mrkymark

I keep getting mailings from Citi to convert my old AT&T Universal Card to a TYP Preferred.

They are really trying hard to convert the card but I don't see how anyone in their right minds would do it. Even in their own chart it says, with a conversion:
- you will lose 5x TYP for AT&T services
- no more 30 min free phone min per month
- no more 2 free directory assistance.

While I never used the last two bennies very much, it does seem Citi is quite desperate to convert me. Sorry Citi, not gonna bite.

Anyone else getting bugged about this too?

halamadrid

I'm surprised they don't offer the at&t access card instead. You go down to 2X points on at&t services, but also gain 2X points on online purchases (retail and travel websites). Might be something worth considering.

sdsearch

You seem to assume that everyone with this card has AT&T service. I have this card from decades ago when AT&T was just one of the many long distance providers. Having this card did not make me pick AT&T when I want to pick a cell phone provider; it just happened to be the oldest card in my collection (and meant nothing more to me), and so I keep it alive "forever" for credit history purposes.

As such, converting it to TYP Preferred and ending of points expiration (on new points earned) would seem to be an improvement to me, and since I don't use AT&T I don't see the downsides. (But I have 4 more years or so before my last small batch of A&T Universal TYP points expires, so I'm not in a hurry to make that decision.)

mrkymark

As such, converting it to TYP Preferred and ending of points expiration (on new points earned) would seem to be an improvement to me

- I personally think converting for that reason alone is a crazy step but to each their own.
- You dont have to have AT&T service now to know that a legacy card that has this benefit is worth keeping. If you had a legacy American Airlines card that offered 5% off AA tickets but Citi offered you to change your card to 2% off all airlines, you would take it? Umm no thanks, I might fly American one day and
get much more cash back or points in one transaction.
- I do have AT&T, and so does a huge marketshare of our country so it's a good bet this card is still useful to a good chunk of FT's. But I don't put my AT&T charges on this card - I use Chase Bold but again I know enough to keep this card and have that flexibility. I think you are assuming everyone who has AT&T would jump to charge it to the Universal Card. ?
- I've never had a problem with the 5 year point expiration and if you use your own logic of not really using your converted card, you are avoiding expiration on a minuscule set of points.
- the TYP Preferred also has minuscule benefits but I guess Citi found the demographic they were targeting who would potentially take it.

sdsearch

That's a poor analogy. You can fly American on one flight one month, and Delta on another flight later that same month, and then United on a flight next month, and then Southwest on a flight later that same month. So if you have discounts for one or another of those, you can use any such discounts easily in that case, even though you're not "locked in" to any air carrier.

But you can't switch phone carriers twice a month, can you?

So those with Verizon, T-Mobile, Sprint, etc, who have this card, why would they have any greater benefit with the AT&T Universal card over the TYP Preferred card (since it's not likely going to make sense for them to switch to AT&T temporarily just to use up this benefit)?

I understand that for those who have AT&T service it has benefits. I'm not arguing that it doesn't. I'm just not understand how this card has any more benefits over TYP Preferred for someone who uses a non-AT&T phone service.

RNE

I have a 30-year-old AT&T Universal card that I put occasional spend on it to keep it alive. Now I'm considering changing it to a Double Cash card, which I would use much more. Is there a downside to making that change?

cjw2001

Can't think of any downside. The Double Cash is a great card for non category spend.

mrkymark

Honestly love still having my legacy Universal Card.
Have plenty of cards that sit in the bottom drawer and despite the options above I think even if you don't have AT&T you should resist conversion.

To be frank I charge all my telecom purchases to the my Chase Ink to get 5x Chase points as I find them more valuable but there is no card on the market that will ever give you 5x AT&T points ever again.

​​​​​​I find the TYP Preferred completely useless but to each their own if all you can squeeze out is 2 points per dollar. Ah how I miss my old Foward with 5x restaurants and Amazon. Now that was a wonderful card.

mrkymark

Right, give up your no fee Universal card and change it into something that is marginally useful. Lol. Yes, I was silly to assume Citi wouldn't have takers.

I don't fly Delta. Haven't for years. Cause I just fly other airlines. But if I had a legacy, no fee card that gives me 5% off Delta tickets I don't see any reason to cancel it or product change it. The audience in these forums usually have their go to card for 2 points per dollar already. But I guess if it's the only card in your wallet then that makes sense to swap it out. But if you do think carefully no turning back!

mrkymark

If you don't use AT&T services and don't get extra value from the card then it makes sense to product change it if you imagine yourself taking it out of the dock drawer and using it for the majority of your purchases.

Remember that Double Cash rewards expire with 1year of inactivity so if you use it only here and there and forget it about it for a year then your cash rewards go poof with 1 year of inactivity. Literally poof at day 365. So no sock drawing the double cash card.

And the only other downsides to losing the Universal Card include...
- no more two free directory assistance calls, right I know antiquated perk.
- no more free long distance minutes per month. So while this is also an old rarely used perk, when I'm traveling, pre pandemic, and desperate for a land-line connection for a call back home, I've dialed the toll free AT&T international connect number and have appreciated having that option in an emergency situation.

​​​​​​And the last perk is, for some reason, since this is an old product I've always had luck with getting generous retention offers on this no fee card. I also have a Double Cash card and have never really had luck getting retention offers.

But if you ever imagine yourself using AT&T services ever again, there's no other card other than Chase Ink that will offer 5 points per dollar so think about it before u pull the trigger.

RNE

Thanks. I went ahead and changed the card. Also, I forgot to mention that I had two AT&T cards; so I still have one.

mia

Did they give you a choice of cards, such as Rewards+, as alternatives to Double Cash?

RNE

Nope.

sdsearch

The thing that made me give up my AT&T Universal Card finally (a couple years ago) was realizing that its points always expired after 5 years (no ability to reset that expiration). So it was useless signing up for extra earning promos when I couldn't transfer those points (because even though I have a Premier card also, I don't yet know where I want to transfer, so I need to keep accumulating until I'm ready to transfer).

At that time DoubleCash either didn't exist or didn't have conversion to TYP points yet, so I converted to AT&T Access at first (where points didn't expire and it earned 2x on some online purchases), and then later converted that to DoubleCash (because why earn 2x online on some online purchases when you can earn 2x on everything?).

SPN Lifer

I do not have an unlimited long distance calling plan.

I have had my AT&T Universal Card since 1992 and find the free 30 minutes per month invaluable for calling people up and asking them to call me back.

Facebook Messenger also works for that, too, so the 30 minutes is usually enough for me.