Citi ThankYou Preferred discontinued?

Old Dec 8, 2018, 9:02 pm
  #16  
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Originally Posted by mikesyr18
I"m not really sure what world you're living in.
Well for starters, I live in the U.S., a country existing in the "world", which by the way supports "freedom of speech" by way of forums such as Flyer-talk. The rest of your commentary I have no interest in responding to as most of those statistics are obvious to most of us and thus was not used as the "basis" for my opinion.

Also, why do you feel Citi's TY program is "well enough." Well enough is not equal too, or doesn't have the same meaning as "perfect". "Well enough" only needs to have the ability to redeem your points through various redemption mechanisms. So in my opinion is "well enough" for me.

What part about the current TY system is great? This question is "one and the same" with the above.

The 0 hotel partners? Hence my suggestion of a hotel partner which was mentioned in my post. Did you forget that already?

The non-existent domestic airline partners besides Jet Blue? Hence my suggestion of adding American Airlines? I mentioned that already too.

The soon to be devalued airline portal redemption options at 1cpp? Subjective to your opinion and not others. In addition, that will be made up by other means, i.e., bonus categories etc. You seem to portray some sort of understanding of how the "running a business" or "profit and loss" of a business works, but by your own definition of redemptions and values, across most award programs seem to display a "lack thereof".

Last edited by mia; Dec 9, 2018 at 4:07 am Reason: Formatting
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Old Dec 9, 2018, 7:45 am
  #17  
 
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Originally Posted by livencali
Well for starters, I live in the U.S., a country existing in the "world", which by the way supports "freedom of speech" by way of forums such as Flyer-talk. The rest of your commentary I have no interest in responding to as most of those statistics are obvious to most of us and thus was not used as the "basis" for my opinion.

Also, why do you feel Citi's TY program is "well enough." Well enough is not equal too, or doesn't have the same meaning as "perfect". "Well enough" only needs to have the ability to redeem your points through various redemption mechanisms. So in my opinion is "well enough" for me.

What part about the current TY system is great? This question is "one and the same" with the above.

The 0 hotel partners? Hence my suggestion of a hotel partner which was mentioned in my post. Did you forget that already?

The non-existent domestic airline partners besides Jet Blue? Hence my suggestion of adding American Airlines? I mentioned that already too.

The soon to be devalued airline portal redemption options at 1cpp? Subjective to your opinion and not others. In addition, that will be made up by other means, i.e., bonus categories etc. You seem to portray some sort of understanding of how the "running a business" or "profit and loss" of a business works, but by your own definition of redemptions and values, across most award programs seem to display a "lack thereof".
I don't even know where to start here.

Your definition of "well enough" is obviously different than most other people's, and apparently, Citi's. Citi has to make money... Not continue to watch their program dwindle into mediocrity.

The question was... How is the TY program great in it's current form? Adding hotel and airline partners is not a relevant answer, as that requires modifying the program; thus, it's obviously not "good enough." When it comes to comparing TY to UR, UR wins hands down unless you travel/book with specific international partners. UR has a 1.5 cpp portal, many domestic and international airline partners, many hotel partners, and they're all; 1:1 regardless of how worthwhile the partner is. In addition to that, Chase's "trifecta" kicks the snot out of Citi... The ability to earn at a minimum 1.5 UR points on all purchases, in addition to 5x rotating categories, and then 3x on dining and travel is way better than what Citi is currently offering. As I said in my previous post, Citi adding AA as a transfer partner is as good as slim to none, and I shouldn't have to explain those reasons to you again.

"Adding to the bonus categories" is a pointless argument to make. So they'll add 3 additional points (in addition to what's there already) on dining to one card? The TY portfolio had 4 cards before the removal of the Prestige and Preferred.... Only one of the four is confirmed to have increased point earnings, with the Prestige also losing "entertainment" as a 2x earning category at the same time. The Premier will become less valuable if they don't increase the multipliers on the card, unless of course you use Citi's airline partners.

Last edited by mia; Dec 9, 2018 at 11:56 am
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Old Dec 9, 2018, 12:03 pm
  #18  
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Old Dec 10, 2018, 11:19 am
  #19  
 
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Has it really even been confirmed that Citi Preferred card is dead?

It would be weird to have no downgrade path available for AF cards.

Normally a bank would rather have some business from customers rather than no business.

But who knows, Citi confounds me - and I'm an ex employee with 20 years of Citigold - who's used most every retail product under the sun from them.
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Old Dec 10, 2018, 12:25 pm
  #20  
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Originally Posted by akr1970akr
Has it really even been confirmed that Citi Preferred card is dead?
Not as far as I know, it's just missing from the website. In any event, closed for new applications does not necessarily mean unavailable for downgrade.
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Old Dec 11, 2018, 12:15 am
  #21  
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Originally Posted by mikesyr18
I don't even know where to start here.

Your definition of "well enough" is obviously different than most other people's, and apparently, Citi's. Citi has to make money... Not continue to watch their program dwindle into mediocrity.

The question was... How is the TY program great in it's current form? Adding hotel and airline partners is not a relevant answer, as that requires modifying the program; thus, it's obviously not "good enough." When it comes to comparing TY to UR, UR wins hands down unless you travel/book with specific international partners. UR has a 1.5 cpp portal, many domestic and international airline partners, many hotel partners, and they're all; 1:1 regardless of how worthwhile the partner is. In addition to that, Chase's "trifecta" kicks the snot out of Citi... The ability to earn at a minimum 1.5 UR points on all purchases, in addition to 5x rotating categories, and then 3x on dining and travel is way better than what Citi is currently offering. As I said in my previous post, Citi adding AA as a transfer partner is as good as slim to none, and I shouldn't have to explain those reasons to you again.

"Adding to the bonus categories" is a pointless argument to make. So they'll add 3 additional points (in addition to what's there already) on dining to one card? The TY portfolio had 4 cards before the removal of the Prestige and Preferred.... Only one of the four is confirmed to have increased point earnings, with the Prestige also losing "entertainment" as a 2x earning category at the same time. The Premier will become less valuable if they don't increase the multipliers on the card, unless of course you use Citi's airline partners.
It is proper forum etiquette and will be more than helpful to the rest of us to expound/cite and show proof of your claims/sources especially ones posted on a public forum for forum members review and have an invested interest in. We'll wait here until that information is shared. I doubt the Citi "Thank You" program is doing as bad as you described as they are still offering transfer bonuses to airlines to card members periodically. That looks more like a "well enough" program to me and for the card members who use it for travel. Based on the transfer bonus offers to engage customers means that someone is actually finding value in the program and Citi knows this.
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Old Dec 11, 2018, 4:39 am
  #22  
 
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Originally Posted by livencali
It is proper forum etiquette and will be more than helpful to the rest of us to expound/cite and show proof of your claims/sources especially ones posted on a public forum for forum members review and have an invested interest in. We'll wait here until that information is shared. I doubt the Citi "Thank You" program is doing as bad as you described as they are still offering transfer bonuses to airlines to card members periodically. That looks more like a "well enough" program to me and for the card members who use it for travel. Based on the transfer bonus offers to engage customers means that someone is actually finding value in the program and Citi knows this.
We're still waiting for you to backup your opinions with evidence the program is doing well.

At least I can say Citi keeps pulling TY cards to improve them, and cite obvious points like how there's only one domestic partner and no hotel partners.
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Old Dec 11, 2018, 8:37 am
  #23  
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Originally Posted by mikesyr18
We're still waiting for you to backup your opinions with evidence the program is doing well.

At least I can say Citi keeps pulling TY cards to improve them, and cite obvious points like how there's only one domestic partner and no hotel partners.
Thank you for seceding and confirming that there is no "source" or evidence to back up your previous claims. I was hoping for something solid, but didn't see it in your response. Now the forum members can rest assured and know for future references not to rely on such statements without "viable" sources or a foundation. Let's keep the conversation and responses limited to the thread's topic which is why the thread was created. You are more than welcome to create a thread and debate about the "profitability" of Citi vs. other issuers at your own risk.

Last edited by livencali; Dec 11, 2018 at 8:48 am
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Old Dec 11, 2018, 9:48 am
  #24  
 
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Originally Posted by livencali
Thank you for seceding and confirming that there is no "source" or evidence to back up your previous claims. I was hoping for something solid, but didn't see it in your response. Now the forum members can rest assured and know for future references not to rely on such statements without "viable" sources or a foundation. Let's keep the conversation and responses limited to the thread's topic which is why the thread was created. You are more than welcome to create a thread and debate about the "profitability" of Citi vs. other issuers at your own risk.
The Preferred card was pulled because it stunk. The Prestige was also pulled to improve on point earning potential since the program has useless redemption features outside of airline redemptions.

I would suggest to Citi they make 1 cpp cash redemptions to all of their TY cards, and bring back an incentive to book through their portal.
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Old Dec 11, 2018, 6:19 pm
  #25  
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Originally Posted by mikesyr18
The Preferred card was pulled because it stunk.
How can you why it was pulled unless (assuming it comes back) you see what has changed at that point?

I posit that the main reason for pulling it may be that they want to change its name, because of confusion with Chase higher-end cards being called Preferred.

In that case, it would be because the name of the card stunk, not because the card itself stunk.

And remember, Citi is pulling because of what it thinks stinks about it, not because of what you or I think stinks about it.

Also, keep in mind that there's a separate no-AF TYP card, the Citi AT&T Access (not-More). Maybe they plan to merge these two no-AF TYP cards together? Who knows?
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Old Dec 12, 2018, 2:39 pm
  #26  
 
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Originally Posted by sdsearch
How can you why it was pulled unless (assuming it comes back) you see what has changed at that point?

I posit that the main reason for pulling it may be that they want to change its name, because of confusion with Chase higher-end cards being called Preferred.

In that case, it would be because the name of the card stunk, not because the card itself stunk.

And remember, Citi is pulling because of what it thinks stinks about it, not because of what you or I think stinks about it.

Also, keep in mind that there's a separate no-AF TYP card, the Citi AT&T Access (not-More). Maybe they plan to merge these two no-AF TYP cards together? Who knows?
Citi edited the name of the Premier without removing it from the site. I dont really see why they would have to remove the Preferred from the site just to change the name,
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Old Dec 12, 2018, 6:58 pm
  #27  
 
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I think this was in the works. I have this card and I received an email earlier this year that the Car Rental Collision Damage Insurance benefit was being stopped around mid-June and the Travel Delay Insurance was either being removed as well, or the maximum claim amount was being significantly reduced, don't quite remember exactly. This was a big surprise to me as I rely on the rental damage protection quite a lot and was concerned about it. I later got an Amex with the same benefits.

Although, I did receive a special 0% APR for 9 months which started a couple of months ago for my year-and-a-half old TYP. Nice of them to do that but I don't really use this card anymore.

Also, I have the Double Cash which was my primary until I got my Amex. I wonder what I might be offered since I can't really change my TYP to DC (can I?)
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Old Dec 13, 2018, 10:42 am
  #28  
 
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Citi's 'grand strategy' in the cards space is to be shifting away from competing in the rewards segment and essentially competing by shifting their marketing spend over to balance transfer / 0% interest rate offers on their cards. One can look at their investor day presentations for discussion of this.

They may have decided those travel perks don't sway customers much on the no fee level of rewards cards, so they are dropping those benefits.

We'll see.

It seems like whatever actions they take, some other part of the firm / cards division will go off and do the opposite anyways.

To me, the main things to watch are

a) is Citi broadly changing their approach to card retention? there seems to be enough anecdotal evidence from Citi AA and Barclays AA cards that something has changed there. I think that's at AA's behest. I think they want to close some AA card accounts, so that they can start expiring dormant AA mile accounts. The cards make it easy to keep miles alive. I also think with rising baggage fees, they want to stop folks who put a $100 spend a year on the cards (maybe earning $2 for AA) from getting $50-$100 worth of free bags a year. one benefit of Citi cards - not so well understood/communicated by the Chase fanboys/bloggers - is that the long run cost of keeping their cards tends to be low because of generous retention. (Maybe excepting Prestige in recent times)

b) what other soft gutting of the TYP program/Portal are happening? Expedia, loss of Concierge Booking, etc. Although Premier currently gets the 1.25x booking for hotels through the portal, that's not a stated benefit in the current benefit guidebook. I'm assuming they will take that way in September of 2019, when other changes kick in. The question will be what else happens - will prices get worse in the portal? will offerings get narrowed further? will ticketing only be for Basic Econ. tix but at regular Econ prices etc.

c) are other card benefits walked back on like the changes in Travel Insurance etc. We actually use these. In the last year I've had a (free) emergency roadside service call, and a 90 day purchase protection for damaged goods kick in. Those are probably worth $250 all in to me, and its likely that I would average $100+ per annum on that. These are easier for them to get away with as normally people don't see them.
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Old Dec 21, 2018, 9:50 am
  #29  
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Recent successful downgrade from Premier to Preferred reported HERE. Even if the card is no longer available for new applications, it seems to still be a downgrade option, which is the primary interest here (I think).
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