Y’all know how much I like the Citi Prestige card. One of the reasons is because you can get your 4th night free at nearly any major hotel chain or independent hotel, including those near national parks!
And now, via The Points Guy, Citi has confirmed you can get the 4th night free at hostels!
I’ll remind you about this valuable perk!
Citi Prestige 4th Night Free Perk Expands to Include Hostels
Link: Citi Prestige
Link: Citi Prestige 4th Night Free Perk
Citi Prestige cardholders can get their last night free on a paid, 4-night hotel stay. And it can be at any hotel that can be booked by Citi Concierge.
This has included major hotel chains and independent hotels. Plus, booking through Citi Concierge has the same effect as booking directly with the hotel. You’ll earn points, elite qualifying nights, and are eligible for upgrades.
And now, the Citi Prestige 4th night free perk covers hostels, too! That’s great for folks who stay at both high-end hotels and budget-friendly places.
Million Mile Secrets team member Joseph has used Hosteling International several times for trips in Europe and the Middle East, and highly recommends the experience! He’s enjoyed (nearly) all of them.
Note: Starting July 23, 2017, the amount you’ll get back for your 4th night will be based on the average nightly cost of your stay. NOT the actual cost of the 4th night. And they’ll no longer refund taxes.
How Much Better Does This Make Citi Prestige?
This new addition doesn’t really make the Citi Prestige 4th night free benefit that much more valuable. That’s because hostels can cost as little as $20 per night in some areas for shared dorm rooms. So if you stay in hostels, you’d have to stay a LOT to justify the Citi Prestige’s $450 annual fee. Although you can still do well with the other perks.
That said, private rooms at a hostel can be more expensive, like $70 or more per night. So if you book private hostel rooms, you’ll save more.
You can also book hostels on websites like Hotels.com and Orbitz, which both offer rewards for booking independent hotels through their sites. So if you aren’t staying 4 consecutive nights, it might be better to book with one of those sites, so you’ll at least get rewards for the money you spend.
Bottom Line
If you stay at both high-end hotels and hostels, you’ll enjoy this new addition to the Citi Prestige 4th night free benefit. It’s a nice way to save some extra money with an updated credit card perk.
But it’s NOT a good idea to get the card for the 4th night free benefit if you plan to make up the $450 annual fee by getting free nights at hostels! They don’t cost a lot to begin with, so you likely won’t save much money.
Thanks for this post. As a budget traveler it’s nice to see that this would apply to independent hotels including hostels. The 450 fee is hefty but I’m sure there’s tons of added perks to that. Of course a mix of budget and higher end help so on the splurge this would be great. Appreciate the article and insight for a newbie on the blog.
Cheers,
Mark
@ Jeff S, the thing with the Citi card is if you threaten to cancel they offer retention incentives, some of which may make it worth it of you to keep the card.
Any thoughts on Citi adding back in some new benefit when the American Airlines lounge access benefit goes away? They need to keep competitive with the Chase Reserve for me to stay with them. I do like the 4 night free but we use airbnb mostly.