Citi Prestige Credit Card [2021.7 Update: Possibly Discontinued Permanently]

【2021.7 Update】According to Bloomberg, this card may have been permanently discontinued. The basic idea is that there were too few genuinely high-end customers, and too many people just maximizing the benefits.

【2021.7 Update】This card has already been removed from the official website, and the application link is no longer accessible. According to DOC and reports from customer service, applications for this card stopped on July 1, and product changes into this card are also no longer allowed. Existing cardholders can still keep using it. My guess is that Citi is reworking the product, and hopefully it comes back with benefits that actually matter.

From time to time, Citi re-evaluates its card product offerings to ensure the business is evolving its products to best meet the needs of its customers. The Citi Prestige Card is one such card product.

As of July 1, 2021, customers will no longer be able to apply for the Citi Prestige card. Additionally, as of June 19, 2021, cardmembers will not be able to convert to the Citi Prestige card. All applications that have been submitted prior to these dates will continue to be processed.

Existing cardmembers will still be able to use their Citi Prestige Card without interruption and benefits will remain the same for primary and authorized users. Existing cardmembers can still add authorized users to their accounts.

Citi Prestige Credit Card Overview

Highlights

• Fourth Night Free on Hotels: Book hotels through Citi Travel and get the benefit of paying for only three nights on a four-night stay, effectively pricing the stay at 0.75 times the original four-night rate. You can also book by calling the Citi Travel concierge. This benefit now also applies to point bookings. After the change, this benefit is limited to only two uses per year!
• $250 Annual Travel Credit: Each calendar year, cardholders can receive up to $250 in travel credits, which can be used for airfare, baggage fees, hotels, and other travel-related expenses. Just pay directly with this card.
• Airport Lounge Benefit: Complimentary Priority Pass Select membership, with access to more than 900 Priority Club airport lounges worldwide, and you may bring up to two guests each visit.
• Global Entry Credit: Reimburses the $100 Global Entry application fee. Note that only green card holders and U.S. citizens are eligible for Global Entry.
• Phone Insurance: If you pay your cell phone bill with this card, you can receive insurance coverage for damage or theft, up to $1,500. One card can cover up to 5 phones.

Citi Card Benefits

• Free FICO credit score: provided by Equifax, with historical scores shown in chart form
• Private Pass: they once offered free movie tickets, but I missed it
• Retention offers can be fairly generous: if you threaten to cancel when the annual fee posts, you may receive some promotions

Using ThankYou Points

• Point value: Average value is 1.5c/p, 100 TYP = $1.5 (Point value and analysis)
• Direct redemption: Redeem at 1c/p for Statement Credit
• Point transfers: 1:1 transfer to AA (good for U.S.-China and U.S.-Europe redemptions, especially premium cabins); 1:1 transfer to Virgin Atlantic miles (good for Delta One nonstop awards and ANA round-trip first class between the U.S. and Japan); 1:1 transfer to Avianca miles (good for U.S.-China business class, ANA and Asiana first class between the U.S. and China, with no YQ on ticketing); 1:1 transfer to Qantas Airways (QF) miles (good for nonstop U.S. domestic awards and U.S. East Coast to Western Europe). You need to hold the ThankYou Premier or Prestige to transfer TYP to airline and hotel points.
• Program features: You can pool all TYP points into one account and use them together. TYP points on each card expire separately, so it’s best to use up the TYP from a card before closing it. You can transfer up to 100k TYP per year to a friend’s account.
• My quick take: For TYP airline partners, just keep AA, AV, and VS straight. Hilton as a hotel partner is also not really worth transferring to. Redeeming for cash/gift cards is only worth 1 cent per point. So the value is about 1.3c, and a few of the more niche airline partners still make it interesting.
• Detailed analysis: ThankYou Points guide>>

My Review

This card recently went through some benefit changes.

【1/4 Update】The benefits on this card have been significantly changed. The changes are already in effect for existing cardholders, and new applications are expected to open later this month. Here is a summary and analysis of the changes:

• Airfare and dining earnings increase to 5x, with a new 3x category for cruises: Dining is clearly the mainstream category. Citi probably thinks people can only eat so much, and it’s hard to MS with dining. Airfare and cruises also are not categories most people use very often each year. That said, Prestige’s trip delay benefit is pretty strong, so this could become a go-to card for airfare purchases.
• $250 airline credit becomes a $250 general travel credit: Following CSR’s lead, making the credit much easier to use. AMEX should take notes.
• Added Phone Insurance: Sounds great in theory; the key question is whether claims will be easy.
• Fourth night free benefit changes to only twice per year: This was the biggest perk, so cutting it is a major loss. I imagine hotel loyalists will start canceling the card.
• Annual fee increases to $495, while certain checking account holders still pay $350: At the higher fee, it really doesn’t feel worth it anymore. At $350, it might still be worth keeping.
• No more 25% bonus on Citi Travel point redemptions: Bad news. That devalues the points. Citi’s transfer partners still are not especially compelling, which makes TYP even harder to use well.
• 2x on entertainment is eliminated: Also bad news. It was the only rewards category that really felt distinctive.

Overall, I think this is a pretty poor set of changes. If Citi doesn’t improve the competitiveness of TYP, then 5x TYP still loses to 4x MR, and only really has a case against 3x UR. The annual fee went up without adding more credits or meaningful practical benefits, and they also cut the most important perk: fourth night free on hotels. This card now feels much less special.

【2019.6 Update】Starting September 22, a large number of benefits on this card will be removed, including rental car insurance, trip cancellation and trip delay insurance, travel accident insurance, baggage delay insurance, lost baggage insurance, Price Rewards (price protection), 90-day return protection, and road assistant. When you log in to your Citi account, you may see a pop-up listing these discontinued benefits, and the exact notice may vary by card. My feeling is that, for a premium card, Citi probably wouldn’t intentionally gut its own product like this unless something happened with the insurance provider and they simply had not found a replacement yet, so they canceled the benefits first and dealt with the rest later...

• Log in to view the benefits change page
• Effective September 22, 2019, Worldwide Car Rental Insurance, Trip Cancellation & Interruption Protection, Worldwide Travel Accident Insurance, Trip Delay Protection, Baggage Delay Protection, Lost Baggage Protection, Medical Evacuation, Citi® Price Rewind, 90 Day Return Protection, and Missed Event Ticket Protection will be discontinued and will no longer be provided for purchases made on or after that date. Coverage for purchases made before that date will continue to be available, and you may continue to file for benefits in accordance with the current benefit terms. Roadside Assistance Dispatch Service and Travel & Emergency Assistance will be discontinued and will not be available on or after September 22, 2019.
• You will continue to have Extended Warranty and Damage & Theft Purchase Protection on this account…As a cardmember, you will also continue to receive a range of other card benefits including FICO^®Credit Score, Citi^® Identity Theft Solutions, and Citi Entertainment.

How to Apply

• Minimum credit line is $5,000, so this card is somewhat harder to get approved for
• If you have opened or closed a ThankYou Preferred/Thank Premier/Prestige/Rewards+ card within the past 24 months, you will not be eligible for the signup bonus again

• Citi application status link or call: 877-343-4118
• 8/65/95 rule: You can apply for only one personal card every 8 days, only two personal cards every 65 days, and only one business card every 95 days. This refers to application submission limits, regardless of whether you were approved or not.
• 24/48-month welcome bonus rule: If you have received a welcome bonus on a ThankYou Points card within the past 24 months, you will not be eligible to receive the bonus again. For AA products, the restriction is 48 months, but both rules apply only to the same card; there is no restriction across different card families.
• You can call the reconsideration line (800-763-9795) to speed up the credit card approval process or ask a representative to review a denied credit card application again.
• Having a Citi Checking/Gold relationship may help with your application.
• More about applying for Citi credit cards

Application Link