Late last year, Citi announced some (very negative) changes to the Citi Prestige 4th Night Free hotel benefit. Effective September 1, all Fourth Night Free bookings must go through the Citi Thank You travel portal. While perhaps more convenient, this largely guts the value of the Fourth Night Fee benefit. The combination of higher rates, and ineligibility for loyalty points or elite benefits, can leave the benefit largely worthless. Therefore, to maximize the benefit, I suggest using the Citi Prestige Concierge through the end of August.
Two Ways to Contact the Concierge For Your Citi Prestige 4th Night Free Booking
As a reminder, there are two ways to contact the Citi Prestige Concierge. You can call Citi’s customer service number, or e-mail the Concierge directly.
Beware – Citi now tries to fool you into using the Thank You travel center for reservations when you call. I recently made a Fourth Night Free booking through the Concierge. When I called, after selecting “Concierge” through the phone tree, the system provides an option for travel reservations. DON’T select this option; it connects you to Connexions Loyalty, Thank You’s travel provider. Instead, wait for the option for “Concierge”. The voice response system makes you think it’s only for things like dining or entertainment reservations. But the Concierge does still take Fourth Night Free bookings, through August 31 at least.
If you prefer not to call, you can also e-mail a reservation request to the Concierge. In my earlier Fourth Night Free “how-to” post, reader pwc122 provided excellent tips on doing this:
the best way to go is to email the concierge with your check-in/out dates, number of adults/children, a description and link to the specific rate you’re looking to book, your hotel loyalty program number, the room type, and the last 4 digits of your card #.
Also, if you do interact with the Connexions Loyalty team, reader Chris Johnson suggests they may be providing misinformation regarding Concierge bookings. Specifically, he reports the Connexions team implied that all bookings now must go through Thank You. While that’s true starting September 1, you do in fact have until the end of August to use the Concierge. Over the last week, I spoke to two Concierge members, one to book a room, an the other to change the rate. Both helped me with no issues or commotion.
Final Thoughts
If you’re considering a Citi Prestige 4th Night Free booking, I highly recommend doing so through the Concierge before 8/31. Otherwise, all bookings must go through Thank You, which provides dubious net value in some cases. Also, remember that the two uses per year restriction only applies to bookings made after September 1. That means you can book multiple stays through the end of 2019 using the Concierge to maximize your benefit one last time.
