Citibank - NEVER GIVE UP

[burmans]

do you need to take their word on their statements.

This would appear to be the case, there is no breakdown anywhere I've been able to find.

 

[Cruiser Elite]

This would appear to be the case, there is no breakdown anywhere I've been able to find.

Yeah CSO I just spoke to said she didn't think there was any way to see same - she also said this feature is 'planned' for future - jeez Louise how archaic is that.

 

[wafliron]

OK so I have been on phone to Citi - is there anywhere on Citi site where you can actually see reward points relating to each and every purchase like AMEX - or do you need to take their word on their statements.

I don't think so - you can get a detailed list of redemptions through internet banking, but I've never seen a detailed list of earning.

It's pretty easy to double check from your statement though - just multiply new charges by your points earn rate. The points earned may not be exact due to points only being earned to the neatest whole dollar, but as long as it's close you're fine.

 

[rowdy]

It seems my select application has been successful. After abandoning the online application that seemed to be stuck in limbo, I applied at a branch. Logging on today my account now shows a credit card with nil balance and a surprisingly high credit limit (I didn't nominate a limit on the application). Now just need to wait for confirmation in the mail..... and the requisite few months for the card to arrive.

Unfortunately all too late to get some of those 5 points/$ on my o/seas trip tomorrow.

 

[wafliron]

It seems my select application has been successful. After abandoning the online application that seemed to be stuck in limbo, I applied at a branch. Logging on today my account now shows a credit card with nil balance and a surprisingly high credit limit (I didn't nominate a limit on the application). Now just need to wait for confirmation in the mail..... and the requisite few months for the card to arrive.

Unfortunately all too late to get some of those 5 points/$ on my o/seas trip tomorrow.

Congrats and welcome to our exclusive little club... you will shortly receive your membership card in the mail ;-)

On the topic of card delivery, I think you'll find that to be quick: every time I've been involved in applying for a Citibank credit card it has arrived within days of approval.

EDIT: Dammit, I should have said "Congrats and welcome to our select little club" - would have been much more punny ;-)

 

[burmans]

Yeah CSO I just spoke to said she didn't think there was any way to see same - she also said this feature is 'planned' for future - jeez Louise how archaic is that.

I am led to believe Citibank are currently upgarding their Core Banking System so there could be hope on the horizon!

 

[cove]

Congratulations rowdy on getting to YES.

 

[rowdy]

My select card has arrived!! Strangely about 4 days after the secondary card for Mrs Rowdy. Activation was painful with an eternal wait on hold after keying in the requisite info. In the end I hung up and rather than go through the 'activate card' process just pressed 0 to speak to an operator. Hopefully I won't need to deal with telephone cust service (and their web site) too much once I am up an running.

Interestingly when I asked my 'relationship manager' about the credit limit granted she said it would come in handy when paying taxes or buying a car. My main reason for the card is to get maximum KF miles earn potential, hope it is all worthwhile. The 80,000 sign on points will certainly help me get over some of the frustrations of the application process.

 

[Cruiser Elite]

My main reason for the card is to get maximum KF miles earn potential, hope it is all worthwhile. The 80,000 sign on points will certainly help me get over some of the frustrations of the application process.

I hear you brother - I too went through a painful experience to get my grubby little paws on a Select card - but trust me YES it is all worthwhile when you see the clock ticking skywards at 1.33 KF pt / $1 - sure beats .833 on CitiGold or even worse 0.5 on Westpac SQ card.

When I upgraded from CitiBusiness Gold to Select coupla months back the promo for new applics was 50K pts - I demanded these points but was rejected then kept demanding and finally they posted - great result.

 

[cove]

You are making me think it is time Mrscove and I each have 2 Select cards each. But then I think about this thread and the idea of never starting for seconds has a bit of appeal.
Currently Mrscove gets her Kris points from Westpac Amex and I get my Qantas points from EDR and Amex Ultimate.
There is a good saving to go double up at the moment and it is only $1449 for 2 more uncapped cards.

 

[rowdy]

I hear you brother - I too went through a painful experience to get my grubby little paws on a Select card - but trust me YES it is all worthwhile when you see the clock ticking skywards at 1.33 KF pt / $1 - sure beats .833 on CitiGold or even worse 0.5 on Westpac SQ card.

When I upgraded from CitiBusiness Gold to Select coupla months back the promo for new applics was 50K pts - I demanded these points but was rejected then kept demanding and finally they posted - great result.

The unfortunate thing is if it arrived a week earlier I would have racked up 30k pts already after a quick o/seas trip last week. The earn rate on this card is amazing if you spend any time o/seas with it @ $5pts/$ converts to 3.33 KF pts/$ even 2.5 Air Asia miles/$ is ahead of Amex earn. Now I have this card, the AMEX is relegated to domestic use only.

 

[wafliron]

My select card has arrived!! Strangely about 4 days after the secondary card for Mrs Rowdy. Activation was painful with an eternal wait on hold after keying in the requisite info. In the end I hung up and rather than go through the 'activate card' process just pressed 0 to speak to an operator. Hopefully I won't need to deal with telephone cust service (and their web site) too much once I am up an running.

Congratulations and welcome to the club Enjoy the points... my Select has already earned me enough for 3 x return J flights to anywhere in the world with SQ.

Re the activation wait, I suspect there's something wrong with Citi's IVR / call queuing system with regards to activating Select cards. I also had to wait > 30 minutes to activate mine, yet when I rang up to activate a supplementary card on my partner's CBG account the following week the wait was < 1 minute.

Either way, don't be concerned: apart from the above experience activating my Select card, out of 50+ calls to Citi over 8+ years I've never had to wait more than a minute or two to speak to someone, even when I just had a CBG. Additionally, the Select CSRs are really quite good - every second time I call I end up speaking to someone located in Australia (almost unheard of for Citi), and even when it's not someone located in Australia the average Select CSR is a cut above the norm for Citibank.

Interestingly when I asked my 'relationship manager' about the credit limit granted she said it would come in handy when paying taxes or buying a car. My main reason for the card is to get maximum KF miles earn potential, hope it is all worthwhile. The 80,000 sign on points will certainly help me get over some of the frustrations of the application process.

How'd you get a relationship manager at Citi? Is this through CitiGold, or some other mechanism? Interesting that she mentioned paying taxes, given that the Select T&Cs specifically disallow points earn on business transactions (not that they enforce it) - I guess she could have meant your personal taxes, but I suspect not!

The unfortunate thing is if it arrived a week earlier I would have racked up 30k pts already after a quick o/seas trip last week. The earn rate on this card is amazing if you spend any time o/seas with it @ $5pts/$ converts to 3.33 KF pts/$ even 2.5 Air Asia miles/$ is ahead of Amex earn. Now I have this card, the AMEX is relegated to domestic use only.

The overseas transaction points earn is pretty awesome isn't it? Pity yours didn't arrive in time.

I'm looking forward to using my Select during a trip to the USA early June - 3.33KF points/$1 with work picking up the currency conversion and overseas transaction fees

 

[rowdy]

How'd you get a relationship manager at Citi? Is this through CitiGold, or some other mechanism? Interesting that she mentioned paying taxes, given that the Select T&Cs specifically disallow points earn on business transactions (not that they enforce it) - I guess she could have meant your personal taxes, but I suspect not!

Yes, through Citigold. I use Citi for their multi currency accounts and they seem to give the best exchange rates of the banks i have dealt with.

 

[wafliron]

Yes, through Citigold. I use Citi for their multi currency accounts and they seem to give the best exchange rates of the banks i have dealt with.

Righto - thanks for clarifying.

 

[QF WP]

After two years of no transactions on my CIti Plat CC, they sent me back my $2.19 credit balance.

The only negative was losing 2,500 points - can't say I've missed out. Still, was good back in the days when I was referring and getting 10K per referral (and the referred was also picking up). Referred a number of people here.

 

[uio]

I guess I'm a bit of an anomaly here. Had a pretty smooth application process and the card arrived and activated in a timely fashion, including the 80k bonus. Quick question though - has anyone tested whether or not a foreign conversion fee (or an unfavourable FX rate) is applied on foreign transactions. There are mixed reports as to whether this is practically applied on the Citiselect card...

 

[wafliron]

I guess I'm a bit of an anomaly here. Had a pretty smooth application process and the card arrived and activated in a timely fashion, including the 80k bonus.

I also had a smooth experience - had to haggle with them (upfront) to get the signon bonus as I already had a CitiBusiness Gold, but after that it was smooth sailing. In fact, probably better than your average "smooth sailing" for a CC app - they didn't verify anything I told them, so no need to submit evidence of income, etc

Quick question though - has anyone tested whether or not a foreign conversion fee (or an unfavourable FX rate) is applied on foreign transactions. There are mixed reports as to whether this is practically applied on the Citiselect card...

I just checked a recent USD transaction on my card:

16 May 2012 xx_x US USD 9.85 AUD 10.27 Dr

According to Oanda, $9.85 USD on 16 May should have equated to $9.87 AUD at interbank ranks. Therefore, I was charged an extra $0.40 AUD on this transaction, which equates to ~4.05% of the transaction amount. There is absolutely no breakdown on the statement of how much of this extra 4.05% is a specific fee (vs currency conversion spread), so it's hard to compare how this stacks up vs other cards.

 

[cove]

The rules say they can charge you 3.3% but you can earn up to 3.33 Kris points if you can do the Select Visa. It is worse if you use a lesser card or go QF points.

 

[wafliron]

I just checked a recent USD transaction on my card:

16 May 2012 xx_x US USD 9.85 AUD 10.27 Dr

According to Oanda, $9.85 USD on 16 May should have equated to $9.87 AUD at interbank ranks. Therefore, I was charged an extra $0.40 AUD on this transaction, which equates to ~4.05% of the transaction amount. There is absolutely no breakdown on the statement of how much of this extra 4.05% is a specific fee (vs currency conversion spread), so it's hard to compare how this stacks up vs other cards.

Quite by chance I was just looking at the same transaction on my paper statement (above was from online banking), and it does specifically list the fee there.

I was charged $0.33 AUD in overseas transaction fees for the above transaction. That means the underlying charge was $9.94 AUD, meaning the currency conversion spread was $0.07 or ~0.7% of the transaction amount. The $0.33 AUD overseas transaction fee doesn't quite line up with 3.3% of the overall amount... but oh well

The rules say they can charge you 3.3% but you can earn up to 3.33 Kris points if you can do the Select Visa. It is worse if you use a lesser card or go QF points.

Completely agree - assuming the currency conversion spread is no worse than any other card you are effectively paying 3.3 cents per $1 but getting 3.33 KF points (valued at what... 10-15c?) in return.

 

[Cruiser Elite]

As an aside all you learned readers do Citi ever have bonus offers to transfer pts to FF programs?