scubadu

You are saying "Buh-bye" to the Citi Prestige and "hello" to a possibly new, completely undefined, and as yet unannounced Chase card. Seriously?

Regards

chrisremo

I'm one who has gotten nearly all of this card's value from the 1.6 AA redemptions and AA access (plus flight reimbursement of course) so this is a huge blow. I'm rarely in a position to stay four or more consecutive nights at a hotel so despite what a great benefit that is, it hasn't affected me much in practice. The stuff they're devaluing is the exact stuff I use on a constant basis.

dw

I'm in the same boat as you. As an AA flyer, the benefits I used most were the 1.6 cent redemptions and Admirals Club access. (And the $250 flight credit, but that's really considered more of a rebate on the annual fee.) I also rarely stay in the same hotel for four nights (for paid stays), and haven't had an opportunity or need to transfer to any of Citi's transfer partners.

At 1.25 cents/point, this card may still make sense for some for 3x on travel purchases, but for dining, there are other cards out there that provide greater value than 2.5 cents/dollar spent on dining.

Troopers

I'm opposite of you guys. Never used the AA 1.6 cpp or lounge access.

I have the card because of the free golf and the 4th night benefits.

smurov

Agreed here on the AA benefits - two of the biggest reasons I signed up for this card a few months ago was the 1.6x for purchasing AA flights (which I literally just used a few weeks ago) and access to the AA lounges. Not that most of the lounges are super-nice or anything, but they still usually beat sitting at the gate...

I don't golf, so that doesn't do much for me. Priority Pass is a nice bonus, but I find that some of the places I travel don't even have any of those lounges there.

The 4th night free is a great thing, but...sometimes booking can be a pain with Citi and that's assuming you do trips where you stay 4 nights (which I can imagine plenty of business travelers don't do). The MasterCard World Elite hotel perks are kind of cool, but from what I've seen a lot of times you're significantly overpaying per night just to get free breakfast and the possibility of early check-in/ late check-out. To me, the hotel-related features of this card are nice, but at the same time are somewhat "marketing fluff" - not because they aren't true, but because sometimes it isn't practical.

So overall, even though I don't take advantage of several of the main "perks" of this card, it was still a no-brainer for me to get it. So frustrated that shortly after getting it, it is being devalued and the main things I wanted from it are being taken away. The AAdvantage Executive is an ok option for me because at least it would provide the AA lounge, but redeeming AA miles is such a pain in the butt - 1.6x with Citi was so much better.

I'm sure plenty in here will disagree with me on this, but I wouldn't have have cared one bit if they took away the 4th night free instead of the current changes - but I'm assuming that was kept at least in part because it isn't used as much as the AA lounges and 1.6x, therefore costing Citi less to maintain...just a thought.

Guess I'll have to start my homework soon on what new card to cancel this card for...rant over

slivrflyr

https://trademarks.justia.com/870/49...-87049739.html

If the new sapphire provides 3x for travel then even TY premier gets torpedoed. I buy my gas at costco with cash costco cards purchased via freedom 5x

TYP are weak to begin with. UR cover KF and FlyingBlue, plus I get UA and BA

Cash ticket redemptions at 1.25 are now at par with CSP.

If rumors over fourth night free are true than that's another benefit that's going to be useless. (Having to use their codes/rates vs the setup now where they can book using our hotel codes)

36902BRF

I just got this card so I have a year to mull over options. Before these changes it was a no-brainer for me to keep the Prestige but now I'll have to think harder about keeping it. I am not Citigold so it is $200/year for the fourth night free benefit and PP access. That is probably still worth it to me but it is a lot closer than it once was.

chrisremo

Yep, same. And yeah obviously we don't speak for everyone. But if there were a new card with higher AF than Premier but lower than Prestige that retained 1.6/AC access (with same-day AA travel restriction), I'd sign up in a second to replace Prestige. Now I guess I'll just have to ditch Prestige and I'm not sure what, if anything, will replace it.

ralphs

If most of your flying is international, you could look into the HSBC Premier card. The effective AF is $600 without parking a large amount of personal/business/podcast cash in a checking account, but you can redeem their points for 1.6c on BA, CX, and SL, both OW partners of AA.

Otherwise, I'd look at BofA TR or FlexPerks and forego the AC lounges. Maybe even switch your flying to United, if the new Chase $$$ card partners with United Clubs, since you're in SFO. Only so many pita chips, soup, and house wine one can have in their life, right?

toomanybooks

It would be nice if they had a cafeteria and let cardholders choose to some extent which benefits get cut.

I could give up golf and 4th night and someone else could give up 1.6 and AC.

All this at once is a LOT.

mia

That's not the way I understand HSBC's program.

There are three options:

1) You can transfer points 1:1 to BA, CX and SQ.

2) You can use the card to buy an airline ticket from any carrier, and redeem points for a statement credit:

12500 = $200 = $0.016
25000 = $400
37500 = $600

I have not used this feature, and I do not know if you can redeem multiple amounts to offset the cost of a single more expensive ticket.

3) You can book tickets through HSBC's agency and use points to pay in various increments:

10,000 = $100
25,000 = $400
37,500 = $600
50,000 = $800
75,000 = $1,200

However, there is an important difference between Citi Prestige and HSBC Premier:

Citi gives -both- an earnings multiplier (3X, 2X) -and- a redemption multiplier (1.25, 1.33, 1.6).

HSBC gives only a redemption multiplier (1.6) (HSBC does offer targeted promotions to earn bonus points, but these are always capped at lower levels.)

If planning to redeem HSBC points for $0.016/each you would be much better off with one of these cards:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/citi-...ted-1-1-a.html

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/credi...here-card.html

Jmill79

Same here. PP is meaningless to me and I don't live near the free golf courses, but plenty get use out of them. Loved having access to AC at ORD. 1.6 seemed great to me. Thats what made the card great though, it had benefits that appealed to many different ways of travel. I really think CITI shot themselves in the foot with these major changes.

ralphs

Thank you for helping me understand HSBC better. I'm sorry I didn't understand HSBC well--I was evaluating it as an alternative to Citigold+Prestige, but it sounds like it's not terribly attractive from an earn/burn perspective.

kmandrew

I also just got the card a couple of weeks ago so still figuring things out. Don't we get a $250 air statement credit now and $250 again in January so as long as we spend $500 on air travel the AF is covered?

progapanda

Correct.