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You’d think it’d be enough that there would be such a great signup bonus (apparently changing on Tuesday — so get the card now), triple points on air and hotel spend, lounge access, and a free golf benefit. Add on an airfare credit, global entry credit, strong travel protections, and fourth night free on hotel bookings and you’ve got a pretty unbeatable package.
But the Citi Prestige Card seems to be in a surprise and delight mood.
As TedG relayed in the comments, Citi sent him a $50 Amazon gift card as a thank you for using the 4th night free hotel benefit.
Wait… they are thanking him for taking a full rebate on the 4th night of a hotel stay? And Ted reports this is the second time he’s gotten a $50 Amazon gift card as a thank you in the three times he’s used the benefit.
The Prestige card is my “goto” card. I’ve used the 4th night free three times and today (for the second time) I have received a $50 Amazon gift card from Citi Prestige Concierge. Today is Prime Day. I’m going shopping! Everyone should look for this email:
Security Zone: Member since: 2015 Account ending in: XXXX
Dear Ted :
Thank you for using your Citi® Prestige Concierge to book your upcoming hotel stay utilizing our “Fourth Night Free” benefit. We are glad that you are able to “stay a little bit longer”, thanks to this benefit available exclusively to Citi® Prestige cardmembers.
As a small token of our appreciation and your loyalty, we are including in this email a $50 Amazon.com Gift Card. This is our way of saying “thank you” for using this service and being a loyal Citi® Prestige cardmember.
Your Amazon.com Gift Card can easily be redeemed for purchases on Amazon.com.
To redeem your gift card, follow these steps:
Visit http://www.amazon.com/gc
Click Redeem a Gift Card and enter the Claim Code when prompted.
Gift card funds will be applied automatically to eligible orders during the checkout process.
You must pay for any remaining balance on your order with another payment method.
Your gift card claim code may also be entered when prompted during checkout. To redeem your gift card using the Amazon.com 1-Click® service, first add the gift card funds to Your Account.
If you have questions about redeeming your gift card, please visit http://www.amazon.com/gc-redeem. If you have questions regarding this offer from your Concierge, please contact your Concierge.
Other readers A, SPC, and Santastic commented that they received this as well.
I love a card that gives you more than they’ve promised!
Do you think they will slash the fourth free night benefit?
@Gary: As you mentioned in your article I got the email from Citi with a code to claim my $50 gift card on Amazon. I used their concierge service to book two different hotels in Europe where I would spend 4 and 5 nights so I could get the 4th night free benefit. So far the Citi Prestige has been the most amazing card I ever had but the pessimistic part of me says this is getting “too good to be true” and I feel they are doing this to soft things up if they announce a cut on this benefit next week. I have my fingers crossed they will keep this perk since it is amazing.
I never got anything. Have used the benefit twice in the last 9 months. Wonder how they decide who gets it and who doesn’t?
I have used it about 6 times in the past several months, and no gift card for me. Darn.
I am confused why people think the benfit is “too good to be true”. OTAs typically receive 25% commission from hotels even for 1 night stays; so it is probably quite a bit more for 4 night stays. Citi is probably making quite a bit of money on each of these transactions.
I’ve only used the benefit once (in May) but just received the gift card last week.
Agree with Chris. The nightly rate booking through Citi was higher than going through another OTA. After the redemption, 3 nights through Citi came out equivalent to booking 4 nights though Hotels or Booking. Plenty leftover margin for them to buy some gift cards.
For those who have received the fourth night credit already, How many billing cycles did it take? Two cycles have passed for me and I have yet to receive the fourth night refund.
@Phil C: Email them. I booked a prepaid stay for May in February and still hadn’t seen the credit by the beginning of July. They responded quickly and the credit was applied within three days.
Have used the 4th night benefit 3 times this year, they have always matched the lowest price I could find.
@Chris, I don’t think it’s accurate to say that OTAs typically get a 25% commission. They might get something around 25% for an independent hotel, but for big chains like Marriott, Hilton, and Starwood, it’s probably more like 12-15%. There is no way that Citi can fund the 4th night free benefit entirely from the commissions they earn, so I think that’s why people are scratching their heads about how Citi is paying for this program.