Citi Price Rewind
I recently applied, and was approved, for a Citi Prestige MasterCard. The card has some great perks including airport lounge access, Global Entry application fee credit, and reimbursement for airline tickets. One of the lesser known but powerful perks is the Citi Price Rewind benefit.
The Citi Price Rewind benefit is a purchase protection program that ensures you get the best price for your purchase. If within 60 days the price of an item lowers after you make the purchase, Citi (or their underwriter Triton Insurance Company) will refund you the difference.
So how does Citi Price Rewind work?
Step 1 – Save your receipt
The most important thing is to save the receipts of any large item purchased (which you should anyway). Obviously the Citi Price Rewind benefit doesn’t cover non-retail purchases (groceries, gas, restaurants, etc). And it probably won’t be worth your time to submit requests for small items that wouldn’t change price dramatically.
I would suggest that you immediately scan your receipt after making the purchase (or save a PDF of an online purchase) as you will need to upload them as proof of purchase.
Step 2 – Visit https://www.citipricerewind.com
You will need to log in to your Citi credit card account (same log in you would use to make a payment or review your statements.
Step 3 – Search for your product
For my first claim I wanted to check on my Bose noise canceling headphones. You can search by product name or UPC code. When you find the correct product, click “Track This Item”.
Step 4 – Enter your purchase info
You will need three pieces of info: Purchase price (minus taxes, shipping, etc), date of purchase, and store. Click “Start a Price Rewind”.
Step 5 – Check Price
You will be taken to a screen where you will be shown where your claim is in the process. It will show you the lowest price they have found and how much of a refund you will receive. In my case, I paid $299.99 for the headphones, and Citi has found it for $289.00. The Citi Price Rewind benefit will continue to search for a lower price until 60 days after purchase. If you find a better price somewhere, you can also submit what you have found (ex. a scan of a newspaper ad).
Step 6 – Upload Receipt
This is where you upload your scanned receipt. You can also see the historical price of your item.
Step 7 – Wait
Now that you have submitted your claim, you just wait for 60 days after your purchase.
Step 8 – Confirm Refund
Once the 60 days are up, sign back in and complete the refund. I was pleasantly surprised to found that Citi Price Rewind had found my Bose headphones for $135.49 on a website called 11 Main. If the refund is more than $25, you can chose to have a statement credit or check mailed to you. Typically getting a check would make more sense (that way it doesn’t take away from your minimum spend for credit card bonuses and you can score additional points), but it takes more time. I decided to just go with the statement credit as it is easier.
Especially good uses
niehaubs, over at FlyerTalk, suggested that using the Citi Price Rewind benefit around Black Friday can be a good way to avoid the insanity of retail shopping after Thanksgiving. If there is a product you want that is going on sale on Black Friday, purchase it ahead of time at regular price, scan the printed newspaper ad showing the low price, and submit it as a Price Rewind claim.
I also can imagine that this could be especially beneficial in the case where the item purchased has a mail in rebate. Many office supply stores run promotions where the cost at the register (and thus on the receipt) is the normal retail price but you get money back through points or a rebate check or gift card. This might be a way to double dip in to savings — pay the full price, get a mail in rebate and then use Price Rewind. There is nothing spelled out on the website about this. However, it might be frowned upon by Citi. Try it at your own risk.
You can get up to $300 refunded per item and up to $1200 a year. There are limitations for what is covered. However, if you are making a big ticket purchase (computer, appliance, TV) it might pay to use your Citi Prestige card (or another Citi card that has the Citi Price Rewind benefit).
I do not receive any affiliate compensation for any of my posts.