We blogged about the at branch only 70K Ink Plus offer back in July.  Today the same offer is open to everyone online, saving you a trip to your local branch.  You need to pay the $95 annual fee and spend $5,000 within 3 months of card opening to receive 70,000 Ultimate Rewards points, which can be worth $875 when redeemed for travel or can be transferred to frequent travel programs such as United, British, Korean Air, Hyatt, etc., at 1:1 ratio.

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Citi Prestige will have some dramatic changes as of October 19, 2014.  In July, we reviewed the updated product.  Please find our reviews for both the current Prestige (before 10/19/2014) and the updated Prestige (as of 10/19/2014) for details.

This post is primarily to discuss how to take advantage of benefits before the change and a limited time in-branch sign-up offer.

Let's first go over the changes:
Negatives:

• Flight points earning will go away.  This single feature is the reason why the rewards of this card are unparalleled if used effectively.  The current cardmemebers will earn flight points for the tickets purchased before 10/19/2014.
• The international coach class companion class will be no more.  Cardmembers who opened the card before 10/18/2013 will have until 10/18/2014 to book the companion pass for travel completed by 10/18/2015.  Cardmembers who opened the card after 10/18/2013 will have a year to book the companion pass for travel completed by 10/18/2015.  Also the online booking through Spirit Incentives will end as of 10/19/2014 and after that you have to call Citi to book.
• 15% coach class discount will be no more.  Cardmembers who opened the card before 10/18/2013 will have until 10/18/2014 to book for travel completed by 10/18/2015, while those who opened the card after 10/18/2013 will have a year to book for travel completed by 10/18/2015.  Also the online booking through Spirit Incentives will end as of 10/19/2014 and after that you have to call Citi to book.
• Annual Relationship Bonus will change, for worse for most customers.  The current cardmembers will keep the old structure until the first anniversary after 10/18/2015.

Positives:

• Starting July 2014, ThankYou points can be transferred to several airline partners.  Hilton used to be the sole transfer partner and the value of the points transfer was not that great.  Now ThankYou points become at least more versatile if not more valuable for Prestige cardmembers, since you can either redeem points for airfare on American/US Airways at a fixed value of 1.6 cents per point or transfer them to frequent flyer programs such as Singapore Airlines.
• The new 3-2-1 earning structure, effective 10/19/2014, will replace the current 2-1 earning structure.  This is obviously a great step forward; however, considering the loss of flight points, you may not come out ahead.  You will have to do your math to figure out.
• Effective 10/19/2014, the annual airline credit will be increased to $250 from $200 and airfare becomes eligible in the terms and conditions.
• Airport Angel will be replaced by Priority Pass Select.  The latter has a wider coverage in U.S. and abroad.  Also the cardmembers (primary or authorized users) plus immediate family or two guests will be admitted for free.

As analyzed in our review, for many, the changes will have a net negative effect; however, we do give Citi kudos for allowing at least a year for current cardmembers to take advantage of some current benefits.  We argue that if you don't currently have the card, it is actually a good time to sign up now through 10/18/2014 so that you can take advantage of the companion pass and 15% discount while grandfathered in with the current annual relationship bonus.  Also note that each authorized user ($50 annual fee for each) will be able to book his/her own companion pass and discounted coach class fares.

We have also noticed that through September there is a current limited-time offer for Citigold customers in branch to earn up to 60,000 points.  You will earn 30,000 points after spending $3,000 within 3 months and an additional 30,000 points after spending a total of $15,000 within 12 months.  The offer is in branch only.  Compared to regular offer on Citi website, you need to spend $1,000 more to get the first 30K and $13,000 more to get the second 30K.  While the spending requirement seems high, we argue that with the new 3-2-1 earning structure and increased flexibility in redemption, Prestige is a great card to put a lot of spending on.

Now let's talk about Citigold, which is Citi's premier checking account that gives customers priority customer service, preferred pricing (loans, lines of credit, etc.), waived checkbook, money order, and ATM foreign exchange fees, also in the case of Citi Prestige, reduced annual fees.  As a Citigold customer, your annual fee on Prestige will be $350, $100 less than normal (Executive AAdvantage Card is another card that gets reduced annual fees in case if you wonder).  Citigold comes, of course, with some premiums - the monthly fee is $30, which is waived with a combined deposit balance of $50,000.  Unfortunately the APY on the checking account or savings accounts that accompanies it is not that attractive, currently at less than 0.1%.  However, if you sign up for a new Citigold account now, you will earn $400 if within 60 days you deposit at least $50,000 into the new Citigold account and complete a qualifying bill payment for two consecutive months.  So there you go, the $400 bonus pretty much compensates your loss of interest for the first year, and you will save $100 in Prestige's annual fee and earn an additional 30K TY points.  After the first year, it is your decision whether to keep Citigold and/or Prestige.