exploreaswego

This is such a hot mess. I waited till last week to call and close my citi hilton card. And guess what? I received the new AMEX hilton card in the mail.

So even if I do not activate this card, AMEX will no longer qualify me for a bonus sign up because they already have filed this as a new account in my credit report right?

kathiel

I wrote to CITI last October when this was announced and stated I did not want anyone opening up a credit line for me. I also closed my CITI this month and did a chat and recorded call, both promised I would not get an AMEX card. Guess what I got today? I wrote return to sender on the envelope and put it back in the mail. I cannot believe they can go against your written request and lie to you on top of it. This will end up in a class action somewhere.

chix

txpenny

Weird. I thought the HHonors card was being shut down. My $95 annual fee just posted.

sdsearch

It changed from Dec 31 2017 to Jan 30 2018 as the official end date (as of a couple months ago).

Boraxo

Quite shocked to find a new Amex waiting for me today after returning from London. I guess after 20 years I am off the blacklist LOL. Doubt it will be too useful as I pretty much avoid Hilton since the great devaluation and the most useful Amex benefits (e.g. Amex airport lounges) aren't available with the free card.

And as GLEFF noted in his blog, you generally get better ROI by charging to a Chase CSR card and getting 3x points.

Andriyko

Has it been confirmed when the free night certificate will be posted for those who met the spending requirement? Will we need to wait for the anniversary date (with AmEx now) or will it be sent after the account closes? Thanks.

ChinaShrek

Which spending requirement? The Citi10K certificate will be sent out after the account anniversary date (just like before). The Amex 15K certificate is sent out 4-8 weeks after you meet the spending requirement. Remember: we are eligible for two free nights this year!

Andriyko

I am not sure I understand this. My anniversary is in August. I have already spent 10K but the account will be closed at the end of the month. I thought we'd get certificates from Citi this month. I don't think Citi will be e-mailing anything in August (well, October usually) because I will no longer have an account with them.

ChinaShrek

I am not sure that I understand it either but my understanding is that I will receive two Free Night certificates this year for keeping the Ascend Card. One will come when I spend 10K at the normal time it came last year (in your case October). The other will come when I spend 15K. Your Ascend card must not be canceled in order to get both certificates.

PHLGovFlyer

The $95 annual fee on my Citi Reserve card just posted and it's listed as "MEMBERSHIP FEE JAN18-DEC18"

Kinda odd since the account goes away in a matter of days.

This is where I think the annual fee on the Citi account comes in. IIRC you must pay the AF in order to get the free night cert from prior spend on the Citi Card. Not sure what the AF situation will be with the Ascend card assuming I pay the AF on the Citi account.

ChinaShrek

Yeah, I expect to get my AF charged in November 2018 except this time my money will go to Amex. As soon as my AF hits my Amex account, my Citi Free Night will arrive in my email from Hilton.

Andriyko

Having talked to Citi, I don't think that we will receive 2 certificates this year. Citi confirmed that they would not be issuing any certificates, and any spend that we had with Citi will simply count towards the US$ 15,000 spend on AmEx for the free certificate. I believe the anniversary date will remain the same. So, only those who will meet the new US$ 15,000 spend requirement (including whatever they spent on Citi) will receive a free certificate.

ChinaShrek

I think you should read the following blog post:

https://www.doctorofcredit.com/doubl...hilton-ascend/

I am expecting two free nights this year.

BrlDsguise

The blog post is wrong about Citi/Hilton previously awarding the free night 6 - 8 weeks after spending $10K, you had to wait for your anniversary date regardless of how quickly you reached the spending requirement. i also think the Amex $15K clock starts 1/1 not 1/30, with Citi spending in January counting towards their $10k and the Amex $15k but that you have to reach the citi $10k before 1/30 to double up.

So I spent $10k before my 8/1 anniversary date and received the certificate around 9/1, I spent another $10k between 8/1 and 1/30 which earned me a second Citi certificate, and when I hit $15k in 2018 spending I will earn a third certificate which will be awarded 6 weeks or so after passing that threashold. So conceivably I can have three certificates in hand before I would have had two with the Citi Reserve.

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