mikesyr18

https://onemileatatime.com/citi-explore-credit-card/

The Citi Explore Card. It seems like a direct competitor based on the rumored benefits ($300 airfare credit, 3x on traveling/dining, and 50% bonus when redeemed through Citi's portal).

akr1970akr

sounds like a 'me too' product, although I suppose I'll eventually end up with one.

mia

If I were constructing a survey to tests several new cards or features I might include a me too imitation of a direct competitor's product, even if that is not an option I am seriously considering. It's a way to measure their feature set against others, without mentioning Chase by name.

CarefulBuilder14

It is kind of odd how specific they'll be about a competitor without naming it. I recall seeing (secondhand) one Citi survey where a supposedly hypothetical competing product had Centurion lounge access.

akr1970akr

That's a very fair observation.

mia: If you were developing a sustainable replacement for the Prestige, meant to compete against CSR & Platinum, what would you include?

mikesyr18

I think the $300 airfare credit makes sense, especially if it can be used towards both tickets and incidental fees, or even Admirals or Delta lounge access.

Perhaps 5x on flights and prepaid hotels booked through Citi's travel center would've been a better fit, along with a dining and grocery multiplier. The Reserve shouldn't be the only exotic card Citi should be competing against.... The AMEX Platinum should also be looked at by Citi, as well as U.S Bank's card.

jamesinclair

You know what would be great? A card with admirals club access, a 1.6 rate on AA redemptions, and 3 hour delay insurance. Id sign up for that in a heartbeat.

mikesyr18

Not going to happen, so there's no sense of complaining about it anymore.

Get a Citi Executive card if you want those benefits, the Plat for 2x on gas and dining, and the Green for 2x on supermarket purchases for $550 a year... I'm sure you can get more than 1.6 cpp on American redemption anyways.

garykung

Even I have no insider information this time, here is my 2 cents.

1. This is straightly a rumor, nothing more, nothing less. If Citi indeed intends to introduce this purported Citi Explore Card, Citi is basically stupid and incompetent as a bank. The benefits mentioned so far are very similar to the Citi Prestige. A new product like this will cost Citi a fortune, but it won't if Citi just simply "renew" the product. What's the point?

2. Surveys are not used to test water. Instead - they work as intended - to see how people think. So using CSR benefits to solicit opinions is the exact way to do.

3. This rumor actually further confirms that the Citi Prestige is dead. Enjoy while it lasts.

mikesyr18

It's already been established that Citi is a stupid, incompetent bank.

Yeah, except without lost ticket protection and 4th night free. Don't get on the bandwagon with clueless people who thought the 4th night free didn't cost Citi anything.

tjh8402

I'm curious how many people have shopped around using the 4th night free benefit. Every time I've looked at hotels through citi's portal, they've been quite a bit more expensive than booking through the hotel directly, to the point that 4th night free benefit didn't save much $, at least when it came to mainstream hotels. High end resorts may be different. That's been the Prestige benefit I've (disappointingly) gotten the least use out of that I expected or wanted to.

akr1970akr

I always compare between the hotel's site, TYP Portal, and 3rd party booking agencies. Yes, you're right that sometimes it costs more through the TYP portal. Availability is also cramped compared to other booking engines.

But if the hotel's own site, or special rate code/promo, is cheaper -- you can call the concierge and have them book the rate you want direct with the hotel. Just feed them all the details ahead of time.

That is a pretty good benefit since you can also usually append your loyalty number if its a hotel that has a program.

The drawback to booking through the concierge is that you have to wait for the statement credit, which could be an issue if you were cancelling the card in between travel time and credit posting time.

An additional consideration to using the concierge is that you can't use TYP when booking through that channel. This is more applicable to the small subset of holders who combine Premier TYP uplift on hotel bookings with the Prestige 4NF. I have an upcoming booking I've been watching for every day hoping that they will release something to Expedia/TYP inventory....but we're starting to reach the danger zone (for pricing hikes/availability) so I might have to cave in a couple days and just use the concierge manual booking process.

tonywush

Rumor: Changes coming in Jan 2019 - 5x on Air/Dining; 4th night free perk will stay.

I definitely will keep the card. For me, I have lots of non-US currency spending on dining and this one definitely wins over the AMEX new Gold.

moe8555

5X air/dining, assuming 1X entertainment and all other travel (hotels/cars/OTAs)?

tonywush

Here is the most current info. HT to uscreditcardguide.


5x Food/Air Ticket; 3x Travel; 2x Entertainment; 4th night free and $250 travel reimbursement remain. Effective date: 2019.1.4