CB Rewards Platinum 2:1 VA, SQ KF / VA now [was 15K:10K]

[deka2]

What Citibank card do you have sr81?

 

[sr81]

What Citibank card do you have sr81?

Sorry, I have the Citi Plat.

The online calculator was giving me 2:1.

 

[deka2]

I was hoping you would say the Citibusiness card.

With that card the online calculator shows 1.5:1, but when I confirm, an error message comes up telling me to contact Citibank.

 

[spentan]

I was hoping you would say the Citibusiness card.

With that card the online calculator shows 1.5:1, but when I confirm, an error message comes up telling me to contact Citibank.

Hmm, I did a transfer last night, for 50000 KF Points, and it showed 75000 on the redemption, then I logged in and it shows that it has taken 100,000.

Consider yourself lucky, As I have a Citibusiness Gold, I think its time to transfer them all to QF.

 

[deka2]

My wife and I transferred all our points to QF today

Don't trust Citibank anymore

Not safe to warehouse them there anymore.

Am I correct in saying that when you transfer points to a FF program, the bank at that stage, must purchase and pay for the points?

If so May is going to be a very expensive month for Citibank.

 

[Spizz]

Hmm, I did a transfer last night, for 50000 KF Points, and it showed 75000 on the redemption, then I logged in and it shows that it has taken 100,000.

Consider yourself lucky, As I have a Citibusiness Gold, I think its time to transfer them all to QF.

I would contact Citi and says that the calculator showed one thing but you have been deducted an extra 25000 points which you want back.

 

[Alanslegal]

Am I correct in saying that when you transfer points to a FF program, the bank at that stage, must purchase and pay for the points?

That's the way that I understand it to work.

 

[mick]

My wife and I transferred all our points to QF today

Don't trust Citibank anymore

Not safe to warehouse them there anymore.

Yeah, I don't blame you, so I made another call to Citi customer service on their priority service line and was put through to a very helpful gentleman who has assured me that the Citi rewards to QFF redemption ratio remains at 1:1 for CBG and there are no indications that this will change at this time. If the redemption rates were to change, he said that Citi would definitely notify customers to give them an opportunity to decide what to do. Hmmm... He gave me his name and extension and I'm keeping note in case any surprises happen.

 

[Spizz]

If the redemption rates were to change, he said that Citi would definitely notify customers to give them an opportunity to decide what to do.

Does anyone else find the humour in this :-|

 

[lovetravellingoz]

Does anyone else find the humour in this :-|

Though the QF rate is in the T&C, unlike the SQ transfer rate....

 

[mick]

Though the QF rate is in the T&C, unlike the SQ transfer rate....

That is a very good point you make! I forgot all about that - from their T&Cs:

We will give you thirty days written notice if we decide to change these Terms and Conditions

and

When Points are redeemed for Qantas Frequent Flyer Points they will be redeemed at a rate of 1 Point for 1 Qantas Frequent Flyer Point

so I think we can rest easy - for now...

 

[wafliron]

I recently upgraded from Platinum to Select. Aren't points simply warehoused in a general Citibank Rewards account (i.e. no distinction between points earned as a Platinum v Select)? I

In my case, I have two distinct CitiRewards accounts - one for CBG, the other for Select. There are two separate balances (and two accounts shown in a dropdown on the CitiRewards website), and as you'd expect each card earns into its own CR account. They definitely have different conditions applied to them too, as a CSR once made a mistake and tried to move points from my Select CR account to QF rather than my CBG CR account to QF, and had a "computer said no" moment.

All of that said, I suspect the way this works in my situation is different to how it will work for you, given I actually hold both Select and CBG concurrently, rather than having switched from one card to the other. I suspect, but don't know for certain, that if you switch products your old CR account and points balance remains intact, but from that point forward it is governed by the CR-related rules of the new card product (e.g. redemption options, redemption rates). So, hopefully you will be OK. Guess you'll need to call to check though (and empty your CR account to KF on the same call as a precaution, assuming you do still have a 1.5:1 redemption rate ).

Though the QF rate is in the T&C, unlike the SQ transfer rate....

Ahah! Thanks for pointing that out, very glad to hear it (and thanks also to the others who confirmed CB operators saying the 1:1 redemption to QF was unchanged).

It's not a concern for me personally right now as I literally have 4 points in my CBG CR account (how's that for being precise with earning the right number of points to redeem in lots of 15,000 ), and have maxed the annual points cap until later this year. But, it's comforting to know that if I start earning CBG CR points again I can't have them unilaterally "enhanced" out from under me.

 

[Spizz]

Ah. Fair enough.

 

[Formal Hall]

I redeemed 45000 citi rewards points today on the mobile app, which is still being processed. The app still states the 1.5:1 ratio and calculated I would receive 30000 velocity points. Can anyone take a screenshot of the 1.5 ratio for velocity on the app? (Android doesn't permit screenshots readily).

 

[serfty]

... (Android doesn't permit screenshots readily).

Which device - My GalaxyS2 does is when I simultaneously hold Power and Home. (can take a few tries)

 

[burmans]

Consider yourself lucky, As I have a Citibusiness Gold, I think its time to transfer them all to QF.

So if you have not previously said you want to have QF awards can you do this retrospectively and move out your existing points for Citibusiness?

 

[zzyss]

Huh. Well that ends a good, long run for me with Citibank then. Originally got the Gold fee-free for life deal, then upgraded to Platinum (but still not Select). It had the edge over my Westpac Altitude Platinum Plus card due to the 1.5:1 conversion rate to Velocity, but now with this news, the card becomes identical to the Altitude Black Mastercard (1.25pt/$ earn, 2:1 burn). No point (ba-da-boom) using this card any more... better to keep my points consolidated in Westpac Altitude.

EDIT: just sent this inquiry to the ACCC. Will post back here when I get a response.

Citibank Australia recently changed the redemption rates between its "Citibank Rewards" scheme without providing any notice of this change. Previously, customers were able to redeem 15,000 Citibank points for 10,000 Velocity/Kristflyer points. No, this has become 2 Citibank reward points for every 1 Velocity/Kristflyer point. I consider this to be a serious devaluation, made worse by the fact that absolutely no notice was given either on their website, via e-mail or in writing. Are they within their right to do this?

 

[burmans]

Huh. Well that ends a good, long run for me with Citibank then. Originally got the Gold fee-free for life deal, then upgraded to Platinum (but still not Select). It had the edge over my Westpac Altitude Platinum Plus card due to the 1.5:1 conversion rate to Velocity, but now with this news, the card becomes identical to the Altitude Black Mastercard (1.25pt/$ earn, 2:1 burn). No point (ba-da-boom) using this card any more... better to keep my points consolidated in Westpac Altitude.

EDIT: just sent this inquiry to the ACCC. Will post back here when I get a response.

I'm intending to do the same but also include the reference to their previous market release just to remind them they have gone public with this stance. ACCC ends investigation of proposed retrospective point value changes to the NAB Rewards Program | ACCC

In my complaint to Citibank have also referenced this and that I will be raising with the ACCC.

 

[Arrow29]

Is anyone yet to actually receive any notice of this change by Citibank, be it via phone, mail or email? I've gone back and searched all my emails etc and have definitely received nothing. I'll have to re-evaluate my Platinum card when it's due for renewal later in the year. Got it with no annual fee and some bonus points when I signed on last year, not sure I would want to be paying the $200 annual fee + however much for a supp card for my wife with the new transfer rates.

 

[DeKa]

I would have thought that most people, if not all, who originally had the fee free Gold would have been upgraded to the fee free Plat and then the fee free Signature?

I think it depends how much you used it. I only got to Plat (from Gold) fee free.