In our post on annual fee refund rules for each card issuer, we’ve listed Citi as refunding annual fees as long as the card is downgraded or canceled within 30 days of the annual fee posting (and a prorated refund after that). It seems that the way that downgrades are handled by Citi is affecting how these annual fee refunds are also handled. Reddit user mk712 reports the following situation:
- Annual fee on Citi Premier was charged on May 6th
- Downgraded to a no annual fee card
- On May 11th received a letter confirming this change and starting that they would receive the new card by the end of May, but the new terms on the card would only start applying on June 30th
- Received annual fee refund of $79.16 on July 4th (10 month prorated refund instead of full refund)
There are also the following data points that match up with this: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. This isn’t really a change to how Citi handles annual fee refunds, but a change to how they handle product downgrades. This makes downgrading a card with an annual fee difficult/impossible if you want the full refund, as the card must be opened for 12 months before requesting a downgrade/product change.
Just something to keep in mind, as always keeping good records will help in terms of knowing when annual fees become due. It might be possible to fight this with Citi and get the full refund (or you product changed completed sooner). Hopefully this isn’t a sign that Citi will do away with prorated annual fee refunds, like American Express recently announced.
It’s also possible that the botched Costco credit card transfer from American Express are causing product changes to happen slower than usual and business will return to normal once Citi finally works this out.
Wanted to help provide a useful datapoint: I applied for the Citi AA card in April 2018 and the annual fee hit at the end of May 2019. I called in the next day about downgrading the card and then a week later I received the full refund for the annual fee.
Called in to product change my Citi AA Platinum to Rewards+ on 3/28/19 after the annual fee hit on 3/25/19.
Received a new Rewards+ card in the mail last week. No change in 16-digit credit card number.
CSR confirmed that the annual fee would be refunded in full; credit received last week as well.
CSR also told me that I have until 5/17/19 to reverse the product change.
Another change I noticed that started last week of Feb, 2019 is with my double cash account. When I pay posted balance in full in the past, my current available balance went up immediately to reflect the amount I paid. Since last week of Feb, it takes weeks after full payment before my full CL is restored. Initially, I thought it was a sign of forthcoming shutdown so I waited till statement generated and I ACH’d my CB. No other changes and my 3 accounts remain active.
They are still prorating annual fee refunds. I downgraded my Thank You Premier to a Rewards Plus on 1/16/19. The refund wasn’t processed until 3/18/19 and I was given a prorated refund of $79.16. I was also refunded $1.xx in interest. I’m guessing that was the interest that was charged on the annual fee pending the refund. I contacted them through chat and was told I would have to call to get the rest refunded. Chat said they would give me 3000 TY points for the trouble. I’ll update in a week or so after I call them and see if the points actually show up in my account.
It was within 30 days off the annual fee posting. I think it was just 2 or 3 days after. I did receive the promised 3000 TY points for not getting the full annual fee refunded. When I called to get the rest of the annual fee refunded, I was put on hold while the agent contacted a specialist. After about 5 minutes of holding the call disconnected. Since the TY points are worth more than the missing part of the annual fee I decided to not pursue the refund further. Perhaps it will still show up when my next statement closes.
DP:
Just converted my Citi AAdvantage card to Citi dividend card after AF hit 14 days ago. The CSR confirmed that the AF of $95 will be refunded in full. So, YMMV
Will update if something changes.
any update?
+1. CSR confirmed when I called to PC that AF would be fully refunded, not prorated. AF was refunded directly back to my card approximately a week after my future PC from T/Y Premier to Citi Dividend. Well, technically, it was never refunded, the balance freaking disappeared. (Stupid online access does not show the date fee was refunded/eradicated, but it is 0 balance. Says a statement ended with $0 balance 1/08/19, but I have no record of it in online statements)
12/10/18 Statement closed, AF fee assessed
12/11/18 Called to convert T/Y Premier to Citi Dividend
Fee disappears a week later.
Still waiting on new card, supposedly converting 1/31.
I was charged the pro-rated fee. $95 fee for AA posted 2/21, called in to downgrade to Dividend. I had to wait until 4/15 to get downgraded. The annual fee just posted but backdated back to 2/21 in the amount of $79.16. Sent a secure message inquiring this and this is the response
“We’ve determined that your account is not eligible for a credit of the
annual membership fee.
In order to keep your account open, it is necessary to pay the annual
membership fee
Your Card Agreement states that this fee is non-refundable unless you
notify us to close your account within 30 days from the mailing or
delivery date of the statement on which the fee appears.
When an account is closed or converted to a different account type, the
annual membership fee will be reviewed and systemically adjusted if
appropriate. ”
Should I call in? I hate that Citi requires a long time to downgrade a card and then charge me for that waiting.
Another data point: $95 annual fee posted to Citi AA card. Called a few days later to downgrade. Within a week the full $95 refund posted, backdated to the same day the annual fee originally posted.
My experience:
10/12: called in to downgrade Premier to Dividend. Agent said she was able to issue full-refund “courtesy” credit for $95 AF that had posted
10/14: full AF refund posted as “REFUND MEMBERSHIP FEE”
Can we have multiple dividend cards? I will convert a couple more then, just got my first one from a conversion.
I was able get my annual fee reimbursed after I downgraded my premier card to prefer 3 days ago. And the credit posted today for the full amount of $95.