Citi ThankYou Prestige Review (discontinued to accept new applications)
Last updated February 9, 0213.
The Facts
The Math
ThankYou Prestige is a pumped-up ThankYou Premier, one of our Top Listers. Some little enhancements include 1.3x instead of 1.2x on bonus categories, companion ticket good on international instead of domestic only. The real differences, however, are airline incidental credits (and/or Lounge First) and Hilton Gold, for an additional $375/year. With Option (A), you essentially buy Hilton Gold at $125. Note that Hilton Gold can also be obtained by spending $20K/year on Amex HHonors or HHonors Surpass. With Option (B), you have to value Lounge First program at more than $100 which is not easy at all! Even if you want to buy a lounge pass at $32, remember United allows you get one online for $39 - you only save $7 per pass. In this scenario you will need to get 15 passes to break even! Then US Air offers $29 per pass if purchased with a ticket. How about Airport Angel? Many of their lounges are covered by Priority Pass. You get Priority Pass Select Standard Level for free from many credit cards and you only need to pay $27 per visit. The last thing to note is that while Citigold can waive the annual fee for ThankYou Premier, it can't do the same for ThankYou Prestige.
The Conclusion
All in all, ThankYou Prestige fails to impress and may only be a good choice to a limited crowd. After replacement of Priority Pass with new air travel benefits, it still trailed behind competition. We hope Citi can add new benefits to make it more competitive.
The Facts
- Annual Fee: $500 for primary holder and $175 for each additional user
- Signup Bonus: None
- Rewards: 1.3x gas, groceries, drugstores, commuter transportation, and parking, 1x everywhere else. You also earn 1 point for 1 mile you fly when you purchase airfare with this card. The catch is that the "flight points" that you earn through airfare purchase will only be available when you have the same amount of "purchase points" through spending. You also earn 1~5% annual points booster depending on how many years you have the card.
- Best Use of ThankYou points: ThankYou (TY) is the rewards program run by Citi and the points can be redeemed for merchandise, gift cards, and travel, returning up to 1 cent per point. However, better than the regular TY cards (such as ThankYou Preferred), ThankYou Premier and ThankYou Prestige offer two additional options: one is to redeem for flights through ThankYou - you get 33% more value, making 1 ThankYou point = 1.33 cent; the other is to transfer ThankYou points to Hilton HHonors points at 1:1.5 ratio. The second option, added in January 2013, was the first time a transfer feature (to frequent traveler miles/points) was available in the ThankYou program, and we certainly hope that Citi continues to make this program more competitive since both Amex and Chase have great programs that allow points to be transferred to frequent traveler miles/points.
- In November 2011, Citi replaced Priority Pass Select membership with two options of air travel benefits. Option (A): $250 statement credits for airline incidentals. This is similar to Amex Platinum's $200 airline reimbursement. The difference is that with Amex you have to choose a particular airline for a calendar year and with Citi you can use any of the participating airlines (American, United/Continental, US Air, Southwest, AirTran, Frontier, JetBlue, Spirit) for up to $100 credit each transaction. Option (B): $150 statement credits for airline incidentals plus Lounge First program which enables you to buy airport lounge day passes at $32 from United/Continental, US Air, and Airport Angel lounge program.
- Other Benefits: Waived foreign transaction fees. Complimentary Hilton Gold status. You receive one annual complimentary domestic or international companion ticket through Spirit Incentives, but the companion ticket is not really free since you need to pay taxes and charges on the 2nd ticket and the fuel surcharges could be substantial. You also receive 15% discount on airfare (before taxes) when booking through Spirit Incentives - they only allow you to purchase the cheapest fare on the dates you travel. Even with restrictions and tricks, the companion ticket and 15% discount can still be useful to some people.
- Other Facts: You can choose between Visa or MasterCard when you apply.
- The History: ThankYou Prestige is Citi's replacement of its Chairman Card, which was Amex Platinum's longtime archrival. Before Ameriprise WEMC came out in 2008, Chairman was the best card to offer Priority Pass, which at that time included all US major airlines' domestic lounges with AA as an exception. Chase pushed Priority Pass to exclude United/Continental lounges starting 10/1/2011 for all the memberships bundled with US financial institute issued credit cards. Shortly after that, Citi stopped offering Priority Pass Select all together and replaced that benefit with airline incidental credits and/or Lounge First program.
The Math
ThankYou Prestige is a pumped-up ThankYou Premier, one of our Top Listers. Some little enhancements include 1.3x instead of 1.2x on bonus categories, companion ticket good on international instead of domestic only. The real differences, however, are airline incidental credits (and/or Lounge First) and Hilton Gold, for an additional $375/year. With Option (A), you essentially buy Hilton Gold at $125. Note that Hilton Gold can also be obtained by spending $20K/year on Amex HHonors or HHonors Surpass. With Option (B), you have to value Lounge First program at more than $100 which is not easy at all! Even if you want to buy a lounge pass at $32, remember United allows you get one online for $39 - you only save $7 per pass. In this scenario you will need to get 15 passes to break even! Then US Air offers $29 per pass if purchased with a ticket. How about Airport Angel? Many of their lounges are covered by Priority Pass. You get Priority Pass Select Standard Level for free from many credit cards and you only need to pay $27 per visit. The last thing to note is that while Citigold can waive the annual fee for ThankYou Premier, it can't do the same for ThankYou Prestige.
The Conclusion
All in all, ThankYou Prestige fails to impress and may only be a good choice to a limited crowd. After replacement of Priority Pass with new air travel benefits, it still trailed behind competition. We hope Citi can add new benefits to make it more competitive.