uclasfo

Anyone??

The Bargain Hunter

Hello,

I am wondering if any other Citi VISA card users have had problems getting proper points credited to their accounts. I opened my VISA account on 18-Nov. According to the HH website, I am to receive 6/3/2 points per dollar spent on Hilton family hotels/gas&groceries/other. Plus, I am to receive 15,000 Honors points for opening the account.

I stayed at an HGI in Greenbelt MD on 4-Dec, spending $329. On 18-Dec, Citi VISA credited my account 729 points (that's only 2 points per dollar spent). I called Citi VISA on 5-Jan to get the corrected, and was told they would submit an "investigation" and I would hear back from them in 7-10 days. So today (21-Jan), I called back to find that my account will be credited with 1458 points, which would be my remaining 4 points per dollar spent.

However, the service agent also said that my card plan only pays 4/3/1 points instead of 6/3/2. She also said she'd have to submit a separate investigation as to why I haven't received my 15K bonus points.

Is my experience typical? How long do I have to hold this card to retain my points? At this point, I'm ready to ditch it and apply for the AmEx card.

Any thoughts?

Many thanks!
TBH

une

I applied for the same card in the fall and initially had problems with my purchase points posting. After several phone calls and them starting investigations, the points from purchases posted to my account. Since the problem was fixed, the points for purchases have been posting correctly within 2-3 days from the closing of the statement.

The posting of the 15K bonus points is another problem I've been having with them. I had to call again and they had to start an investigation. I received a letter with stated that there was a problem with the points posting and I would see them within 2 weeks. The 2 weeks passed and no points, so I had to call again. The agent told me that they sent the points to Hilton on Jan 13th, but nothing has showed up on my Hilton account. I am not sure what the problem is now.

I must say that they have been a pain to get the correct points at the right time. I only use this card in places where the AMEX HHonors card is not accepted. I have not used it in any Hilton hotels, so I can't comment much on that. Many times I feel like the people I talk to on the phone do not really know what they are talking about.

wendySFO

I applied for the Citi card sometime back and had a similar experience for the points. Citi bank said the points were sent to Hilton but the points didn't showed up on my account for several months. After a while, I finally figured out Citi Bank somehow opened a new Hilton Honors account for me and all the points went to the new account that I didn't know anything about (I did received a Silver HHonors card but I thought it must come from some promotion from some airline or somewhere).

If still no points for a while, it is probably a good idea to check if there are other accounts under your name sitting some where.

deant

Had a similar problem with CITI and my AAdvantage VISA. Points were not posting and CITI just said to sit and wait 60 days to see if the points showed up. I did not wait and called AAdvantage. Turns out that CITI had opened another AAdvantage account and the points were posting there. The agent that I talked to said that this is a fairly common problem.

My suggestion is to call HHonors and see how many accounts you have and get them all combined.

MD/DC Flyer

When my sign-on bonus points did not show up after the minimum spending required (within the first month of the two available) - CITI said they will be posted after the first two cycles. I was skeptical but they did post recently on the third billing cycle (i.e., the third statement).

I would advise to contact CITI via the e-mail system. They will not respond to you via e-mail but will send a hard copy via mail with answers - that way at least you have some documentations.

The Bargain Hunter

This is a good idea, as I have received three separate HH membership cards in the mail. Unfortunately, I don't think I kept them all, as I thought they were duplicates. But I assume I can call HH and they can figure out how many accounts I may have.

une

After my statement closed, the 15K point bonus was included along with the points for purchases.

gaken01

As I've indicated in a previous post these types of point-posting problems are the reason my Citi HH Visa (as well as all my other Citibank cards) now stays in a drawer at home. I use my HH AmExp instead. For those few places that don't accept AmExp (and most do these days) I have a Chase reward card as second choice.

bj2757

I'm still waiting to see if/when either the Citi or AMEX card signup bonus points post. They said they would post x amount of time after first purchase, that didn't happen. Then they said they would post once the first statement has been paid, and they haven't. Now it's wait and see if they post within 4-6 weeks AFTER the first payment has been made. Credits for purchases made hit as soon as I paid the first bills - just not the bonus points. I guess you don't want to plan anything on short notice using new HH points :-)

BamaVol

Are there different signature cards? Mine pays 2 pts/$ with double points for Hilton charges. I know nothing about extra points for gas & groceries.

NewsBruin

I want to piggyback on this, because I have two frustrations with the HH Citi Signature card. I picked it up when I decided I wanted to earn points for a honeymoon. Currently, I alternate it with my Delta AmEx, so I have an alternative when I can't use AmEx (or if AmEx decides to throw another low-balance customer out the window).

1. I signed up for the card in September and got my bonus points after the December statement in January (I think), with calls and e-mails from October to December. Whenever I asked for an update on my signup points, I was that I did not qualify or was asked to show them the offer. The reps seem pretty confused on the card details sometimes.

2. The Citi statements have no breakdown how points were earned, just a lump sum sentence at the bottom. However, the points are deposited in my HH account as 1-3 nebulous "Citi Signature Spend" entries each month. For the first two months, I went through my charges line-by-line to get a rough estimate of how many points I had earned.

One of the problems I had in determining my points is that the customer service reps don't see the points breakdowns, either. A CSR would look at my monthly points and say, "Well, Mr. NewsBruin, you did earn 33,000 points in your November statement, so I think that's when you got your bonus points." No, I had a 15-day business trip at the Hilton Waikoloa, charged everything to my room, and paid it with my HH Citi card.

I would mail multiple times to ask for a breakdown of my points, and every time, I would get another signup brochure with the categories listed.

I have mailed Citi multiple times on this, but I would really, really like it if my statements would contain the number of earned points next to each line item and the point category used. Their reps are not given the information to help me, and if I were given the information with my statement, I wouldn't need to contact them. Plus, I would not have any more extra brochures to add to my recycling pile.

hellmutt

I want to work in your business!

NewsBruin

Thanks for the comment It was definitely an abberation from my usual travelling (in a very nice Hampton in Natchez, MS right now), but it was the closest place on the island where all our staff could be accommodated. I did take advantage of the location to propose to my girlfriend.

On topic, would anyone else appreciate Citi posting the individual class and points per charge on your statement?

sharklover

I got the card for the bonus points. I sued it once at a Hilton Hotel and the bonus points for that stay did not post. It was a pain to get it adjusted. I will never use the card again. I think it is pretty useless.