In This Review..
The Citi Prestige® Card is a top-tier travel rewards card packed with a variety of benefits and protections. It’s ideal for frequent travelers, offering high rewards rates: 5X on $1 spent on air travel and restaurants, 3X on hotels and cruise lines, 1 point on other purchases.
In addition to its high rewards rates, the Citi Prestige® Card offers a generous sign-up bonus of 50,000 Bonus Points after spending $4,000 within 3 months of account opening. The card is also getting some upgrades, with enhanced benefits, perks, and protections.
However, this premium card does come with a premium price tag: its annual fee is $495 and one of the highest in its class. It’s issued by Citibank, one of the world’s largest financial institutions.
Citi Prestige® Card
Rewards Plan
Sign up Bonus
0% Intro
PROS
- Sign-Up Bonus
- Points Rewards
CONS
- High Annual Fee
- Limits on Sign-Up Bonus
APR
16.99% - 23.99% variable
Balance Transfer Fee
$5 or 3%
Credit Requirements
Good - Excellent
Card & Issuer Reputation
801/1000 on J.D Power: Citi got 801 out of 1000 available points on J.D. Power credit card satisfaction survey, lower than industry average. J.D Power offers the most comprehensive and independent study of customer satisfaction of card issuers . The study aims to help consumers and issuers to understand user opinions and ratings of the largest bands. It covers terms, benefits, services, communication, rewards and more.
Benefits
Let’s take a look at the benefits of the Citi Prestige card and see if it’s the right one for your wallet or not.
- Point Sign-Up Bonus
You can get 50,000 points after spending of opening the card. This sign-up bonus is worth about $850 in travel rewards.
- Annual Travel Credit
The Citi Prestige card has an annual $250 travel credit for all cardholders. Every year cardholders will get this credit to spend on travel, which helps offset the large annual fee.
- Combine Points with Airlines
TextCiti Prestige card allows cardholders to transfer points to airlines they have loyalty reward points with so they can use both.
- Flexible Redemption
Citi Prestige card rewards can be used on travel, merchandise, event tickets, gift cards, and even charity. The best value for your points is to spend them on travel.
- Cell Phone Protection, Travel Protections
If you pay your monthly cell phone bill with the Citi Prestige card, you are eligible for cell phone insurance. It has a maximum liability of $600 per claim and $1,000 per year.
The card covers up to $75,000 in car rental insurance. They also have trip cancellation insurance and baggage delay protection.
- Golf Benefit
Citi Prestige cardholders get special access to more than 2,000 golf courses including some private ones that are not open to the public.
- No Foreign Transaction Fee
Citi Prestige card has no transaction fee while traveling in other countries. Many other cards have fees when you make purchases outside of the United States.
- 5x, 3x, 1x Points (no expiration or limits)
Citi Prestige card earns 5X on $1 spent on air travel and restaurants, 3X on hotels and cruise lines, 1 point on other purchases.
- 4 Night Stay
Citi Prestige card allows customers a free hotel stay on the 4th night. This benefit is capped to twice a year. The hotel needs to be booked through Citi’s Thankyou network.
- Airport VIP Lounge Access
You can have access to exclusive airport lounges with the Priority Pass Select membership that comes along with being a Citi Prestige Card holder.
- Early Fraud Detection, Identity Theft Solutions
Citi Prestige card monitors for potentially fraudulent transactions and if fraud is suspected, Citi will take the appropriate actions.
Also, If you are a victim of ID theft, Citi Prestige cardholders will get assistance from Citi to get their lives back on track.
- 24/7 Citi Prestige Concierge
Citi Prestige card offers 24/7 help through the Citi Prestige Concierge. Cardholders can use this for any number of issues they may have
- TSA Precheck or Global Entry Reimbursement
The Citi Prestige card will reimburse your application fee (up to $100) for TSA Precheck or Global Entry once every five years.
Drawbacks
Here are the most important cons you should consider before apply:
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- Annual Fee
Citi Prestige card has a high $495 annual fee. Many other credit cards do not have annual fees. This fee can be offset with the annual travel reward bonuses. There is an additional fee for each authorized user.
- Limited Number of Travel Partners
The Citi Prestige card has a limited number of travel partners through which points can be transferred to be used with other loyalty programs. Many of their partners are foreign airlines.
- Complex and Confusing Redemption System
The ThankYou Rewards program is the most expensive reward program in the market. You can earn ThankYou points from a number of different CitiBank products The reward points can be used for many different things, like gift cards, travel, cash and merchandise. The best value with the Citi Prestige card is to use the points for travel.
- No 0% APR Introductory Rate
Citi Prestige card does not offer an introductory rate like many cards on the market. If you are looking for an introductory rate you will have to look at other offerings.
- Limits on Sign-Up Bonus
Citi has a rule that you are only able to sign up for a credit card with a sign-up bonus every 24 months. That means if you received a sign-up bonus with another Citi card in the past 24 months, you are ineligible for the Citi Prestige card sign-up bonus.
- High APR
The APR for the Citi Prestige card is a 16.99% – 23.99% variable, which is high for a card that requires borrowers with excellent credit histories.
How To Apply For Citi Prestige Credit Card?
- 1.
Visit the Citi Prestige Card home page and then click “Apply Now”.A page comes up; just fill in your personal information correctly.
- 2.
Next, fill in your security number, date of birth and other information.
- 3.
Also fill in your financial information, and then take your time to read through the terms and conditions.
- 4.
After this, tick to agree and then click on “Agree and Submit.”
Is the Citi Prestige® Card Right for You?
The Citi Prestige card is best for consumers who spend a lot of time traveling and who spend heavily on luxury while traveling.
Consumers who spend a lot of time on the road and have high traveling costs can justify the large annual fee this card carries. This card has a number of perks, protections, and benefits that, if used to their maximum capacity, justify the large annual fee. The card comes with a generous sign-up bonus and spending rewards.
If you are a casual traveler or do not spend a lot of time at restaurants and hotels, this may not be the card for you. If you do not have excellent credit you also may not be able to qualify for this card.
Compare The Alternatives
Several other credit cards provide similar rewards to the Citi Prestige Card:
|
|
| |
|---|---|---|---|
The Platinum Card® from American Express | Chase Sapphire Reserve® | Capital One Venture X Rewards | |
Annual Fee | $695. See Rates & Fees | $550 | $395 |
Rewards |
1X – 5X
5X points on up to $500,000 spent on directly-booked airfare and flights and prepaid hotels booked through American Express Travel (per calendar year), 2X points on prepaid car rentals through American Express Travel and 1X points on all other purchases
|
1X – 10X
5X total points on air travel and 10X total points on hotels, car rentals and dining when you purchase through Chase Ultimate Rewards®, immediately after earning your $300 annual travel credit. Also, earn 3x points on dining at restaurants and travel (after meeting the $300 travel credit), then 1x points per dollar spent on all other purchases.
| 1X – 10X
10 miles per dollar on hotels and rental cars when booking via Capital One Travel, 5 miles per dollar on flights and 2 miles per dollar on all eligible purchases
|
Welcome bonus |
80,000 points
80,000 Membership Rewards® points after you spend $8,000 on purchases on your new Card in your first 6 months of Card Membership
|
60,000 points
60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening
| 75,000 miles
75,000 bonus miles once you spend $4,000 on purchases within the first 3 months from account opening
|
Foreign Transaction Fee | $0. See Rates & Fees | $0 | $0
|
Purchase APR | See Pay Over Time APR | 21.99% – 28.99% variable APR | 19.99% – 29.74% (Variable) |
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