MANILA, Philippines - A few years ago, the Lifestyle staff of the STAR went on a progressive lunch. The idea was this: Have our appetizers in one or two restaurants, eat the main course in another, and take our coffee and dessert in another restaurant. We were at Serendra in Bonifacio Global City, and by the second restaurant, we were, of course, already full — but we were foodies and we wanted to indulge in the pleasure of eating and not worry about calories.
To this day, Serendra remains a gourmand’s haven with its more than a dozen restaurants serving practically most of the major cuisines in the world —Chinese, Vietnames, Thai, Filipino, Middle Eastern, American, Italian — and several coffee and dessert bars. It is still one of the best places in the country to have a progressive meal because restaurants sit side by side and diners can meander around with friends at bookstores or just cross the street to take a walk up to High St. between courses.
This is why Citibank’s Dining Privileges program has partnered with Serendra restaurants Arama, Thai at Silk, Chelsea Marketplace, Murray & D/Vine, and Zao for its New York Holiday Promo. The prizes will surely satisfy any foodie’s craving. The grand prize is a New York Holiday for two with roundtrip tickets and 10-day, nine-night hotel accommodations and transfers, all-expense-paid food trips at Citibank Dining Privileges partners, plus P50,000 pocket money. With New York City being inarguably the world’s best place for dining, this grand prize is a gourmand’s dream come true.
“We wanted to make the grand prize a memorable trip for the winner,” says Citibank’s Alma Gruenberg, vice presiden and Retail Marketing head. “New York caters to different markets for different needs as it offers the best in culture, arts, city life and food.”
Second prize is another food trip — this time to Hong Kong. There will be two winners of a Hong Kong Holiday for two with roundtrip airfare, four-day, three-night hotel accommodations and transfers, all-expense-paid food trips at Citibank Dining Privileges partners, and P30,000 pocket money. People believe that Hong Kong is Asia’s equivalent of New York, boasting renowned chefs and a very happening nightlife.
The third prize will have 10 winners of Dine on Us, whereby you can get to win back dining transactions of up to P10,000 charged to your Citibank credit card.
All you have to do is dine at any participating restaurant in Serendra, Greenbelt and Bonifacio High Street until Jan. 15. For every P2,000 single-receipt purchase at partner-restaurants, you get one Citibank New York Holiday Raffle Coupon. Just fill out the coupon and drop it at any Citibank New York Holiday drop box.
Since its launch last year, Citibank’s Dining Privileges program has been hugely successful. Apart from the fact that it crosses borders — privileges such as complimentary treats and discounts are enjoyed by Citi cardholders whether dining in the Philippines, Singapore, Hong Kong or Malaysia — it also carries the Citibank Best Deal Promise, which assures diners of getting the best deal in over 1,000 dining locations in the country. What this means is that Citi guarantees to reimburse the difference in cash between Citibank’s offer and that of another bank if the other bank’s offer is better. Simply inform your food server at a Citi-partner establishment that you will be availing of the Citi Dining Privileges promotion prior to placing your order. If you discover there is a better deal offered if you paid using another credit card, you can seek a refund of the difference in the cash value between the two offers. The amount of refund is computed based on the difference between the cash savings of the Citi Card promotion and that of the other credit card. On promotions involving freebies or complimentary dishes, computation will be based on the monetary value of the freebie.
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For Citibank’s Best Deal Promise, in case you have cause to request for a reimbursement, call the 24-hour CitiPhone hotline at 995-9999 within seven banking days from date of the transaction, and provide the following details: name and location of dining outlet, date of transaction, transaction amount, and information on other bank/credit card company’s better offer such as discount, minimum purchase requirement or freebie.