FINALLY! - Citi launching Citi Prestige with Visa Infinite

[cardiology]

I have the Fee free Signature for years. Considering calling them to upgrade to Prestige, I earned around $170,000 per year. Will it be better if I open a CitiGold account with them before calling? What is the chance of having a $350 fee or may be even a free year?

 

[albyd]

Will be interesting to hear if they're still offering the $350 discount. I've had it for a few years. This year they only offered $50 off despite my having spent more than ever with them in the last year. It's still good value for what I get so I won't get worked up about it.

 

[edman]

Got the $350 discount just last week (a few weeks after being charged renewal fee) so it's still going

 

[Pele]

Gday

Am on the 1800 782 948 number to enquire about redeeming the free hotel night but after speaking to someone early on they redirected me to the correct department and i am up to 33 minutes without speaking to anyone. Last night i got to 57 minutes without speaking to anyone before i had to hang up and go to bed. Am i doing something wrong? For a premium card the customer service is the worst of any i have experienced.

Pele.

 

[imipenam]

Gday

Am on the 1800 782 948 number to enquire about redeeming the free hotel night but after speaking to someone early on they redirected me to the correct department and i am up to 33 minutes without speaking to anyone. Last night i got to 57 minutes without speaking to anyone before i had to hang up and go to bed. Am i doing something wrong? For a premium card the customer service is the worst of any i have experienced.

Pele.

Hi Pele, give this number a try ... 1800 799 299. Good luck and let us know if it works.

 

[Pele]

Hi Pele, give this number a try ... 1800 799 299. Good luck and let us know if it works.

Gday

Hung up on the other number after 44 minutes. Tried your number and it didnt even answer with a robot, just straight to music. I dont even know what i am on hold for! I am up to 15 minutes with no signs of life. Will head to bed and just send them an email with explicit instructions. Thanks for trying.

Pele.

 

[thehound]

That's all pretty outrageous Pele! Just email the concierge with the specific request, and ask them to call you back to confirm. That's always worked for me (they even called me at requested times when I was living in Canada to line up with the time difference).

 

[Jack_OC]

Got the $350 discount just last week (a few weeks after being charged renewal fee) so it's still going

Just wondering how exactly you approached this? Did you call up and threaten to close your account, or did you simply ask for a reduction?

 

[edman]

Just asked. After approved and the CSR said it was a one-off, I mentioned I'd be cancelling when the next few was due and he asked me why. Told me to ring back then and I'd probably get it for free. Didn't mention cancellation until after the refund was granted, was surprised how easily it was given.

 

[potm]

On a free for life signature. Called up to try and get it upgraded to a Prestige. First asked to retain the same annual fee, declined. Asked about discounted annual fee, declined. Asked about bonus points, only for new applications.
Couldn't offer me anything, despite going on hold a couple of times to check.
I'm wondering if I need to call up and ask to cancel my signature card whether it would help.

 

[PLANT]

^NUP, Narda and No

 

[Jack_OC]

Just asked. After approved and the CSR said it was a one-off, I mentioned I'd be cancelling when the next few was due and he asked me why. Told me to ring back then and I'd probably get it for free. Didn't mention cancellation until after the refund was granted, was surprised how easily it was given.

Thanks, I'll give that a try.

On a free for life signature. Called up to try and get it upgraded to a Prestige. First asked to retain the same annual fee, declined. Asked about discounted annual fee, declined. Asked about bonus points, only for new applications.
Couldn't offer me anything, despite going on hold a couple of times to check.
I'm wondering if I need to call up and ask to cancel my signature card whether it would help.

I also have a free for life Signature, which I've held since well before I took out the Prestige. When I decided to go for the Prestige, I simply applied for it online via the link on their website offering the bonus points. I got approved and got the bonus points, but they definitely knew I was not a new customer, as they insisted on reducing my Signature limit as a condition of approval. That was almost a year ago now, but by my reading of the T&Cs people who hold other Citi cards are not excluded from the bonus point offer with Prestige. I think the situation is simply that you won't get bonus points if you upgrade from Signature to Prestige, but you will get them if you take out the Prestige as an additional card. At the end of the day, if you apply under a bonus points offer and they refuse to give you the bonus points, then I think you'd have a strong case to call up to cancel the card without paying the annual fee.

Either way, I certainly wouldn't be cancelling the free for life Signature card. If/when you decide that Prestige is no longer worth the fee, the Signature is a great option to fall back to.

 

[potm]

Thanks for providing your experience. I do not meet the 150k income requirement for the Prestige application but the limit on my signature at the moment is high enough to upgrade to Prestige.

Losing the free for life Signature card is also something that is holding me back. I don't really use the actually card anymore but the priority pass access is nice and it is always the fall back option if others aren't available.

I'll be happy to pay $350 a year for the Prestige, just not $700.

 

[Jack_OC]

Thanks for providing your experience. I do not meet the 150k income requirement for the Prestige application but the limit on my signature at the moment is high enough to upgrade to Prestige.

Ok, I see. Although that being the case would they actually let you upgrade even if you were willing to pay the full fee? I thought the same eligibility criteria would still apply?

Losing the free for life Signature card is also something that is holding me back. I don't really use the actually card anymore but the priority pass access is nice and it is always the fall back option if others aren't available.

I'll be happy to pay $350 a year for the Prestige, just not $700.

Exactly the same for me. If they refuse my request for a fee reduction, I'm not sure if I'll keep the Prestige. I worked out that over the past year I earned about an extra 50k points (excluding sign on bonus) with the Prestige compared to putting the same spend through the Signature. However, I wouldn't have put all of that spend through the Signature - e.g. I always used the Prestige overseas as it effectively earns 2.5 FF points per $, but I could have used an Amex at 1.5 points per $ for most of that spend if I didn't have the Prestige. So the real points benefit is not even as high as 50k points.

The only other benefit that I have used is the free hotel night, but IIRC, I could have booked into the same hotel for $210 that night, and there is no guarantee of using this benefit each year, as availability tends to be limited. I don't use Priority Pass much, and for those times I do, I already have 2 other PP cards with 2 free visits each per year. I haven't used the airport transfers at all, as the distance limit in Melbourne is a ridiculous 25 km each way.

I agree that at $350 per year this card is definitely still worth it, but at $700 it's very questionable for me.

 

[Pele]

Gday

Do the Prestige points credit as soon as you make the purchase or do they get added to your account at the end of the billing cycle?

Have a large purchase to make soon and want to use the points asap and cant wait a month or more for the points to come through.

Thanks.

Pele.

 

[albyd]

They credit after the transaction posts.

 

[LadyC]

I am looking to utilise the 4 nights for 3 benefit at a few hotels in Europe next year. I have never used it before and if I recall correctly, only the pre-tax amount is rebated back? Is that right? And does tax include GST?

 

[Cruiser Elite]

LadyC only room Tariff component is rebated by City within 60 days of pmt to Hotel and completion of stay. Taxes, local charges etc not included for rebate calculation. Also bear in mind many hotels do not offer 3rd parties access to ALL room types and ALL rates.

Firstly trawl the net and choose exactly which hotel, which dates, which rate, b/fast yes or no, pre/post pmt, complete details - then email Prestige Concierge - leave nothing open to interpretation- give exact details of your rqts.

We are currently in negs with Concierge for a stay at Nixe Palace Pace Majorca for June 2017 - the room type we decided on on Nixe web site was 55sq mtr Suite Sea View - Hotels.com only have access to pricing 40sq mtr Junior Suite - Concierge originally quoted triple nonSuite room and were adamant this room type was Suite Sea Biew - it took 2 emails containing snips of both Nixe and Hotels.com web sites and 2 phone call to Concierge Agent to get them to understand - but it is worth the effort as ~25% savings not to be sneezed at.

Just do your homework and be vigilant.

 

[LadyC]

Thanks Cruiser. Do you have an email for the concierge? I only have telephone - email is so much easier to be precise in.

 

[Cruiser Elite]

Thanks Cruiser. Do you have an email for the concierge? I only have telephone - email is so much easier to be precise in.

Sure do - [email protected]