The Citi Prestige Card now has an offer: 50,000 bonus ThankYou points once you make at least $4,000 in purchases in the first 3 months of opening your account.
When you redeem your points for flights reserved with Citi would be the best way to redeem your points. These points will be worth about 1.25 cents for each point or $625. Once September 2019 was over, the points that you used for Citi’s travel portal will only be worth about 1 cent for each point.
If you want to make time to work out a better value for your points, then you should use their transfer partners and get an average of 1.7 cents for each point. Then you can receive a value of about $850 or 50,000 ThankYou Points using this way.
The Citi Prestige Card is one of the premium travel credit card options and gets a massive $495 annual fee. This won’t be waived for the first year though. However, a lot of people won’t even think about getting this card just cause of the annual fees. But this credit card does fit with people who travel often and likes to have their premium travel perks.
There are a lot of travel perks that are special for this premium travel card. The ones that are the most attention grabbing for Citi Prestige will be:
- Free access to about 1,200 airport lounges with Priority Pass Select.
- There is a $250 Air Travel Credit.
- This rewards rate will be for: 5x for Air Travel & Restaurants, 3x points for Hotels & Cruise Lines, and 1x for other expenses.
- Get a complimentary 4th night at a hotel you’ve chosen. *Starting on September 1,2019, this perk is capped at 2 times every year.*
- You can also get the 50,000 bonus point offer it comes with.
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Citi Prestige Card Quick Facts
| Bonus Available | Receive 50,000 bonus points once you make at least $4,000 in the first 3 months of having your account open. |
| Bonus Value | $850 |
| Travel Credit | Gain $250 travel credit every calendar year |
| Ongoing Rewards/Benefits | Receive 5 points for each $1 used for Air Travel and Restaurants. Earn 3 points for every $1 used for Hotels and Cruise Lines. Get 1 point for each $1 used on other expenses. Get a complimentary 4th hotel night after a minimum 4 consecutive night booking through ThankYou.com |
| Foreign Transaction Fees? | No |
| Airport Lounge Access | There are over 1,200 lounges worldwide with a free Priority Pass Select membership. |
| Annual Fee | $495 |
Recommended Free Credit Score (Get Free Score)
690 – 850 (Good – Excellent)
*If interested see our list of Citi Bank bonuses for Checking & Savings accounts.*
Priority Pass Airport Lounges With Citi Prestige Card
The Priority Pass program would be the best offer to have for airport lounge access, there are more than 1,200 locations available globally. This high end membership is also complimentary with the Citi Prestige credit card and is the Priority Pass Select. This will be the same as the Prestige membership level when you buy it directly with the Priority Pass. There is a $429 value (see the discounted rate), this will make up for the $495 annual fee.
With the large amount of major airports in the United States, they have lounges in this program (e.g. JFK, LAX, ATL, ORD, etc.), there are a lot of airports that don’t. But, their global footprint is humongous, there are relaxation lounges overseas that you’d benefit from.
Go to their website or mobile app to see all of their current locations.
Get $250 in Air Travel Credit Annually
When you travel a lot throughout the year, then you should most likely use this perk and basically cut out more than half of this annual fee. Each year, you’ll be able to get $250 in Air Travel Credit that would immediately put onto any flight related purchases on your card.
This benefit will be put onto a large variety of travel purchases. This would also have the airline purchases, hotels, car rental agencies, travel agencies/travel aggegators/ tour operators, computer transportation, ferries, commuter railways, subways, taxis/limousines/car services, passenger railways, cruise lines, bridge and road tolls, parking lots/garages, and bus lines.
With people who travel often and make use of this lounge access and air travel credits gains, the $495 annual fee will be made up for.
4th Hotel Night Complimentary
When you make a reservation with Citi Prestige Concierge, then you can get a 4th night for free at a hotel you picked with at least a 4 consecutive night reservation. This perk will then be calculated with the average night rate for your stay altogether, not with taxes.
It’s a good benefit to have if you travel frequently and often stay at high end hotels. But, the variety you’re presented with when you book with concierge, you’d have to either call or email them. There aren’t any streamlined web service for any cost comparisons rather than booking with the hotel themselves, or with travel websites like Priceline or Agoda.
Whether if you stay somewhere that is more than $300 each night, you should look at the cost with concierge to see if it’s the best option for you.
*Beginning September 1, 2019, this benefit will be capped at 2 times, each year. Bookings made prior to 9/01/19 will not count towards the two-stay cap in 2019.
Getting the 50,000 Bonus Points
You have to spend at least $4,000 in expenses in the first 3 months of opening your account to be able to qualify for this bonus offer. This bonus is great for a starting first year, even with the $495 annual fee.
There shouldn’t be any issues with meeting their spending requirements for this bonus. But, if you need some more spending choices, there are some well known ones such as:
| • Plastiq: Plastiq allows you to pay for expenses that you generally won’t be able to with your card like rent, tuition, auto lease, mortgage payment, and more. There’s a 2.5% processing fee for using your credit card. However, this’ll be worth the card bonus you’ll get. There’s also a referral program where you can earn “Fee-Free Dollars” to use towards processing fees. See our Plastiq review. |
| • Fund Checking accounts with your card: Many banks will allow you to fund the opening deposit with a credit card. Consider opening Checking accounts that also offer a sign-up bonus. This way, you can work towards bonuses from two different sources. Big banks like Chase, HSBC, Huntington, and TD Bank have great offers and allow credit card funding. You can generally fund anywhere from $50 to $1,000 towards the opening deposit with a credit card, depending on the bank. |
| • Buy gift cards: Consider buying gift cards with your credit card that you can then spend later at your leisure. Individual merchant cards (restaurants, gas stations, supermarkets, etc.) generally don’t have purchase fees, so this is a plus. On the other hand, American Express and Visa gift cards will have purchase fees. Amazon gift cards are a great idea as you can shop for almost anything there with no purchase fees either. Unfortunately, Citi credit cards tend to code gift card purchases as Cash Advances and there’ll be a fee. Call in to customer service and lower your Cash Advance limit to $0 before purchasing gift cards. You can also buy discounted gift cards as well from Raise or find gift cards on eBay. |
| • Everyday spending & bills: Always using your credit card for everyday spending, such as for dining, gas, groceries, etc. You can also use your credit card to pay for things like insurance bills, property taxes and income taxes. However, you’ll have to consider the convenience fees. |
(Visit Citi Prestige for more information)
What’s the Competition?
There are some of Citi Prestige credit card’s top competitors listed below.
 The Chase Sapphire Reserve offers 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. That's $900 toward travel when you redeem through Chase Ultimate Rewards®. Through December 31, 2021, gas station & grocery store purchases will also count towards earning your Travel Credit. You'll earn • 10X total points on hotels and car rentals when you purchase travel through Chase Ultimate Rewards immediately after the first $300 is spent on travel purchases annually. • 5X total points on air travel • 3X points on other travel and dining • 1 point per $1 spent on all other purchases When redeeming your points for travel through Chase Ultimate Rewards, you'll get 50% more value. This card does carry a $550 annual fee and there are no foreign transaction fees. However, you're able to earn a $300 Annual Travel Credit as reimbursement for travel purchases charged to your card each account anniversary year & up to $100 application fee credit for Global Entry or TSA Pre✓®. |
 The Platinum Card® from American Express offers 100,000 Membership Rewards Points after you spend $6,000 on purchases on the Card in your first 6 months of Card Membership. You'll earn: • 10X points on eligible purchases on the Card at restaurants worldwide and when you Shop Small in the U.S., on up to $25,000 in combined purchases, during your first 6 months of Card Membership. • 5X Membership Rewards Points for flights booked directly with airlines or with American Express Travel up to $500,000 on these purchases per calendar year. • 5X Membership Rewards Points on prepaid hotels booked with American Express Travel. This card comes with an annual fee of $695 (See Rates & Fees), but you cardholders can enjoy Uber VIP status and up to $200 in Uber savings on rides or eats orders in the US annually. Uber Cash and Uber VIP status is available to Basic Card Member and Additional Centurion Cards only. Terms Apply. |
