jamesteroh

I've already charged over $40K on the card and know my diamond status will be good for 2018.

If they convert it to another Citi card instead of the Surpass Amex and I cancel the new citi card after the conversion will I still get the free night on my anniversary date of the card which is in I believe June (It is whenever they first introduced the reserve card) since I no longer have a citi product and will the bonus HH points for having over the Hilton spend on my card still post? I have no desire to have another Citi product. If it doesn't convert to an Am ex will citi allow the credit line on the reserve to be combined with my Citi Double Cash back card (my preferred card for everyday spending once all the minimums on my affinity cards have been made for the year).

If they convert it to a Surpass is Am Ex going to close out the regular no-fee Hilton Am ex for those of us that have it and combine the lines? I have a fairly low credit line on that card anyway (transferred most of the credit line to my Delta Am ex cards) but if the rumors are true that the diamond MQD waiver is being eliminated next year I'm closing all but possibly one of my Delta Am Ex cards and am hoping they will just move the credit line to the Surpass and I can just make a couple large purchases and satisfy the $40K for diamond.

I'm really hoping they keep the free night benefit since that was a huge benefit. And I think they would be foolish not to offer no FTF on the Surpass, at least on out of US Hilton charges. If the FTF is going to be charged all my Hilton charges out of the US are going on my Sapphire card (I remember before the Reserve card was introduced staying in London and the hotel having a good laugh because I paid with a Hyatt credit card that had no FTF)

Points Scrounger

It would be easy enough for them to run a sweep to determine whether one has the minimum number of Hilton stay multiplier points posted between February 2017 and January 2018.

I don't see how it's a "given" that cards will switch over directly to AMEX?

dascc

Has is been determined what the Citi HH card will convert to? I think I'm inclined to cancel instead of letting it convert, just so it doesn't mess up the chances of a signup bonus down the road...

sdsearch

No.

There are some indications they're likely to be converted to some sort of Amex HH card, but (a) that's not officially confirmed yet, and (b) even if so, it's not clear whether they will be convert to existing types of Amex HH cards or whether in 2018 Amex woulf create new types of HH cards for these conversions.

I think July is still way too early to be expecting details of what's going to happen at the next turn of the calendar year.

BrlDsguise

I don't think it is that unreasonable. If they charge me the full annual fee next month I should have a reasonable expectation of that the $95 is going to get me so I can make an informed decision on whether or not I want to keep the card.

StangGT909

If you pay your fee in August, would assume you would get the Annual Certificate in September , surely more valuable than $95

jamesteroh

Agree the free night is a great benefit and that's why I have no problems at all with the $95 annual fee. Pays for the annual fee quite a few times over if you use it at the right hotel.

I'm wondering if they convert it to another citi card in January and I cancel it if I will still get the certificate in June. Assuming I will since I met the spend. Is citi prorating the annual fee back?

StangGT909

I could be wrong , but don't you have to pay this years fee, to get this years certificate ?

It's based on spending since last years anniversary date, but I wouldn't think you'd get it without paying the fee before hand

ChinaShrek

Correct. You have to pay your annual fee before receiving your Free Night Certificate. You must have enough spending on the card to also receive the certificate. Both of these triggers must occur before December 31, 2017 in order to receive the certificate.

StangGT909

Makes sense. So it's clear, there should be no debate on whether to pay the fee, if you have spent $10K, even if your fee is in December, pay it, and get the certificate.

I just wonder what Amex is going to offer.... there was some post that said they have exciting things coming.... So I would suspect the "carryover" card would not be exciting. Let's see if they offer a card to match, or possibly exceed the Citi Reserve. That would be wonderful

ChinaShrek

I'm not sure if Amex can just send people new cards. They would need account information from Citi or Hilton. I think we will have to apply for a new Amex card if we want one. I think Citi will just send us new cards in January.

StangGT909

The rumors on other posts was that they were considering selling the accounts to Amex.

Personally, as much as a seamless transfer would be convenient, I would love to just downgrade to a free Citi Card (keep a VISA standby, keep my 4-5 years of credit history open), and open a New Amex and get ~ equivalent of the 2 Free Night Certificates, if hypothetically they offer a comparable card.

My personal guess, things that are too good to be true usually happen.
My guess is that to offer a huge sign up bonus, I imagine costs the Card Company money, so my guess is instead of paying to Hilton whatever the value of the 2 Certificates would be, they make a deal with Citi and just buy them. I would suspect if you just got a new card in the mail, a high percentage would just use it, but if you had to sign up for a new company, a good amount may not. Just my 2 cents

BrlDsguise

Sure but in the past years the $95 fee has gotten me a free night + the opportunity to earn bonus Hilton points for 12 months. If they convert the card to earning Thank You Points after 1/1 I have several no fee cards that do that and feel I should be entitled to at least a pro-rated refund of the fee like Amex does when you cancel or downgrade a Surpass card.

jamesteroh

That's how I figure it too. The thank you card won't provide me as much benefit as other cards. I think my anniversary is in June (it's whatever month they first introduced the card). If Citi doesn't sell the accounts to Am Ex and converts it to a new Citi card and I get a prorated fee reimbursement will I still get the free night cert in June for having spent over $10K on the card and will I get the Hilton bonus points for meeting the Hilton spend on the card or will I be expected to have the citi product until year end. I fulfilled my end of the agreement by having over $10K in charges and over $1K (or whatever it is) in Hilton charges for the points. However after 12/31 Citi isn't fulfilling their end of the agreement by giving me some other form of compensation other than Hilton points and I don't have the ability to earn diamond status on 1/1 if I put in $40K in charges (I easily do this by March).

The $10K spend is in a calendar year correct? Not your anniversary date to anniversary date?

I don't see Am Ex buying these accounts. Am Ex has different criteria than Citi. Not sure if this is still the case but at one time if you burned Am Ex they wouldn't open another account no matter how long ago it was. I know someone that burned Am Ex in a bankruptcy for like $8,000 in the 90s and he wasn't able to get a card with them despite having a 800+ credit score but didn't have that issue with Citi.

jamesteroh

When the opposite happened last year with Costco I think Citi sent out new Costco cards to existing Citi AmEx members.

Might not happen since it's the reverse though. When Delta acquired Northwest their card holders had to apply for a new Delta Am Ex card, US bank sent out a different type of card. But Am Ex offered a sweet sign up bonus for Northwest Customers. I remember getting Day Passes for the Skyclub (which a lot of us just sold on Ebay or gave away since we had memberships or other ways to enter anyway) and a bunch of miles. I had held a Delta Am Ex in the past and was surprised they gave the sign up bonus.

I'm hoping Am Ex will offer a nice sign up bonus. What concerns me is I used to have a Surpass card and still have that card that I downgraded to a no-fee Hilton card when the reserve was introduced and Am Ex usually only gives on sign up bonus per card type per lifetime but who knows maybe it will be like the Delta card and I'll get lucky. I'll probably just upgrade my Regular Hilton card to the surpass.

The things that concern me are if Am Ex will start giving out the free night certificates and the bonus Hilton points for Hilton spend. The free night certificate was the nicest benefit of the card. I also don't like that a lot of merchants don't accept Am Ex so harder to get the spend in. I'd like to see the FTF go away as welel but if it doesn't I'll just use my CSR for overseas Hilton stays.