I used the Admirals Club benefit yesterday. Neither of the two ladies at the front desk had ever seen a Prestige card. The lady helping me was pleasant during the entire process. She took the card and first tried swiping it through the card reader incorporated into her computer keyboard. After a few unsuccessful attempts she decided to hand key the 16-digit account number. She then appeared to look for a drop down menu on her screen and then mouthed, “There it is, Citi Prestige.” She then read the screen pop-up that was something like, “Card not valid” and “Not primary card.” I am the primary card holder, but she never asked me if this was the primary card or an authorized user. Instead, she asked me if I was supposed to have an American boarding pass for entry and when I replied “Yes” she took my boarding pass and scanned the QR-style code with the optical scanner and then tried a few things on her screen. Her computer never accepted my card and she politely replied, “This is not working and I am not going to inconvenience you or continue to struggle with this. Welcome to the club and enjoy the rest of your day.”

I will see what happens tomorrow on my flight home and report another data point.