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I was one of the biggest City Prestige card fans you could find on the planet. Talk about amazing value in just the golf perk alone each year. Even if Citi had lowered the perk from 3 free rounds per year to 1 free round per year I would have kept this card until the day I died. But sad to say those who have had the card since the rule change only have until 23 JULY 2017 to book the final 3 free rounds from the card.
The above caused me to call to cancel the card today now that the $450 fee has hit. To be fair I did get $250 in travel credit last year and $250 in credit this year as well on top of the large bonus point offer for getting this “Best Credit Card“. But I still hate to pay fees to hold a card. So I called to see what Citi would offer me – this is called a retention call btw.
The rep understood my frustration with the changes i.e. downgrades to the card but tried to sell me on all the other perks the card has. I mentioned I am already paying a similar huge fee for my Chase Sapphire Reserve® card as well as my non-Delta AMEX Business Platinum card that to me offer better perks for the fee. The rep offered me a challenge to keep the card.
The offer was simply that I must spend during each of the next 3 months $4,000 and I would get a $200 credit.
Since that is just not that hard at all for me to do shopping online or at my local CVS etc. I was happy to accept this offer. Why keep the card when the main perk is going away? One simple reason:
I know of no other card that offers such an amazing travel insurance policy (see PDF) when you pay for any amount of the ticket with the card. To only require a 3 hour delay before the perks start to kick in are amazing and make the card worth always using when I buy airline tickets of any kind – that is, award or purchased. But not for $200 a year to keep the card. At no cost to me yes I will always pull this card out and buy. Thus between this year’s travel credit and the $200 spend credit I have the card fee free for another year. That is worth it to me.
Now I know there are other perks like the 4th night free etc. etc. but I tend to always stay free on points in hotels so no perk for me there. The other perks are also just sorta meh to me personally. But the travel insurance is HUGE and I value that.
I have been told by a number of readers the spend / retention offer I was extended is a common one this year so if you too are in a position to spend $4,000 each month for 3 months you too may want to keep this card and enjoy the one really valuable perk it offers – great travel insurance when you pay for all or part of your ticket with this card! – René
Advertiser Disclosure: Eye of the Flyer, a division of Chatterbox Entertainment, Inc., is part of an affiliate sales network and receives compensation for sending traffic to partner sites, such as CreditCards.com. Some or all of the card offers that appear on the website are from advertisers. Compensation may impact how and where card products appear on the site. This site does not include all card companies or all available card offers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed, or approved by any of these entities. Some of the links on this page are affiliate or referral links. We may receive a commission or referral bonus for purchases or successful applications made during shopping sessions or signups initiated from clicking those links.
Responses 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.
Renee,
I believe Citi caps you at the amount you actually paid unless you put the entire airfare on the card. Chase, on the other hand covers you fully, even if you only charge $5.60. That’s why I use my CSP.
Not a question specific to this card, but cannot help but wonder how much you spend across all cards on an annual basis.
@JP – Often times I get ALL my fees back one way or another in cash or credits or points or real value (even though in the thousands in fees). See this post for example: http://renespoints.boardingarea.com/2016/09/20/happy-pay-1750-annual-card-fees-four-cards-year-year/
The travel insurance is also the only reason I’m keeping this card. The 250 in travel does not hurt either. I made a claim on delayed baggage, 3 days, when we went to Scotland on an award ticket paying 11.20 in fees and submitted a claim for 300.00 and there was no issues at all.
KT
@KT – Thanks I have only been told glowing results even on awards but your data points adds to that.
Along with the best in class travel insurance/delay coverage, prestige card also has great primary auto insurance overseas up to 100K for any vehicle with 4 tires and can be used without the need for denying the protection offered/mandatory by the rental company. Amex and Chase don’t work if there is another CDW involved. Almost all cars rented from rentalcars.com come with CDW included which is hard to remove from the contract.
I also keep the card for the unlimited free 4th night benefit.
P