By now, you’ve probably seen the news that Citibank is “changing” some of the benefits to its Citi Prestige card benefits.  This is not a huge surprise to many – the Citi Prestige benefits had been touted by many as one of the best cards to get, and any time that there is a ton of value, you’re likely to see “changes” (read: devaluations).  We saw it with British Airways 4500 Avios routes, the Club Carlson Bonus night, Amtrak sleeper car travel and many others.
(SEE ALSO: What’s the best rewards deal out there?)
If you haven’t seen it yet, there has been coverage on View from the Wing, Miles to Memories, Doctor of Credit and most of the major blogs.
The Citi Prestige benefits that are changing
Here is a rundown of the Citi prestige benefits that are changing or going away
- No more 1.6 cents / point value for cash tickets on American (or 1.33 cents / point value on other airlines). Â All ThankYou points will be worth 1.25 cents airfare (which is the same value as points earned on the Citi ThankYou Premier
- No more 3 free golf rounds. Â Personally I am not a golfer so this was not a huge loss for me, though I know that many people used it to get free rounds at some of the nicest courses out there!
- No more American Airlines Admirals Club access. Â Personally, I have not been too impressed with Admiral’s Clubs, and in a lot of cases I find that the Priority Pass lounges (which remains one of the Citi Prestige benefts) are just as good.
- The 4th night hotel benefit is changing. Â Currently it is calculated as the actual cost of your 4th night. Â Now it will be calculated as the average of the 4 nights, and will not include taxes.
These benefits are changing as of July 23, 2017, so you still have nearly a year with the old benefits. You can view top travel rewards credit cards here. If you apply and get a card by clicking through this link, I will receive a commission
Citi Prestige benefits remaining unchanged
- The annual $250 Air Travel Credit
- Ÿ $100 Statement credit for your Global Entry or TSA Pre application fee
- Ÿ No foreign transaction fees on purchases
- Ÿ 24/7 Access to the Citi Prestige Concierge
-  3x Points on Air Travel & Hotels, 2X points on Dining & Entertainment and 1 Thank You® Point per $1 spent on other purchases
- Ÿ Travel & Emergency Assistance, Trip Cancellation & Interruption Protection and Trip Delay Protection
- Ÿ If you have an eligible banking relationship, you will continue to receive your Relationship Bonus.
Also, it appears that although Citi is not advertising these “old” benefits, new cardmembers do get all of the old benefits
So which is the worst Citi Prestige card benefits change?
All of those Citi Prestige benefits changes are negative, but which ones impacts you the most?
This site is part of an affiliate sales network and receives compensation for sending traffic to partner sites, such as thepointsguy.com. This may impact how and where links appear on this site. Responses are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. Some or all of the card offers that appear on the website are from advertisers and that compensation may impact on how and where card products appear on the site. Any opinions expressed in this post are my own, and have not been reviewed, approved, or endorsed by my advertising partners and I do not include all card companies, or all available card offers. Terms apply to American Express benefits and offers and other offers and benefits listed on this page. Enrollment may be required for select American Express benefits and offers. Visit americanexpress.com to learn more. Other links on this page may also pay me a commission - as always, thanks for your support if you use them
User Generated Content Disclosure: Points With a Crew encourages constructive discussions, comments, and questions. Responses are not provided by or commissioned by any bank advertisers. These responses have not been reviewed, approved, or endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the responsibility of the bank advertiser to respond to comments.
Dan Miller travels with his wife and 6 (SIX!) children. He loves to help families travel for free / cheap, especially larger families. If you are looking for help, drop him an email at 
Citi is dropping the ball with this card. Sending them messages on their site takes days (several days) to get a response. Sometimes even a week! Calling in I’ve abandoned two calls after waiting for more 15 minutes each. Eventually getting through a third time after holding over 30 minutes. That’s after useless prompts and repeated attempts of asking for operator or representative. Definitely not a ‘prestige’ level of service by any means.
The thing that was keeping me was the 1.6 rate for AA and 1.33 for others. Now even that is going down. I have Admirals Club membership regardless so not too worried about that (I used Centurion or priority lounges more anyway. But losing the club access is a big deal as well. Fourth night free with no taxes, well I figured that couldn’t last.
At this point the only real benefit I see with this over a Chase card is the guesting privileges on Priority Pass. That’s my annoyance with the American Express Platinum card – it’s just for you and you alone.
Aside from that one benefit, yeah I guess if you book a travel and get $250 it’s still a $200 a year card. Does priority pass guesting privileges warrant $200 a year? Maybe. Considering the bottom barrel customer service, terribly complex (and slow) concierge service, I’m really thinking this has fallen out of a Strong Recommend into the category of “it’s ok”. Just my two cents worth there.