Finance

On April 17, Citi sent out an email to holders of certain credit cards announcing “Important information about your card’s protection benefits.” Uh oh, you know what that usually means. But for once that notice from a credit card issuer announcing a change in terms had good news for cardholders, reversing an industry trend.

Buried in the linked detailed brochure are these generous improvements in benefits:

*MOUSE PRINT:

“Citi Price Rewind,” the card issuer’s name for their price guarantee (if an item is advertised for less within 60 days, you get back the difference) now will cover price differences up to $500 per item instead of just $300, and the maximum total claim you can make per year is more than doubled to $2500.

*MOUSE PRINT:

“Extended warranty” which previously doubled the manufacturer’s warranty up to an additional year, now gives you 24 months of extra protection even on manufacturer’s warranties as short as 90 days. This is a HUGE new benefit for shoppers.

*MOUSE PRINT:

“Return protection,” which provides that the credit card issuer will buy back an item you want to return if the seller will not accept it, increases from a protection period of 60 days after purchase to 90 days after.

*MOUSE PRINT:

“Trip cancellation and interruption coverage” which provides a refund of certain travel purchases if unforeseen events occur, is substantially expanded. The old policy only covered $1500 of expenses per year. The new policy covers up to $3000 per trip. The new policy also greatly expands the definition “family” to even include a family pet that may have a life-threatening illness.

There are many additional changes in contract language in the new set of benefits compared to the old.

A few words of caution: this list of benefits is not all-inclusive, and does not apply to all Citi credit cards. At a minimum, it does apply to the Citi Double Cash card. These new benefits go into effect on May 15, 2016.