[Updated: Thanks to Robin on the comments, we now know there’s a targeted and non-targeted version. The targeted version is described in this article. The non-targeted version requires you to spend S$9.0K during the same 1 July-31 Aug period and pay a S$238 admin fee to get a bonus 31,200 miles.This is still an opportunity to buy mile at 0.76 cents each. The registration process is also different, refer to this document for details]
A lot of credit cards have great sign up bonuses for new cardholders. But if you’re an existing one? Pffffft. Thanks for your continued support, remember to pay your bill on time!
That’s why this new Citibank Premiermiles deal should be really exciting, if you already have a Citibank Premiermiles Visa card. Yeah, if you haven’t held the card for at least 6 months, you can stop reading here because this deal doesn’t apply to you.
If you have had a Citibank Premiermiles Visa card for at least 6 months and received an invitation to participate, you need to spend either S$3K or S$9K from 1 July to 31 August.
If you spend S$9K and pay an admin fee of S$238, you get 10.8K miles (S$9,000 @1.2 mpd) + 31.2K miles for paying the admin fee. What’s the admin fee for? Hell if I know, but I’m not going to ask too many questions.
This nets you a total of 42K miles for S$9K of spend. Paying the admin fee of S$238 to get 31,200 miles is the equivalent of buying miles at 0.76 cents each. That is an amazing price to pay for miles, considering that you can get upwards of 2 cents even if you redeem for economy class (don’t).
If you spend S$3K and pay an admin fee of S$58, you get 3.6K miles (S$3,000 @1.2 mpd), + 6.4K for paying the admin fee. That’s the equivalent of buying miles at 0.91 cents each. Again that’s a great price, but I’d much rather net the larger bonus.
I’d also like to point out that I value Citimiles more than I would DBS points or UOB UNI$ because Citimiles have more transfer partners. DBS and UOB transfer to SQ and Cathay, but Citimiles can be transferred to both of those plus
- British Airways
- Club Carlson
- Etihad
- EVA
- Air France
- Garuda
- Hilton
- IHG
- Malaysia Airlines
- Qantas
- Qatar Airways
- Thai Airways
You need to opt in to participate in this promotion, which you can do so via SMS
You can find the full T&C here. When I first got word of this promotion, I was so excited and had loaded up the application page for the Premiermiles Visa. Then as I was filling it out, I alt-tabbed through the pages and read the T&C. My excitement quickly evaporated when I saw this
It’s kind of ironic because I’m the sort who advocates people to time their credit card sign ups so they can take advantage of joining bonuses. But this offer is one that favors the loyal. It’s actually a very nice move by Citibank to reward their long term cardholders, and I applaud them for that.
I hope as many of you as possible can take advantage of this great deal.
(HT: Zhizhong & Adam)
