With the major devaluation of Citicard's protection benefits kicking in on September 22, 2019, we have been busy updating many pages as well as our rankings.  Most obviously, four Citi credit cards (Citi Prestige, Citi AA Executive, Citi Premier, Citi AA Platinum Select) all fell out of the Top Credit Cards for Protection.  As a matter of fact, Citicards dropped from the very top to the very bottom with regards to travel and consumer protection.

Our prestigious Top 10 Best Credit Cards also shows quite a few changes.  Citi Prestige drops from #1 to #3, while Citi Premier drops from #4 to #6 and Citi AA Platinum Select drops out of the Top 10.  Chase Sapphire Reserve once again clinches the crown, only after nine months.  The rest of the list reflects some minor changes in signup bonus, rewards, and perks.  Alliant Visa Signature comes back to the Top 10.

Sine June, Citi has been sending out emails to customers regarding the huge protection benefit change kicking in as of September 22, 2019.  Curiously I personally haven't received any email from Citi regarding this topic for any of my Citi cards - Prestige, DoubleCash, and ThankYou Preferred.  Maybe it was a glitch (for quite a few of us).  For whoever that haven't received email notifications, when you log into your Citi online account and go to the "Card Benefits" page, you will receive a pop up window with the exact same message as what is supposed to be in the email.  However, after you have viewed the message once, you won't see it again if you log back in.  Talking about being sneaky!

For example, on my Citi Prestige, I received the following message: "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.  We are making these changes so that we can continue providing the key benefits that our customers use and value most at no additional cost. This change requires no action on your part. See FAQs under Card Benefits for answers to Frequently Asked Questions regarding these changes."

​This is absolutely the worst devaluation of benefit/protection we have seen in the history of not only Citi cards but all credit cards.  Different card products may show different messages.  It appears that after the devaluation, only a few protection benefits are left:

• Purchase Protection, Extended Warranty, FICO Score, Identity Theft Solution for Citi Prestige, Citi Premier, Citi ThankYou Preferred, Citi AA Executive, Citi AA Platinum, Citi AA Gold, Citi AA MileUp, etc.
• FICO score and Identify Theft Solution for Citi DoubleCash, Citi Costco, Citi Diamond Preferred, etc.
• Cellphone Protection will be available on World MasterCards and World Elite MasterCards.

We used to praise Citi cards for the extraordinary protection benefits, especially on the premium products.  Citi Prestige and Citi AA Executive are tied as #1 card for protection, and Citi Premier and Citi AA Platinum are tied as #4.  This surely will change after September 22, 2019.  In fact, ironically, Citi is going from the very top to the very bottom with regards to protection!  Stay tuned for the new Top 10 lists.

What can you do now?  If you think about cancelling your Citi card(s), I won't blame you.  As always, I will recommend keeping the card if it is one of your oldest cards to preserve your credit history.  It will also be good to keep non-fee cards such as Double Cash or Citi Costco Visa, if you enjoy their rewards.  If you have some purchases to make in the near future anyway, you probably want to make the purchases before September 22, 2019 to at least enjoy the protection such as Price Rewind, Return Protection, Extended Warranty, etc.  If you have a premium card you are paying annual fees on, you really need to sit down and reevaluate your situation.

There are quite a few updates on the website in the recent weeks, and here is a quick roundup.

• Chase Southwest Performance Business Visa write-up is up - please see the Chase Southwest Visa Cards review for details.  The impressive 80K points signup will get you really close to the 110K-point qualifying threshold to achieve the potentially extremely lucrative Southwest Companion Pass which allows you take a companion for free for a year.
• Amex Blue Business Cash review is up - this card is no the new benchmark for general business spending with a strait 2% cashback on everything up to $50K spent per year and no annual fees.  If you can leverage Membership Rewards' miles transfer feature to achieve a points value higher than 1 cent a piece (1.5 cents in our book), you'd better off with the old "King of Business Cards" Amex Blue Business Plus; however, for most business owners, Blue Business Cash is a much easier option to get $1,000 in rewards per year.
• U.S. Bank Business Cash WEMC review is up.  Its 3.75% & 1.25% cash rewards structure is nothing to write about, but the $500 signup bonus is worth looking into.
• Chase Marriott Bonvoy Bold Visa review is up.  If you can take advantage of the annual free night capped at 35K redemption level, the $95 Marriott Bonvoy Boundless Visa is actually a better card to apply and keep.
• Chase United Explorer Business Visa is offering up to 100,000 miles at signup.  Before get too excited, you have to know that this comes with a rather difficult spending requirement of $25K within 6 months of new account opening.  Even with the devaluation of United miles in the coming November, due to the fact that partner redemption will be kept the same, this signup offer (worth $1,250 in our book) still tops our chart of best signup bonuses.
• Chase IHG Premier MasterCard offers the historical high - 125K points & $50 statement credit & 15 extra points for IHG purchase for the first year & 2 extra points for other general spending for the first year.  However, due to the relative low value of IHG points, this signup offer is worth about $460 in our book.
• Amex Hilton Ascend has been rebranded back to Amex Hilton Surpass, and nothing else changed.  It still comes with 130K Hilton points at signup (worth $425 in our book), complimentary Hilton Gold status, and an annual free weekend night after $15K spending.
• Amex Platinum Card offers 75K Membership Rewards at signup now.  It is very decent offer for those who are also interested in the iconic card's Fine Hotels & Resorts program, arguably the best airport lounge program offered by a credit card, Hilton Gold status, Uber & Saks credits, 5x points on airfare, etc.

There are some recent updates as the following and we are also working on updating several other card reviews.

• Barclays AA Aviator Business MasterCard now offers a historical high bonus - 75,000 AA miles, with an $95 annual fee. 
• Barclays AA Aviator Red MaterCard (personal) loses the 10% redeemed miles rebate (up to 10,000 miles per year) and $100 flight discount with $30K spending, and gains an annual $99 companion certificate with $20K spending.  Also it offers a fairly decent signup bonus now - 50,000 AA miles + an introductory $99 companion certificate.
• Citi AA Platinum Select MasterCard (personal) also loses the 10% redeemed miles rebate, and only gains an additional $25 flight discount (increased from $100 to $125) with $20K annual spending.
• Barclays Hawaiian Business MasterCard nows offers a historical high bonus - 70,000 Hawaiian miles plus a one-time 50% companion discount, with a $99 annual fee.  The personal version has a slightly less bonus (60K miles + one 50% companion discount), but is still a historical high.
• Citi Premier has increased the signup bonus from 50,000 points to 60,000 points; however, the $95 is no longer waived for the first year.

These are the recently updated signup offers:

• Chase has increased bonus from 40K to 60K on all three personal Southwest Rapid Rewards (RR) Visa cards and now each of the four Southwest credit cards is offering 60,000 points: personal Southwest RR Plus Visa ($69 annual fee), personal Southwest RR Premier Visa ($99 annual fee), business Southwest RR Premier Visa ($99 annual fee), and personal Southwest RR Priority Visa ($149 annual fee).  The signup bonus before the annual fee is considered $840 with our current valuation of 1.4 cents per point.
• The $99 annual fee Barclays JetBlue Plus MasterCard is offering 50,000 points (=$700 in our book with the points value of 1.4 cents a piece), increased from the regular 30,000 points.  The JetBlue Business MasterCard is offering up to 60,000 points (50K after spending $1,000 within 3 months of new account opening and 10K for adding an employee card and making the first purchase).
• U.S. Bank has also increased signup bonus on the Radisson Rewards Premier Visa ($75 annual fee) to a historical high - 120,000 points after $3,000 spent within the first 3 months of new account opening.  However, our valuation of Radisson Rewards points is only 0.25 cent a piece, so the 120K bonus is worth $300 in our book.

Citi has further increased signup bonuses on its AAdvantage Platinum Select credit cards:

• Personal AAdvantage Platinum Select MasterCard has two different offers: (1) 65,000 miles after spending $4,000 within 4 months of new account opening. (2) 40,000 miles after spending $2,000 within 3 months of new account opening plus up to $250 statement credits towards American Airlines purchases within 12 months of new account opening.  The $99 annual fee is waived for the first year for both offers.  Either bonus won't be available if you have opened or closed any Citi / AAdvantage personal credit card in the past 24 months.  Note that the 65K offer is the second highest signup offer in history of this product.  If you value AA miles as we do at 1.6 cents per point, the 65K offer is worth $1,040.
• Business AAdvantage Platinum Select MasterCard also has two different offers: (1) 75,000 miles after spending $5,000 within 5 months of new account opening.  (2) 40,000 miles after you spend $2,000 within 3 months of new account opening, and $250 statement credits when you make an American Airlines purchase within 12 months of new account opening.  The $99 annual fee is waived for the first year for both offers.  The bonus won't be available if you have opened or closed any CitiBusiness / AAdvantage credit card in the past 24 months.  The 75K offer is the highest signup offer in history of this product.  Our valuation of the 75K offer is $1,200, currently ranked as #1 on our best credit card signup offer list.

We have seen increased signup bonuses on a few credit cards this week:

• Wells Fargo Propel Amex has increased the signup bonus from 30,000 to 50,000 points.  Propel Amex is one of the best rewards cards, especially if you are not interested in redeeming points for airline miles or hotel points but rather choose fixed value travel rewards.  When you have another non-fee card Wells Fargo Visa Signature, you can transfer the points earned on Propel Amex to the Visa Signature and increase the points value from 1 cent to 1.5 cents per point.  In this way the 50K signup bonus of Propel Amex will be worth $750 in fixed value travel rewards.  Propel Amex is also a card to keep after the first year, as it returns 3x points (= 4.5% travel rewards if you have Wells Fargo Visa Signature) on travel, dining, gasoline, and streaming services.
• Chase Freedom Unlimited has been offering 15,000 points as signup bonus online for quite a while.  Now if you go to a Chase branch, you can apply for this card and receive a different signup bonus: 3x points on everything in the first year, up to $20,000 in purchase.  Note that as the card regularly earns 1.5x points, the maximum additional points considered as the signup bonus will be 30,000 points (when you spend $20K in the first year).  When you have a premium Ultimate Rewards card such as Sapphire Reserve (based on fixed value redemption or miles transfer) or Sapphire Preferred (based on miles transfer), these additional points will be worth $450 in our book.  In addition, Freedom Unlimited pairs really well with Sapphire Reserve, as it returns higher rewards for general spending, while you will use Sapphire Reserve for dining, travel, and foreign purchases.
• Chase Sapphire Preferred has a new signup bonus: 60,000 points after you spend $4,000 within 3 months of new account opening; however, the annual fee is NOT waived for the first year.  The previous signup bonus was 50K with the first year annual fee waiver.  As we value the additional 10K points at $150, more than the $95 annual fee, the new bonus is slightly better.

This week we have seen some elevated signup bonuses on a few credit cards (our value for the bonus minus first year annual fee is for your reference - your valuation may vary):

• Amex Gold Delta SkyMiles personal card ($95 annual fee, waived for the first year): 60,000 miles + 5,000 MQMs (Medallion Qualifying Mile) - our value $650
• Amex Gold Delta SkyMiles business card ($95 annual fee, waived for the first year): 70,000 miles + 5,000 MQMs - our value $750
• Amex Platinum Delta SkyMiles personal card ($195 annual fee): 75,000 miles + 5,000 MQMs + $100 statement credit - our value $705 (historical high) 
• Amex Platinum Delta SkyMiles business card ($195 annual fee): 80,000 miles + 5,000 MQMs + $100 statement credit - our value $755 (historical high)
• Amex Delta Reserve personal card ($450 annual fee): 75,000 miles + 5,000 MQMs - our value $350 (historical high)
• Chase Marriott Bonvoy Boundless Visa ($95 annual fee): 100,000 points - our value $655 (historical high)
• Chase IHG Rewards Club Premier MasterCard ($89 annual fee): 120,000 points - our value ($390 (historical high) 

With the new name for the world's largest loyalty program unveiled, the Starwood Preferred Guest American Express Luxury Card is finally rebranded as the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant American Express Card.  Everything remains the same but the name - including (1) the $450 annual fee, (2) 100,000 Marriott Bonvoy bonus points after you spend $5,000 within the first 3 months of new account opening, (3) annual $300 credits at any Marriott portfolio hotels worldwide, (4) an annual free night at Marriott portfolio hotels or resorts with a redemption level of 50,000 points or less, (5) annual 15 night credits towards Marriott elite status,  (6) free Marriott Gold status and upgrade to Marriott Platinum status after $75K annual spending, and (7) Priority Pass Select membership with unlimited airport lounge access for you plus two guests.

At the same time, the Starwood Preferred Guest Business Card from American Express is rebranded as the Marriott Bonvoy Business American Express Card.  The only thing that changes other than the name is the annual fee - increased from $95 to $125 and NOT waived for the first year any more.  However, if you apply before  3/28/19, you will continue to receive the first annual fee waiver and your annual fee after the first year will be grandfathered in at $95.  You will also receive 100,000 Marriott Bonvoy points after spending $5,000 within the first 3 months.  If you have been thinking about applying for this card, you probably want to do it before March 28.

Since we covered the changes to Citi Prestige back in November, we have been waiting for the big moment of relaunch of this legendary high-end card.  As of January 4, 2019, the changes kicked in for the existing cardmembers; however, the card hasn't been available for new applications until the last day of January.  Now our review of Citi Prestige is updated.  Also updated is our Top 10 Best Credit Cards list - after two and a half years, Citi Prestige finally takes back the throne from the almighty Chase Sapphire Reserve!  As a result, Alliant CU Visa Signature falls off the Top 10 list.  Chase United MP Club Visa has surpassed Amex Platinum Card and Citi AA Platinum WEMC, as we have confirmed it retains two consumer protection coverages that are no longer available on most other Chase products - Price Protection and Return Protection.  Here are the before and after screenshots of the Top 10 list:

Here is the full updated review:
​
The Facts

• Annual Fee: $495 for primary holder and $75 for each additional user.  The primary annual fee is reduced to $350 for Citigold clients.
• Signup Bonus: 50,000 points ($500 in travel rewards, gift cards, etc., or 50,000 miles of Avianca, Singapore, Cathay Pacific, Flying Blue, JetBlue, Etihad, etc.) after you spend $4,000 within 3 months of new account opening.  The signup bonus won't be available if you have received a bonus from or closed any of these Citi cards: ThankYou Preferred, ThankYou Premier, Citi Premier, or Citi Prestige, within the past 24 months.  Historical best bonus of this card: 75,000 points with $7,500 spending requirement in July 2017; 60,000 points in 2014 and 2015 with $15,000 spending requirement.
• Application Landing Page
• Rewards: 5x airlines, travel agencies, and dining, 3x hotels and cruise lines, 2x entertainment (through 9/1/2019), and 1x everywhere else.
• Best Use of ThankYou points: ThankYou (TY) Rewards is Citi's rewards program and the points can be redeemed for cash, merchandise, gift cards, and travel, at up to 1 cent per point (note: cash rewards in form of statement credit or check have 0.5 cent value and in form of bill pay have 0.65 cent value).  In addition, as a premium ThankYou card, Citi Prestige offers an enhanced redemption option: you may transfer TY points to miles or points of several frequent traveler programs.  Please see our featured review Marriott vs. MR vs. UR vs. TY vs. CR for the programs that allow points transfer to frequent traveler accounts. 
• Annual $250 travel credit each calendar year.  Any travel category expense up to $250 a year will be automatically reimbursed.
• Priority Pass Select membership for you (primary cardholder or any authorized user) plus two guests for unlimited complimentary access to over 1,000 airport lounges around the globe (you don't need to fly with the airlines).  Note that Delta left Priority Pass in 2009; United/Continental has not been part of the Select program after September 2011; domestic American lounges never participated.  However, it may still be valuable, as it covers Alaska Airlines and some domestic lounges, plus many international lounges.
• Hotel Privileges: (1) MasterCard World Elite Luxury Hotels & Resorts: a collection of 500+ luxury hotels worldwide, through MasterCard's designated travel agency, Ten Lifestyle Group.  You will receive complimentary breakfasts for two, room upgrades upon availability, early check-in, late check-out, and a special amenity such as a certain amount of hotel credit up to $100 per stay, free internet, or welcome gift, etc.  The rates are usually the same as hotel's best available rates (refundable flexible rates).  Note that any World Elite MasterCard offers this benefit and you can book your hotels on MasterCard website.  (2) Complimentary Fourth Night: You will receive the fourth night free when you book a stay for at least four consecutive nights through ThankYou.com; you may use this benefit up to twice per calendar year, at any of the numerous participating hotels, from budget to luxury.  [You may use this benefit as many times as you want when you book hotels before 9/1/2019].
• Other Benefits: (1) Waived foreign transaction fees with an embedded EMV chip.  (2) Reimbursement for Global Entry ($100) or TSA PreCheck ($85) application every five years.  (3) Citi Private Pass Beyond for special access to entertainment and sporting events.  (4) While most credit card's Roadside Assistance service only dispatches a provider and you have to pay for the actual charge, Citi Prestige is among very few cards that cover towing up to 10 miles or other incidental charges, regardless of how far you are away from home.  (5) Citi Prestige also enjoys other standard World Elite MasterCard benefits such as MasterCard Travel & Lifestyle Services (savings on airfare, private jets, airport concierge, car rentals, chauffeured cars, cruise lines, tours, vacation packages, etc.), 10% discount with onefinestay (high-end home sharing service), complimentary ShopRunner membership (free two-day shipping and returns at participating stores), the Dining Program (special amenities at participating restaurants), the Nightlife Program (exclusive access to and recognition at participating night clubs), Priceless Cities, Priceless Surprises, Priceless Causes, Priceless Golf, etc.
• An authorized user also receives Priority Pass Select membership.  However, the $250 annual travel credit, $100 Global Entry credit, and even the two-time limit for the 4th night free benefit are shared by all card members within the same account.
• Protection: Citi Prestige WEMC offers the highest level of consumer and travel protection among Citi cards.
• Other Facts: since July 2017, Citi Prestige has received a metal design and is thus heavier than regular plastics.
• The History: To replace its prestigious Chairman Card, which was Amex Platinum's longtime archrival, Citi introduced ThankYou Prestige in late 2010 which received a lackluster review from us.  In 2013, Citi tweaked this relatively new product, reducing the annual fee by $100, enhancing its features, and renaming it simply as "Citi Prestige", hoping to gain more market share.  In early 2014, Citi increased the annual fee by $50 but also introduced a new redemption rate of 1.6 cent per point for American Airlines or US Airways flight and the free Admirals Club access, which made us praised it as the "king of high-end cards".  In July 2014, Citi made another dramatic revamp of the product effective October 19, 2014: seven airline partners were added to the transfer feature, which makes it actually useful; a new 3-2-1 rewards structure replaced the 2-1 rewards structure; annual airline credit was increased from $200 to $250; Airport Angel was replaced by Priority Pass Select, which makes more sense for most U.S. consumers; annual relationship bonus got tweaked; several valuable benefits such as flight points earning, annual complimentary companion ticket, and 15% airfare discount were removed.  In July 2017, Citi discontinued several valuable features (60% redemption bonus on American Airlines, 33% redemption bonus on other airlines, Admirals Club access, three rounds of complimentary golf).  The positive changes introduced are a new metal card design and the ability to use ICNHR 4th Night Free feature through ThankYou.com, which are minor compared to the loss.  In January 2019, Citi relaunched the Prestige Card after 6 months of unavailability, increasing the annual fee to $495, increasing airfare/travel agencies/dining earning to 5x, increasing cruise lines earning to 3x, reducing entertainment earning to 1x, expanding $250 annual credit from airlines to all travel categories, and limiting complimentary fourth night benefit to twice a year.  The overall enhancement has made this card once again the king of high-end cards, also regaining the #1 Best Credit Card title from Chase Sapphire Reserve.

The Math
After considering the easy-to-use $250 annual travel credit, the effective annual fee on this card is $245.  With that, this card offers an unmatched 5-3-1 rewards structure.  As our current valuation of TY points is 1.5 cents per point (based on the miles/points transfer feature), this card returns 7.5%, 4.5%, and 1.5%, for the 5-3-1 categories respectively.  It is not too hard to beat the $245 effective annual fee and the 2% cashback (from cards such as Citi Double Cash, Fidelity Visa), for example, when your annual spending in the 5x categories exceeds $4,455.  The more you spend on the 5x or 3x categories, your annual earning over 2% will be better.  Of course, for general spending, we still recommend looking somewhere else.  In addition, you enjoy the excellent travel perks and consumer protection for free.

Citi Prestige vs. Citi Premier: the difference in the annual fees might seem high at the first glance ($495 vs. $95), and Citi probably intends to offer Prestige only to the most affluent clients.  However, after considering the $250 annual travel credit, Prestige is merely $150 a year more than Premier, and its 5-3-1 rewards are generally much more than Premier's 3-2-1 rewards - Prestige offers 2 more points on airfare and travel agencies and 3 more on dining, but 2 less points on gas and travel other than airfare/travel agencies/hotels/cruise lines.  You may do your own math to see how easily Prestige comes out ahead, even with the $150 more in annual fees.  For example, based on 1.5 cents per point valuation, assuming your gain in airfare/travel agencies happens to offset your loss in gas and trivial travel categories, you just need to spend $3,333 in dining for Prestige to make more sense.  Of course, you receive better travel perks and consumer protection from Prestige on top of that.  The bottom line is that Prestige is generally a better card.

Citi Prestige vs. Chase Sapphire Reserve: First of all, both cards offer incredible rewards, perks, and protection.  (1) Similarity - both cards offer Priority Pass Select, waived foreign transaction fees, concierge service, and Global Entry application credit; their hotel privileges are also similar in our opinion: Citi has 4th Night Free and World Elite Luxury Hotel Collection, while Chase offers Relais & Chateaux privileges, LHRC, and Visa Infinite Hotels; our current valuation of both ThankYou and Ultimate Rewards points are the same at 1.5 cents per point.  (2) Citi's advantages - Prestige offers 2x additional points on airfare, travel agencies, and dining, as well as slightly better travel and consumer protection (including roadside assistance). (2) Chase's advantage - the effective annual fee after considering the annual travel credit is $95 cheaper on Sapphire Reserve; Chase offers 2x additional points on trivial travel categories (other than airfare/travel agencies/hotels/cruise lines); the rental car collision coverage is primary on Chase but secondary on Citi; even though 1.5 cents per point valuation for both currencies are based on frequent traveler miles/points transfer, Chase does offer better value for fixed value travel redemption (1.5 cents vs. 1 cent per point).  (4) Bottom Line: with the January 2019 revamp, you only need to spend $3,167 per year in dining, airlines, travel agencies minus trivial travel categories for Citi Prestige to be a better rewards card, even with a higher effective annual fee.  However, if you cannot achieve 1.5 cent value with miles/points transfer features and rely on fixed value travel redemption, Sapphire Reserve is still a great alternative.

To see how Citi Prestige competes with other cards with similar annual fees, ​please check out our featured review Comparing High-end Cards covering Amex Platinum Card, Amex Delta Reserve, Amex Hilton Aspire, Amex SPG Luxury, Chase Sapphire Reserve, Chase United MP Club, Citi Prestige, Citi AA Executive, U.S. Bank Altitude Reserve, CNB Crystal, and MasterCard Black Card.

The Conclusion
Before its arch-rival Chase Sapphire Reserve came out in August 2016, Citi Prestige was the #1 Best Credit Card by Dr. Credit Card.  After outshined by Sapphire Reserve for more than two years, Citi Prestige has finally regained the precious title with the January 2019 relaunch and impressive performance in rewards (#3) and protection (tied #1).

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