Online Offer
The Citi Prestige card offers a 50,000 Thank You point bonus after signing up and making $3,000 in purchases. It does come, however, with a $450 annual fee. This is offset somewhat by the $250 airline credit per calendar year, but it’s still painful.
The good news is that Citigold customers get a reduced annual fee of just $350. Still high, but better than $450. Luckily many of us are Citigold clients due to a generous offer Citi currently has for opening a Citigold bank account package. Even if you become a Citigold client after opening the Prestige card, you’ll get a reduction in the annual fee on a prorated basis.
What to do if you aren’t a Citigold client?
You can become one 😎 . Or you can apply in-branch…
Previously, the in-branch bonus was 60k points, but it required $15,000 in spend to get that. 30k points after you spend $3,000 within the first three months and an additional 30,000 points after you spend a total of $15,000 within the first 12 months.
Reportedly, the in-branch offer is now showing the same offer as the online offer.
- Get 50k points after spending $3,000 in 3 months.
The previous offer would actually be better for someone who anyway plans on spending $15,000 on the card within a year. In any case, the current in-branch offer is now the same as the online offer.
Almost the same…
$350 Annual Fee In-Branch
We’ve mentioned in the past that many have had success applying for the Prestige card in-branch using the Citigold form even if they aren’t a Citigold client. This will have to be approved by the banker, but it usually works.
If you aren’t a Citigold client and you want to apply for the Prestige card, you can try applying in-branch and see if you’ll be able to use the Citigold form which will lock you in at the $350 rate.
This is especially useful if you don’t plan on keeping your Citigold banking package and you do plan keeping the Prestige card. In this case, in which case you may start getting the $450 annual fee on the Prestige after you close out the Citigold account, but with the in-branch offer I’m imagine it will continue on as $350 indefinitely.
If you are Citigold, I wouldn’t recommend making yourself crazy to apply in-branch for a number of reasons:
- It’s possible the in-branch won’t work properly for some reason, though it’s worked for many in the past
- It’s possible that Citi will leave you in with your grandfathered $350 Citigold rate even after you close the Citigold account
- In the world of miles-and-points things change so quickly and the value of Prestige can change which will impact your current decision that you intend to keep this card for life
HT: usercreditcardguide on Reddit
