cliu96

Any data point would be greatly appreciated.

cliu96

I just called the concierge to figure out how it actually works.

The call center is very, very bad. Maybe it's because I'm calling at midnight. But if you promise 24/7 concierge, the service level should be consistent throughout 24 hours a day. I have called 3 times to actually reach a concierge representative. Each time about 10 minutes wait on music.

After connected to a concierge, I was asked a few questions for account verification purposes. And then the concierge asked me the travel date, number of persons and destination. He also asked me if there's a specific hotel I'm looking at. He promised me that the travel agency will send the quote for the hotel I specified and a few more options in the next 24 hours.

Let's see what happens next. I'll keep this post updated.

islandguy84

I have used the benefit, but have not yet completed my stay. While I did call them initially to provide dates, location, etc, they got back to me within 24 hours via email.

I noticed there was an email address listed on the pdf containing the list of hotel options and use this instead to communication with them.

They provide you various room types and rates for both prepaid and refundable. The charge appeared on my statement as being billed directly by the hotel which hopefully means that any elite benefits apply. I provided my loyalty number as part of the booking and the booking shows up on the hotel website as normal.

Currently still waiting for the statement credit to appear. For prepaid, it should show up a few weeks after booking, for fully refundable, it should show up after completing the stay.

Joe1690

Yes, I used this benefit for the first time last month. The process isn't perfect because in my situation I was booking the hotel the day prior to departure.

The typical process is:

1) Call concierge department and they verify you are eligible for the benefit
2) The concierge takes down your information with regards to hotel arrival date, departure date, and any specific hotels you are looking for or a specific price range
3) Your information is submitted to Carlson Wagonlit Travel to price out various options
4) Within 24 hours of your initial phone call you will receive an email with proposals for various hotels

In my situation, since 24 hours wouldn't work, they were able to patch me through to a travel representative who looked at the 3 or 4 hotels I was investigating and provided quotes. When I asked whether these rates were qualifying rates for hotel loyalty amenities as well as points she was unsure and said she would get back to me within the next 2-3 hours. I also wanted to verify whether the hotel could honor a non-smoking request since the room-type didn't specify this.

After several hours of time, they were able to confirm everything and the reservation was points earning eligible and I did receive an upgrade. However, when I couldn't view the reservation on the hotel website, I called up the hotel company directly to verify whether my Hotel loyalty number was added to the reservation and it had not. I also asked if they could request an upgrade if possible and they did notate this.

However, as of today I still have not received a refund and the stay was concluded approximately 1 week prior to my statement closing and the purchase amount did show up on my December Statement. So this seems to be a 1-2 billing cycle credit in reality after your stay. I may have to fight for it but the documentation that Carlson Wagonlit sends tells you that the 4th night is free so it should be easy to request the statement credit if it doesn't post by my January statement.

cliu96

Saved ~$660 on InterContinental Times Square and ~$140 on Conrad Chicago.

Although the card member agreement states that I still have to pay the tax and fees for 4th night, they were able to price out every proposed hotel without the tax and fees for the free night.

Well worth the AF, I believe. This benefit is very, very impressive.

Hope the loyalty night and points will post smoothly after checking out.

Fujitsujeff

I used this benefit last month during the thanksgiving holidays. I am still waiting on the statement credit. It did not post on this statement so it doesn't seem as quick as the airfare credit.

In regards to the data point, it works as others have described. You call/email the concierge team. They gather information and pass it on to the travel team (CWT). The travel team then provides options, then you contact the travel/concierge team again to confirm the reservation. I found the rates were the best available rate published online or lower.

I also found you will enjoy this benefit and experience more if you already do the initial research so one you call you can then immediately direct/guide them to the hotel and rate you want. Hope this helps. Jeff.

Chupacabras

If loyalty numbers work and rooms are at the same non-refundable rate offered through the hotels website, that makes the decision to keep this card a no-brainer (for me).

Joe1690

With regards to pricing, the terms & conditions state that they will price match the lowest publicly available rate on the hotel website. When I called in and pointed out that the rate I saw was lower, they indeed went to the hotel website and verified this rate and were going to match it until they then found a negotiated rate that was still points earning eligible and about $10 less per night.

With regards to points earning, I think it is hotel chain specific and thus you will want to verify with Carlson Wagonlit whether the reservation is points earning eligible.

mia

I doubt they would know. Read the terms of your loyalty program to see which booking channels are excluded.

cliu96

They don't really know.

I booked twice through them. One for IC NY Times Square, one for IC Chicago Magnificent Mile. Same rate type which requires one night deposit. Those rates were published on the hotel website, so I was able to compare their quotes with the hotel website price.

First time, they gave me a quote for IC NY, exactly same as the hotel website, including the cancellation policy. I was also able to add my IHG Rewards Club member number to the reservation through the phone and the reservation showed up on IHG website smoothly.

The second time, they gave me a quote for IC Chicago, exact same total price but saying the cancellation policy is totally non-refundable. I doubted it and had them double checked it and they insisted that full deposit is required at the time of booking. And they claim that, because the booking is made through them, I wouldn't be able to add the membership No. to the reservation. I accepted their "non-refundable rate" anyway and made the reservation. Immediately I contacted IC-Chicago, and the hotel staff was able to add my membership No. and confirmed it's point & stay eligible. The reservation appeared online shortly after adding my membership No., and it turned out to be the same one-night deposit cancellation policy as my first booking. So the travel agency got wrong on the cancellation policy stuff, and also the membership number.

I was also able to add my HHonors number to a Conrad hotel booking. So this seems to depend on which representative you got on phone.

cliu96

Also the World Elite MasterCard hotel portfolio booking was made through Carlson Wagonlit Travel. As a program compared to the Visa Signature Luxury Hotels & Resorts and Amex FHR (which are both points and nights eligible), I don't see a point why CWT bookings would be points & nights ineligible.

So presumably at this time, I'll say the booking made with citi prestige concierge (also through CWT) will be eligible for points and nights.

Enclave

This statement in the Citi Benefit Terms and Conditions tells me I can get two complimentary nights if my reservation is for two separate rooms:

Only one complimentary night is eligible per room reservation.

Has anyone had success with this?

Joe1690

In my case, they read the rate rules to me which specifically stated that it was a points earning eligible reservation. Now in this particular instance it was at a Club Carlson property and I believe Club Carlson and Carlson Wagonlit travel are owned by the same company so perhaps this is why they can see that the rate is points earning eligible.

taxicabnumber

This can be said of literally every aspect of every CC product Citi offers

parys

I just called Citi to make a 5-night stay next week for Christmas, with Best Western. Since the stay was so soon, they transferred me to a CWT rep right away. She got my info and requested hotel, then quoted me the same "nominal" price as on the website. I mentioned that there was a web promotion that actually made it cheaper than using the 4th night free rate. She asked me how to pull that up on BestWestern.com, and after verifying the promotional rate, confirmed that she could book that for me and told me the 4th night bonus would apply.

So, like others, I'll have to wait for a while to get the refund, but I was happy that they said they would match the web promotional rate. Between the $90 I should save here and the rest of the card value, I've almost completely covered the annual fee already.