Just 20 days ago I finally booked my four night stay for an upcoming trip through the Citi Concierge. It was the first time I’ve ever used the Citi Concierge to book an eligible fourth night free stay. Up until this point I haven’t been able to use the benefit due to limited personal travel. Any stays of 4 nights or longer are typically paid for by my employer on a corporate credit card. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but am happy to report the fourth night free credit has already posted prior to the date of travel.
Booking My Fourth Night Free Eligible Stay
As I detailed in an earlier post linked here, I wasn’t sure what to expect when booking this stay. I knew the Citi Prestige card offered the fourth night free for most hotels, but heard some hotels do not qualify for the benefit. When I first learned of the benefit I imagined only a few high-end hotels were eligible. Anyone familiar with the 3rd or 4th night free offers from the American Express Platinum card may understand why I worried. Luckily my fears were not realized and when booking through the Citi Concierge I found that every hotel I viewed was eligible. In total I checked 5 different hotels before finally selecting one.
The hotel I selected offered a fairly great discount for a pre-paid stay. Generally I try to avoid pre-paying hotel nights because I like being flexible, but for this stay the dates were fixed. In addition to my rigid schedule I loved the location of the hotel and the overall look from the website. Hopefully I’ll have a positive hotel report coming in the future.
Citi Concierge Fourth Night Free Email Confirmation
A few hours after speaking with a Citi Concierge an email arrived confirming my booking. Included in the email was the price of the entire stay and the estimated fourth night free credit. The email politely informed me that the price was non-refundable and if I canceled the reservation I would forfeit 100% of the price paid. The only information missing from the email was the expected credit posting date. After reading about others’ fourth night free experiences, it seemed the credit wouldn’t be applied until after I completed the stay.
Fourth Night Free Credit In-Transit Email
Approximately 12 days after I received the confirmation email, I received another Citi Concierge email informing me the “fourth night free credit is on its way!” I was quite excited because as it turned out the credit would be on my account before the monthly statement closed. If the credit posted prior to my billing cycle ending I’d only have to pay off the net amount of the hotel booking! By only having to pay the net amount I preserve cash flow etc. Sure enough on the last day of my billing cycle I received the fourth night free hotel credit on my Citi Prestige’s monthly statement. I couldn’t believe how quickly the entire process went. From the time of booking until the fourth night free benefit appeared on my statement took just 20 days.
Final Thoughts
Booking my first eligible fourth night free stay through my Citi Prestige card could not have been easier. At first I wasn’t sure how it was going to work out. I wasn’t sure what hotels were eligible or how long the credit would take to post. Luckily every hotel I had in mind to book was eligible and the credit ended up posting prior to the end of my billing cycle. Thanks to the timely posting of the fourth night free credit I only had to pay the net amount of the hotel stay, rather than paying the gross amount and receiving a credit in the future.
It is worth noting the only reason my fourth night free credit posted prior to my actual hotel stay is because I booked a prepaid non-refundable rate. The credit apparently takes up to a month or two from the date the related hotel charges post to your account. When booking a non-refundable rate, the fourth night free credit won’t post until after check-out when the hotel charges post.
Featured Image Courtesy of Citi
