Citi Prestige

[SDMarik]

Did they ever give a good reason as to why they scrapped this card? Did they just not want to try and compete against the other top tier rewards cards from Chase, Amex, etc. I was going to App for it last year and never did.

It does seem like it is available in other markets. It looks like some Citi card holders can app for it on Citi Singapore. Did they discontinue it everywhere and then start to bring it back in some other markets? 

I know they said it wasn't necessarilydiscontinued permanently. I kind of want it, probably just because I can't have it.

[DAC213]

Hello @SDMarik   I have the card and love it althought some travel benefits were taken away. The card has been grandfathered.

DAC

[SDMarik]

What travel benifits were taken away? Do you find that it is a comprable travel card to The Amex Platinum or CSR? Not sure why I'm asking, I know I can't have it, more curious than anything else.

[wasCB14]

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@SDMarik wrote:

What travel benifits were taken away? Do you find that it is a comprable travel card to The Amex Platinum or CSR? Not sure why I'm asking, I know I can't have it, more curious than anything else.

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Admirals Club access

Three-hour trip delay coverage

Price rewind

1.6 cpp AA redemptions

Not sure of the current state of 4th night free, the extended warranty, or travel insurances. I think it added mobile phone protection.

At its peak, it was better than CSR or Platinum. Closer to CSR in that it focused on travel rewards and protections more than it gave perks. But between 2017 and 2020 or so it really got beaten with an ugly stick.

*Edited 2019 to 2020.

[SDMarik]

Oh wow, those are some pretty awesome perks to lose, that sucks. 

[JLRDC909]

This card (at one time) was probably better than the CSR and Amex Plat. It had a lot of nice benefits, such as AAdmirals Club access. They gutted a lot of benefits in about 2 years time. They also reduced travel insurance benefits. They are the only big bank without a luxury card. Chase, BofA, Amex all have some luxury offering. 

Very closed lipped after the card was pulled. I actually called to see if the card would be back as an offering and was read from a script (along these lines) that "we constantly evaluate the credit needs of our customers and the offerings we provide". After that rambling, still no solid yes-no. 

My guess is that Citi won't bring the card back. Possibly they are looking for people with good credit but don't want the high AFs. This will probably be along the lines of Diners Club, no more will be issued but If you have it, you can keep it. I think Citi is missing out, but, I'm not running the place 

[DAC213]

They really should bring it back folks always ask me about the card when I travel or pull it out of my wallet.   I cruise alot and you get 3 pts per $ which works for me among other benefits. I also get a statment credit etc. still. af is 495.00.  When I call them at times I bring this up to them/Citi and express to them put it back on the market. To me, I think this was their best card. Funny they did this during covid...humm.. 

[Anonymous]

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@JLRDC909 wrote:

This card (at one time) was probably better than the CSR and Amex Plat. It had a lot of nice benefits, such as AAdmirals Club access. They gutted a lot of benefits in about 2 years time. They also reduced travel insurance benefits. They are the only big bank without a luxury card. Chase, BofA, Amex all have some luxury offering. 

Very closed lipped after the card was pulled. I actually called to see if the card would be back as an offering and was read from a script (along these lines) that "we constantly evaluate the credit needs of our customers and the offerings we provide". After that rambling, still no solid yes-no. 

My guess is that Citi won't bring the card back. Possibly they are looking for people with good credit but don't want the high AFs. This will probably be along the lines of Diners Club, no more will be issued but If you have it, you can keep it. I think Citi is missing out, but, I'm not running the place 

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When relatively well-informed consumers REALLY like a card and want it back, even after nerfing, and the issuer doesn't do so, it's usually a sign that the issuer feels that the financials just aren't right. Now we don't know the quality of the analysis, but if after all those nerfs they still feel it doesn't meet their needs, well, either their studies really don't show a sweet spot, or they are concerned that it will compete with other cards (like the AA card that does give lounge access).

US Bank heavily nerfed the Cash+ over many cycles, but that stopped years ago and the card has been stable (more or less) ever since,  Presumably making some money.   Maybe they could do that with the prestige, but the result might be unattractive to those that like it now.

[wasCB14]

Along the lines of LTL's thinking, I think Citi's problem was nerfing the card in ways that hurt its appeal to normal consumers.

The customers they liked...the ones who occasionally paid late, used the card for general spend, or carried balances...probably in a large part left when they took away AC access and easy AA redemptions.

They were left with a card with few mass-appeal perks but some great protections...and a customer base that knew and used those protections. So then those had to go and it fell more into Luxury Card territory.

[GatorGuy]

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@DAC213 wrote:

They really should bring it back folks always ask me about the card when I travel or pull it out of my wallet.   I cruise alot and you get 3 pts per $ which works for me among other benefits. I also get a statment credit etc. still. af is 495.00.  When I call them at times I bring this up to them/Citi and express to them put it back on the market. To me, I think this was their best card. Funny they did this during covid...humm.. 

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This was one of the cards that I regretted the most on missing out on since travel and restaurants are two of my largest spend categories. However I thought it was 5x on all travel and now see it is only airlines and travel agencies so I feel a little better.