Citi Prestige is in the midst of their annual review of member benefits right now, and to this effect, they have sent out a mailer to existing members about a few hours ago. To summarize, till March 31, 2016, the following benefits are available to members in India:
- 10,000 airmiles per membership year
- INR 10,000 worth of hotel vouchers for Taj/ITC Hotels per membership year
- Upto 15% savings on F & J tickets with 7 participating airlines
- 4th night free at participating hotels
- Complimentary yQ meet & assist service, and one-way limo transfers twice a year
- Unlimited Priority Pass
- Complimentary Golf
- Up to 20% off at select hotels in India & select spa
- Complimentary Taj Inner Circle Gold & Epicure Plus Plan
- Complimentary Etihad Guest Gold Membership & 5000 bonus miles, along with 6000 miles bonus on 20,000 miles conversion
- Complimentary Upgrade on BAEC Club Membership & 5000 bonus miles
- Complimentary Discover Sailing with Aquasail
- Complimentary Overseas Medical Insurance of USD 50000
- Relationship bonus for CitiGold & Citi Private Client
- Double Points on International Spend
Benefits changing in April 2016
The following benefits are going away as of April 1, 2016:
- Upto 15% savings on F&J tickets with 7 participating airlines
- Up to 20% off at Select Hotels in India
- Complimentary Etihad Guest Gold Membership & 5000 Bonus Miles, along with 6,000 miles bonus on 20,000 miles conversion.
- Complimentary Discover Sailing with Aquasail
Another benefit with no mention is Hilton HHonors Gold, which seems to have been quietly removed over the months.
My Views on the changes
In my experience, some of these changes could be going south with the inability of the new concierge partner to support them, such as the 15% savings on premium cabin tickets. Also, the rules for obtaining these tickets were pretty complicated at times, since the discounts were not valid on current available fares, but rather on specific fare buckets, where were usually the highest fare buckets. Also, it required Citi to contract a third vendor apart from their concierge provider to extend the benefit for card holders. The sailing session used to be a hit and miss, and hence I don’t regret it going away.
I am saddened however, at the loss of the Etihad Guest Gold Membership for signing up for Citi Prestige. I felt it was a great benefit, and with all the bonus miles, I felt it was good to get some free tickets on Etihad. The Etihad Guest program had some great value, in case you chose to burn your miles on domestic tickets in India, and I used them frequently to earn and burn points
Also, the 20% off at select hotels in India used to work very well off and on, and I am sad to see it go away.
How can you still make it work?
Since the benefits are changing as of April 1, 2016, you could still get in on the old benefits such as Etihad Guest Gold by applying for the card within the month of March 2016. Processing is usually speedy, and you could sure get your benefits aligned for you.
However, I am happy to see that most benefits don’t come with an expiry date now, which kind of makes it better for us, that we don’t need to keep track on a day to day basis.
What do you think of the changes? Personally, I am not affected much on these counts.
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Do you think, still it is worth to get citi prestige CC (given reduced benefits with airlines)? I currently have Diner’s Black, Citi Premier miles and couple more from Amex and Yes Bank (Preferred). Offer from citi to upgrade premier miles to Prestige.
Can anyone comment on the 4th night free and on what rates do they give that. I feel that if a cardholder uses this even twice in a year then the fees are worth it. Hope someone sheds some light on this feature. Would like to hear a personal experience about it.
If you negotiate with a travel agent you may get a cheaper rate and also without compulsion of 4 night
@Ashutosh, the cheapest rate is used for the 4th night free benefit. I’ve written about it in the past but I will write again soon
is the bonus 6000 mile on etihad awarded everytime one transfers 20k miles ?
@Kapil the bonus is applicable only on 1st transfer within 6 month, and that is going away too end of this month.
I did use that in the first year. Also there was a 5k bonus for 20k points transfer ending on Dec 31. I did mine in 2 trenches. While the bonus pts for first lot posted mid Dec showed up, the second which I requested Dec 30th lot only shows transferred on Jan 2 as per Etihad website. Do you think I have a case to request a bonus.
But I feel the earlier Conceirge was more efficient.
It is a good card. You are pampered with meet and greet, free limousine, priority pass, etc. which otherwise one may not use by paying for it separately.
@Rajat: With all due respect, like Ajay I’m also a fan of Citi Prestige and have been using the same for a couple of years now. The Rs. 20k fee gets covered with 10k miles (2500 points) and a Rs. 10k worth Taj/ ITC vouchers. And these are annual benefits.
More so the unlimited access Priority Pass is worth Rs. 20k each if you were to access airport lounges. And this card provides 1+5 such cards.
Frankly only with the above I enjoy benefits with Rs. 1.70 lakhs (Rs. 20k worth welcome benefits & Rs. 1.50 lakhs worth priority passes for self + 5 family members). And there’s a lot more in terms of benefits and privileges that Citi Prestige offers.
Hence the card is totally worth every penny paid.
Regards,
Amit
PS: With all due respect to Ajay (considering the fact that this blog is his baby ), these are my personal views and I’m not endorsing Citi Prestige in any manner. Cheers!
For a card that is offered at such high fee, Citi should replace benefits but not take them away.
While I know Ajay you have been a fan of this card, I never opted for it since I don’t see the fee justifying the value offered.