Citi Prestige Card

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intro purchase APR no intro offer	regular APR15.74 - 15.74% (V)
intro BT APR 15.74	3% BT fee $5 min
rewards 1-2-3 points per $1	+ 50.000 points

• get 50,000 points after spending $4,000 in the first 3 months
• 3x points on air travel and hotels
• 2x points for dining and entertainment

 

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Terms and Conditions

Editors Review

Premium credit card in CITI ThankYou cards line.

Pros

• 50,000 points sign up bonus after spending $4,000 in the first 3 months.
• $250 travel credit each year
• Enjoy 4th night free at all hotels
• Admirals Club and Priority Pass lounges access free
• No foreign transaction fee
• 3x points on Air travel and Hotels
• 2x points on dining and entertainment
• Chip and Pin technology (EMV Chip)

Cons

• $450 annual fee – you should travel a lot to justify it

Verdict

The first impression when you see $450 annual fee is like “No way!” but when you start digging into all benefits of this card, it makes much more sense.

First, you get access to a large number of American Airlines Admirals Club® lounges, and hundreds of VIP lounges through Priority Pass™ Select. All your immediate family members or up to 2 guests can accompany you. This option is well worth $450 price tag. Average value of lounge access is about $25, so 18 visits per year will make you break even.

Then you can get your 4th night free at any hotel when you book 4 consecutive nights through Carlson Wagonlit Travel company. This offer doesn’t have any limitations or blackout dates.

CITI also offers card members a $100 credit that you can use for a Global Entry Program application fee (renewed every 5 years). This benefit can be accounted for $20 per year for a card holder.

Finally, Citi offers you a $250 travel credit every calendar year that you can use for travel. Remember that since it is issued every calendar year, you can get 2 credits (2*$250) in the first year of your account.

If you travel enough and value such things as Global Entry and VIP lounge access, this card can well pay off quite quickly for you. Otherwise, you can find cards with equal rewards rate without an annual fee.