Citi Prestige Card: Keep or cancel?

The annual fee on my Citi Prestige Card is due pretty soon and like some of you, I’m wrestling with whether to keep or cancel the card. As you know, Citi increased the annual fee to $495 and removed all of its valuable purchase protections.

For a lot of people, canceling the card is a no-brainer because of these negative changes. However, the card still has a lot of useful perks, which is why I’m still on the fence about whether to keep or cancel the Citi Prestige.

$250 annual travel credit

The $250 annual travel credit is one of the highlights of the Citi Prestige Card. While the AmEx Platinum cards also charge high annual fees, those airfare credits are restricted to a single airline.

Granted, you get to choose the airline, but that still doesn’t leave a lot of flexibility for redemptions. Especially now that (most) gift card purchases don’t qualify for this credit. At least with the Citi Prestige Card, there is a higher chance of getting your money’s worth since most of us are bound to spend at least $250 on travel in a year. 

With this in mind, I really consider the annual fee on this card to be $245 or $150 higher than the Citi Premier. That may not apply if you’re not making use of this benefit, so keep that in mind. 

5X Category bonuses

The Citi Prestige earns 5X points on airfare and restaurants and 3X on hotels and cruises. All other purchases earn 1 point per $1 spent. 

That 5X bonus on restaurants is pretty substantial for me. Granted, charging travel to this card is a bad idea since the card has been stripped of travel protections. 

However, I still use the card for things like hotel incidentals and dining. Those are purchases that don’t need to be protected but still add up to a substantial bonus. For me, that 5X on restaurants goes a long way. 

The value of Citi TY points

The Citi Prestige Card’s 5X dining bonus wouldn’t be such a huge deal if it wasn’t for the value of Citi ThankYou points. Lately, I find myself getting more use out of those points than Chase Ultimate Rewards, which was once considered the gold standard in rewards currencies.

Thanks to partnerships like Avianca Lifemiles, Air France/KLM Flying Blue, Turkish Airlines and Etihad Rewards, there are some really great sweet spot awards that can be booked with Citi ThankYou points. 

More importantly, Citi occasionally runs airline transfer bonus promotions. These have helped me get even more value out of my ThankYou points.

4th Night Free

As part of its massive downgrade, Citi reduced the 4th night free benefit to just twice a year. Book a hotel through the Citi ThankYou travel portal and you’ll automatically get the fourth night free. That’s a 25% discount on hotel stays. 

If you make use of this benefit twice a year on room rates averaging $247.50 per night, you’ll offset the annual fee. Cut that number in half if you’re making use of the airfare credit. See? It doesn’t take much to get your money’s worth from this card.

$100 Global Entry application fee credit

The Citi Prestige Card has a $100 Global Entry application fee credit every five years. I already took advantage of mine last year, so I can’t use it again for another four years. 

If you haven’t used your Global Entry application fee credit yet (and you’re not a resident of New York), at least make sure you take advantage of it before canceling the card. 

Priority Pass Select membership

Lots of premium credit cards offer Priority Pass Select membership, including the Hilton Aspire, Sapphire Reserve and AmEx Platinum Cards. The important distinction between Priority Pass Select membership offered by AmEx and other card issuers? AmEx excludes restaurant credits.

If the food spread at a participating airline lounge is substandard, you can’t opt for a ~$28 credit at a participating restaurant if your membership is through an AmEx credit card. 

If you frequently make use of the Priority Pass Select membership (the restaurant perk in particular), then the Citi Prestige Card might be worth keeping. Especially if you’ve already downgraded the Sapphire Reserve after that annual fee shot up to $550. 

Final thoughts

The Citi Prestige has a lot going for it and under some circumstances, the lack of purchase and travel protections can be overlooked. I’m still trying to figure out whether to keep, cancel or swap out this card. But in any case, Citi ThankYou points are super useful and I’m going to keep a card in my wallet that earn these rewards.

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