Credit Cards » Credit Card Reviews » Citi Prestige Card Review: New Applications Aren’t Available
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Citi Prestige Card Review: New Applications Aren’t Available

The Citi Prestige card is best for consumers who spend a lot of time traveling and who spend heavily on luxury while traveling. Consumers who spend a lot of time on the road and have high traveling costs can justify the large annual fee this card carries.
Author: Baruch Mann (Silvermann)
Baruch Mann (Silvermann)

Writer, Contributor

Experience

Baruch Silvermann is a financial expert, experienced analyst, and founder of The Smart Investor, which helps consumers make better financial decisions.  Silvermann’s areas of expertise include investing, banking, and credit cards. Silvermann has contributed to Yahoo Finance and cited as an authoritative source in financial outlets like Forbes, Business Insider, CNBC Select, CNET, Bankrate, Fox Business, The Street, and more. Aside from being a finance expert, his background includes working as a business and financial analyst. Above all, he is passionate about teaching people how to manage their money and helping millions on their journey to a better financial future.
Interest Rates Last Update: September 20, 2023
The banking product interest rates, including savings, CDs, and money market, are accurate as of this date.
Author: Baruch Mann (Silvermann)
Baruch Mann (Silvermann)

Writer, Contributor

Experience

Baruch Silvermann is a financial expert, experienced analyst, and founder of The Smart Investor, which helps consumers make better financial decisions.  Silvermann’s areas of expertise include investing, banking, and credit cards. Silvermann has contributed to Yahoo Finance and cited as an authoritative source in financial outlets like Forbes, Business Insider, CNBC Select, CNET, Bankrate, Fox Business, The Street, and more. Aside from being a finance expert, his background includes working as a business and financial analyst. Above all, he is passionate about teaching people how to manage their money and helping millions on their journey to a better financial future.
Interest Rates Last Update: November 1, 2023

The banking product interest rates, including savings, CDs, and money market, are accurate as of this date.

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In This Review..

Citi Prestige® Card is a premium travel rewards card. This premium card comes with a plethora of benefits and protections. The Citi Prestige card has high rewards for those who spend a lot of time traveling. You can earn 5X on $1 spent on air travel and restaurants, 3X on hotels and cruise lines, 1 point on other purchases.

Besides the high rewards rates, the Prestige Card offers a sign up bonus of 50,000 Bonus Points after spending $4,000 within 3 months of account opening. The Citi Prestige card is also getting a facelift and many of the benefits, perks and protections.

This premium card also comes with a premium price which is $495 – it has one of the highest annual fees in its category. This card is issued by Citibank which is one of the largest financial institutions in the world. 

Citi Prestige® Card

Citibank_Citi_Prestige_Card

Rewards Plan

Up to 5X points 5X on $1 spent on air travel and restaurants, 3X on hotels and cruise lines, 1 point on other purchases

Sign up Bonus

50,000 points 50,000 Bonus Points after spending $4,000 within 3 months of account opening

0% Intro

None

PROS

CONS

APR

16.99% - 23.99% variable

Balance Transfer Fee

$5 or 3%

Credit Requirements

Good - Excellent

Card & Issuer Reputation

801/1000 on J.D Power: Citi got 801 out of 1000 available points on J.D. Power credit card satisfaction survey, lower than industry average. J.D Power offers the most comprehensive and independent study of customer satisfaction of card issuers . The study aims to help consumers and issuers to understand user opinions and ratings of the largest bands. It covers terms, benefits, services, communication, rewards and more.

J.D. Power U.S. Credit Card Satisfaction Study 2020

Benefits

Let’s take a look at the benefits of the Citi Prestige card and see if it’s the right one for your wallet or not.

You can get 50,000 points after spending $4,000 in the first 3 months of opening the card. This sign-up bonus is worth about $850 in travel rewards.

The Citi Prestige card has an annual $250 travel credit for all cardholders. Every year cardholders will get this credit to spend on travel, which helps offset the large annual fee.

TextCiti Prestige card allows cardholders to transfer points to airlines they have loyalty reward points with so they can use both.

Citi Prestige card rewards can be used on travel, merchandise, event tickets, gift cards, and even charity. The best value for your points is to spend them on travel.

If you pay your monthly cell phone bill with the Citi Prestige card, you are eligible for cell phone insurance. It has a maximum liability of $600 per claim and $1,000 per year. 

The card covers up to $75,000 in car rental insurance. They also have trip cancellation insurance and baggage delay protection.

Citi Prestige cardholders get special access to more than 2,000 golf courses including some private ones that are not open to the public.

Citi Prestige card has no transaction fee while traveling in other countries. Many other cards have fees when you make purchases outside of the United States.

Citi Prestige card earns 5X on $1 spent on air travel and restaurants, 3X on hotels and cruise lines, 1 point on other purchases.

Citi Prestige card allows customers a free hotel stay on the 4th night. This benefit is capped  to twice a year. The hotel needs to be booked through Citi’s Thankyou network.

You can have access to exclusive airport lounges with the Priority Pass Select membership that comes along with being a Citi Prestige Card holder. 

Citi Prestige card monitors for potentially fraudulent transactions and if fraud is suspected, Citi will take the appropriate actions. 

Also, If you are a victim of ID theft, Citi Prestige cardholders will get assistance from Citi to get their lives back on track.

Citi Prestige card offers 24/7 help through the Citi Prestige Concierge. Cardholders can use this for any number of issues they may have

The Citi Prestige card will reimburse your application fee (up to $100) for TSA Precheck or Global Entry once every five years

Drawbacks

Here are the most important cons you should consider before apply:

Citi Prestige card has a high $495 annual fee. Many other credit cards do not have annual fees. This fee can be offset with the annual travel reward bonuses. There is an additional fee for each authorized user. 

The Citi Prestige card has a limited number of travel partners through which points can be transferred to be used with other loyalty programs. Many of their partners are foreign airlines.

The ThankYou Rewards program is the most expensive reward program in the market. You can earn ThankYou points from a number of different CitiBank products The reward points can be used for many different things, like gift cards, travel, cash and merchandise. The best value with the Citi Prestige card is to use the points for travel.

Citi Prestige card does not offer an introductory rate like many cards on the market. If you are looking for an introductory rate you will have to look at other offerings.

Citi has a rule that you are only able to sign up for a credit card with a sign-up bonus every 24 months. That means if you received a sign-up bonus with another Citi card in the past 24 months, you are ineligible for the Citi Prestige card sign-up bonus.

The APR for the Citi Prestige card is a 16.99% – 23.99% variable, which is high for a card that requires borrowers with excellent credit histories. 

How To Apply For Citi Prestige Credit Card?

Visit the Citi Prestige Card home page and then click “Apply Now”.A page comes up; just fill in your personal information correctly. 

Next, fill in your security number, date of birth and other information. 

Also fill in your financial information, and then take your time to read through the terms and conditions. 

After this, tick to agree and then click on “Agree and Submit.”

Is the Citi Prestige® Card Right for You?

The Citi Prestige card is best for consumers who spend a lot of time traveling and who spend heavily on luxury while traveling.

Consumers who spend a lot of time on the road and have high traveling costs can justify the large annual fee this card carries. This card has a number of perks, protections, and benefits that, if used to their maximum capacity, justify the large annual fee. The card comes with a generous sign-up bonus and spending rewards.

If you are a casual traveler or do not spend a lot of time at restaurants and hotels, this may not be the card for you. If you do not have excellent credit you also may not be able to qualify for this card. 

Compare The Alternatives

Several other credit cards provide similar rewards to the Citi Prestige Card: 

amex platinum

Venture X Rewards

The Platinum Card® from American Express
Chase Sapphire Reserve®
Capital One Venture X Rewards
Annual Fee
$550
$395
Rewards
1X – 5X 5X points on up to $500,000 spent on directly-booked airfare and flights and prepaid hotels booked through American Express Travel (per calendar year), 2X points on prepaid car rentals through American Express Travel and 1X points on all other purchases
1X – 10X 5X total points on air travel and 10X total points on hotels, car rentals when you purchase through Chase Ultimate Rewards®, immediately after earning your $300 annual travel credit. Also, earn 3x points on dining at restaurants and travel (after meeting the $300 travel credit), then 1x points per dollar spent on all other purchases
1X – 10X 10 miles per dollar on hotels and rental cars when booking via Capital One Travel, 5 miles per dollar on flights and 2 miles per dollar on all eligible purchases
Welcome bonus
80,000 points 80,000 Membership Rewards® points after you spend $8,000 on purchases on your new Card in your first 6 months of Card Membership
60,000 points 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening
75,000 miles 75,000 bonus miles once you spend $4,000 on purchases within the first 3 months from account opening
Foreign Transaction Fee
$0
$0
Purchase APR
21.24% – 29.24% APR Variable
22.24%–29.24% variable APR
19.99% – 29.99% (Variable)

Review Travel Credit Cards

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Baruch Mann (Silvermann)

Baruch Mann (Silvermann)

Baruch Silvermann is a financial expert, experienced analyst, and founder of The Smart Investor, which helps consumers make better financial decisions.  Silvermann's areas of expertise include investing, banking, and credit cards. Silvermann has contributed to Yahoo Finance and cited as an authoritative source in financial outlets like Forbes, Business Insider, CNBC Select, CNET, Bankrate, Fox Business, The Street, and more. Aside from being a finance expert, his background includes working as a business and financial analyst. Above all, he is passionate about teaching people how to manage their money and helping millions on their journey to a better financial future.
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citi-custom-cash_
Rewards Plan:
1-5% 5% cash back on your highest eligible spend category each billing cycle up to the first $500 spent and 1% cash back thereafter
Welcome Bonus: $200 $200 cash back after you spend $1,500 on purchases in the first 6 months of account opening (20,000 ThankYou® Points, which can be redeemed for $200 cash back)

citi double cash

Rewards Plan:
2%* 2% cash back rewards rate – 1% every time you swipe and another 1% upon payment.
0% Intro: 18 months on balance transfers, then 19.24% – 29.24% (Variable) APR

citi simplicity

0% Intro: 12 months on purchases and 21 months on balance transfers, then 19.24% – 29.99% (Variable) APR
Welcome Bonus / Rewards: None

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The product offers that appear on this site are from companies from which this website receives compensation. 

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Editorial Note: Opinions expressed here are author’s alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, hotel, airline, or other entity. This content has not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of the entities included within the post.

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In order to determine the best possible credit cards, we look at things like fees, interest rates and rewards. We do this with companies that are associated with us as partners as well as other offerings. From there, we make a decision about what the best card is related to different categories and needs. We focus on interest rate cost & fees, especially the cost of carrying a balance, rewards – cards accumulate rewards in different currencies—points, miles, cash back—and their values vary widely usability – cards that accept a wide range of credit profiles and offer simple solutions for things like checking your credit score or contacting. We also consider customer reviews.

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