coffee18

Is it safe to assume that as a Citi Reserve owner that passed the $10k weekend night threshold whose anniversary doesn't hit until March 18, that the weekend cert won't be fulfilled?

Points Scrounger

This is covered in greater detail elsewhere, but you generally cannot apply the credit directly to a ticket purchase. One interesting use is that, at least with AS, the credit works when purchasing an annual lounge membership!

bitterproffit

I think the FAQ that I read specifically addressed that the weekend cert WOULD be fulfilled. The link to that FAQ is on another thread.

jeffandnicole

Yep.

A long-running joke here is that Diamond in the US is essentially worthless, getting you very little additional over Gold, and rarely getting upgrades.

Yet, when they provide a fairly easy way to get Diamond, people now claim that Diamond in the US is essentially worthless, because others can easily get it, and everyone will barely get upgrades.

I'm failing to see the difference here.

Being that Hilton's hotel rates aren't going down any, I'm quite sure that many of those claiming to be done with Hilton aren't, in fact, done with Hilton. Their hotels are still filling up.

AUSINSIGHT

Winner, winner chicken dinner. My bet is that they lower the benefits given to Gold members (no breakfast for you!), keep steady the benefits given to diamond (essentially the same as given to Gold anyways) and create a new Double Diamond level where I HOPE they do give massive new benefits (free parking on award stays, waived resort fees on all stays, guarantee suite upgrade certificates and space available suites, guarantee 4PM checkout, and most importantly A PARTNERSHIP WITH DELTA FOR FREE SILVER ELITE STATUS). If they do that, boom, they are IN the game. In terms of level... 40 stays or 80 nights? That sounds fair to me (and I'd have already qualified on it).

Eujeanie

I'd possibly get the $450 new diamond card if I could figure out a way to make the airline benefit work. With our airline status, we don't pay for change fees, luggage, cocktails...I'm wondering if it can be used to purchase Lounge membership...but with the Priority pass benefit even that is not necessary.

I'll probably stick with the $95 Ascend product - Gold has been fine, true about the lounges but most of them you pay for drinks anyway and food is often meh (there are exceptions) so I'll be ok with going back to Gold. We were Diamond this past year and a half and honestly I think I got more upgrades back when we were Gold.

milesmilesmiles

And they should include existing Lifetime Diamond members into the new Double Diamond/whatever they call it level.....

craigthemif

A new credit card offer doesn't make the tiniest bit of difference to an obvious strategy that has been playing out over the last year or two.

1. Hilton are making everybody (who wants to be) "elite"
2. Hilton are making their points worth no more than 0.5 cents, except in rare cases

The gamble is that Hilton might lose more 70-night per year road warriors (I doubt it) than they win multiple 10-night per year nobodies who will now choose Hiltons because they are "Diamond" or "Gold" and they roughly understand what their points are worth.

sdsearch

Yes, with one big exception: Cancel right now! i don't think you can wait until January, Amex has to have plenty of lead time to set up new cards, and so they will doing that presumably earlier in January (if not starting in December?), so that you have the new card by January 30 no matter what shipping troubles, etc.

So IMHO you should cancel ASAP if you plan to cancel anyway, now that all the news is out. (That's what I'm going to do. I have an HH on-fee Amex, but I've had it for more than 7 years, so I would be elegible for another bonus by now, I think, but probably not if they convert my no-fee Citi HH Visa to another no-fee HH Amex.)

dave1013

With you on most of this. Would like to know more about airline incidentals and that it would mean to folks like you (and me) who get a lot of these items comped anyway.

Thoughts to keep in mind: on the PP benefit - as we know from the AS scenario, they refuse entry to PP holders with some level of regularity. Other airlines might be the same way, I don't know. Also, from reading elsewhere on this topic, there is a nagging worry in the back of my mind about what they might do to dilute Gold if they make a Super Duper Diamond level.

sdsearch

Maybe. It was previously available for at least as low as $800:
Plus if you already had high enough status at another hotel, then it cost nothing to do such status matches. Ie, $0 was a previous price for some (including me).

It was also available previously for simply spending $$$$$ on some previous Amex cards. It depends what the cost you (in not using another card or cards for that much spend) as to whether that was more or less than $450 in opportunity cost.

js1metsfan

Back in Sept, I signed up for the HH Surpass card, spent the 3K and got the 100K bonus special offer. At the end of that billing cycle I got hit with the $75 AF.

Now, I get the e-mail saying on 1/18/18 my Surpass will be changed over to Ascend and I will be charged a $95 AF on 2/2/18?
Doesn't that seem like double dipping on the AF? Or will I only be charged $20 on 2/2/18 and then the $95 on 2/2/19?

Otherwise I'm thinking it would be better to cancel the surpass outright (keeping the 100k points of course, and hopefully getting a pro-rated refund on the $75) and then just signing up for the Aspire in mid-Jan, pay the $450 but enjoy the $500 in credits.

If anyone has any answers on this AF question, I would greatly appreciate it!

Thanks
Josh

mia

Priority Pass is not accepted at any AA, DL or UA lounge. Assuming the Airline Fee Reimbursement benefit is the same as the American Express Platinum and Preferred Rewards Gold versions, airline club memberships and day passes will be eligible -and- a number if ineligible expenses will be reimbursed in practice.

lhrhappy

As someone who was status matched a few years ago and maintained diamond by spending on the Reserve, I can attest to this. The Mrs. and I had this discussion last night, and we're planning to move our spend to move lucrative cards and just eat the $450 AF.

mia

Most likely you will receive a pro-rated refund for the unearned portion of the Surpass account, but it wouldn't have taken much effort for American Express to mention that.