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
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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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).
© 2019 DrCreditCard.net All rights reserved.
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