Review of the Citi Prestige® Card

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.

There are four cards from Citi that earn ThankYou points, with the Prestige at the top of the pack:

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

The Rewards

Spending Rewards
5X ThankYou points per dollar spent on: Air travel Restaurants
3X ThankYou points per dollar spent on: Hotels Cruise lines
1X ThankYou point per dollar spent on everything else

Introductory Bonus
50,000 ThankYou points for spending $4,000 within 3 months of account opening

You can redeem your points for statement credits if you’d like, but you can find a better value by transferring them to a partner airline.

There are a number of travel partners:

The Benefits

Perks

Points Transfer

Transfer your points between participating retail and airline loyalty programs.

Annual $250 Travel Credit

Every year you’ll get an automatic $250 credit to use for practically any travel expense, like airline tickets, hotel rooms, travel agencies, and more.

Complimentary 4^th Night Stay

Get one free night with no black-out dates if you book four nights in a row through ThankYou.com, and pay using your card, ThankYou points, or a combination of both. Capped at two uses per year.

Complimentary Priority Pass Select Membership

You and your authorized users can access Priority Pass lounges at no charge, and with no need to enroll. Immediate family or up to two guests can enter as well.

Global Entry or TSA Pre✓ Application Fee Credit

If you pay for the application for Global Entry ($100) or TSA Pre✓ ($85) with your card you’ll receive a statement credit for the fee, once every five years. These programs provide expedited screening at certain airports.

Citi Prestige Concierge Service

Call 1-877-288-2484 any time for non-emergency help with travel, shopping, entertainment, and much more. You can also email [email protected].

Golf Benefit

Special access to over 2,000 public and private legacy golf courses around the world: USA, Asia, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.

World Elite Car Rental Program

A complimentary elite membership with select National, Avis, and Sixt.

Citi Private Pass

Exclusive access to music, sports, and dining events.

Free FICO Credit Score

View your FICO Bankcard Score 8 for free any time you’d like, based on your Equifax credit report.

Security

$0 Liability on Unauthorized Charges

You won’t be held responsible for fraudulent or unauthorized activity (contact customer support immediately if you suspect fraud).

Fraud Early Warning System

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

The Lost Wallet® Service

Emergency card replacement service.

Citi QuickLock

Lock your card to instantly block new transactions and cash advances until you unlock it, which can help if you lose your card. Recurring transactions, payments, balance transfers, and credits will not be blocked.

Citi Identity Theft Solutions

If you become a victim of identity theft, Citi will work with you to contact the TransUnion credit bureau and submit a police report, as well as provide other assistance.

Virtual Account Numbers

Create virtual account numbers to provide better security when shopping online.

Shopping

Purchase Protection

Purchases are covered for 90 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 2 additional years; up to $10,000 per item.

The Costs & Fees

As you can see, this card is quite expensive at $495 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 earn $495 worth of rewards, you’ll need to earn 49,500 points if you’ll be redeeming for one cent per point. You could do that by spending $9,900 on airlines and dining, earning at the 5X rate. If you get a point transfer that provides a better value per point you’ll need fewer points.

In addition to the points you earn from purchases, you’ll also have that 50,000 point bonus for spending $4,000 in the first 3 months. This will pay for that annual fee for the first year.

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 (plus other perks that come with Priority Pass Select membership), 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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