Should I get one?

[Tiki]

I just got an offer in my junk mail for a Citibank Gold Visa or MC. What is interesting to me is the free travel insurance and the rewards points program. I currently use NAB and get Flybuys points on purchases. I have QF but never put any points in it because up to now, I have always flown *A but I will be switching to AA for next year's RTW trip and platinum challenge. I understand from Lindsay's post you can't credit points to AA. So is it still worth using their Rewards program? Would I be better off trying to upgrade my normal NAB Visa to a gold one to get the free insurance? I'm not a big spender-just annual trips, monthly bills, groceries, stuff like that.

I guess I am trying to find out if Citibank Rewards is better than Flybuys? So you can't credit them to PC or SPG or even HH?

 

[coco50]

I have recently got a Citibank Platinum Card and as recently as yesterday was in the process of cancelling the three that it has replaced. My biggest earner of FF points is usually from CC. I try not to use money in any transaction and use the plastic all the time and settle it out in full when I receive the statement. Be very careful about "free" travel insurance if you use the card to purchase tickets etc. I would read the T&Cs very carefully. On a recent OS trip I asked Qantas ANZ Gold Visa if my trip was covered , having purchased on that card and was surprised to find that it wasn't. I ended up purchasing insurance through AIG. I don't think that having a card to accumulate FlyBuys points is the best use of the card. My "rules" would be:

• Have only one card (with maybe a fee free backup in case of loss of the main card)
• Link the card to your main FF program
• Do all your spending on that card
• Pay the balance in full at the end of each statement period
• If you want Fly Buys points, shop at Coles and Liquorland and buy petrol from Shell outlets
• Be careful about relying on travel insurance linked to a card spend on tix. Research the T&Cs carefully first.

 

[Tiki]

The only reason I have been using the NAB visa to collect Flybuys is because until now, my main FF program is UA MP and there are no Aussie credit cards that will credit to any US FF programs. I usually score enough Flybuys points for $100-150 credit to the Visa card around Christmas just by normal everyday spending and shopping at Coles, Woolies is much cheaper for petrol!

Next year, I am switching to AA and the One World team due to the Platinum Challenge. The other program I would be interested in collecting points in is IC PC. My income isn't high enough for Platinum credit cards, but I can probably squeak into Gold. Are there any Australian credit cards that would credit to either of those?

Why is the travel insurance so dodgy? You would think a major bank wouldn't want to scare off customers by refusing to pay legitimate claims? Most likely claims would be trip cancellation due to unforseen circumstances or in case of next year's South America/RTW possibly theft of belongings.

 

[drron]

There is one aussie card that will credit to US FF programs.Diners Club will let you credit to AA at 2 points for 1 mile.Problem is the limited acceptance of DC and an increasing number of those that do imposing a surcharge.

 

[coco50]

Tiki - drron is correct when he says that Diners Club will accumulate rewards points to AA. In fact I was very sad to cancel my Diners Club after eight years of use - much more after ANZ put a cap on Qantas points. It isn't that the travel insurance is dodgy, its just that you need to have a good look at the T&Cs and work out what they mean. My youngest daughter had to pull out of a trip to the LOTFAP booked on some gold card due to an appendix op. in 2004 and she has almost recovered the losses that she incurred from the insurance company. All I am saying is, be careful. Note that Diners don't offer travel insurance themselves, but it is available through them (at a cost) throuh AIG.

 

[lovetravellingoz]

Hi Tiki. The "free" Travel Insurance is not dodgey.

However as said above it comes with conditions..so read them well.

However I will highlight th most important one...and it is the one why the various CCs offer the "free" travel insurance.

To be covered by the card ALL your travel expenses have to be paid by the card concerned. So this is why they offer it as a "hook" to use their card. They wnat you spending with them and no one else.

ie you are not covered if you pay for your tickets by cash or another CC.
you are not covered for items unless thet were paid for by the card. ie hotel rooms. From you other posts I am guessing that you area budget traveller who will pay for a number of your expenses by cash. So as said above read the T&C and see if it is for you and your pattern of travel.

Also what are you side trips. If they include adventurous activities like trekking in Neal etc you may want the surety ofa good policy paid for directly in case you have an emergency evacuation etc.


Now I do not have Citibank but Gold via Westpac Altitude VISA and now via a free Qnatas FF Premium Card.

With my Westpac I just used it for a Thai trip...redemptions are covered if the FF points come via the CC use or flights but not from third party sources. So beware.


Be also aware that you can buy travel Insurance cheaply over the internet including "eexcutive Travel Insurance" which covers anyone in your family for 12 months which is agood deal if you are planning several trips. Such travel insurance is also Tax deuctable if you do any busines trave.

 

[Tiki]

Oh bugger! We are doing a cruise in Dec and I already paid $200 deposit by the Visa, so if I get this card the insurance won't apply? The main thing I want is the cancellation insurance, also I will be diving the Coolidge wreck in Vanuatu which is pretty deep-probably not covered.

Yes, we are largely budget travellers though you wouldn't know it by our next two trips. We only do 4* and up if they are real bargains though like the IC Pyramids, Cairo; or if they are free with points. We wouldn't pay for J or F, we would take it free once again with points/500 mile upgrades. Just not out of our pockets.

The RTW next year, I would put the tickets and jungle lodges-Tambopata & Pantanal on the card through a local travel agent (someone is gonna get a huge sale off this). The hotel in PPT will be covered by PC points, Easter Island will be a guest house we choose at the airport-cash, LIM, CUZ, FOZ, (internal Brazil air tickets), GIG and LHR would be whatever I can find online paid on the card.

We don't do business travel but the cruise & the RTW would be within a year so that might be the way to go. But bewteen these two trips, there's about $15,000 worth of travel, so I would like to get some kind of points for it. I have to pay the balance of the cruise by Oct 12 so need to find one by then. Do any cards hook up with IC PC?

 

[lovetravellingoz]

So no you would not be covered for the cruise as you have paid the $200 on VISA.

With your ground content for your ATW I would less worried as long as you do not pre-book and pre-pay them.

ie for accommodation that you use essentially as you go and pay you are not really risking anything as if you have to change plans through choice or illness etc it does not matter.

However IF you want to be sure that you are STILL covered for accident and health despite not paying your accommodation by your card I would as advised by others above get an opinion in writing from the Insurance firm as to waether you are covered or not.
accommodation not paid on the card would not be covered.

 

[alison]

I stopped at a citibank booth in melbourne domestic airport earlier this year. The form requires a huge amount of sensitive information.They have LOST the sensitive personal information on the form, i did not get any airpoints as promised, and nearly missed the plane as the form takes much longer to fill in than the 5 minutes they suggest. I called to check progress of the application and they have no record of it. The citibank customer relations could not have cared less. what has happened to the form? The banking ombudsman is my next stop. Where is the consumer protection? Giving over stacks of info to a subsequently unidentifiable bank rep? in a airport booth is a really bad idea. :evil:

 

[Tiki]

I never did apply for this card. Since this thread, I managed to squeak into an Amex Rewards Maximizer, though they did give me a very low credit limit of $3500. I like that I have a choice of airline and hotel programs to credit the points into.