Happy Unboxing Saturday, everyone! I received a black book-sized package in the mail and left it sitting around for a few days. It was non-descript, so I had no idea what it was… until today. It was my new metal Citi Prestige Credit Card! I had totally forgotten that Citi was replacing the plastic ones.
The new card is a bit heavier, and now comes with the chip and your name on the front. I decided to take some time to unbox it and actually look through the book it came with. As I unboxed the card, I realized you might be interested in seeing what’s in the book, too. These things always interest me because I’m a curious person, so I like to see what pictures Citi used to describe the experience they hope their cardholders will have. I know these companies spend a lot of money and time on putting these marketing tools together and I wonder what they come up with.
Let’s take a look! In general, the book is laid out really well and easy to use as a reference for the card benefits. It’s 59 pages long, so they really take their time laying out the benefits. The table of contents definitely prioritizes what Citi thinks are the key benefits to the card. No guessing here what comes first… travel, and specifically accommodations!
And I could have told you what photo they would use to start this section:) Whenever people tell me about the two places they’d love to travel to, it’s always Italy and Hawaii. Sure enough, here’s the picture of Venice, Italy they use.
The book goes on to explain the complimentary 4th night free benefit, which you all know I’m a huge fan of, the $250 air travel credit, the Priority Pass lounge benefits, and that there are no foreign transaction fees.
There’s a long section on Citi Thank You Points explaining their accrual and usage. One use of Citi Thank You Points I wasn’t aware of was being able to use them towards your mortgage and student loans. That’s interesting.
I had also forgotten about Citi Price Rewind. Citi Price Rewind searches to see if you got the lowest price for something you paid for with your Citi credit card. I’ve never used this. I’ll have to check it out. In the section on security, Citi mentions Citi Quick Lock. If you ever misplace your credit card, Citi lets you protect it without having to change your account number or go through the card cancellation process. I didn’t know about this feature either because luckily I’ve never needed it.
I’ll keep this book as a reference. With all the different credit cards from the different banks, and the differences in benefits, I find it helpful from time to time to review each card’s benefits and uses. Do you take the time to unbox your cards and read the marketing/explanation material that comes in the package?
I’d be especially curious to know if anyone uses Citi Price Rewind or has had to use Citi Quick Lock. Have they worked well? Let me know in the comments below. Have a great weekend everyone, and thanks for reading!
P.S. If you liked this post, I recommend reading my other credit card unboxing posts (sorted by date):
I think those huge intro packages from Prestige, Plat Amex and CSR are over the top and ridiculous. I’d rather they reduce our annual fee by the $10 or $15 they spend on those mailings.
Amen!
Two votes for less frills and lower fees. Thanks for reading, DW.
Hi Kathy, Interesting take on the package vs. reducing our annual fee. Maybe they read TWG and Citi, AmEx, and Chase will change their ways! Have a great weekend, and thanks for reading.
Well, I got this, but hard to sign, tried different kinds ink pens.
HI Will, Thanks for the reminder to sign my card! If anyone has ideas about best inks to use on these metals cards, maybe they’ll let us know.
I’ve used the Price Rewind before. It is extremely easy and very useful. I didn’t even notice I had gotten money back until I saw a random refund on my statement I didn’t immediately recognize. It only takes 5 minutes to set up and you can just leave it and let Citi do the searching for you, or you can search for yourself and submit the claim to Citi. Submitting claim only takes a few seconds and you get response within a few days.
Hi Mikey, Great data point on the Price Rewind! If I may ask, what kind of item was it that you got the refund on?
It is really hard to sign the back of the new metal Prestige card. I first tried signing the card with a pen that had a liquid type ink. The ink would not absorb into the signature strip and would wipe off. Then I tried signing the card with a ballpoint pen. The pen would not sign the card. I finally was finally able to sign the card by pressing the ballpoint pen on the strip very hard. I couldn’t sign the card with my signature using this method. I basically had to print my name.
Others report the same thing, Rick. I wonder if the other metal cards have the same issue. Thanks for reading and giving us some more info on the “how the heck are we supposed to sign these cards” question!
Lol. Well, at least I was able to sign my Reserve quite easily.
Well that’s another data point. +1 for the Reserve card :)