Citi Prestige – Removal of merchant categories from reward programme
Introduction
Citi Prestige is the best credit card for earning airline miles in India. You earn 1 point per INR 100 for domestic transactions and 2 points for INR 100 for international transactions. Each point can be converted into 4 airline miles across 14 different airline partners. The range of airline transfer partners is simply unmatched and you should definitely look at this card if you love collecting airline miles.
Reward Program changes
The Citi Prestige credit card earned reward points across all spend categories. However, effective October 12, 2019 purchase transactions across the following merchant categories will be excluded and will not earn any more reward points
- Transportation and Tolls
- Utilities
- Insurance
- Educational Institutions
- Government Institutions
These merchant category codes are assigned by VISA and MasterCard directly. These changes are applicable to the following credit cards
- Citi Prestige
- Citi Premier Miles
- Citi Rewards Card
- Citi Indian Oil Titanium & Platinum
- Citi First Citizen Card
- Citi Corporate & Citi Business Card
While this is a negative change, other credit card companies like Amex also do not offer reward points on Utilities and Insurance transactions. Citi’s list covers some more merchants like Educational institutions where spends can be significant thereby reducing earning potential further. Check out the full details here
Summary
We were used to simply using our Citi Prestige card for all our spends. The exclusion of certain merchant categories will require you to think before using your Citi cards. While overall a negative change, we still feel the Citi Prestige offers fantastic value. What do you think of the new changes ?
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