opera and Edge. Opera is my normal web browser, Edge is just to test MyCard. Yeah, both use Chromium.

The only browser I can think of which doesn't use Chromium is Firefox? But it's sooooo slow so memory hog so painful ...

Edge is Chrome with a different colour scheme and name. Microsoft literally just packages Chrome into Windows under an agreement with Google and renames it Edge.

Opera is a CCP-run spying tool, so even worse than Chrome. Using Opera is like sitting in your BYD and using a Huawei phone to connect to a ZTE modem to look up your Huawei CCTV cameras in your Government Dept place of work. You may as well just use Yandex.

A Firefox fork is my main browser, but more and more websites are now being made to only work on Chrome. It seems the bigger the organisation, the less flexible their website authoring is. Typically, all major government departments, superannuation funds and utility providers now will have sections that will only load or render properly in Chrome and nothing else.

The MyCard Rewards section will only work in Chrome proper from my experimenting. It won't even work in Brave which is another Chrome clone fork.

 

[PLANT]

AGM day today......
1. How many questions on Ubank losing No. 1 high interest account, no hoops
2. How many questions on Citi Free for life
Before I get my Christmas feed!
There better be Mince pies or all bets are off!

 

[hueofwind]

I have complained this to them via their online chat and requested them to keep the original T&C to waive my annual fee but they declined it. Their customer assistant replied:

"When we migrated to the new MyCard system, some card features and fees changed, and these updates were communicated to all customers in May 2025. Unfortunately, the annual fee on your current card cannot be waived."

This is ridiculous and they are lying! They never communicated with me! All they did was sending an email telling me that the card would be migrated to MyCard with a link to the T&C of MyCard. Actually their MyCard includes several types with different annual fee, including the MyCard Simplicity with Zero fee. They never explicitly told me that my card would be matched to MyCard Rewards which has an annual fee of $199. This is very dodgy! I didn't know my card would be converted to MyCard Rewards until it was migrated to MyCard system in the end of Nov!

I have already submitted a complaint to AFCA for them to investigate such a scandal. Please all of you who are also concerned with this issue join me by filing complaints with AFCA!

Below is the response received via online chat after I told them I had filed an AFCA case.

• Hi xx_XX. This is Japhet from Chat Customer Service. We apologies for the delay. Let me assist you with your concern.
• To answer your query, the standard Annual Fee for MyCard Rewards is $199. Also, no decision has been made to change any rates or fees at this stage. Under our Terms & Conditions, we reserve the right to amend rates and/or fees; however, any changes would be communicated to impacted customers, and we would ensure that the required notice is provided in accordance with current regulations.
• I also understand that you have filed an AFCA case. This is under review and someone from our Complaints Team will contact regarding this concern. Again, we apologise for the inconvenience.

 

[Chicken]

Please all of you who are also concerned with this issue join me by filing complaints with AFCA!

No.

They need new T&C, because it's a new legal entity and new product, that's why they cannot go back.

If you were using Ampol electricity, and AGL just bought all the customers, can you go to AGL and ask them to go back to your old contract with Ampol? No, because Ampol doesn't exist anymore, that's why new T&Cs new legal entity.

And also, what you are doing is bringing their attention to the fact that you are getting Priority Pass etc for free, and it's time to cut you off. You are just throwing rock onto your own foot, and ruining it for everyone else.

 

[oz_mark]

Have you actually been charged a fee?

 

[Legoman]

blah blah blahdiddy blah blah…

I have already submitted a complaint to AFCA for them to investigate such a scandal. Please all of you who are also concerned with this issue join me by filing complaints with AFCA!

I strongly recommend that you withdraw your AFCA case ASAP. It will suck up the next 8 months of your life and at the end of that you will lose 100% guaranteed. AFCA is not what you think it is. AFCA is no longer (or in fact never really was) an advocate for consumers. AFCA today is a fully obsequious arm of the financial sector, fully funded by them, answerable to them and fully self-governing, self-assessing and self-policing. Despite their claims to be independent of the financial sector they claim to police, the truth is they are nothing of the sort. AFCA is fully staffed by ex-financial sector employees who wanted the WFH deal their former employers in banking weren't offering anymore, so you'll be relying on your case being handled by a WFH part-time ex-legal department employee of a bank who is completely beholden and funded by that same bank. If you think that's where your justice is going to come from, then I've got a bridge to sell you.

There's a reason why FOS changed their name to AFCA and that's because the O in FOS stood for Ombudsman which by definition means a truly independent arm of governance. You will note there is no O in AFCA, and that's not by coincidence or mistake.

AFCA today serves one purpose and one purpose only. It gives the bank the appearance of them being regulated and governed in how they go about ripping off customers. The reality though is it's all just a smokescreen. They get the appearance of being legitimate, law-abiding businesses in compliance with Australian laws, AFCA get paid by the banks to provide that cover, and the customer gets to lose 8 months of their life arguing pointlessly before a determination wholly in favour of the bank is handed down.

FOS used to be able to handle cases in 4 weeks, 6 tops. AFCA cannot handle even the simplest, most straight forward disputes in less than 8 months. So if you've got the next 8 months to waste on an argument you're going to lose, then go for it, but you're wasting your time.

 

[aikman]

Troll. Joined AFF just to post the same thing 3 times.

 

[Brissy1]

If you were using Ampol electricity, and AGL just bought all the customers, can you go to AGL and ask them to go back to your old contract with Ampol? No, because Ampol doesn't exist anymore, that's why new T&Cs new legal entity.

Interesting opinion, that NAB can void a contract by the transfer of ownership if that's what you're suggesting. I don't think so.

 

[Chicken]

Interesting opinion, that NAB can void a contract by the transfer of ownership if that's what you're suggesting. I don't think so.

If NAB doesn't have a contract with us, then who do we have contracts with? Thin air?

 

[AIRwin]

Thin air?

Finnair?

 

[JohnGlav]

I strongly recommend that you withdraw your AFCA case ASAP. It will suck up the next 8 months of your life and at the end of that you will lose 100% guaranteed. AFCA is not what you think it is. AFCA is no longer (or in fact never really was) an advocate for consumers. AFCA today is a fully obsequious arm of the financial sector, fully funded by them, answerable to them and fully self-governing, self-assessing and self-policing. Despite their claims to be independent of the financial sector they claim to police, the truth is they are nothing of the sort. AFCA is fully staffed by ex-financial sector employees who wanted the WFH deal their former employers in banking weren't offering anymore, so you'll be relying on your case being handled by a WFH part-time ex-legal department employee of a bank who is completely beholden and funded by that same bank. If you think that's where your justice is going to come from, then I've got a bridge to sell you.

There's a reason why FOS changed their name to AFCA and that's because the O in FOS stood for Ombudsman which by definition means a truly independent arm of governance. You will note there is no O in AFCA, and that's not by coincidence or mistake.

AFCA today serves one purpose and one purpose only. It gives the bank the appearance of them being regulated and governed in how they go about ripping off customers. The reality though is it's all just a smokescreen. They get the appearance of being legitimate, law-abiding businesses in compliance with Australian laws, AFCA get paid by the banks to provide that cover, and the customer gets to lose 8 months of their life arguing pointlessly before a determination wholly in favour of the bank is handed down.

FOS used to be able to handle cases in 4 weeks, 6 tops. AFCA cannot handle even the simplest, most straight forward disputes in less than 8 months. So if you've got the next 8 months to waste on an argument you're going to lose, then go for it, but you're wasting your time.

There is strong circumstantial evidence which suggests that Legoman is on the mark.
I haven't gone down the rabbit hole.
However I have noticed NAB's and Citibank's "great eagerness" to encourage complaints to the AFCA.
Almost as if they see a slam dunk in the making.
On balance I suggest that Legoman is most probably correct.