Question
Like others, I received inserts with my current Citi Visa and MasterCard bills inviting me to upgrade to Gold World MasterCard at No Extra Cost.
The only benefit I see is Reduced Mileage Awards. How much is the reduction?
The only cost I see is that the annual gold-card premium will at some point return to normal. I pay $50 a year each for my plain-Jane AAdvantage Visa and MasterCard, what is the normal price for an AAdvantage Gold MasterCard?
Has anyone received a retention bonus during the course of getting the upgrade?
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Middle_Seat
Answer
The reduced mileage awards are released each quarter and tend to be 5-10k off an award to select destinations. Pretty good deal if you want to travel to one of the places offered. I've found that sometimes, none of the awards suit me, othertimes there are 2-3 places I want to go.
As a Gold WorldCard member you can also ask for an annual summary of all your charges at the end of the year (no charge for this). Classic cardholders could not get this before. Platinum cardholders will get it automatically.
As for the annual fee - Citi offers the Citi AAdvantage Gold WorldCard at $50 and the Platinum version at $85. So if you switch from a Classic to the Gold WorldCard you do not have to worry about your fee going up. It really is a switch at no extra cost. Just be sure to change any recurring payments and your membership in AAdvantage Dining since your account number will change with the upgrade.
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I Love New York
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I have the world platinum...it's worthless...get an AMEX card instead.
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Does anyone know why Citibank is pushing the free upgrade to Gold so much? I received an insert in my statement envelope, got an email, got a direct mail piece and it's even printed on my statement. What's in it for them and will I pay for it in the end?
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Originally posted by PhxArisen:
Does anyone know why Citibank is pushing the free upgrade to Gold so much? I received an insert in my statement envelope, got an email, got a direct mail piece and it's even printed on my statement. What's in it for them and will I pay for it in the end?
I assume that they will increase the fee for the prestigious Gold card in another year or so. If so, most people with the gold will not know how to downgrade back to plain, so a continuing new revenue stream will have been created by Citi.
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Middle_Seat
Answer
Cibank is offering the World card for the same reason why Chase is pushing the Signature card: more revenue without hitting the customer.
Those cards with no preset spending limit -- MasterCard World, Visa Signature, American Express, Diner's Club, etc. -- can charge merchants a higher percentage of your purchase dollar. That way, they can afford to give you all those miles and added benefits and keep you as a happy cardmember.
I upgraded my Citi Silver card for a Citi Gold World MasterCard for the reduced mileage awards. I haven't had any problems with it, still paying $50.
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On the road, In the air,
I enjoy travel, From here to there.
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I have had the Citi Gold for years.
These days I can't call Citi about something/anything without getting the hardsell for the new card. And the term 'hardsell' is an understatement here.
I suspect there may be more in it for them than currently meets the eye.
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I have an AA Gold Visa but I also am getting the hard sell for the Gold *Mastercard. I'm resisting because I have a whole bunch of things (phone, cell phone, home security system, etc.) that automatically post to the Visa every month, and I can't seem to get anyone to tell me what I would get out of switching to M'card (like miles, or better benefits or anything.) I can understand why they want people to upgrade to gold, but why the switch from Visa to MC?
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Citi perceives that Visa is run more for the benefit of the small banks than the large, and MasterCard the opposite. Nothing to do with AA.
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Silverpie, is it your information that at some point renewing an AA Citi visa is not going to be an option?
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Lindsy,
I agree with the previous poster that this is *all* about Citibank and Visa parting ways, for whatever the reason....has little to NOTHING to do with giving Visa cardholders a "better deal" to switch to M/C. In fact, I perceive Citibank's program to be at best, equal, with M/C, compared to Visa and Citibank's AA program...and perhaps even slightly worse. Definitely no OBVIOUS compelling reason to change to M/C that i could find.
I am particularly amazed Visa is letting Citibank *walk*, but predictably, M/C is stepping in. Perhaps M/C approached Citibank with some incredible promotion.
In answer to someone's question about whether Citibank would ever force Visa holders to switch to M/C...
My strong hunch is that Citibank can never "involuntarily" close a Visa...ok, "never" is a strong word....better said, there is surely a winding down period of for several years, or whatever the Visa/Citi contract stipulated, that Citibank/Visa cardholders can stick with their Visa card and refuse all Citibank marketing attempts to change over...my sense is Citibank can only offer incentives, polite coercion, etc....to compel Visa holders to switch to M/C.
Within that change, there must be some HUGE benefits for Citibank, because I see *no* tangible benefits for the cardholders.
I allowed both of my Visas to be converted, but Citibank could not pursuasively tell me why I benefited. Was not a big deal to me.
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Originally posted by ontheroad:
Cibank is offering the World card for the same reason why Chase is pushing the Signature card: more revenue without hitting the customer.
Those cards with no preset spending limit -- MasterCard World, Visa Signature, American Express, Diner's Club, etc. -- can charge merchants a higher percentage of your purchase dollar. That way, they can afford to give you all those miles and added benefits and keep you as a happy cardmember.
I don't think it is true that the type of Visa or MasterCard will affect the fees the marchant pays (possibly with the exception of foreign-issued cards). It's true that genreally speaking, American Express has higher merchant fees, but this is true even for their revolving charge products (suchas Optima).
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The reason I switched from Citibank AAdvantage Visa to World MasterCard was so that I could make federal tax payments to the card. Currently, Visa is not accepted for such payments.
The "no credit limit" feature of World MasterCard really only allows you to go slightly over your credit limit without penalty (I was told around 20%). So, for those people that hover close to their limits, it's a great feature, as it avoids having charges declined, as well as the overlimit service charge. But, it really doesn't get you more credit in the long run as you have to pay the entire balance over the revolving credit limit at the end of the month.