Regular Sapphire vs Citi Diamond Preferred

[jake619]

There isn't a lot of chat about the Citi Diamond card but most seem to get it for the favorable BT option.  Other than that is it a dead-end card?  If the CS could PC to CSP that makes it more appealing I would think.

Is one harder to get approved?  There just isn't that much info on here about the Diamond and it seems like people aren't as attracted to it.

[daybreakgonesXe]

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@jake619 wrote:

There isn't a lot of chat about the Citi Diamond card but most seem to get it for the favorable BT option.  Other than that is it a dead-end card?  If the CS could PC to CSP that makes it more appealing I would think.

Is one harder to get approved?  There just isn't that much info on here about the Diamond and it seems like people aren't as attracted to it.

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Citi Diamond has one of the longest running BT offers on the market, making it a favorable option for BT. And unless you wind up with the reasonably low interest rate, then it pretty much is a dead end card. No points. No rewards. Nada. Heard it does have a very nice concierge service though...

But considering that CSP has awesome concierge AND points, makes it a better offer for a more PIF savvy consumer You can upgrade/downgrade between the two cards, but you cannot upgrade sooner than a year since you got your CS due to the annual fee.

The CSP and Diamond are both reasonably difficult to be approved for, but the Diamond may be a little bit more lenient when it comes to utilization, since, well, that's what the BT option is there for. However, it is definitely not impossible with good to excellent credit and at least a year of history

Hope that helped!

[jake619]

I have one card I keep a balance on.  It's my uber-dead end Cap1.  I want to shed that coat and get into a non-AF card which is how the Citi Diamond came into the mix.  Wouldn't be my daily spender, that's the Barclays and BCE (any day now Mr. Mailman jeeez) which is why I don't really care about the rewards.  Hmm.  After the BT is gone then I guess it becomes a SD card for myFICO and Netflix to bill and piddly stuff like that.

But then again the Sapphire has 2% restaurant rewards my others can't touch... not sure what to do but thanks for the feedback.

Diamond almost seems like Slate + Concierge.

[daybreakgonesXe]

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@jake619 wrote:

I have one card I keep a balance on.  It's my uber-dead end Cap1.  I want to shed that coat and get into a non-AF card which is how the Citi Diamond came into the mix.  Wouldn't be my daily spender, that's the Barclays and BCE (any day now Mr. Mailman jeeez) which is why I don't really care about the rewards.  Hmm.  After the BT is gone then I guess it becomes a SD card for myFICO and Netflix to bill and piddly stuff like that.

But then again the Sapphire has 2% restaurant rewards my others can't touch... not sure what to do but thanks for the feedback.

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Well, if you're really in no need for a BT card, then I wouldn't recommend getting it, because like you say, it will just become a SD you want a card you can continue to use in the future and works for you I love my Sapphire. Even though it's the regular one, it still has the cool name on the front, numbers on the back w/ Visa Signature logo going on! Confuses the hell out of people just as much as the CSP probably does, just minus the cool heavy metal

Plus the CS has spend $500 in first 3 months get $100 back and the CSP has spend $3000 in first three months get $500 worth on travel back!

[7PM789]

Hey Jake619, you can't product change from one financial institutions card to another. The Diamond is as you know offered by Citi bank and the Sapphire is offered by J.P. Morgan Chase.

[jake619]

I didn't intend to imply that, sorry if I mislead.  I was drawing distinctions in favor of the CS as it could PC to CSP and contrasting how the Citi offering was dead-end.

[7PM789]

My mistake, I thought you meant customer service.

[jake619]

Ahhhhh.  No worries.  We are an acronym loving group here, arent we?

[Anonymous]

I'd totally go for the CS over the Diamond.  Diamond really offers nothing.  

I would expect for Citi to start opening up the purse strings soon.  Or at the very least, to start rolling out some attractive offers on their cards.  Becuase they just announced plans for massive layoffs.  So they need to realign their business strategy if they want to stay relevant in the credit world.

[nickn86]

The Diamond still has a 3% balance trasnfer fee.  The Chase Slate has no balance transfer fee and 0% BT APR.