Citi PremierPass – Elite Level with 15,000 bonus TY points and No Annual Fee

This thread at FW notes a very interesting offer: The Elite Level version of Citi PremierPass is being offered with the annual fee of $75 waived. The offer also includes the standard 15,000 bonus points. The link to this offer can be found here.

Note that the linked page says “Annual Fee Waived.” It’s unclear whether it’s referring to merely the first year of the annual fee being waived or if it would be waived permanently. If you open up the application and then look at the terms and conditions, under the heading of “Annual fees” it says “None.” That might lead you to believe that the fee waiver is permanent.

It’s a little puzzling, however, because then one wonders why Citi would even bother placing both the Elite level and the standard level of the card on the same promotional web page. Without the annual fee, the standard PremierPass has no advantage over the Elite level, as the Elite PremierPass has superior points earning capabilities, among other things. Based on this reasoning, my guess is that the intention of the offer is that only the first year’s annual fee is waived. I believe anyone who applies with the expectation that they will be forever exempt from the annual fee will be disappointed, but I would be happy to be proven wrong.