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

[PLANT]

I got the email but waiting for someone here to say
If it is worse than previous....???

 

[MELso]

Changes to complimentary travel insurances on your credit card account

Here comes the slow but inevitable drip-feed of enshitification…
One after another the changes will come slow enough to not startle the horses, but added together eventually will make the card no better than any other white-label, no-name card.

Taken individually, none of the changes to come will be of any significance to any great majority. Only when the transformation is complete will card holders look back at what once was and realise what's been lost.

If you feel like a frog in a frying pan, that's not your imagination that things seem to be warming up underfoot.

This one's pretty minor though. It clarifies the delay expenses are per 24 hour period.

After 6 consecutive hours delay, and for each subsequent 24 consecutive hour period thereafter, up to $500 per person for meals and accommodation expenses up to a maximum total limit of $2,000 per cardholder or spouse. Dependants are included in the limit available to the cardholder or spouse.

EDIT - the other changes were announced in April 2025.

 

[Legoman]

To be completely honest, since the 44-day from 55-day enshitification move and the killing off of PayAll, my focus on getting value out of credit cards has moved away from points entirely. I now prioritise card choice for purchases entirely based on the day of the month, the billing date of the various cards I have and the interest free period on offer, so that I always maximise as much as possible the days of free credit before I have to pay the card statement.

Admittedly this does require some pre-planning and admin to set up, but once done is working quite well. In my case I have 6 cards and I've shifted their various statement dates so they spread out roughly evenly across the month without getting into the month transition period (excluding 28-1). Of my six, they are equally spread between 44 day and 55 day. Three of each.

55day card - statement date 04
44day card - statement date 10
55day card - statement date 15
44day card - statement date 20
55day card - statement date 24
44day card - statement date 28

I use the signature strip on the back of each card to write the statement date for ease of reference (because nobody uses it for actual signatures anymore). For instance, if I was wanting to use a card to buy something today (18), I would simply look back at the card that has the most recent statement date before that number (15th-55day) and that's the card I use. It's irrelevent whether it earns points or not. The points are so worthless these days, it's not worth the brain admin required to chase them.

In amongst that selection there are obviously some special use cases that take priority in certain circumstances. The 15 statement card is the no-foreign exchange fee travel card. Two of the 44-day cards are Amex and Amex have special cashback offers at certain retailers. That sort of thing, but the base rule before special cases is to use the card that's most recently had its latest statement issued. Points don't come into the thought process anymore at all.

 

[Ansett Nostalgic]

To be completely honest, since the 44-day from 55-day enshitification move and the killing off of PayAll, my focus on getting value out of credit cards has moved away from points entirely. I now prioritise card choice for purchases entirely based on the day of the month, the billing date of the various cards I have and the interest free period on offer, so that I always maximise as much as possible the days of free credit before I have to pay the card statement.

Admittedly this does require some pre-planning and admin to set up, but once done is working quite well. In my case I have 6 cards and I've shifted their various statement dates so they spread out roughly evenly across the month without getting into the month transition period (excluding 28-1). Of my six, they are equally spread between 44 day and 55 day. Three of each.

55day card - statement date 04
44day card - statement date 10
55day card - statement date 15
44day card - statement date 20
55day card - statement date 24
44day card - statement date 28

I use the signature strip on the back of each card to write the statement date for ease of reference (because nobody uses it for actual signatures anymore). For instance, if I was wanting to use a card to buy something today (18), I would simply look back at the card that has the most recent statement date before that number (15th-55day) and that's the card I use. It's irrelevent whether it earns points or not. The points are so worthless these days, it's not worth the brain admin required to chase them.

That's a very interesting and clever approach.

 

[Chicken]

Changes to complimentary travel insurances on your credit card account

Here comes the slow but inevitable drip-feed of enshitification…
One after another

If you feel like a frog in a frying pan, that's not your imagination that things seem to be warming up underfoot.

This is old news, this is just repeating what was announced last year.

That's a very interesting and clever approach.

Life is already complicated enough in 2026, that's why we come up with six sigma and value stream mapping and etc. Imagine have to make 6 decisions before inserting a credit card. Doing Value stream mapping, but walking back in reverse. I think I would be sectioned if I try doing this.

 

[Legoman]

Life is already complicated enough

Exactly. That's why I decided to go back to basics and forget about the largely worthless points. The points chase is largely a zero-sum game, because the issuers of the points are answerable to no-one and have shown complete disregard for maintaining value in them. You can spend an inordinate amount of time chasing points and then with the swipe of a pen, the issuer devalues them for you in one single press release sent out at 6pm on the Friday before a long weekend. I simply decided I haven't got the time and energy to keep playing that game and constantly losing. Now I just use the cards as credit cards where they're of most advantage and use to me. If they happen to accumulate some points along the way, then so be it.