Citi came out with some troubling news this morning. The bank has decided to cut almost all benefits from its credit card lineup. They are showing a warning for these changing on Citi credit card benefits will kick in on September 22, 2019.
Benefits Going Away
Here’s the benefits that will no longer be available on your Citi cards:
- 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
- Missed Event Ticket Protection
- Citi Dividend and Double Cash cards will also lose extended warranty and purchase protections.
Here’s the notice that you will see if you go to your card benefits section:
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.
Remaining Benefits
With all the benefits that will be removed, it’s natural to wonder what’s left. Here’s the list:
- Extended Warranty and purchase protection on most cards
- Prestige’s cell phone protection
- Prestige’s 4th night free
Guru’s Wrap-up
This is crazy, especially considering that a premium card like Prestige is also losing all these benefits. There’s along list of benefits that you would expect, at least on a premium travel card. Things like Worldwide Car Rental Insurance, Trip Cancellation & Interruption Protection, Worldwide Travel Accident Insurance, Trip Delay Protection, Baggage Delay Protection, Lost Baggage Protection etc. All those are going away. And it’s not just a devaluation for Prestige, but for all Citi cards. Citi Dividend and Double Cash cards will also lose extended warranty and purchase protections on top of the long list of other benefits. But at least Citi says that this is all for you. They are making these changes so that they can continue providing the key benefits that customers use and value most at no additional cost.
Will this change your view of Citi cards when applying for bonuses, or affect your decision on keeping cards you already have and using them? Let me know what C iti credit card benefits you will miss the most.
HT: DoC
