I don't see a reason to get this card either. Too much hassle with too few benefits. I'm not a card churner so I generally keep the cards that I applied for. And this definitely isn't a keeper.

It doesn't appear that Citi really cares much about their credit card business or ability to compete with other brands. This is the lamest "premium card" offering I've ever seen.

I think they care about AA and Costco.

It remains to be seen with what kind of changes Amex comes up for the Plat, but so far this one definitely wins (loses?) the lead balloon race so far. It’s as if banks discovered the word enshittification on some social media site and decided that this would be their new strategy

Tangential discussion of the profitability of the Costco card has been moved: Details on new Citi Costco VISA.

They all seem to have discovered that travel agency/consolidator commissions are much higher than card interchange fees, especially for hotels, and they have an opportunity to tap into a share of this revenue stream by steering their cardholders to use a specific agency.

I am a Citigold client and this card does not entice me a bit.

When Citi converts my Prestige to this card I will be looking to close the Citigold account as well.

While not providing the same level of service. Can I call Citi Travel at a moments notice to solve ticketing problems and rebook travel disruption with no fuss? ( being able to do that under 5 minutes with someone who can speak proper english and knows how to push things though a GDS) Can they coordinate with the property to work out things in advance?

Since it's going to be run by Agoda, the answer I know to be no. FCOL - you can't even book hotels in Indonesia or the UAE at the moment, the rates are higher than market, and most of them are prepay even with the Reserve which is basically virtuoso and others. It's a glorified booking.com - Im not giving this to cititravel just to get 12X , it's not worth the aggravation.

I'm keeping my existing card . If they force me to Strata Elite - I'll probably downgrade.

It doesn't make sense to keep if you already have Chase Sapprire Reserve, which is 4X on Air booked independently, as well as 4X Hotels.

I think for most folks the only really desirable feature of this card is the AA transfers and that is pure vaporware for the moment. If they let me keep my Prestige I will absolutely keep it. Else like you I'll downgrade. I have a number of premium cards but the coupon books are getting old. Depending on what Amex does with the Plat refresh later this year I may drop my Schwab Plat. If the Prestige goes away I'll probably stick with C1 VX (for 2x everywhere) C1 lounges and Bonvoy Brilliant for PP guests. The Brilliant is a keeper for me at least until I get lifetime Plat in a few years and I don't have much of an issue using the restaurant credits or the free night cert to offset my annual fee.

Did we already forget about JetBlue�s card that launched in January?

But I agree - they needed this to be better. Like Sapphire Reserve 2016 better.

Actually, yes, I have no recollection of that card. I suppose it�s not on my radar because B6 is pretty irrelevant here on the west coast.

Alaska Premium card standing by to amaze or disappoint...

I guess I can't easily churn. IIRC, your TY points go away if you cancel right, even if you have another TY card?

You can PC to another card that earns TYP, or you can redeem the points within 60 days after closing the account.

This thread might be helpful: Citi ThankYou points - cancel, downgrade & expiration considerations - FlyerTalk Forums

Does anyone think the launch of this card will flop so spectacularly that Citi might need to consider upping the SUB later? That may entice me to sign up and then PC after 1 year.

LAX

Anything is possible but Citi is also not known for splashy SUBs. That said the premium card market is looking awfully saturated with options and with more on the way so it is hard to see this being a big success. Honestly I found the Chase CSR SUBs a little underwhelming too. 100k on the personal CSR was fairly meh (yeah I know there was a $500 credit too but I prefer points). The CSR business at 200k was better but for quite a bit of spend (I could do the spend but it just didn't seem a great return on top of the fee as well). By point of comparison last April I got 120k UR on a Chase Business Ink Unlimited after $6k in a spend (on a no AF card too).