Nevsky

What warranty benefit does the Prestige still have?

moe8555

Extra 2 years, and the real differentiator (based on my calls with Citi) is that it covers purchases made abroad even if they have no U.S. domestic warranty.

355F1

2 years additional.

miadukes

I'm in the same boat as you. I am keeping an eye open but it looks bad so far. my annual fee posts soon and i think I might have to downgrade to the premier. I can't close the card because its one of my if not my oldest card and one of my top higher limits if not itdbe gone.

dw

Businessweek has a good piece this week where they interview the new Citi CEO on her efforts to turn the bank around. Current focus seems to be on wealth management and commercial banking for mid sized businesses, not retail banking, and they’re looking to divest unprofitable retail banking operations abroad.

It has seemed that Chase’s whole play (still tbd on how successful they have been) with the Sapphire Reserve was to try and sell cardholders on other retail banking products.

I guess the question is, what would be Citi’s play in relaunching the Prestige or another premium card, if such a card may be only marginally profitable (if at all) for them? Their US retail banking presence has been shrinking so it wouldn’t be an attempt at cross selling through that channel.

garykung

Citi has no plan relaunching any premium cards.

Setting aside Citi's cheapskate culture, the issue is premium card product line has not yield as many profits as expected. On the other hand, Costco has become a decent profit for Citi, even facing competition. There is no point to do that.

Citi US retail banking has not been shrinking. Instead, it look shrinking because while others are expanding, Citi remains unchanged.

Citi is still the old Citi - not suitable for anyone.

GUWonder

To try to generate some sort of halo effect for contemporary market appeal. At some point perhaps Citi may not want to end up looking like it is the banking equivalent of Old Pa/Grandpa's Olds while the hot, new stuff is anything but its brand. As it is now, even many Citi customers refer to the bank by a word that makes Citi seem lousy and more suitable for the loo than for something to be appreciated.

I've been a Citi customer going back decades -- they had covered my family and I well for personal banking needs in North America, South America, Europe and Asia. If not for the past relationship and lethargy, I doubt Citi would be very high on my radar for personal banking needs. On the other hand, their credit card products don't really float my boat and haven't since they pulled the feature of earning Flight Points from flights paid for using applicable Citi TYP-earning card at the time.

lsquare

The Citi Prestige is still a very good card. I have it. It's a shame that it's not publicly available anymore.

garykung

Citi had plenty of great cards. Its cheapskate culture is what makes these products EOL.

GUWonder

Citi went from being extremely generous -- at least to the consumer game masters -- to being the corporate personification of ennui in the credit card game.

ACK1

Have you contacted citi? Asked about a retention bonus to make keeping the card worthwhile? Sometimes they give you information about the plans for the card when you call.

brajalle

Historically they've sort of gone in cycles. They may come around again. That being said, their current offerings are still pretty decent for an ecosystem - they just don't have a $500ish halo card.

miadukes

well my annual fee has hit and if im honest i dont know what to do, i think im going to try calling to see if there is a retention offer on the account.

ACK1

Any luck on a retention offer?

crapz1

My $495 AF hit earlier this month and I'm going to call soon and try for retention. After the $250 annual credit I look at this card as costing me $245. I actually valued the Priority Pass on this card as it got my family of 4 into PP lounges including the restaurants. All of the lounges and restaurants have been removed from Priority Pass in LAX so this is pretty much useless. I liked the 5X on dining but at my annual restaurant spend of $10k, that would only be 10K more points than the next best card I have which is 4X with the AMEX Gold or Altitude Go. I haven't used the 4th night free in years, so that extra 10K TYP is costing me $245. Unless I get a decent retention offer (unlikely), it looks like I will be cancelling this card. I am CitiGold, but only got it this year so I don't qualify for the reduced annual fee.