Citi Prestige Card Loosing Admiral’s Club Access
The Citi Prestige Card is one of the best credit cards now available because it has a generous benefit program.
The card now offers the following benefits:
- Admiral’s Club Access – Free access to American Admiral’s Club’s when flying on American for you and a guest
- Priority Pass Select Membership with guest access – Free access to nearly all the Priority Pass Lounges for you and your guests
- Fourth Night Free Hotel Program
- Transferable Point Currency with many programs including Hilton, Air redemption’s on One World, Skyteam and Star Alliance
Upcoming Changes to Citi Prestige
Unfortunately, starting in 2017, Citi will be eliminating the Admiral’s Club access from the Citi Prestige Card benefits. Citi issued the update this past week and has stated that the access will remain until June 20, 2017.
It was nice of Citi to give a year notice on this change as that is not generally something that the airlines or hotels do when making changes to the benefits within the program.
The card is a valuable card and I often use the Priority Pass membership when traveling. Some of the lounges are exceptional with excellent food and drinks while others are just a place to relax from the regular area of the terminal.
The fourth night free benefit is arguably the best benefit on the card as the savings are significant.
For example, if you are traveling to Paris and staying at the Park Hyatt Paris Vendome where average nightly rates can be 1,200 Euro’s, you could get the fourth night free in the form of a statement credit after you check out from a four-night stay. A 1,200 Euro rebate would nearly give you 3x the annual fee back. I know some business travelers that save thousands of dollars each year using this benefit as it can be used over and over again. The only catch is if you are staying in a city for eight nights, you will have to transfer to a different hotel after the first four nights to get the rebate on both the fourth night and the eighth night. In some cases people have been able to use other hotel promotions offering an extra night free as well. In addition, because the rebate comes in the form of a statement credit, you still earn hotel points on all four nights of your stay!
As you can see the Fourth Night Benefit is an amazing option for the card. Even if you only have one trip a year where you can use the benefit, the card is still an exceptional option.
Why is Citi Eliminating Admiral’s Club Access?
Many bloggers have been asking why Citi is eliminating the Admiral’s Club Access. Currently there is no clear answer. Most likely the reason is that Citi offers the Citi Advantage Executive Card which offers full Admiral’s Club Membership for all cardholders including secondary cards. Another reason is American Airlines recently provided notice that the membership charges for a stand alone or family membership will be increasing by $50-$100 soon.
In addition, American also announced that it will no longer be an exclusive partner with Citi as it plans to offer cards by both Citi and Barclay in the future.
Is the Citi Prestige Card Still Worth It?
Many people are asking if the Citi Prestige Card is still worth it? In my mind it is because the Fourth Night Free benefit as well as the Priority Pass membership with guest access for no additional charge is an amazing option.
Citi offers a great sign-up bonus on the Citi Prestige Card.
The points earned by the Citi Prestige Card are transferable to all three airline alliances to allow for plenty of opportunities to redeem for an amazing luxury vacation.
Because of these things, I still feel that the Citi Prestige Card is an excellent option.
If you have the card, will you keep the card in your wallet?