Nerfed: Citi Prestige Removes Unlimited Lounge Access, Increases Annual Fees From 1st July 2025

Citibank has announced a revision to Citi Prestige that is essentially a reduction in benefits — from 1st July 2025, the card’s unlimited lounge access will be reduced to 12 visits a year. At the same time, the annual fee is increasing to S$651.82, though Citi is offering more miles for the annual fee payment.

Unlimited no more, 12 visits a year for cardholder and guest(s)

One of the stronger benefits of Citi Prestige has to be its unlimited Priority Pass membership that allows the cardholder and one guest to access airport lounges worldwide. Without a cap to the number of free visits one could get, lounge hopping is a thing where one could try out different lounges at an airport if they wish. For frequent travellers, it also means not having to worry about running out of complimentary lounge visits.

This will change from 1st July 2025 as there will only be 12 visits per calendar year. 12 is a relatively small number that would definitely impact those who travel more frequently and make lounge hopping (which is what’s arguably responsible for such a nerf) all but impossible.

A typical trip of mine can already consume many visits just during departure from Changi — I usually go for massage (TranSpa at Terminal 2), followed by lunch (Kitchen by Wolfgang at Terminal 3 or a lounge), and finally some cocktails (Asian Street Kitchen at Terminal 2) before my flight. That’s easily 2 to 3 visits per person, or 4 to 6 when you include a companion. This has made the unlimited Priority Pass membership such a valuable part of my continued use of Citi Prestige, and obviously it must have cost Citibank quite a fair bit to provide such a benefit.

While 12 is obviously a much smaller number than “unlimited”, a silver lining here is that you can now bring more than 1 guest with you using Citi Prestige’s Priority Pass as long as you have enough visits remaining. For instance, if you brought 3 guests with you, 4 visits will be consumed. This definitely does not make up for “unlimited”, but at least it is a bit more useful for those who travel in groups.

Annual fee increased by 19.6%

Also with effect from 1st July 2025, the annual fee is going up to S$651.82 from the current S$545. That’s a 19.6% increase in fees, though Citibank is trying to reduce the sting by offering an increased 80,000 Citi ThankYou Points which is equivalent to 32,000 miles. This is up from the current 62,500 points or 25,000 miles, or a 28% increase.

While it seems good that you are getting 28% more miles with a 19.6% fee hike, remember that we pay the annual fee not only for miles. If we did, the deal was terrible to begin with at 2.18 cents per mile (S$545 ÷ 25,000 miles), and you are now buying more miles at 2.04 cents per mile (S$651.82 ÷ 32,000 miles) which is arguably a worse deal even if we ignored the nerf in lounge visits.

Overall, the increase in annual fee and renewal miles isn’t a good thing even if we assumed nothing else changed. With the big reduction in number of lounge visits, this is much harder to swallow.

Other features unchanged

The other draws of the cards remain unchanged, thankfully, and with features like “4th night free”, it is still entirely possible to recoup the annual fee of the card and then some. The quarterly free airport rides benefit is also untouched, and that is something I use quite often for my trips.

Instinctively, I would say this nerf sucks, but it doesn’t seem to cripple the card’s overall attractiveness and viability. My card anniversary is fast approaching, and it’s likely I will have a more in-depth piece on whether I’m renewing the card for its 4th year so stay tuned for that.

You can see Citibank’s FAQs on the changes here.

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Citi Prestige has been one of my favourite card for years now, and it’s not hard to see why when it has been delivering such outsized value. This value is going to be significantly smaller after the nerf takes effect, but for frequent travellers I believe the card can still be a very valuable part of one’s cards to have.

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H/T: Milelion

Seth Wee was a licensed financial adviser representative from 2009 to 2025, with over 16 years of experience in Singapore’s financial advisory industry.

He started Sethisfy.com in 2019 to share practical insights on credit cards, banking products, and miles strategies, helping readers identify financial products that deliver the best value. Seth has been featured in CNA, Channel 8, Today, and a host of other publications. In 2025, he was also part of a panel at CPF’s Ready For Life festival.

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