With American Express becoming the sole issuer of Hilton co-brand credit cards in the U.S. starting January 1, 2018 I asked what would happen to Citibank’s Hilton cardmembers.
Sometimes a card issuer retains their customers and changes them over to a new product, and at other times the new issuer buys the legacy portfolio of customers.
I asked Citi what would happen, and they sent me what was a vauge response:
Citi will communicate the new credit card information – including anticipated delivery dates and any other pertinent details – to cardmembers prior to the end of this year. Until a replacement card is provided, cardmembers can continue to make purchases on their current card. Spend will continue to earn Points until the end of this year and Points earned on the program will be credited to the cardmember’s Hilton Honors account.
Hilton’s Executive Vice President Jeff Diskin Announcing the Citi Hilton Reserve Card in 2012
I read this (admittedly before my first cup of coffee) to say that Citibank would be providing a new credit card to their cardholders. Reader Ben pointed out that it could be read differently, that Citi would communicate what would happen to cardmembers whether they’d be getting a new Citi product or an American Express Hilton card.
And in fact I’ve since learned that Citi does not have a final decision on what will happen with its Hilton cardmember portfolio. Everything in the vague statement is accurate, which is to say that Citi plans to communicate to cardmembers ‘prior to the end of the year’ and that existing Citi Hilton co-brand cardmembers will get a new card. But it seems like Citi still might either sell its portfolio or product change.
And citi continues their downward spiral in the travel rewards credit card business. Failed to get exclusivity with AA, Prestige losing its appeal after end July (I foresee strong uptick in cancellations in second half of 2017), and now losing the Hilton relationship.
AMEX will be desperate to recoup the massive over-payment to sign the exclusivity deal.
Either bonus points will come with a HUGE annual fee and HUGE spend requirement, or Hilton points will be devalued shortly.
Do you think Citi will honor the 10K bonus points when you spend the $1K in Hilton stays during calendar year 2017? I’ve always hit the spend requirement and benefited from the bonus points.
What happens to Citiprestige credit card after July 1, 2017?
@Michael Que – There is a significant loss of benefits of the Prestige card that takes effect July 23, which include elimination of Admirals Club access, devaluation of point redemption, free golf, and a change to the way the fourth night free benefit is calculated for hotels.
This was announced close to a year ago, and has been well discussed by Gary and elsewhere.
Gary — if you could do a follow up at some point, there is a significant question outstanding concerning the Citi HHonors Reserve card — it provides for a free night at the beginning of your next card member year if in the previous year, you had spent $10,000 on the card.
Inasmuch as my card member year would be July 2018, there is no real incentive for me to put new spend on the card, if all that I would earn would be standard HHonors points — as the vague statement reads.
Moreover, even if I put $10,000 on the card before the close of 2017, there is no assurance that a certificate would be forthcoming in 2018, as the certificate is not immediately issued once you reach the $10,000 spend threshold.
I am positive that there are many cardholders in the same situation.
Well Citi will lose both my 2 cards as I won’t accept a product switch without a bonus
@Hadley V Baxendale – I have inquired
@Mike —> Yes, you’re quite right thus has been known for quite sometime, and has been thoroughly discussed. HOWEVER . . . whether it’s a significant loss is certainly dependent upon the cardholder. For me,
a) Elimination of Admirals Club access — Who care’s? I don’t fly AA anyway…
b) Devaluation of point redemption — OK, this one *does* sting a bit…
c) Free golf — Again, who cares? I don’t play golf.
d) Change to the way the fourth night free benefit is calculated for hotels — yes, this could potentially hurt, BUT you *still* get the fourth night free, it’s just an average, rather than the actual cost of the 4th night itself. I can see how, from their point-of-view, it makes sense. But the benefit is *still* worth $1k+ a year to me, and it’s a good reason — for me — to keep the card.
I do, and will continue, to get a great deal of benefit from my Citi Prestige card. As I said, certainly — depending upon the cardholder — this could hurt a lot (if you fly AA and can’t get into the Admiral’s Club any other way, if you’re an avid golfer), but for me, it simply isn’t that big of a deal and is NO reason to close my account. YMMV.
@Gary —> TANGENTAL QUESTION: do you know if anything has been decided/is planned for holders of the Virgin America co-branded card?
@Jason Brandt Lewis – we know that Virgin America Elevate will go away, and that BofA will be the issuer of new cards. I haven’t paid attention to the terms of the current issuer deal at Virgin America to know if the card converts to an Alaska card and continues or if the product ends, sorry!
I, too, am interested in the annual free weekdn night certificate base on $10K card member year spend. My annual certificate arrives each year in Feb. I certainly don’t want to proceed with meeting the $10K spend if there won’t be a free night certificate. I am using this year’s free weekend night certificate this coming Sunday, and looking forward to it.
Agreed.
In addition, we are paying for Gold status for a year. We should get a refund if the card ends in December 2017.
Thanks very much, Gary!
I should add, that I am not concerned that once a certificate is issued, that it won’t be good for 1 full year — I am quite sure that it will be honored.
What I am really getting at, however, is that earning my next free night certificate requires a $10,000.00 spend — hardly worth it, if they don’t issue it as the program ends potentially on 12/31/17 and I have or have not put the $10,000 on the card.
Even if I had, no assurance that a cert would be issued in 2018 when the next one is due as the card no longer exists! If so, I am disinclined just to earn 3 HHonors points/$ for the privilege of NOT EARNING the next cert!
In addition, if you read this before they reply, we are paying for Gold status for a year but it seems that it will terminate on 12/31/17!
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As a holder of Citi Chairman card, I thought it was through AmEx, as it has the logo on back.
Our HH Gold , which was a perk of the card, has been downgraded to Blue. When calling, I get mixed explanations.
This may explain why Citi and Hilton are not sharing information right now.
Cannot find current travel benefits for Chairman card as it is no longer offered. Original card was given as perk for investments with Citi.
@Jason Brandt Lewis: You are correct that, as with just about anything travel-related, value is in the eye of the beholder. For me, like you, golf doesn’t matter, because I don’t play. For me, the 4th night free benefit isn’t one that I really ever cared about, because I very seldom am staying in the same hotel for that long (maybe once every other year, tops), and when I am, it’s not one that is so expensive, that there is a huge savings.
Where I’ve gotten the biggest use of the card is from the AA-related benefits, as I do fly AA. Without those benefits, the 4th night free and the annual travel credit isn’t enough for me to keep the card, because I’m frankly not using it enough otherwise to justify keeping it.
Again, though, as with everything else, your mileage and opinion may vary.
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I am also concerned about the free night with $10000 spend. And, I am also concerned about the Diamond status with $40000 spend. I’ve enjoyed that status this year and the only practical way I have to continue it in 2018 is with spend on a card. I don’t want to debate whether it’s worth it or not, but to me it is. I’ve got about $15000 on the Citi Reserve card and now I don’t know if I want to continue to spend on that one. But, if anyone gets any answers on the free night perhaps also ask about the Diamond status with 40k spend. Thanks
The Citi Cards have already disappeared from the Hilton website. There is also a FAQ about Citi cards:
http://hiltonhonors3.hilton.com/en/earn-use-points/credit-cards/citi-card-faq.html
@Jason – I agree with you about the value of the reduced Prestige benefits as the card still presents some value for specific benefits. What I think Citi originally did a fantastic job is providing benefits to a wide audience who are willing to pay the $450 premium to have the card. The beauty in their offering is some customers will primarily use the golf benefit, some will primarily use the 4th night benefit, some primarily use the AC benefit, etc. Very few customers actually will take advantage of all of the benefits in a calendar year and this to an extent is what helps even out the cost of providing those benefits.
Now the only real unique benefit left in the card is the 4th night hotel rebate and that is a benefit I only used once in the four years I have had the card with admirals club, golf benefit and 1.6x TYP for ticket purchase being the benefits I used the most alongside the $250 airfare credit. They gutted it all for me and makes no sense for me to have this card over the Sapphire Reserve.
My anecdotal observation, I think the benefit cuts hurts more customers than those who uses the 4th night benefit a couple times a year. Or I could be wrong and the 4th night benefit uptake was so huge that it was worth it for Citi to get rid of the other benefits due to lower intake and make the 4th night benefit the cornerstone benefit of the card.
@Golfingboy — Agreed, clearly this is a “YMMV” situation. I’ve managed to take advantage of the “4th night free” 1x-2x each year I’ve had the card which, when combined with the $250 airfare credit, basically means that (for me) the card’s AF is $0. Now, were I a golfer — or were I an AA loyalist — I’d be “ticked” about losing either or both benefits. As it is, it doesn’t affect me¹ (certainly doesn’t mean others aren’t affected, however; I readily admit that).
As it stands now, the Citi Prestige is my “go to” card, but it’s by default: I got stuck behind Chase’s 5/24 rule, and so could NOT get the CSR. At this point, my *presumption* is that, once I get the the CSR, I’ll downgrade my CSP card to a Chase Freedom. Whether not I keep the Citi Prestige card will depend upon how easily I can continue to take advantage of the 4th night free benefit — if I can, I keep it; if I can’t, then it goes.
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¹ Interestingly, I decided to take advantage of the 1.6¢ – point valuation on AA before it vanished, and used TYP to book a flight SFO-DFW-MSY r/t. This will be my first flight on AA since January 2009. SFO has an Admiral’s Club; MSY does not; and I won’t be on the ground long enough to use it while at DFW. But I’ll get to try it once! ;^)
They gutted the airline credit?
No! They took away (well, as of July 23, 2017) the golf credit and the ability to access American Airlines’ Admiral’s Clubs goes away.
1) re: points —> The rate of redemption for Citi’s TYP drops to 1.25¢/point for American Airlines, just as it ***already is*** for every other airline (i.e.: buying tix thru Citi’s Concierge will cost the same for ALL airlines, rather than 1.6¢/point for AA and 1.25¢ for all others).
2) re: 4th Night Free —> As was announced long ago, the benefit will now reflect an average of all four nights, rather than the actual cost of the 4th night. That is, if a hotel cost $100/night for the first three nights, but $500 on the 4th night, you USED to get that 4th ($500) night free. Now, they will average the cost of all four nights (3x$100 + 1x$500 = $800 = $200 avg.), and that will be your 4th night free. Now, few rooms jump for $100 to $500 per night, but you get the idea. From *their* (Citi’s) point-of-view, I can understand the logic in averaging the cost of the four nights together. From *my* point of view, my 4th night rarely cost significantly more than nights 1-3, so it will diminish the $ amount of my benefit *slightly* but not significantly.
I sent an email to Citi about the $10K spend in 2017 and the free night cert. my anniversary is March so I wondered if I met the spend in 2017 would I get the cert next year. The response from Citi was that the Hilton agreement ends on 12/31/2017 so no cert next year.