dw

I agree with you, and I'm sure most people on FT do as well. However, I can see how some marketing people at Citi may have wanted to cater more to consumers who aren't as loyalty program/credit card program savvy. You know, those who are taken in by the Capital One commercials that tout "double miles" on every purchase and think they are the same as regular airline miles?

The flight points, while a great feature, were probably very confusing to some people. And I can see how it might be easier for Citi to compare the Premier to the CSP now: both give a 20% discount when redeeming points for airfare, both now give 2x on travel, and Citi goes beyond and gives 3x on dining.

Of course, CSP is really only valuable if you transfer points to airline or hotel partners... but that's another point entirely.

Dieuwer

That is not another point, that is THE point.
And that is why City TYP are utterly worthless : if you want a fee-free card that gives you 2x on travel, Capital One is the better deal. And if you want to be able to transfer points, CPS is the better deal.
Dining much? The fee-free Discover Open Road gives you 2x on dining and gas purchases.

UA Fan

Even with the 1.33 ratio, the fee was way too much, not to mention the fee for an AU. Does any other card have a fee for an AU?

mightyducksman

The companion fare & 15% off for the primary and AU totally justified ALL the fees (saved about 300+ per year accounting for the AF, didn't have an AU)...the 1.33 and flight points were just added bonuses to me.

Now this card is crap and I'm trying to "buy" my 8000 flight points before downgrading to a forward, if they let me.

silver6054

So it sounds like the features could still change (maybe for the even worse of course)? If they are changing new cards by the end of July though, I would expect it to be finalized by now.

nall

I was able to get several hundred dollars worth of benefits out of the flight discount/companion ticket, and I haven't even paid an annual fee yet.

I wondered how they were making money on it (it seemed too good), and I can only assume now that the answer is: they weren't.

UA Fan

I have never really bought into any of these campanion fare offers as the few times I looked into them, there were clauses that made it worthless. Examples would be requirements that the main fare be above $XX or booked into a certain class. At those times, one could find cheaper fares elsewhere and so I lost interest. Plus I dislike certificates that have limited life.

How good was the TYP campanion fare?

unavaca

+1. I saved over $500 per year with the 15% discount alone. The annual fee was peanuts compared to the discount I was getting.

dw

Considering the value of one companion fare could easily end up being 2-3X+ the annual fee (and authorized users got them as well), I think it would have only worked out for Citi if a small minority of cardholders actually used the benefit.

A few years ago Amex had a similar companion fare program for their US Plat cards. Even though you had to book over the phone, which made the redemption process more burdensome as you could not research available routings on your own, even that benefit was eliminated, and the speculation was that it was costing Amex too much.

roki

The Preferred doesn't get any multiplier, only the Premier and, according to some literature, the Prestige. I hold both cards, though, and it will be interesting to see if the Prestige remains 1.33x and I get that. Anniversary bonus should be in the T&C, as I recall, and it changes depending on the number of years as a card owner.

Only the Prestige, that I know of. Possibly the Amex Plat? The only justification for the Premier having the AU fee was that tha AU also got a companion airfare ticket. At least Citi recognized that and removed the AU with the removal of the companion airfare.

Personally, I hope the Prestige doesn't change at all. The benefits it has now make it the obvious choice for those remaining in the TY program. The way I see it, if you don't currently have a Citi checking account and/or the Forward card, there's no point in getting into ThankYou points anymore. I have both, and earn 3000/mo from my bank accounts, ~$600x5 on Forward (Dining+Amazon) so another 3000/mo from that, and about $300/mo EDS burning through flight points, so another 600/mo on that. Roughly 75K a year in TYPs redeemed for flights gives me a $250 bump in value having the 1.33x multiplier, and a $187.50 bump @ 1.25x.

unavaca

It was excellent. Citi paid the base fare for you on the 2nd ticket, you paid the taxes. On a $588 ticket, I paid $80 for the second ticket. Not a bad deal, IMO. No minimum fare requirement; it just had to be the lowest available fare in the market across all carriers.

roki

There weren't stipulations like that, but there would typically only be a handful (1-8) of flights available using the companion ticket. It wasn't a certificate like with US Air, etc. Booking was done online and very convenient. They usually marked up base fare by ~10%, and you'd be responsible for taxes on both, but it was pretty easy if you were semi flexible. Basically, $400 public ticket ($350 base + $50 tax) would be ~$435, and you'd pay $485 for two tickets. After purchase, you could email/call Spirit and inquire about the 10% bump, and they'd mail you out a check for the difference. It was quirky, but VERY useful if you knew how to use it.

eloraculo

The 15% discount and the companion fare more than paid for the annual fee including the AU. I think I have easily saved more than $600 so far this year. That is whithout even mentioning points and flying points.

eloraculo

The card is/was complicated, but if you know/knew how to use it is/was one of the best card out there. I know it was even beter back in the day, but right now it srill great.
I also thought it was great that a lot of people didn't understand cause I was reaping all the benefits.
Companion airfare worked great and much easier than Delta's LUT, plus companion earned miles.

beltway

What works for me is the combo Citi Forward (5x on dining, bookstores, movie theatre) plus Premier. The latter gives the 1.33c/pt travel redemption option; even if travel isn't your thing, Premier offers better gift card redemptions (all at 1:1, unlike Citi Forward). A 5% or better rebate suits me fine.

That said, I agree with the suggestion that the coming changes undercut the Premier card's value substantially, and I am unlikely to keep mine if they maintain the $125 fee & don't have a sizeable retention bonus to offset it.