Citi Prestige Review: Premium Travel Benefits -- but Applications Are Closed

The Citi Prestige® Card is a luxury travel card with some interesting perks, including a complimentary fourth night on paid hotel stays. That made it a favorite for frequent travelers, but it's no longer available. Those who have the card can continue using it, but no one can apply for it anymore. Learn more about it and see alternative options in our Citi Prestige® Card review.

This credit card is a good fit for: Travel enthusiasts who fly and stay at hotels multiple times per year.

Top perks

As a premium travel card, the Citi Prestige® Card has a large assortment of features.

Up to 5 points per $1

The Citi Prestige® Card earns:

• 5 points per $1 on air travel and at restaurants
• 3 points per $1 at hotels and on cruise lines
• 1 point per $1 on other purchases

These are high rewards rates on several broad bonus categories. That gives the Citi Prestige® Card some serious earning potential that's up there with the best travel rewards cards.

$250 annual travel credit

This card will cover your first $250 in annual travel, and the credit applies to any type of travel purchase. If you use the full credit, you've already made back over half the annual fee.

Complimentary fourth night free on hotel stays

When you make a paid hotel booking of at least four nights, the fourth night is free. So on a four-night booking, you'd pay for three nights, and on an eight-night booking, you'd pay for six nights. While this benefit could previously be used as often as the cardholder liked, it's now capped at two free nights per calendar year.

SEE MORE: Best Hotel Credit Cards

Global Entry/TSA PreCheck credit

Like many travel cards, the Citi Prestige® Card will issue you a credit for either your Global Entry or your TSA PreCheck fee, enabling you to get through airport security more quickly. Because a Global Entry membership will include a TSA PreCheck membership but not vice versa, you should always go with Global Entry.

READ MORE: TSA PreCheck, Global Entry, and CLEAR: Which Program Is the Best?

Airport lounge access

You'll get a complimentary membership to Priority Pass Select, which has a network of airport lounges covering many of the major airports in the world.

Cellphone insurance

If you pay your cellphone bill with the Citi Prestige® Card, you'll get complimentary cellphone insurance protecting against damage or theft.

Flexible reward redemptions

When you have the Citi Prestige® Card, you can either transfer points to a travel partner in the Citi ThankYou Rewards program or redeem them for $0.01 per point towards travel purchases. Transfers are a great way to maximize Citi ThankYou points, because you can get over $0.03 per point this way with the right award booking.

LEARN MORE: A Complete Guide to Citi ThankYou Points

What could be improved

There are a few areas where the Citi Prestige® Card falls short.

Annual fee

This Citi credit card has a $495 annual fee. To be fair, you get quite a few benefits. If you're able to make the most of them, they can provide much more in value than you're paying for the card. It's just important to make sure you're using the benefits if you decide to keep this card.

Limited travel partners

Citi has a solid roster of partners where you can transfer ThankYou points. However, it's a bit lacking in this regard compared to the competition. Most rewards enthusiasts would probably pick the American Express Membership Rewards program over Citi ThankYou Rewards when it comes to transfer partners. The Chase Ultimate Rewards program is another one with lots of high-value redemption options.

Not available anymore

It's worth reiterating that applications aren't open for the Citi Prestige® Card anymore. That's not really a drawback if you already have the card, but it's a pretty big one if you don't have the card and were hoping to get it. If so, you'll need to move on to other credit card reviews to find a card you can open.

When the Citi Prestige® Card was open for applications, a FICO® Score of 700 or higher was recommended to apply for it. As one of the best Citi credit cards, it's aimed at consumers with good to excellent credit.

RELATED: Best Citi Credit Cards

The $495 annual fee is very reasonable based on what the Citi Prestige® Card offers. However, just like with any other premium credit card, the annual fee is only worth it if you can maximize this card's benefits.

Assuming you always use the $250 travel credit, this card's true cost drops to $245. The rewards and additional benefits it offers can easily get you more than that in value. In particular, the complimentary fourth night on two paid hotel stays per year is a potential goldmine. If you like staying at nice hotels, you could save $500 or more from that perk alone.

You're already a cardholder and you make use of the benefits every year. Since there's no application available for the Citi Prestige® Card anymore, it's only an option for consumers who already have it.

If not, you'll need to look for other options. That's a bit of a bummer, as the Citi Prestige® Card has some features you don't see anywhere else. Fortunately, there are plenty of other top credit cards you can use to save money and improve your travel experience.

Our credit card methodology

At The Motley Fool Ascent, we rate credit cards on a five-star scale (1 = poor, 5 = best). Our rating criteria includes rewards rates, welcome bonuses, fees, and perks like travel credits and 0% intro APR offers to evaluate our ratings.

We combine these factors with an evaluation of brand reputation and customer satisfaction to ensure you're getting the best card recommendations. Learn more about how The Ascent rates credit cards.