Citi had bad news for credit card holders last week. If you have the popular Citi Double Cash Card that pays two percent cash back on all purchases, the bank announced it was dropping most benefits that come with the card.
If you happen to go to look at your account online and click “benefits,” the following fine print popup appears:
MOUSE PRINT:
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, Citi® Price Rewind, 90 Day Return Protection, Damage & Theft Purchase Protection, and Extended Warranty 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.
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.
So, starting September 22, even the most basic of benefits that almost any card offers like collision damage waiver when you rent a car and protection for purchases damaged or stolen within 90 days of purchase are being discontinued. And then the great benefits they offered like adding two extra years of coverage to any length manufacturers warranty, giving back the difference if an item goes on sale after you buy it (“Price Rewind”), and giving you a full refund on an otherwise unreturnable purchase within 90 days are all disappearing too.
The bank says that too few people took advantage of these benefits compared to their costs of providing them. However, by Citi’s own calculation, the Price Rewind benefit was enjoyed by close to 700,000 cardholders last year, and returned over $17-million to them.
According to MarketWatch, here is a full list of benefits being discontinued on some or all Citi cards including the Citi Prestige Card, the Citi Premier Card, the Citi Double Cash Card, and Citi’s co-branded cards with American Airlines:
•Worldwide Car Rental Insurance
•Trip Cancellation & Interruption Protection
•Worldwide Travel Accident Insurance
•Trip Delay Protection
•Baggage Delay Protection
•Lost Baggage Protection
•Roadside Assistance Dispatch Service
•Travel & Emergency Assistance
•Damage & Theft Purchase Protection
•Extended Warranty
•Medical Evacuation
•Missed Event Ticket Protection
•Citi Price Rewind
• 90 Day Return Protection
UPDATE: The Costco Visa card is also affected according to Clark.com and Citi. At a minimum, trip cancellation coverage and Price Rewind are being discontinued on that card.
There is no obvious go-to substitute for the Citi Double Cash card. Fidelity Investments has a 2-percent cash back card, but the money has to go into a free Fidelity account and only gets deposited after you spend $2,500. It does have traditional Visa benefits but not the price guarantee or return protection.
This article lists cards that still offer the price protection benefit (but in many cases the benefit is set to be eliminated). Feel free to suggest other alternative credit cards in the comments that are rich in benefits and cash back.
Benefits!?!?!? Who needs benefits??
Thanks for providing this information.One of the primary reasons I have and use this card is for the 2 year extended warranty. I will be switching to other cards.
In checking around, it is impossible to find a card as good as the Citi Double Cash card was.
At the moment, US Bank comes the closest with an AMERICAN EXPRESS 1.5% cash back card (U.S. Bank Cash 365 Card) on all purchases, and as for benefits, it has:
— CDW
— Travel insurance (only accidental death)
— Best Value Guarantee (price matching)
— Return protection
— Theft/damage in 90 days
— Extended Warranty (but only 1 year added to one year max. mfrs warranty)
https://benefits.usbank.com/personal/benefits/benefits-us-bank-cash-365-american-express-card.html
Knew it was too good to last.
It’s pretty much my one stop shop card I use for everything. I mean everything. The exception is gas, restaurants and travel – which I charge to my Costco Anywhere Visa.
I used the price rewind and extended warranty a few times. All of those instances were less than $100 a claim.
Pretty disappointed to hear that the Costco Anywhere Visa is loosing some of it’s benefits too. It pays 3% for travel, but then they are discontinuing the trip cancellation coverage? WTF? Had a sneaky suspicion that shortly after Costco switch to Citi, the advantage of the card would loose some of it’s luster. They just switch in 2016, so that didn’t take long.
I got the same notice on my regular Citi card (1% cash back). I’m not sure which benefits still remain under “identity theft”. Would I still be able to get a refund if I never receive something I purchase or it arrives damaged? If not, are there other cards that still do this?
Edgar replies: You have a right to dispute charges when the goods or services were not as represented or were defective. This is federal law and runs with all credit cards.