rgAAFT

Exactly my question (?) I have said this before, but I too don't like the the direction of credit card design that citi has been going in as of late? What changed, what is this related to? Cost savings, or do they think that because of mobile payment solutions no one wants to carry around cards anymore, and therefore it's OK to design Trash?.
sidenote,
So,Admirals club membership gives you access to Alaska club,I knew of QF, but Alaska?

LETTERBOY

I think it was the design of the Chase Sapphire Preferred. When it came out, everyone was going, "Ooh. Aah," and I think the other card issuers got jealous.

rgAAFT

.yeah, my thought exactly, however they forgot one super important piece. METAL

I mean the sapphire preferred has it's fair share of issues, for example No raised numbers, meaning some hotels overseas will refuse to accept that card because an imprint can't be made etc, BUT almost everyone is willing to overlook that because of the Metal design

Point is, everything involves trade-offs and I am ok with that, BUT what's citi's excuse on this one?

WheelsFirst

The cards were due for a refresh since AA has a new logo. The design is more in line with the current trends from the competing banks. I agree the executive should be metal, and the lack of an AC logo is pretty crazy they need to fix that. However clubs and partner clubs should be verifying membership via the Aadvantage number anyways. Otherwise people would use cancelled cards for access. I've never showed my card just my boarding pass or AAdvantage card but haven't used partner lounges like AS or QF...

LETTERBOY

I am indifferent to no raised numbers and metal in and of themselves, but if those things start to cause problems with acceptance (I've read here about the metal in the CSP causing problems with acceptance in Europe), then I have a problem with it. However, Chase still issues the card as metal and without raised numbers, so the issues with acceptance probably aren't that big a deal. If they were, people would stop using the card, which would lead Chase to (eventually) change the design to eliminate the problem.

rgAAFT

But, see that's the thing,
Now citi customers have the potential of running into acceptance issues. At least with Chase , they had a good excuse for "no raised numbers" (elegant ,minimalistic metal design) , everybody likes it and therefore, are willing to overlook that "small issue" But, what is excusable to Chase on that front, is no excuse for citi

Case and Point,
l will readily admit I am a credit card and aviation and points geek, but even my mom, who is an AU on my executive card and does not geek out about credit cards,took notice at the poor design of the card. With absolutely no prompting from me she said she didn't like fact that there are no raised numbers etc ( it was I who had to remind her that the CSP is also like that but it's generally accepted for the reasons stated above)

PS
It's like for EMV, most people have not experienced many problems with Chip and signature cards, therefore don't mind it vs those who have had major issues and therefore refuse to take any card that's not Pin priority 1, overseas with them

LETTERBOY

My point was, that since Chase still issues the CSP the way it does, the issues with acceptance probably aren't worth worrying about for most people. Presumably Citi has thought of this and taken it into account (if they haven't they're galactically stupid).

rgAAFT

And thats the problem, Most bank executives are not "Street Smart"

WheelsFirst

Chase also sends a normal plastic with raised numbers "copy" of the CSP upon request.

LETTERBOY

No, but they're smart enough to notice when people stop using their cards, and smart enough to ask why.

The fact that they only send it on request and not by default is an indicator that the normal metal card will work in almost every situation.

smotchx

My replacement card with the new design has an Admiral's Club logo right underneath the mag strip on the right-hand side.

rgAAFT

but notice, I never said it didn't (for me at least), but it is publicly known that the issue exists. Therefore, I am surprised that citi decided to even "open that can of worms" and not even try to come up with a solution, and/or conning up with a solid tradeoff such as a metal design, better graphics on the card, chip and pin etc . (especially now,since the Barclays card was announced because itWill likely have at least one of the above features)

About the only thing this current card is good for is, fooling unknowing flight attendants into thinking you have " Executive Platinum" status and getting a free snack out of it ! (since the new card is plastic, black, and looks so much like a AAdvantage membership card

PS ,
That did happen to me once , on a flight from Dallas to
OGG, this past August. I was sitting in Economy class with my family, we wanted a snack off the cart, (we usually pay with an AMEX platinum, but this time I had already used the entire $200 on change fees, anyway, so I decided to pay with my executive card, the flight attendant walks over, glances at my card (still old design) and says ,
"you have "executive platinum with us, current?
Me : (I roll with it) yes
FA: Ok then, one of your snacks is free , because you're an executive platinum traveling in Economy
Me: Ok, Thank You

LETTERBOY

Why would they spend the time and money to fix a problem that isn't going to be a problem 99% of the time?

rgAAFT

I watched a documentary on British Airways, and on the first couple episodes they showcased flight Attendant training. Anyway, they stressed the importance of good, attentive customer service especially in the presence of a premium cabin passenger. (no small detail should go unnoticed) Likewise, cabin cleanliness and ATTENTION TO DETAIL should be highly regarded for everyone, but especially for premium customers

I just apply the same standards and expectations to citi as well (since they have proven that they can handle situation on the customer service front well


I think this post from "view from the the wing" will help further explain it http://viewfromthewing.boardingarea....dit-card-deal/

and also


Hard to tell . Barclays approval formula is hard to crack
Made harder by the fact that the application of "churners" seem to be flagged automatically.
As I said yesterday, the system didn't even do a hard pull on me. I guess credit analysis can override this and approve the card anyway, but you have to be actively using the card for this to (possibly happen)

And... (in my case )Unfortunately,I prefer citi

Citi has given me way more "sizeable" amounts of miles (practically) upfront, its time I return the favor by actually using the card, as opposed to just "using" it

Also, with citi I get connected to capable US based reps when I call them , unfortunately the same cannot be said with Barclays CSRs especially not the " hi, my name is William" in the classic Indian accent, that I keep getting connected to with my US Airways card

LETTERBOY

You didn't answer my question, though. Why should Citi spend resources on addressing a problem that isn't going to be a problem 99% of the time? What material benefit would they get from that, if any? And would that material benefit outweigh the cost (tgime, money, etc) of doing what you want? If the answer to that question were yes, don't you think Citi would do it?