One unique feature of the Citi Prestige Card is the so-called “Relationship Bonus”, which awards a 5-30% points bonus depending on the cardholder’s tenure and Citigold status.
 | |||
| Apply | |||
| Income Req. | S$120,000 p.a. | Points Validity | No expiry |
| Annual Fee | S$545 | Min. Transfer | 25,000 TY points (10,000 miles) |
| FCY Fee | 3.25% | Transfer Fee | S$27.25 |
| Local Earn | 1.3 mpd | Points Pool? | No |
| FCY Earn | 2.0 mpd | Lounge Access? | Yes |
| Special Earn | N/A | Airport Limo? | Yes |
| Cardholder Terms and Conditions | |||
Given the regular local/overseas earn rates of 1.3/2 mpd, this leads some to believe that they’ll be earning as much as 1.69/2.6 mpd (1.3*130% / 2*130%) with a fully maxed-out Relationship Bonus.
That’s sounds intuitive, but unfortunately, that’s just not how it works. In reality, you’re looking at an extra 0.02 to 0.12 mpd overall- better than nothing, but perhaps not as exciting as it first seems.
How does the Relationship Bonus work?
Here’s how Citibank describes the Relationship Bonus in its publicity materials.
 Citi Prestige is the only card that gives you a higher level of rewards with additional Relationship Bonus points that increases based on your spend and relationship with Citi | |||
| Tenure with Citibank | 0-5 Years | 6-10 Years | >10 Years |
| Citigold | 15% | 20% | 30% |
| Non-Citigold | 5% | 10% | 15% |
Depending on your tenure and Citigold status, you’ll earn anywhere from a 5 to 30% bonus in the form of ThankYou points. The Relationship Bonus percentage is not applied to the base earn rate; rather, it’s applied to the dollar spend amount to derive the bonus points.
Here’s a simple illustration:
- You spend S$10,000 in a membership year
- You’re a non-Citigold client with a tenure of 2 years, so your Relationship Bonus is 5%
- The 5% is multiplied by S$10,000 to give a bonus of 500 ThankYou Points (200 miles)
- The bump in your earn rate is therefore just 0.02 mpd (200 miles/ S$10,000)
With that in mind, here’s a more accurate version of that table:
| Tenure with Citibank | 0-5 Years | 6-10 Years | >10 Years |
| Citigold | +0.06 mpd | +0.08 mpd | +0.12 mpd |
| Non-Citigold | +0.02 mpd | +0.04 mpd | +0.06 mpd |
Alternatively, to put it in mpd terms:
| Tenure with Citibank | 0-5 Years | 6-10 Years | >10 Years |
| Citigold Local FCY | 1.36 mpd 2.06 mpd | 1.38 mpd 2.08 mpd | 1.42 mpd 2.12 mpd |
| Non-Citigold Local FCY | 1.32 mpd 2.02 mpd | 1.34 mpd 2.04 mpd | 1.36 mpd 2.06 mpd |
Obviously, the math favours Citigold clients, who in their very first year will be enjoying the bonuses that non-Citigold customers take 10 years to earn!
Your “tenure with Citibank” is holistic in the sense that it includes both credit card and banking relationships. For example, if you only got a Citi credit card this year, but had a Citi savings account for the past six years, your tenure is taken to be six years.
Holding a supplementary card does not, in and of itself, count towards tenure.
What counts towards Relationship Bonus spending?
When computing the dollar value of spending to which the Relationship Bonus should be applied, Citi will only take into account retail spending, which excludes the following:
| (i) annual fees, interest charges, late payment charges, GST, cash advances, instalment, easy, extended, equal payment plans, preferred payment plans, balance transfers, cash advances, quasi-cash transactions, all fees charged by Citibank or third party, miscellaneous charges imposed by Citibank (unless otherwise stated in writing by Citibank); (ii) funds transfers using the card as source of funds; (iii) bill payments (including via Citibank Online or via any other channel or agent); (iv) payments to educational institutions; (v) payments to government institutions and services (including but not limited to court cases, fines, bail and bonds, tax payment, postal services, parking lots and garages, intra-government purchases); (vi) payments to insurance companies (sales, underwriting, and premiums); (vii) payments to financial institutions (including banks and brokerages); (viii)payments to non-profit organizations; (ix) betting or gambling (including lottery tickets, casino gaming chips, offtrack betting, and wagers at race tracks) through any channel; (x) any top-ups or payment of funds to payment service providers, prepaid cards and any prepaid accounts; (xi) transit-related transactions; and (xii) transactions performed at establishments/businesses/merchants that fall within an excluded Merchant Category or a merchant that has been excluded by the bank, as set out in www.citibank.com.sg/rwdexcl (you acknowledge that this list of excluded Merchant Categories or merchants may be updated from time to time at our discretion and you agree to refer to this list for any updates); |
In short, anything that is eligible to earn points will count towards the Relationship Bonus calculation.
Anything that is not eligible to earn points will not count towards the Relationship Bonus calculation, such as education, government institutions, insurance premiums, charitable donations, GrabPay top-ups, brokerages and utilities, among others.
For avoidance of doubt:
- Citi PayAll transactions where the service fee is paid will count towards Relationship Bonus spending
- 4NF stays will count towards the Relationship Bonus in full; the reimbursement is not a contra
- Limo bookings will count towards the Relationship Bonus in full; the reimbursement is not a contra
When is the Relationship Bonus awarded?
You should see your Relationship Bonus credited as a lump sum around the time when your upcoming year’s annual fee is charged.
In theory, there should be no forfeiture of the Relationship Bonus if you decide not to renew your card for the upcoming year, in the sense that the bonus is credited in respect of your spending for the year that’s passed. Obviously, you’ll need to wait for the points to be posted first, cash them out, then request to cancel the card.
Is a Citi Prestige Card worth having?
The Citi Prestige Card is certainly not as strong a proposition as it was five years ago, but still has enough perks to make it a compelling offering with the $120K segment. Cardholders can look forward to a 50,000 miles welcome offer, unlimited lounge access with one guest, the 4th night free on hotel stays, and a wide variety of transfer partners.
For my detailed analysis of the card, refer to the post below.
Conclusion
Citi Prestige Cardholders can look forward to a Relationship Bonus of up to 30%, depending on their tenure with Citibank and Citigold status.
However, even a fully maxed-out Relationship Bonus of 1.42/2.12 mpd would still be inferior to what you could earn on alternative cards like the UOB PRVI Miles (1.4/2.4 mpd) or DBS Vantage (1.5/2.2 mpd), so those seeking pure miles-earning potential should look elsewhere.
I wouldn’t consider the Relationship Bonus to be a decisive factor in deciding whether to get the card, but if nothing else, it’s a little upside for those who’ve taken the plunge.
Does PayAll count towards the minimum spending of airport transfer?
as per the CSO, yes.
Yes , just got my rebate from last quarter after hitting $20000 with payall
“Therefore, if you’re looking for pure miles earning potential, you should look elsewhere.”
That should read “Krisflyer earning potential”.
For me – given my frequent trips to Europe (hello Turkish, hello Avios) – this is my general spending/rent payment card.
Prestige with CitiGold is a better earn rate that PrivMiles, along with no expiry (not that important) and better partners (important!)
I will say Prestige is better than PrivMiles as a gen spend card unless your overseas gen spend is higher than local (which you should then try to achieve on UOB VS instead if possible)
voyage is 1.6mpd
I’ve used the hotel 4th night credit 3 times this year already for about $1.4k back. Love this card for that benefit!
I am just wondering if we can take a class action lawsuit against the bank.
This is clearly a case of misrepresentation.
I must say I agree this seems like clear false advertising.
In what universe would the man on the street consider 0.02 to be 5% of 1.3…….
Take note for last column that says >10, it means 11 years onwards, and not from 10 years & 1 day on.
In other words, it’s really [0-5][6-10][11-XX].
So if you have been with citibank since March 2009 to March 2019, and you were to receive your bonus points today (in August month), you’re considered second column and not third column despite being with citibank for more than 10 years.
This was revealed to me by a CSO and Service Manager
Is citi strict with the annual income? If say 60-90k bracket
Note it is not explicitly mentioned that the relationship bonus applies to Citigold relationship IN SINGAPORE only. While one of the benefits of Citigold is “if you are Citigold in one country, you should be in other countries” they refused to give me the higher tier of relationship bonus on Prestige card, even though I had been Citigold for over 10 years in another country before moving to Singapore. This was despite some ill informed CSO having confirmed to me that I would get the higher tier when I signed up. Citibank – tries to behave like a “global” bank,… Read more »
“The Citi Prestige Card is certainly not as strong a proposition as it was five years ago”
Well, better than 2 years ago with Priorty Pass restaurant benefits popping up left and right incl. guest benefits we can use for our 1744 holding colleagues.
they have added so many restrictions to 4NF and rejecting claims for ridiculous reasons like “ensuite bathroom” <– oh that’s a suite, cannot!
plus no more inflight wifi with boingo, limo transfers got nuked in 2019, haute dining no more