Citi Prestige will be back next year. The card will be once again available for signups and will have some improved benefits. But there’s also plenty of bad news. Annual fee is going up, 4th night free will have limitations and points will only be worth 1 cent each on airfare purchases.

Revamped Citi Prestige

First the good news:

• The revamped Citi Prestige card will earn 5x points on dining and air travel and 3x points on cruise lines.
• Citi is also improving the card’s $250 annual air travel credit to be a $250 credit for travel purchases in general.
• In May, the card will add cellphone protection for damage and theft.

Now the bad:

• 4th Night Free will be limited to twice per calendar year. Cap applies to primary account holder and any authorized users.
• 1 cent per point on airfare when redeeming through the Citi travel portal. 25% bonus will be gone.
• No more 2x points on entertainment starting in September.
• Annual fee will be increased from $450 to $495, from $450 (Citigold and Private Bank clients will still pay $350).

All other benefits such as 3x points on hotel purchases, Citi Price Rewind, Global Entry/TSA PreCheck fee credit and trip delay insurance will remain the same.

Guru’s Wrap-Up

There’s plenty of good and bad news here. 5x points on dining and air travel will be a big boost to those who have lots of spend on those categories. It will easily be the go to card for dining and travel. The $250 credit for travel purchases will also be much easier to use up. On the other hand the popular 4th night free benefit will be limited to twice per calendar year. Might not affect everyone, but those who travel often will sure miss it. Value of points when redeemed for airfare on Citi portal is also knocked down to 1 cent. And the annual fee is going up.

There’s no word on what the new signup bonus will be. That will probably be the deciding factor for many people, on whether to apply or not.

HT: TPG