Review of the Citi Prestige® Card

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The Citi Prestige Card is a top-level travel rewards card, providing great rewards and benefits for a hefty annual fee.

But don’t let the fees scare you away: this card offers the opportunity to earn a lot of points in a number of different ways, and the extra benefits are easily worth hundreds of dollars per year.

The Prestige Card is designed for frequent travelers, who will spend thousands of dollars in the air and at hotels each year. If that sounds like you, this card could end up saving you quite a bit of money, and make your trips much more enjoyable as well.

Keep reading to learn more about this card, and find out if it’s the right one for you.

The Rewards

• 3X points per dollar on air travel and at hotels
• 2X points per dollar on dining and entertainment
• 1X point per dollar on all other purchases
• 40,000 bonus points for spending $4,000 in purchases in the first 3 months

You can redeem your points for statement credits if you’d like, but you’ll get the most value by redeeming them for flights through the Citi ThankYou Travel Center. If you do, your points will be worth 33% more.

Points can also be transferred to a number of travel loyalty programs:

The Benefits

Perks

• 24/7 Citi Concierge Service

  Call any time for non-emergency help with travel, shopping, entertainment, and much more.

• Annual $250 Air Travel Credit

  Every year you’ll get an automatice $250 credit to use for airline tickets, baggage fees, upgrades, and other travel expenses.

• Complimentary Night Free

  Get one free complimentary night with no black-out dates if you book 4 nights in a row through your Citi Concierge.

• MasterCard® Airport Concierge™

  Get 15% off airport concierge services at select airports, like escorts through checkpoints and baggage porters.

• Priority Pass Select Lounge Access

  Exclusive access to 50 Admirals Club® worldwide locations. Includes free WiFi, drinks, and light snacks, conference rooms, print services and more.

• Admirals Club Lounge Access

  You and up to two traveling companions can access Admirals Club lounges around the world, which include free Wifi, drinks, and snacks, along with shower suites and personal travel assistance services.

• Global Entry Program

  If you apply for Global Entry ($100) with your card you’ll receive a statement credit for the application fee, once every 5 years. Global Entry provides expedited screening at certain airports.

• Hotels and Resorts Worldwide

  Go to www.mastercard.com/citiprestige or contact customer service for more details.

• Missed Event Ticket Protection

  Get refunded up to $500 per ticket if you miss a show, game or event due to bad weather, venue cancellation, accident delays or even lost tickets.

• Points Transfer

  Transfer your points between participating loyalty programs. More information at the Citi Prestige Rewards and Conditions page.

• Authorized Users

  Assign authorized users to your account to earn more rewards ($50 annual fee per authorized user).

Security

• Zero Liability Protection

  You won’t be held responsible for fraudulent or unauthorized activity.

• Fraud Early Warning System

  Monitors your account to detect suspicious activity as quickly as possible.

• The Lost Wallet® Service

  Emergency card replacement service.

Shopping

• Purchase Protection

  Purchases are covered for 120 days against theft or damage; up to $10,000 per item, up to $50,000 per year.

• Extended Warranty Protection

  Eligible warranties of 5 years or less can be extended by up to an additional year; up to $50,000 per year.

• Price Protection

  If you made a purchase in the U.S. that you find advertised at a cheaper price within 60 days, you can be reimbursed for difference; up to $300 per item, $1200 per year.

• Return Protection

  Store won’t take back your purchase? No problem. Get reimbursed for eligible items purchased on your card if you make the return within 90 days of purchase; up to $500 per item, $2,500 per year.

Travel

• Travel and Emergency Assistance

  Provides help with emergencies, including legal and medical referrals.

• Trip Cancellation / Trip Interruption Insurance

  If a trip is disrupted for an eligible reason, provides reimbursement up to $5,000 for non-refundable costs.

• Travel Accident Insurance

  Provides reimbursement up to $1,000,000 if you or a family member have an accident while traveling.

• Trip Delay Protection

  When you’re delayed for over 3 hours, you can be reimbursed for eligible unplanned expenses, up to $500 per trip.

• Medical Evacuation

  Provides 24/7 help with serious medical emergencies when the right local help isn’t available.

• Lost Luggage Reimbursement

  If checked or carry-on bags are lost, stolen, or damaged, provides reimbursement up to $3,000 per trip.

• Baggage Delay Protection

  If baggage is delayed for more than 3 hours, reimbursement is available for necessary items; up to $600 per trip.

• Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver

  Provides coverage against theft and collision, as long as the car rental company’s own insurance is declined; up to $100,000.

• Roadside Assistance

  Assistance with services such as towing, changing a flat, or boosting a battery in case of emergency.

The Costs & Fees

As you can see, this card is quite expensive at $450 per year. That’s about as pricey as credit cards usually come.

If you plan on using this card, check your spending habits to ensure that you’ll be getting plenty of value from it. You can see how much you’ll need to spend to make it worth it in the next section, because you don’t want to just be carrying around an expensive piece of plastic.

Remember that you can make this card a lot less expensive to use by simply paying off your balance in full each month. Even if you can’t pay the whole thing off, paying as much as you can will reduce your interest charges, and it’s good for your credit too.

The Bottom Line: 5 out of 5 Stars

The Citi Prestige Card offers a wide swath of rewards and benefits, designed for travelers who fly with a variety of airlines and stay at different hotel brands.

Instead of providing points at a particular airline or hotel, this card lets you earn points no matter who you’re traveling with or where you are. This makes it more versatile than many other travel cards, which might be branded with a specific airline or hotel.

This is a very expensive card, so examine your spending habits carefully before making a decision. Do you travel frequently, giving you a lot of opportunities to earn points? Let’s take a look at how much you’ll need to spend each year to make it worth the annual fee.

To get a $450 statement credit, you’ll need to earn 45,000 points. You could do that by spending $12,000 on travel (airlines and hotels), and $4,500 on dining and entertainment in one year.

If you redeem your points for airfare through the Citi ThankYou Travel Center, you’ll get a 33% point bonus. This means you’d only need to earn about 34,000 points to get that same $450 value.

In addition to the points you earn from purchases, you’ll also have that 40,000 point bonus for spending $4,000 in the first 3 months. This will pay for that annual fee for the first year if you redeem the points through the Travel Center.

And that’s just counting the points you can expect to earn. You’ll also get that $250 annual travel credit, the opportunity to earn free nights, access to airport lounges around the world, and other cost-saving benefits at airlines and hotels. Just remember to make use of these extra features to make your card as valuable as possible, reducing the impact of that yearly fee.

We gave the Citi Prestige Card 5 out of 5 Stars because it’s one of the top-tier general-purpose travel rewards cards. The annual fee may seem high at first glance, but this card isn’t meant to grow old just sitting in your wallet – it’s designed to be used fairly often. When you take a look at how you can earn points and the many cost-saving extra benefits included, the fee starts to seem very reasonable. As long as you use this card enough, it should be a valuable addition to your travel routine, making your flights and hotel stays cheaper and more enjoyable.

Want to learn more or apply for this card? Just click the name below.

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