Credit Cards

New Citi Prestige Benefits are being emailed out

a stuffed animal holding a camera

We may receive a commission when you use our links. Monkey Miles is part of an affiliate sales network and receives compensation for sending traffic to partner sites, such as CreditCards.com and CardRatings. This relationship may impact how and where links appear on this site. This site does not include all financial companies or all available financial offers. Monkey Miles is also a Senior Advisor to Bilt Rewards. Terms apply to American Express benefits and offers. Enrollment may be required for select American Express benefits and offers. Visit americanexpress.com to learn more Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.


New Citi Prestige Benefits are being emailed out

The rumor mill has been buzzing for quite some time that New Citi Prestige benefits would be rolled out before the card loses Admirals Club membership, Free International Golf, and AA flight redemptions will drop from 1.6¢ to 1.25¢ on July 23rd.  I first saw the leak on reddit, and just yesterday the Points Guy confirmed the changes.  I woke up today to an official announcement from Citi explaining the benefit changes. Here’s the text of the email I received with the new Citi Prestige Benefits explained, as well as another notification of the benefits that are lost.

In Short: 

  • Metal Card
  • 4th Night free will be bookable online – FrequentMiler has a good analysis
    • Will be deducted at Check Out
    • Taxes won’t be included.
    • Citi Concierge can still book it – see FrequentMiler post
  • Thank You cash back increases from $0.005 to $0.01

The Email:

We’re writing to inform you of changes to your Citi Prestige® Card as of July 23, 2017.

 

As a valued cardmember, we want to introduce you to the exciting new benefits of your Citi Prestige® card.

A new card

You’ll be receiving a first release Citi Prestige® metal card in the coming months. Please activate your new card immediately upon receipt. Your account number will be identical; however, your CVV and expiration date will change.

           

Your complimentary 4th night benefit has been updated

You can now take advantage of your complimentary 4th night benefit through thankyou.com!You can also redeem ThankYou® Points for all or part of your stay and get a complimentary 4th night. The complimentary 4th night savings will be applied at checkout; you’ll no longer have to wait to receive a statement credit when you book at thankyou.com.

The complimentary 4th night benefit will be calculated based on the average nightly rate of your complete stay. Taxes will no longer be included within the statement credit. You’ll still be able to enjoy your benefit at any hotel with no restrictions on the number of times you can use this benefit.

           

Redeeming ThankYou Points for cash rewards

You’ll receive greater value for cash reward redemptions with ThankYou Points. For example, previously you could redeem 50,000 ThankYou Points for $250. As of July 23rd, 50,000 points will be redeemable for $500. There’s no annual dollar cap or limit to the number of cash redemptions you make. All cash redemptions are final.

           

We also want to remind you of the following changes, going into effect on July 23, 2017:

 

Lounge access

Access to American Airlines Admirals Club® lounges will no longer be available with your Citi Prestige® card. You’ll continue to have complimentary and unlimited access to Priority PassTM Select lounges. You, your authorized users, immediate family or up to two guests traveling with you will continue to enjoy access to more than 1,000 airport lounges worldwide.

           

Redeeming ThankYou Points for flights

You’ll only receive 25% greater value versus gift cards on all airfare redemptions at thankyou.com. You’ll no longer receive 60% greater value on American Airlines flight redemptions and/or 33% greater value on all other airfare redemptions. For example, 50,000 ThankYou Points will now be redeemable for $625 in airfare on all airlines available at thankyou.com.

           

Complimentary international golf

The three complimentary rounds of golf will no longer be offered with your card. You’ll continue to have access to more than 2,000 celebrated and legendary golf properties around the world with access to select TPC properties provided by Mastercard.

           

The following benefits of your Citi Prestige® card will remain unchanged:

 

spacer

Annual $250 Air Travel Credit

spacer

$100 statement credit for your Global Entry or TSA Precheck application fee

spacer

No foreign transaction fees on purchases

spacer

24/7 access to Citi Prestige Concierge

spacer

3X points on air travel and hotels, 2X points on dining and entertainment and 1 ThankYou Point per $1 spent on all other purchases

spacer

Travel & Emergency Assistance, Trip Cancellation & Interruption Protection and Trip Delay Protection

spacer

If you have an eligible banking relationship, you’ll continue to receive your Relationship Bonus

The two most valuable perks are staying in tact

  • $250 annual air travel credit
    • They aren’t making it more difficult to earn
  • 4th night free benefit stays in tact
    • You can still use the Citi Concierge to make the booking and have post as a statement credit
    • Book online and have it deducted at check out
    • Available at any hotel, no restrictions

Because of my CitiPriority status, I’m fortunate to get a $350 annual fee. This means I’ll pay an effective $100 annual fee. I’ll certainly be able to recoup this cost with 4th night free benefits.

Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.

a blue credit card with blue lines and white text

Learn More

Affiliate Link

Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card


4.8
4.8/5
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® is a great starter card that earns Premium Ultimate Rewards that can be transferred into over a dozen partners many of which are US based including Hyatt, Southwest, United, IHG, and Marriott.

Welcome Offer

Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening

Annual Fee

$95

Points Earned

Transferrable Chase Ultimate Rewards

  • 5x on all travel purchased through Chase Travel℠
  • 3x on dining, including eligible delivery services for takeout & dining out
  • 3x on select streaming services
  • 3x on online grocery purchases
    • (excluding Target, Walmart and wholesale clubs)
  • $50 Annual Chase Travel Hotel Credit via Chase Travel℠
    • The begins immediately for new cardmembers and after your account anniversary for existing cardmembers
  • 2x on all other travel
  • 10% Anniversary Bonus
    • Every year you keep the card, your total spend will yield a 10% points bonus. If you spend $10k in a year, you’ll get 1k bonus points
  • Chase Sapphire Preferred continues to redeem at 1.25c in the Chase Travel℠ and the slew of other benefits remain in tact including Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver ( primary ), purchase protections, etc.
  • Points are transferrable to 14 Ultimate Rewards partners
  • Redeem in Chase Travel℠ for 1.25 cents per point
  • No foreign transaction fees
  • Suite of Travel and Purchase Coverage
    • Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver is my favorite
  • Get complimentary access to DashPass which unlocks $0 delivery fees and lower service fees for a minimum of one year when you activate by December 31, 2027.
  • $95 Annual Fee

We keep an up to date spreadsheet that lists the best ever offers: You can find that spreadsheet here.

Historically 80k is a very, very good offer and hit in both 2022 and 2023. In 2021, we saw the offer hit an all time high of 100k. Who knows if that will ever come back.

Main Cast: 

Cards that earn flexible points and should be used on the bulk of your purchases.

Supporting Cast:

Cards that earn fixed points in the currency of the airline/hotel and can not be transferred at attractive rates. These cards yield benefits that make it worth keeping, but not necessarily worth putting a lot of your everyday spend on. 

The Chase Sapphire Preferred® is exceptional starter card and offers transferrable Ultimate Rewards, and pairs well with other Chase cards.

If you carry this card alongside Chase’s cashback cards like the Chase Freedom Flex®  and Chase Freedom Unlimited® or the business versions: Ink Business Cash® , Ink Business Unlimited® you can combine the points into Preferred account and transfer into hotel and airline partners

Annual fee is quite low at $95 a year + you get a 10% anniversary bonus on points + $50 hotel credit in Chase travel.

The responses below are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. Responses have not been reviewed, approved, or otherwise endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser's responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.