The Citi Prestige Card sits at the top of the Citi credit card pyramid. It’s a premium travel credit card aimed at travelers who can not only leverage its benefits but put a significant amount of spend on. This card competes with the American Express Platinum and the Chase Sapphire Reserve.
What’s held me back from applying for this card is the welcome bonus eligibility. If you’ve received a welcome bonus and/or closed the Citi Rewards+, Citi ThankYou Preferred, Citi ThankYou Premier, or Citi Prestige in the past 24 months, you’re not eligible for the welcome bonus. I received the Citi ThankYou Premier welcome bonus within the last 24 months, so I’ve held off on applying for the Citi Prestige card.
Citi Prestige Card Details
There’s a ton to unpack with the Citi Prestige Card. It’s clearly aimed at travelers who spend heavily in airfare and dining, and also book hotels stays of at least 4 nights. More on that later. With no foreign transaction fees, this card would be great to bring with you on an international trip.
The annual fee places this Citi card in the high annual fee market. If a substantial amount of your monthly spend is in airfare and dining, and you can maximize the 4th night free hotel perk, it’s a card where you easily come out ahead.
With respect to airfare, I’d pay for your flights with the Chase Sapphire Reserve instead of the Citi Prestige Card. The Chase Sapphire Reserve’s travel insurance protection is superior to what’s offered by the Citi Prestige Card. There’s nothing like being covered when you’re experience travel-related issues.
Another benefit cardmembers receive is a $250 travel credit. This is similar to the $300 annual credit on the Chase Sapphire Reserve. The $250 Prestige credit knocks the annual fee down to $245 while the $300 Reserve credit knocks its fee down to $150.
Citi recently updated the travel credit to include purchases at grocery stores and restaurants. In short, you can use your $250 travel credit for airfare, grocery store, and restaurant purchases from May 1, 2020, to December 31, 2020.
Cell phone protection is yet another cardmember benefit. Citi will reimburse your costs if your phone is stolen or damaged, up to $1,500 per year. It’s important to read the terms and conditions to confirm what damages Citi will reimburse you for.
Citi Prestige Card Offer
We’ve seen 75,000 point welcome offers on this $495 annual fee card in the past, however, the current welcome offer is 50,000 points. The current welcome offer is respectable but it’s the ongoing benefits and perks that allow you to maximize the value of the Citi Prestige Card.
Cardmembers earn 5x points on airfare and dining, among other bonus categories. You’ll also receive the 4th Night Free benefit. Book nearly any hotel for a stay of 4 nights, and Citi will pay the cost, excluding taxes and fees, of the 4th night.
There are 2 caveats with the 4th Night Free benefit. One, the hotel stay must be booked through thankyou.com or by calling Citi. Two, hotel stays will not earn night credits and you will not receive elite benefits.
How to Earn Citi ThankYou Points
Airfare and dining, along with the 4th Free Night, are the best ways to maximize the value of this card. The Citi Prestige Card earns 5X on airfare and dining. This means that $4,900 in airfare and dining spend per year will allow you to break even on the annual fee.
If you don’t spend money on airfare or dining, you can still break even. Simply use your 4th Free Night hotel benefit twice per year, where the value of the free night totals $245, and you’ll come out ahead. I would personally have trouble using the 4th Night Free twice per year. Instead, I would spend $4,900 in airfare and dining to come out ahead.
With the recent Citi Prestige updates, cardmembers earn 5x points on online purchases until August 31, 2020. You are limited to $1,500 in purchases for this temporary bonus category.
How to Redeem Citi ThankYou Points
The Citi ThankYou program is 1 of 5 transferable point programs. American Express and Chase are the other 2 that I use the most often. I’ve also received value from the Marriott Bonvoy program. Capital One is the 5th transferable point program that you can use to book award travel.
God Save the Points a Citi ThankYou guide that I reference often for how to maximize my Citi points. With that said, Avianca Lifemiles, Cathay Pacific Asia Miles, Etihad Guest, Singapore Krisflyer, and Virgin Atlantic Flying Club are travel partners that I would personally use.
There’s a number of ways to use miles with the partners above, so here some of my favorites: 1) redeeming Avianca Lifemiles to fly Lufthansa first class, 2) redeeming Etihad Guest miles to fly American Airlines business class, 3) redeeming Virgin Atlantic miles to fly Delta One.
Conclusion on the Citi Prestige Card
The Citi Prestige Card is one I’ve wanted for a while. It’s certainly not a card for everyone as you’ll need to spend in airfare and/or dining, or use the 4th Night Free benefit to come out ahead. If you fall in either of these camps, it’s a card that can open up tons of value.
What about you? Do you have the Citi Prestige Card? Please let me know in the comments below or by sending me an email on my contact page.
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