Citi Prestige 4th night free reimbursement survey
 

I am just curious... want to take a poll on when everyone is receiving the 4th night free credit on their statements.

a) 1st statement received after completing stay
b) 2nd statement received after completing stay
c) 3+ statements received (and did you call in to chase Prestige for it)

I can create a poll, but the software is not very flexible. There can be only a single question. It would need to look something like this:

1. 1st statement received after completing stay
2. 2nd statement received after completing stay
3. 3rd statement or later WITHOUT contacting Citi
4. 3rd statement or later AFTER contacting Citi

I have a ton of reservations through Citi, being a professional road warrior. But since Aspire has taken over, I get credits in less than one billing cycle. Often 2-3 weeks after the stay is over.

Last month I received the fourth night reimbursement on the same bill as the hotel charge.

I checked out of my hotel on 3/22 and just received my statement credit 3/30.

I travel for work nearly every week, so obviously I have lots of data points. Just looking since Aspire took over:

January and February I averaged about ten days between the hotel charge posting, and seeing the statement credit post. Longest was fifteen days, shortest was six days.

But interestingly starting the last week in February I'm actually seeing the statement credit post in three or four days! Not sure why I'm special but here's my actual data points:
2/25 Charge post / credit post 2/29
3/4 Charge post / credit post 3/7
3/11 Charge post / credit post 3/14
3/18 Charge post / credit post 3/21
3/25 Charge post / credit post 3/28

If it matters these properties were all part of Hilton or Marriott.

I can't find any consistency to mine, but here's more data including the hotel brand in case there's some relation there.

IHG: booked 3/10, charged 3/26, no credit yet
SPG: booked 3/6, charged 3/8, credit 3/21
MAR: booked 1/8, charged 1/19, credit 2/14
MAR: booked 12/31, charged 1/13, credit 2/4

I love this card!

Here's my data-
Both properties booked in mid-late January, neither prepaid.
3/10-3/14 - riad in Marrakech - card billed upon checkout
3/14-3/18 - Hotel Indigo BCN - card billed upon checkIN, 2 separate transactions (1st night, then nights 2-4)
3/24 statement closed
3/28 reimbursement for Marrakech riad

I thought the reimbursement for Hotel Indigo BCN would come 4 days after the 3/28 credit, but it hasn't.

I believe when your statement closes is a factor as well.
My statement closes on the 16th every month.

Hyatt: Charge posted 3/1, credit 4/16 (2 billing cycles)

Booked 2 stays in Feb - one prepaid, one for March.

Did not receive credit for prepaid until I called in 3x and last week. Have not received credit for March stay (has only been 1 billing cycle since, 2nd is coming up soon, fortunately).

I've had it post after 2 statement closes and after 1 statement close. I have two that I am still waiting on.

Data points...

Stay #1
Stay billed: August 26
Statement close: September 10
Statement close: October 10
Credit posted: October 11

Stay #2
Stay billed: March 4
Statement close: March 9
Credit posted: March 14

Stay #3
Stay billed: March 14
Statement close: April 11
No credit yet

Stay #4
Stay billed: March 20
Statement close: April 11
No credit yet

Since Aspire, booked two pre-paid stays (both have not occurred yet).

1st stay reimbursed after 2 statements but I had to call Aspire because 2nd stay (which was booked after 1st stay) was reimbursed first after two statements.

Booked 03/14/16
Stayed 04/08/16-04/11/16
Charged 04/12/16
Credited 05/02/16 (same billing cycle)

I've noticed a difference in how the credits have begun to post during April so I figured I would update with more data. Specifically I'm seeing the credits take longer to post at somewhere around two to four weeks, and sometimes credits are now posting in batches. I've also seen credits post out of order now, where stays completed later are credited before earlier ones. This suggests to me they are now approving credits on some sort of schedule, perhaps by employee, instead of the previous per stay basis.

I still don’t see anything that would suggest my statement closing date has anything to do with when the credits posts, though for completeness it is between the 17 – 19th.

Starting from my last data point:

MAR: 4/1 Charge post / credit post 4/11
MAR: 4/8 Charge post / credit post 4/25
MAR: 4/15 Charge post / credit post 4/25
HILTON: 4/22 Charge post / credit post 5/16
MAR: 4/29 Charge post / credit post 5/30
HILTON: 5/6 Charge post / credit post Not Posted
HILTON: 5/13 Charge post / credit post 6/6

Two recent pre-paid stays for me.

Both booked in late January and activity posted to my account on Jan 29

Both stays were the last week of May

No credit yets. Next statement close date is June 17 and I'm *really* hoping they'll post then.

In late April I sent an email asking when the credit would post and received the following response:

Thank you for your email. I am delighted to assist you today. You will see a credit once you have checked out of the hotel. I am happy to provide you with the Citi Prestige Benefit Terms.

Complimentary 4th Night Terms & Conditions:

The Citi Prestige Hotel statement credit will be the cost of the 4th Night Stay room rate plus taxes. The statement credit will post within 1-2 billing cycles of a fully prepaid booking or 1-2 billing cycles after check-out.

4th night free reimbursement - please help clarify timing
 

Hello,

I have gotten different answers from different people at citi during various phone calls

I've recently started using the 4th night free benefit to book a few hotels. Some of these hotels I've been booking with a non-refundable pay up front fee.
I was initially told that the 4th night reimbursement would come 2-3 cycles after the payment, but then was later told that it happens after the stay.

Its kind of a pain if the latter is true and that I'm going to have to keep track of everything for 9+ months to f/u after the trip to make sure the reimbursement occurred. Some of the trips I'm planning are far away - if that wasn't obvious from above.

Anyone have any better knowledge or experience with the 4th night reimbursement based on paid in full date versus actual stay date?

I'm in the same boat and my confirmation e-mail from the Concierge clearly states that reimbursement should occur within 1-2 cycles of payment on prepaid hotel stays. I will escalate if it does not post within that timeframe.

I have always received the refund of a prepaid within 1-2 billing cycles. I always book in far in advance so the refund always posts before my actual stay.

Checked out of JW Marriott GH on 6/1, just received my 4th night credit $484 today.

Since I just had SIX! hotel stay rebates post yesterday all at once, I figured now would be a good time to post additional data points. Before yesterday my rebates were taking even longer to credit than my second post above, I was waiting up to almost six weeks.

Starting from my last data point:

HILTON: 5/20 Charge post / credit post 6/20
HILTON: 6/6 Charge post / credit post 6/20
HILTON: 6/10 Charge post / credit post 7/19
HILTON: 6/17 Charge post / credit post 7/25
HILTON: 6/24 Charge post / credit post 7/25
HILTON: 7/1 Charge post / credit post 7/25
HILTON: 7/9 Charge post / credit post 7/25
HILTON: 7/15 Charge post / credit post 7/25
HILTON: 7/22 Charge post / credit post 7/25

Just out of curiosity, how much money did you get reimbursed? Rough ballpark figure is ok. :)

I'm traveling to the Midwest right now (not Chicago) so these aren't pricey hotels. My last data point total is in the ~$2k range, but that includes a ~$600 outlier rebate from a trip that I booked with cash (instead of hotel points) because of how the daily rates worked out.

But if you had asked that during August 2015 - March 2016 when I was traveling to Manhattan weekly, let's just say I'm surprised Citi didn't put a payout limit on the prestige with all the other changes.

Thanks!

Not sure what to do given this info. I still haven't received refunds for pre-paid stays booked months ago. When i call citi they keep saying I have to stay at the hotel first. My first booked stay will be at the end of august so i guess I'll just have to wait and see if I get a refund in sept/oct?

Why don't you make Citi read their own T&C about this on their own website?

All statement credits will be reflected on the Citi Prestige card statement as being a result of the Program and will appear within two billing periods following the month in which travel was completed; or in the case of promotional "pre-paid" that are paid in full as described above, rates the credit will be reflected within two billing periods following the date of payment in full of the "pre-paid" rate. Foreign exchange conversion rates may fluctuate resulting in slight differences in amount credited.

I think the word "Or" is probably the kicker here and not sure what the "promotional " pre-paid stipulation means.

checked out on July 1st, it was my first time using the 4th night benefit, but still nothing reimbursed. Should I wait more or contact them?

Had two recent stays.. checkout on June 17 and July 8th.. No credit for either stays yet..
What is recommended way to follow-up? first contact citi concierge or citi prestige customer service?

The recommended action is to do nothing. Citi is still within the two statement timeframe they've given themselves for reimbursement.

If Citi does happen to miss their deadline (which I have not seen or heard of them missing), then call the concierge. Aspire tracks these and a rep should be able to look them up.

I was booking another hotel stay yesterday and asked the travel agent her opinion about this situation. She looked into it and confirmed i should've received the credit already. She noted that all the hotel stays I had booked had some incorrect "code. She corrected the discrepency and said the money should be posted in 5-10 days.

I received the same information for a prepaid stay charged on June 2nd. The actual stay won't be until much later this year.

UPDATE: Credit from the above-referenced reservation posted today.

Will hotel hopping work?
 

Suppose we've got a 3 segment trip that takes us different places in the same city/province/country and we check out after the 4th night and catch a taxi/flight to a second city (check in same day the prior stay checked out). Would these be qualified for 4th night free?

9/1 to 9/5 Hotel 1
9/5 to 9/9 Hotel 2
9/9 to 9/13 Hotel 3

as long as they are separate hotels then you should be clear to use 4th night free at all 3 places

Technically hotel 1 can be identical to hotel 3 and you'll still be OK.

paid 5/31, stayed 7/19-22, statement is 8th each month, still no credit (2 statements passed after stay).

do I call the concierge, or the citi card number?

Stayed 7/4/16, still missing credit. Called today to Citi Concierge and they said "they weren't sure how they missed these but they will be run through immediately and should post in 7-10 business days." Phone call (with wait time as the agent sought help from a manager) took 45 minutes.

My recommendation if you are using Citi Prestige 4NF credit is to create a spreadsheet with case ID, date of stay, date of email, date of reimbursement, so you have all the information at the ready when the second billing cycle passes and the credit is missing.

Getting worse
 

Early experience with the credit was very encouraging. Now, it's taking longer and longer with each stay, and I am beginning to believe Aspire/Citi is hoping I just forget. Not a chance, of course, and I continue to badger them about why it has to take months for the simple posting of a statement credit.

Checking on a reservation request today for the Clontarf Castle Hotel in Dublin, tonight I was informed that:
Castle stays are not eligible, this is more of a hotel than a castle, they are going to check and get back to me on eligiblility
The Bed and Breakfast rate is not eligible.

My statement credit just posted on 9/20 for a five-night stay from 7/24-29. 7 1/2 weeks. A bit longer than I would have liked, but still within the promised timeframe without needing to call in.

I don't know if these data points are still helpful to anyone but here's my next set. I'm still seeing credits post out of order and I still don't see any connection between my credits posting and my statement closing date. Also in keeping with the unfortunate trend of credits taking an ever longer time to post, there's a couple data points below where I waited OVER six weeks for the credit to hit my account. To Citi's credit they've still not hit the two statement mark where I needed to call in but they're cutting it close.

Also I thought I'd share with the community one possible reason credits take so long to post. As I checked into my usual Hilton hotel, the front desk woman I know by name casually mentioned her manager had a 30 minute conversation with my travel agency about my recent stays. Apparently Aspire needs to verify certain information before they process 4th night statement credits. I don't know if they do this every stay, or when it started, but it certainly explains why I went from a four day turnaround to six weeks.

Starting from my last data point:

HILTON: 7/30 Charge post / credit post 8/29
HILTON: 8/5 Charge post / credit post 9/19
HILTON: 8/12 Charge post / credit post 9/26
HILTON: 8/19 Charge post / credit post 9/26
HILTON: 8/26 Charge post / credit post 9/19