FlyerTalk Forums - View Single Post - Citi Prestige benefit and reward changes effective July 23, 2017
Old Mar 23, 2017, 5:57 pm
  #422  
ralphs
 
Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: SNA
Programs: AA EXP, Hilton Diamond, Hyatt Globalist, IHG Plat, Marriott Gold, National EE
Posts: 1,204
Depends on your usage pattern. There was a long, wordy podcast on this 3 days ago if you want some suggestions and ideas: http://saverocityobservationdeck.com...d-annual-fees/

My personal take:
1. CSR - travel credit is easy to use, so I'd consider it like cash. I like it because it makes Chase points easy to liquidate at 1.5c a piece, and I generate tens of thousands of Chase points a year through business spend. Hyatt is also a good redemption. If you are not generating Chase points anyways, this isn't really a benefit.

2. Citi Prestige - travel credit is easy to use, so I'd consider it like cash. Make or break is 4th night free. TYP are useful to me through CX.

3. AmEx Plat - travel credit is annoying to use, uber credit is hard to use (and I don't want to use uber that much), so I discount them heavily. One possible alternative is the business plat at $450 fee and no uber stuff. I would consider this fee to still be $450 - $200 travel credit + $100 hassle of getting reimbursed/tracking gift cards = $350. This makes it the most expensive card to have. I have never stepped foot inside a Centurion Lounge. But if I took a lot of uber anyways and if I happened to fly out of airports from gates next to Centurion lounges, I would change my tune. MR also usable on CX. Pay with points is interesting value, but having to choose one airline for economy is frustrating. I don't think it's a good value on premium redemption because I only value premium redemption transpac/transatlantic.

Last edited by ralphs; Mar 23, 2017 at 6:02 pm
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