A few days ago, word broke from Richard Kerr on Facebook that numerous changes will be coming to the Citi Prestige card on July 27, 2017.
- The free golf benefit will be removed.
- No more American Airline redemptions at 1.6 cents-per-point.
- The travel redemption rate of 1.33 cents-per-point will be lowered to 1.25 cents-per-point.
- The fourth-night-free benefit for hotels will be based on average nightly rate instead of the 4th night’s rate.
- The fourth-night-free benefit will no longer include taxes.
- No more Admirals Club access (this change has already been confirmed by Citi last week).
Based on reliable sources close to the matter, we’ve been able to confirm these changes will take place, although all these changes will happen on July 23, 2017, not July 27, 2017. Citi Prestige cardholders will be made aware of these changes later this week.
Free Golf Benefit
The information we got on the free golf benefit is as follows: The three complimentary rounds of golf will no longer be offered with the Citi Prestige card for reservations made on or after July 23, 2017.
It sounds to me that you can make a reservation before July 23, 2017, and use it afterward. This will help us get one extra round of golf by making an advance booking. Unfortunately, we can only have one round booked at a time, so you won’t be able to book out multiple rounds, just one.
Complimentary 4th Night
The information we got regarding the changes to the complimentary 4th night benefit is as follows:Â The Complimentary 4th Night benefit will be calculated based on the average nightly rate of the complete stay for reservations made on or after July 23, 2017. Taxes will no longer be included within the statement credit. Cardmembers will still be able to enjoy their benefit at any hotel with no restrictions on the number of times they can use this benefit. All other terms of the Complimentary 4th Night benefit will remain unchanged.
Once again, the indication is that the change is based on the date of booking, not the date of the stay. If you book before July 23, 2017, you’ll get the old terms. This is very useful since you can book out multiple stays later in 2017 and beyond using the old rates.
Other Benefits Remain Unchanged
All other Citi Prestige benefits will remain unchanged, including the annual $250 air travel credit, $100 statement credit for the Global Entry or TSA PreCheck application fee, no foreign transaction fees on purchases, 24/7 Access to the Citi Prestige Concierge, 3x Points on Air Travel & Hotels, 2X points on Dining & Entertainment.
New Cardholders
As we wrote in a dedicated post, these changes do not apply to new cardholders at the moment. Although the Citi site no longer advertises the Admirals benefit, Golf Benefit, etc., new applicants will still get these benefits until July 23, 2017 when it changes for everyone.
This is true for those who apply today (or who applied within the past few days); we don’t know for certain that it will remain this way the whole year.
Final Thoughts
These are certainly big devaluations in the value of the Prestige card. The Admirals Club was very valuable to many, and the 4th night benefit, while still very useful, will be less hackable. The taxes part is especially a bummer.
The lowering from 1.33 to 1.25 might not be huge, but the loss of 1.6 cents-per-point on American is a big loss.
It’s still possible to get the old 50,000 points signup bonus on the Prestige card, and it might be worth considering in light of the upcoming changes; we still have a full year until the changes to into effect.
Edit: My understanding is that new cardmembers who apply now will still get the same
Thanks to Richard Kerr from Travel Hacking101 for sharing the original news of the change, and to Milestomemories and Milesforfamily for posting about it as well
