If your goal this holiday season is to get the best price for your purchase, listen up! Most credit cards come with a lesser-known shopping and purchase benefit called Price Protection. Price Protection is basically an insurance that covers price drops, insomuch that cardholders can be reimbursed the difference in price on most products if recorded at a lower price in a printed advertisement at any retail store or non-auction Internet advertisement.
We told you about this benefit last holiday season, but much has changed since then. And not for the better. Chase Sapphire Reserve® and Chase Sapphire Preferred®, which previously had a generous price protection policy up to $2,500 annually, have ditched this benefit completely! And Citi Prestige® Card has lessened this benefit significantly.
Here’s the Price Protection you can expect from our core cards and some details on what’s eligible for a claim. Happy shopping!
Which premium credit cards still offer Price Protection?
The Luxury Cards—Mastercard® Black Card™, Mastercard® Gold Card™, Mastercard® Titanium Card™—still offer Price Protection as does the Citi Prestige Card.
To be eligible for coverage on any of the Luxury Card, you must pay for the item entirely with your Luxury Card or use the card’s reward points for the purchase. If the same item is found at a lower price 120 days after purchase through printed advertisements or non-auction Internet advertisements, it’s eligible for reimbursement of the price difference up to $250 per item and up to $1,000 per year. There is a maximum of four (4) claim(s) per cardholder account per twelve (12) month period. The policy and these rates are the same as last year. Black Friday ads are fair game. Luxury Card holders should visit MyCardBenefits.com or call 800-Mastercard to open a claim.
To be eligible for coverage for Citi Price Rewind (Price Protection for Citi Card holders) with the Citi Prestige Card, you must pay for the item at least in part with the card. If the same item is found at a lower price within 60 days of purchase, it’s eligible for reimbursement of the price difference, up to $200 per item (down from $500 last year) and up to $1,000 annually (down from $2,500 last year). Black Friday ads are honored, and door buster sales are still honored. However, unlike last year, watches are no longer covered by Price Protection. Nor are travel arrangements of any kind (e.g., hotels, vacations rentals, or car rentals). Also, Price Protection will no longer be honored when “[t]he lower-priced item is offered through a warehouse club where the merchant requires a customer to pay a membership fee.” So don’t even bother comparing with prices at Costco or Sam’s Club. Go to www.CitiPriceRewind.com or call 1-866-506-5222 for instructions on how to submit a reimbursement request.
Which premium credit cards will not offer Price Protection?
Chase Sapphire Reserve and Chase Sapphire Preferred eliminated Price Protection completely as a cardholder benefit in August 2018. The previous policy stated that if the same item was found at a lower price within 90 days of purchase, it met the eligibility requirements to be reimbursed the price difference with a maximum coverage of $500 per item and $2,500 annually. Not anymore!
The Platinum CardTM from American Express and the American Express Gold Card revoked this benefit long ago. U.S. Bank Altitude Reserve Visa Infinite® Card never offered it.
If I have a card that offers Price Protection, what else should I know about and how to use it?
This feature isn’t automatic, so it’s up to the buyer to search the Sunday ads or hold onto those screenshot bargains as proof of price. If you have paid a higher price and want the lower advertised price honored, you’ll then have to go through a rather simple claims procedure with your credit card administrator to get the difference refunded (meaning, you’ll have to front the price differential for a wee while and still pay off your card).
It’s also important to note what items are—and are not—covered. Most items you’d purchase for the holidays are covered, but each card has specifics about inclusions and exclusions. In the most general sense, items not covered include: jewelry, art, antiques, collectibles, custom items, motorized vehicles of any type, animals and living plants, perishables, previously owned items, items for resale, services, tickets, and debit cards. Also, extras beyond the item itself, such as taxes, shipping and handling, delivery costs, and warranties do not count. Moreover, items must be purchased in the United States, and “liquidation” sales or anything of the sort will be denied coverage.
