Citibank devalues airline redemptions (FYI to those with the Signature and Platinum cards via previous deals)

Glider on 03/11/2015 - 11:05
Last edited 03/11/2015 - 11:08

I found out from the AFF forums:
http://www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au/community/citibank…

As of 1/11/15 Citibank has reduced the redemption rates for Singapore and Virgin frequent flyer points via all rewards cards without notice.

Old rate was 1.5 Citi points = 1 Krisflyer/Velocity point, and the new rate is 2 Citi points = 1 Krisflyer/Velocity points.

I was personally only 2500 Citi points away from my dream redemption to Krisflyer, and in the blink of an eye I now apparently have to spend another $30k through my Signature card to get back to the same place I was a few days ago. Not happy Jan.

There is lots of discussion on AFF about whether Citi was obliged to inform customers under its T&Cs, and plenty of angry people complaining to Citi with varying results.

If you're affected by this (and unhappy about it), please make sure to complain through official channels to Citi.
https://www.citibank.com.au/global_docs/kana/contactus_compl…

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Comments

  • hashtagbargain on 03/11/2015 - 11:33

    Thanks for posting this, wasnt aware.

  • Paul Atreides on 03/11/2015 - 12:27
    +1

    wow, this is just shocking. I had about 40k points I was saving to do a bulk xfer, and I'm sure there are other ozb'rs on here with more.

  • mbwl2010 on 03/11/2015 - 12:30
    +3

    I have accumulated a fair bit of points(coz points doesn't expire) and was waiting for opportunities to use it when I need to use Singapore Airlines for overseas flights.

    Not happy with the lack of communication. I have put a complaint through.
    Thanks for the notice.

    • mbwl2010 on 04/11/2015 - 13:57

      Just received a call from Citibank after putting an online complaint through yesterday. The lady on the phone iterated that 6.2 of their Rewards prograsm DOES NOT APPLY to their recent actions of not informing customers of these changes. I am no lawyer here and the lady on the phone was just passing on the 'message' given to her by the head honchos. It just seems odd to have just been left in the dark.

      I told her a scenario that I had lost about 20k krisflyer points after the rate changes. Sadly she was not able to compensate the loss. All she spoke about was to acknowledge the complaint I had put through - a bit of PR work but didn't put me in a better position.

  • spiff on 03/11/2015 - 17:48
    +4

    There is an article on this on point hacks now which has summarised the issue.

    http://www.pointhacks.com.au/citi-rewards-velocity-krisflyer…

    Not happy, but there appear to be many others in worse positions who have saved their Citirewards points for years.

  • bluedufflecoat on 04/11/2015 - 21:23

    Not happy either….

  • Glider on 04/11/2015 - 21:44

    Over on the frequent flyer forums, a member has offered to initiate legal proceedings on behalf of affected people.

    At this stage it's a letter of demand, but it could well go further. If you'd like to be included, have a look at user daveozsydney here:

    http://www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au/community/citibank…

    If you're not on AFF and want to get through to Dave, it looks like he's also posting on Citibank's Facebook page so you can contact him through there.

    • bluedufflecoat on 05/11/2015 - 15:27

      how many points do people have accrued? I have 19k, so I miss out by about 3300 pts (estimate), which might be worth about $33! Probably not enough to participate in a class action. :S Costs more to just initiate legal proceedings…

  • marka on 05/11/2015 - 17:18
    +2

    Citibank are officially returning the conversation rate pre 1/11.

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