City National Bank Crystal Visa Infinite Review
Updated January 20, 2020.
The Facts
The Math
The 3-1 rewards structure is not that attractive compared to the premium travel rewards cards offered by other issuers due to the fact that the points can not be transferred to frequent traveler miles/points and the fixed value for travel redemption is not as high as major competitors. However, Crystal does offer a wide range of benefits that may justify paying the $400 annual fees. If you make use of the $250 airline credits as the primary cardholder, you are essentially paying $150 for Priority Pass Select, 12 GoGo passes, and all Visa Infinite benefits, which could still be a good deal for many travelers. However, there are quite a few arguably better alternatives such as Chase Sapphire Reserve, Citi Prestige, US Bank Altitude Reserve.
The 2020 devaluation is mostly towards previously too lucrative perks for free authorized users. Now for $95 a year, your authorized user will receive up to $250 airline credits (the total credits are limited to $350 per Crystal account, which means if you already use $250 credits as the primary cardholder, the incremental credits are only $100; of course spreading $350 out between two cards adds a little bit of flexibility), Priority Pass Select, 12 GoGo passes, Global Entry reimbursement, and Visa Infinite benefits. It is up to you to decide whether it is worthwhile to add an authorized user.
To see how CNB Crystal 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 Marriott Brilliant, 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
As the first Visa Infinite in the U.S., CNB Crystal offered mediocre rewards but potentially very lucrative travel perks. We welcomed the competition it brought against some of our favorite high-end cards such as Amex Platinum, JPM Ritz-Carlton, and Citi Prestige. The 2020 devaluation definitely makes this card less attractive for travel perks, even though it is currently rated as one of the Best Credit Cards for Protection.
The Facts
- Annual Fee: $400 for the primary cardholder, and $95 for each authorized user.
- Signup Bonus: 50,000 points after you spend $5,000 within 3 months of new account opening. No online application - you need to go to a branch to apply and CNB only operates branches in California, Delaware, Georgia, New York, Nevada, and Tennessee. Historical Best Bonus: 100,000 points in October 2015 (in branch application); 75,000 points in September 2018 (in branch application).
- Rewards: 3x travel and dining, and 1x everywhere else
- The Best Use of City National Rewards points: They can be redeemed towards merchandise, gift cards, and credit, up to around 1 cent per point; when redeem for travel, the value could be a little higher at about 1.25 cents per point. See Frequent Miler's post for details.
- Up to $350 airline incidental credits per calendar year. Note that each cardholder is allowed to have up to $250 credits, but the annual total for one Crystal account is capped at $350. This means that if you want to make use of the full $350 credits, you need to add an authorized user for $95 per year.
- Airport lounge access to 1,200+ airport lounges worldwide through Priority Pass Select. CNB issues up to two Priority Pass Select memberships to the cardholders in one Crystal account, and membership(s) will give lounge access for the cardholder(s) but each accompanying guest will cost $32 per visit.
- Annual up to $550 airport lounge membership fee credits when your annual spending exceeds $50,000. The credits can be used towards any airport lounge program membership worldwide, e.g., United Club, American Airlines Admirals Club, Delta Sky Clubs, etc. See our review All About Airport Lounges for details of lounge access.
- Visa Infinite Benefits: (1) Visa Infinite Luxury Hotel Collection, a collection of luxury hotels around the world with benefits like daily complimentary breakfasts for two, room upgrades upon availability, late checkout upon availability, $25 food and beverage credit per stay, free room wi-fi, and an hotel specific amenity such as a $100 spa or hotel credit per stay. The unique benefit over the lower-tier Visa Signature Luxury Hotel Collection which is available on most Visa cards issued in the U.S. is the hotel specific amenity, which is comparable to Amex FHR's (see our review for Amex Platinum); (2) Visa Infinite Hotel Privileges at 500+ Relais & Chateaux hotels, including VIP welcome at all hotels and free breakfasts at 120+ participating hotels. (3) Visa Infinite Car Rental Privileges at Avis, National, and SilverCar.
- Other Benefits: (1) Waived foreign transaction fees and embedded EMV chip for foreign travel. (2) $100 credit Global Entry or TSA PreCheck application every five years (an authorized user also receives this benefit). (3) 12 GoGo inflight Wi-Fi passes (an authorized user also receives this benefit). (4) 24/7 concierge service. (5) Purchase House Seats or Premium Seats through the Broadway League. (6) Crystal Experiences. (7) Troon benefits - golf tee times savings and access to private clubs.
- Other Facts: this card has a metal design and weighs about 13 grams.
- History: Introduced in May 2015, CNB Crystal was the first U.S. Visa Infinite card, the top-tier Visa card that has been available to customers in many other countries for quite a while. Free CLEAR membership (saving $179 a year), which enables you to clear airport security faster at select U.S. airports, was offered from the introduction until February 2016. 3x on groceries was offered for a period of time until April 2016 and again from 2018 to 2019. The first annual fee waiver was offered until 2018. In January 2020, CNB devaluated Crystal Visa by increasing annual fee for each authorized user from zero to $95, removing gas & grocery as 3x points categories, limiting annual airline credits to be up to $350 per Crystal account, downgrading Priority Pass Select to no longer allow free guests, and removing Visa Infinite $100 airfare discount.
The Math
The 3-1 rewards structure is not that attractive compared to the premium travel rewards cards offered by other issuers due to the fact that the points can not be transferred to frequent traveler miles/points and the fixed value for travel redemption is not as high as major competitors. However, Crystal does offer a wide range of benefits that may justify paying the $400 annual fees. If you make use of the $250 airline credits as the primary cardholder, you are essentially paying $150 for Priority Pass Select, 12 GoGo passes, and all Visa Infinite benefits, which could still be a good deal for many travelers. However, there are quite a few arguably better alternatives such as Chase Sapphire Reserve, Citi Prestige, US Bank Altitude Reserve.
The 2020 devaluation is mostly towards previously too lucrative perks for free authorized users. Now for $95 a year, your authorized user will receive up to $250 airline credits (the total credits are limited to $350 per Crystal account, which means if you already use $250 credits as the primary cardholder, the incremental credits are only $100; of course spreading $350 out between two cards adds a little bit of flexibility), Priority Pass Select, 12 GoGo passes, Global Entry reimbursement, and Visa Infinite benefits. It is up to you to decide whether it is worthwhile to add an authorized user.
To see how CNB Crystal 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 Marriott Brilliant, 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
As the first Visa Infinite in the U.S., CNB Crystal offered mediocre rewards but potentially very lucrative travel perks. We welcomed the competition it brought against some of our favorite high-end cards such as Amex Platinum, JPM Ritz-Carlton, and Citi Prestige. The 2020 devaluation definitely makes this card less attractive for travel perks, even though it is currently rated as one of the Best Credit Cards for Protection.