Altitude Reserve RTR Questions

[imaximous]

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@longtimelurker wrote:

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@imaximous wrote:

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The only way to redeem your points partially is by using the USB travel site, but I'd advise against that unless you happen to find a better deal on their travel portal.

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Is the travel portal subpar.   That's what I am trying to find out before getting my daughter to apply.   She would be using the card outside the US when RTR doesn't seem to be an option.   So if the portal is overpriced or something, card is less appealing!

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Nothing wrong with the portal. In fact, last year I posted a comparison for rental cars and the USB portal had a much cheaper price than any other site through the same rental agency. I think I compared USB, Costco Travel and Alamo directly. USB was cheaper by a lot. You should definitely compare prices before making a purchase.

The reason why I said I advise against using the portal is that if the prices are equal, you should use RTR to redeem points because you can earn points on the purchase. If you buy with points on the portal, you don’t. Also, for those with certain status, it may make sense to book directly. 

[imaximous]

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@Shadowfactor wrote:
US bank does not consider OTA to be travel related for the credit. I can’t comment about RTR. They do have that other travel category for RTR but not sure what it entails.

Be prepared to call.

As far as the portal goes, it’s much better domestically then internationally but it’s still not bad internationally.

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Yeah. I’m not sure about travel agencies. I don’t think I’ve made a purchase using the AR where the travel agency processed the payment. It’s always been a pass-through charge, so the purchase is finally processed by the airline and such.

For OTAs, you could use the Prestige. It’s weird they don’t advertise the 5x for travel agencies, but only airfare and dining. It’s one of those hidden benefits I found out by accident. 

[Shadowfactor]

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@imaximous wrote:

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@Shadowfactor wrote:
US bank does not consider OTA to be travel related for the credit. I can’t comment about RTR. They do have that other travel category for RTR but not sure what it entails.

Be prepared to call.

As far as the portal goes, it’s much better domestically then internationally but it’s still not bad internationally.

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Yeah. I’m not sure about travel agencies. I don’t think I’ve made a purchase using the AR where the travel agency processed the payment. It’s always been a pass-through charge, so the purchase is finally processed by the airline and such.

For OTAs, you could use the Prestige. It’s weird they don’t advertise the 5x for travel agencies, but only airfare and dining. It’s one of those hidden benefits I found out by accident. 

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Wait, you’re saying that OTA’s that process the charge themselves for say hotel bookings instead of passing it through give 5X points ? 

I know that OTA’s that pass the charge along to the merchant for processing will code as such.

clarification please! 

[imaximous]

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  @Shadowfactor wrote:
  

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  @imaximous wrote:
  

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  @Shadowfactor wrote:
  US bank does not consider OTA to be travel related for the credit. I can’t comment about RTR. They do have that other travel category for RTR but not sure what it entails.
  
  Be prepared to call.
  
  As far as the portal goes, it’s much better domestically then internationally but it’s still not bad internationally.

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  Yeah. I’m not sure about travel agencies. I don’t think I’ve made a purchase using the AR where the travel agency processed the payment. It’s always been a pass-through charge, so the purchase is finally processed by the airline and such.

  For OTAs, you could use the Prestige. It’s weird they don’t advertise the 5x for travel agencies, but only airfare and dining. It’s one of those hidden benefits I found out by accident. 

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  Wait, you’re saying that OTA’s that process the charge themselves for say hotel bookings instead of passing it through give 5X points ? 

  I know that OTA’s that pass the charge along to the merchant for processing will code as such.

  clarification please! 

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Yes. OTAs will give you 5x if they process the charge. Travel Agencies is part of the 5x earnings, but for some reason, Citi has it in the fine print of the benefits and not on their main page. Look here... https://www.citi.com/credit-cards/additional-info/citi.action?ID=AdditionalInfo-CitiPrestige

Since I needed to verify this info when I came across it, I also ran a search. Here’s one I quickly pulled from Flyertalk, but if you search “Citi Prestige 5x travel agencies,” there are also a couple of blogs that mention that. I’m not sure if I’m allowed to link to those sites, so here’s Flyertalk only.

 https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/citi-thankyou-rewards/1961922-any-citi-prestige-holders-receive-not-...

[Shadowfactor]

You think they would advertise that more.

I had been using the premier for OTA’s as the main screen where it lists the bonuses never mentioned OTA.

[Anonymous]

Hey guys what does RTR stand for? Didn’t see it on the common abbreviations thread.

[longtimelurker]

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@Anonymous wrote:
Hey guys what does RTR stand for? Didn’t see it on the common abbreviations thread.

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RTR is Real-time Rewards, a feature of the Altitude card.

[NRB525]

Is it proven that you must have the full AR points required to redeem a specific travel charge? I seem to recall some examples where if you have some small amount of points ( say 1,000 ) and run a charge for $100 on airfare, that should allow you to use the 1,000 points for a $15 credit?

There are minimum dollar values for car rental and hotels, before it starts to consider, but that’s a different threshold than simple points available. And you probably would not be able to book through the USB portal without adequate points.

[Shadowfactor]

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@NRB525 wrote:
Is it proven that you must have the full AR points required to redeem a specific travel charge? I seem to recall some examples where if you have some small amount of points ( say 1,000 ) and run a charge for $100 on airfare, that should allow you to use the 1,000 points for a $15 credit?

There are minimum dollar values for car rental and hotels, before it starts to consider, but that’s a different threshold than simple points available. And you probably would not be able to book through the USB portal without adequate points.

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According to the T&C you must have the full amount of points to trigger the text.

I fully understand lots of things work that are excluded in the T&C, but I feel like it would have been mentioned on FT by now. I’m subscribed to the mega thread, I don’t read every email I get from that thread but I do often enough that I feel like I would have seen something in the past year. 

[imaximous]

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@NRB525 wrote:
Is it proven that you must have the full AR points required to redeem a specific travel charge? I seem to recall some examples where if you have some small amount of points ( say 1,000 ) and run a charge for $100 on airfare, that should allow you to use the 1,000 points for a $15 credit?

There are minimum dollar values for car rental and hotels, before it starts to consider, but that’s a different threshold than simple points available. And you probably would not be able to book through the USB portal without adequate points.

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Just to piggyback on Shadowfactor's response, you do need to have the points to cover the full purchase if you want to redeem using RTR. I've had plenty of charges where I didn't have enough points, so I never got the text. Latest one was a hotel stay this past weekend for just over $1,200. I have more than enough to cover the minimum $500 for hotels, but not nearly enough for $1,200. No text to redeem partial points.

On the portal, you can combine your points with cash, so you could use whatever you have available and pay the rest with a card. There's a minimum of 1,000 points that you need to use.