The Citi Prestige is the luxury entry of the Citi ThankYou card family. However, no new applications or product changes have been allowed for the Prestige since mid-2021. If you didn’t have the card before Citi pulled the application link, there’s no way for you to get one.
Most people who still have the Citi Prestige are long-time cardholders and remember the good years. Back when you could find a good price for a hotel and have the Citi Concierge book it with the 4th-night free perk. As long as the rate was published and non-exclusive (like a subscription service or convention rate), you were allowed to use it.
Back in 2017 we stayed at the Candy Cane Inn near Disneyland on a AAA rate and got the 4th night free (at the time, Citi reimbursed you after your stay). Rooms booked with the Citi Concierge earned hotel loyalty points and you received your status benefits (upgrades, breakfast, etc.).
Citi made major changes to the 4th night-free benefit in September 2019. A huge limitation was put in place wherein you could only use the benefit twice per year. In addition, all reservations had to be made through the Citi ThankYou travel portal. Finally, all reservations had to be paid at the time of booking either with points, cash, or a combination thereof. The 4th-night free would be deducted at the time of booking the hotel.
There are major drawbacks to the changes, making the benefit almost useless for most hotel stays. Because you’re booking through a 3rd party, hotel chains won’t count the stay towards your status or provide any benefits. In addition, the prices found on the Citi ThankYou portal are usually more expensive than what you can find when booking direct.
I recently went to book a four-night stay at a Courtyard by Marriott. Even as a Platinum Bonvoy member, there aren’t many benefits we receive at Courtyards, so I wasn’t worried about losing out. It hurts to not earn points on the stay but saving 25% would make up for it. But I didn’t save 25%; not even close.
The total for the 4-night stay came to $1019.37 after deducting $293.60 which was the average room rate, minus taxes and fees.
I went to compare the rate on Marriott’s website. The same room was significantly less expensive for the same rate. I booked a flexible rate, which would cost $1170. Since joining Bonvoy is free, there’s no reason not to look at the Member Rate, which is $24 less expensive.
So unlike Citi’s website which says I’m saving almost $300, I’m closer to saving $125, which is a big difference.
However, we also have AAA, which gives a discount for Marriott.
The AAA rate is $1030 for 4 nights. That’s $11 more than the 4th-night free price from the Citi portal. If I booked through Marriott using the AAA discount we’d get our Platinum benefits, get 4 credits towards status and earn the bonus points for the stay.
The only good things about using the Citi Prestige were getting my $250 yearly travel credit applied to the account and earning 5X points for bookings through the ThankYou portal.
For a $495 card, If I’m only able to save $10 on a $1000+ 4-night hotel stay, there’s no reason to keep it. I keep hoping for the hotel stay that’ll make up for holding onto the card but each year that hope fades when I pay another annual fee.
I might be done with the Prestige. Is anyone else finding the same thing when booking through the Citi ThankYou Portal?
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