Citi slashes benefits on most — if not all — cards
Quick summary
Citi is a TPG advertising partner.
Citi cards are the go-to cards for many due to their shopping and travel protections. But, as TPG reader Carlos found overnight, Citi plans to remove many protections from most -- if not all -- of its cards. As of publish, we haven't found a Citi card that doesn't show a message noting removed benefits when you log-in to your account online.
Here's the message shown on my Citi AAdvantage Platinum Select World Elite Mastercard:
Important changes are coming to some of your Card Benefits.
The following is a summary of changes that are being made to your card benefits.
Effective September 22, 2019, Worldwide Car Rental Insurance, Trip Cancellation & Interruption Protection, Worldwide Travel Accident Insurance, Trip Delay Protection, Baggage Delay Protection, Lost Baggage Protection, Citi® Price Rewind, and 90 Day Return Protection will be discontinued and will no longer be provided for purchases made on or after that date. Coverage for purchases made before that date will continue to be available, and you may continue to file for benefits in accordance with the current benefit terms. Roadside Assistance Dispatch Service and Travel & Emergency Assistance will be discontinued and will not be available on or after September 22, 2019.
We are making these changes so that we can continue providing the key benefits that our customers use and value most at no additional cost. This change requires no action on your part. See FAQs under Card Benefits for answers to Frequently Asked Questions regarding these changes.
As a cardmember, you will continue to receive a range of other card benefits including FICO® Credit Score, Citi® Identity Theft Solutions, and Citi Entertainment.
And here's the message shown for my Citi Prestige:
The following is a summary of changes that are being made to your card benefits.
Effective September 22, 2019, Worldwide Car Rental Insurance, Trip Cancellation & Interruption Protection, Worldwide Travel Accident Insurance, Trip Delay Protection, Baggage Delay Protection, Lost Baggage Protection, Medical Evacuation, Citi® Price Rewind, 90 Day Return Protection, and Missed Event Ticket Protection will be discontinued and will no longer be provided for purchases made on or after that date. Coverage for purchases made before that date will continue to be available, and you may continue to file for benefits in accordance with the current benefit terms. Roadside Assistance Dispatch Service and Travel & Emergency Assistance will be discontinued and will not be available on or after September 22, 2019.
We are making these changes so that we can continue providing the key benefits that our customers use and value most at no additional cost. This change requires no action on your part. See FAQs under Card Benefits for answers to Frequently Asked Questions regarding these changes.
As a cardmember, you will continue to receive a range of other card benefits including FICO® Credit Score, Citi® Identity Theft Solutions, and Citi Entertainment. In addition, we will soon be announcing exciting new card benefits.
The TPG team checked our cards to see which benefits were removed on which cards. Here's a summary of the benefits being removed:
| Benefit Removed | Citi Prestige® Card | Citi Premier® Card | Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Elite Mastercard® | Citi Dividend® | Citi® Double Cash Card | American Airlines AAdvantage MileUp℠ Card | AT&T Access Card | Costco Anywhere Visa® Card by Citi | Costco Anywhere Visa® Business Card by Citi |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Worldwide Car Rental Insurance | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | ||
| Trip Cancellation & Interruption Protection | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | N/A | N/A |
| Worldwide Travel Accident Insurance | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | ||
| Citi® Price Rewind | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | N/A | N/A |
| 90 Day Return Protection | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | N/A | N/A |
| Trip Delay Protection | x | x | x | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Baggage Delay Protection | x | x | x | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Lost Baggage Protection | x | x | x | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | |
| Roadside Assistance Dispatch Service | x | x | x | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | ||
| Travel & Emergency Assistance | x | x | x | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | ||
| Damage & Theft Purchase Protection | x | x | N/A | ||||||
| Extended Warranty | x | x | x | x | |||||
| Medical Evacuation | x | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Missed Event Ticket Protection | x | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
The information for the Citi Prestige, AT&T Access Card, Citi Dividends has been collected independently by The Points Guy. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.
This chart has been updated to include the removal of extended warranty benefits from Costco cards in January 2022.
We've reached out to Citi to confirm that these benefits are being removed. Here's their statement:
Citi continuously evaluates our products to ensure that associated benefits best meet the needs of our customers. Due to sustained low usage, we will no longer offer select credit card benefits such as Citi Price Rewind and Trip Cancellation & Interruption Protection as of September 22, 2019 so that we can continue providing key benefits our customers use and value most at no additional cost.
So, you may want to start planning out what your new go-to cards for various travel and shopping protections will be after September 22, 2019. Here are links to our guides to various types of protections -- but remember that the protections listed for Citi cards in these guides are likely being discontinued.
- Credit Cards That Offer Primary Car Rental Coverage
- What You Need to Know About The Trip Cancellation And Interruption Protection Offered By Select Credit Cards
- What's Covered by Credit Card Travel Accident and Emergency Evacuation Insurance?
- Trip Delay Reimbursement and the Credit Cards That Offer It
- Which Credit Cards Cover Baggage Delays?
- The Best Credit Cards for Price Protection in 2019
Additional reporting by Ryan Smith.