Last month I signed up for the Citi Prestige card in accordance to advice from travel bloggers like The Points Guy. Even though it comes with a hefty $450 annual fee the money you get back from it makes the entire fee worth it in the first year. I might get rid of it after that but for now it’s quite useful. Especially since after $3000 of spending you earn 50,000 ThankYou points that can be transferred to 11 airlines worldwide.

The first benefit I used is in preparation for my honeymoon this summer – the Global Entry travel credit. Once I signed up for the service and it posted onto my account, I saw a statement credit three days later in the exact amount of the payment. Unfortunately it only applies to the primary card holder (not authorized users) but that is still money saved.

Then my wife and I started booking flights for trips in the upcoming year. The Citi Prestige provides $250 airline credit for each calendar year, so by booking flights in December 2015 and January 2016, we get $500 in return for plans we were going to make anyway! Just today I checked my statement for one of the credits posted:

It usually takes 1-2 billing cycles for these credits so I await the other credit in our February statement.

Finally, one benefit we have not used yet: access to American Airlines lounges and a Priority Pass account. There are many of these across the country and the world so we look forward to spending time in them in the upcoming year of travel.