FlyerTalk Forums - View Single Post - Citi Prestige benefit and reward changes effective July 23, 2017
Old Mar 24, 2017, 9:34 am
  #429  
krazieman
 
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: US
Programs: AA EXP 1MM, Starwood Gold, Hyatt Diamond
Posts: 1,020
Originally Posted by madbrain
I have all 3 cards as well. I have not found the Citi 4th night benefit to be useful. Reasons :
- Citi concierge only goes by the rates on the hotel web site, not Expedia or other aggregators. And you can often find much better rates there for the same room / same type of rate (refundable/breakfast/etc), frequently 15-20 percent off . The 4th night benefit would save money, but it only ends up being $10 - $20 per reservation due to this.
- You have to call the Citi concierge, and it takes a looong time to make/cancel bookings through them on the phone
So for me, I'm leaning towards cancelling the Prestige card.

CSR has 1.5 cent per point redemptions when you book travel through Ultimate rewards portal, but again, you often don't get the best rates through that portal. Also, there are many options that you just can't book through that portal at all (some hotel rooms). In which case, redemption is 1 cent per point (cash) . Which is still better than Citi cash back redemption (0.8cpp pay with points) and Amex cash (0.6 cpp statement credit).
Here's a suggestion to maximize the Citi 4th night free. Call concierge and use a corporate rate. Obviously this is only good for SPG/Hyatt/Hilton/Etc. They can apply the same corporate you can online. This gets me rates that usually beat aggregators.
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