Even though the Citi Prestige has lost a lot of benefits, I’m still keeping mine (for now); Here’s why

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It’s been a roller coaster of a year for the Citi Prestige® Card. In the first half of 2019, Citi introduced some very positive changes: the earning rate on airfare and dining increased to 5 points per dollar spent, the card’s annual $250 credit was expanded to include all travel purchases (previously it just covered airfare) and cell phone insurance was added. Then in September 2019, Citi stripped the card of most of its signature benefits, including travel and purchase protections, and raised the card’s annual fee to $495.

The information for the Citi Prestige Card has been collected independently by The Points Guy. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.

These changes led many to question whether the Prestige is worth keeping. For me, the answer to that question is yes. Here’s why I won’t be getting rid of this card – at least for now:

Unmatched return on restaurant spend

Dining is one of my largest spending categories, and at 5 ThankYou Points per dollar spent, the Citi Prestige Card offers the best rewards for restaurant spending of any card on the market. Based on TPG’s valuations, that’s a whopping 8.5% return on restaurant spending. Citi defines restaurants as including “cafes, bars, lounges and fast food restaurants.” In practice, you’ll usually also get bonus points for food delivery services such as Postmates purchases, which are categorized as “restaurants” and earn 5x ThankYou Points

While the American Express® Gold Card’s 4x Membership Rewards points per dollar spent on dining at restaurants worldwide is worth nearly as much (an 8% return, since Membership Rewards are more valuable than ThankYou Points based on TPG valuations), Mastercard is much more widely accepted than American Express, especially when traveling abroad. For this reason, the Citi Prestige is much more attractive to me than the American Express Gold Card ($250 annual fee. See Rates & Fees). Other cards that offer bonus points for dining have a much lower rate of return. The next best dining card I have compared to the Citi Prestige is the Chase Sapphire Reserve, which earns 3 Ultimate Rewards points per dollar spent in this category.

READ MORE: The best credit cards for restaurants and dining out

Despite significant devaluation, 4th Night Free is still valuable

There’s no question that the 4th Night Free benefit has taken a major beating:

• It’s gone from unlimited to only two uses per year;
• It only applies to the room rate (previously it also covered taxes and fees for the free night)
• It only applies to reservations made through the Citi ThankYou travel portal. That means you generally won’t earn points or receive elite benefits at the hotel, and you also can’t take advantage of special discounts for AAA cardholders, loyalty program members or companies with negotiated rates.

While these make the 4th Night Free significantly less valuable, it’s still worth it in many cases. There are many independent hotels that don’t offer loyalty programs, and many more where a 25% discount on a four-night stay is worth more than the points you might earn from your stay – especially if it’s a hotel chain that you’re unlikely to stay with again. There are also times where Citi may offer a better room type or a lower price than other booking options. While you definitely have to do some calculations before deciding that using the 4th Night Free is the best deal, I’m confident that I’ll still be able to get significant value from this benefit twice per year.

5X points at travel agencies, including tours

I make most of my travel bookings directly with the airline or hotel, since that usually guarantees that I’m getting the lowest prices and that I’ll get all of my elite benefits. My flight bookings always go on a card that offers trip cancellation and interruption coverage, such as the Chase Sapphire Reserve, whether I’m booking direct or through a third party. But if I’m booking an independent hotel or taking advantage of a promotion through an online travel agency like Orbitz or Expedia, I can use my Citi Prestige card to earn 5x points on those purchases. This is also a great way to get 5x points on tours and activities, which you can often book through agencies like Expedia and Viator.

READ MORE: Getting the most out of Citi Prestige’s 5X categories

New Mastercard benefits help tip the scales

While not specific to Citi, new benefits introduced by Mastercard for World Elite cards – including the Citi Prestige – help tip the scales in favor of keeping the card.

These benefits include:

• A $10 Lyft credit whenever you take five eligible rides in a calendar month (valid once a month).
• $5 off every $25+ purchase at Postmates (excluding tips, taxes and delivery fees).
• Double VIP+ points on Fandango purchases: for every two tickets purchased, earn 500 VIP+ points and redeem for a $5.00 reward toward future movie tickets or streaming movies and TV shows on Fandango NOW.
• Free 2-day shipping plus free return shipping on eligible items at over one hundred online retailers with Shoprunner.
• Earn 5% Boxed Cash Rewards for future orders on wholesale pantry items, snacks and more.

‘The $5 discount on every Postmates food delivery order paid for with the card is particularly nice, since I’d use my Prestige card on Postmates anyway for the 5x points. I also use the $10 monthly Lyft credit almost every month.

Bottom Line

There’s no question that the negative changes that Citi has made to this card make it much harder to justify keeping it for the long term. But for now, since I spend so much on dining (especially internationally, where American Express acceptance is low) and can still get reasonable value from the 4th Night Free benefit, this card still has a place in my wallet. That being said, I’ll definitely be looking closely at whether to keep it when it comes time to pay the annual fee again next year.

For rates and fees of the Amex Gold Card, please click here.  

Featured photo by The Points Guy.