Citi PremierMiles Visa increases sign up offer to 40,000 Citi Miles

Spend S$9,000 in 3 months and get a total of 40,000 Citi Miles with the Citi PremierMiles Visa as a new-to-bank customer.

The following is a sponsored post by Citibank. The opinions and analysis remain that of The Milelion

Since August 2018, Citibank has been running a 30,000 Citi Miles sign up offer on the Citi PremierMiles Visa for new-to-bank customers who spend S$7,500 in the first 3 months and pay the first year’s annual fee.

Citi defines a new-to-bank customer as someone who does not currently hold a principal Citi credit card, and has not done so in the past 12 months

From now till 31 Jan 2020, Citi is upsizing the offer to 40,000 Citi Miles, broken down as follows:

 Old OfferNew Offer
Base Citi MilesS$7,500 @ 1.2 mpd= 9,000 S$9,000 @ 1.5 mpd*= 13,500
Citi Miles from paying S$192.60 annual fee10,000 10,000 
Bonus Citi Miles11,000 16,500 
Total Citi Miles30,000 40,000 
*You can earn 1.5 mpd by spending at least S$3,000 in a given statement month, until 31 Dec 2019. See this post for more details.

Sign up for the Citi PremierMiles Visa here

The T&C of this offer can be found here

Citi PremierMiles Visa Basics

Income Req.Annual FeeMiles from Annual FeeFCY Fee
S$30,000S$192.6010,0003%
Local EarnFCY EarnSpecial EarnPoints Validity
1.2 mpd
1.5 mpd with ≥ S$3K spend in a statement month
2.0 mpd7 mpd: Agoda
10 mpd: Kaligo
No expiry

To recap: the Citi PremierMiles Visa earns 1.2 mpd on local spend (1.5 mpd if you spend at least S$3,000 in a statement month, until 31 Dec 19) and 2.0 mpd on overseas spend. You can also book hotels and earn up to 7 mpd on Agoda and 10 mpd on Kaligo. Citibank awards points on every dollar of spending, and the minimum spend to earn points is S$1.

Paying the $192.60 annual fee will get you 10,000 Citi Miles each year, and Citi Miles never expire. Citi Miles can be converted into 11 different frequent flyer programs at a 1:1 ratio (see below). 

How the sign up bonus works

To unlock the sign up bonus, you’ll need to spend S$9,000 within 3 months* and pay the first year’s S$192.60 annual fee. You’ll receive 10,000 Citi Miles in the first statement for paying the annual fee, and the 13,500 bonus Citi Miles within two months of meeting the qualifying spend. 

*Technically speaking, you have slightly more than 3 months because the qualifying period starts from the date of your card approval to three months after the end of the month you were approved. So if you were approved on 2 October 2019, for example, you’d have until 31 January 2020 to hit the qualifying spend. 

The following charges will not count towards the S$9,000 qualifying spend:

  • 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);
  • funds transfers using the card as source of funds;
  • bill payments (including via Citibank Online or via any other channel or agent)

Other payments like insurance, education or government services will count towards the S$9,000 threshold, but will not earn any base points. 

Citibank has confirmed that spending on Citi PayAll will count towards the S$9,000 spending requirement, which is good news for those with rent, education expenses, taxes or condo fees to pay. Assuming you spend at least S$3,000 per statement month, you could buy miles as low as 1.33 cents each, among the lowest cost in the market

 Cost per mile @ 1.2 mpdCost per mile @ 1.5 mpd
1.671.33 
Based on 2% admin fee, certain Citi customers may be targeted for lower rates

Enjoy 2X complimentary lounge visits a year

Use your Priority Pass to access TGM in Changi Terminal 2 for a proper meal before flying

The Citi PremierMiles Visa comes with a Priority Pass membership that provides two complimentary visits per calendar year. Note that this is slightly different from most other credit cards on the market, which award their free visits per membership year.

In other words, Citi PremierMiles Visa cardholders enjoy two free visits from 1 Jan 2019 to 31 December 2019, and a further two free visits from 1 Jan 2020 to 31 December 2020- so applying towards the end of the year allows you to enjoy up to four visits in quick succession.

Get covered with complimentary travel insurance

Most credit cards in Singapore provide complimentary travel insurance when you purchase air tickets. But not all travel insurance is equal, and as I noted here, the Citi PremierMiles Visa provides more comprehensive coverage than many other cards in the market.

Card (Income Req.)Insurance offered on redemption tickets?Accident CoverageOverseas Medical Coverage
DBS Altitude (S$30K)No S$1MN/A
UOB PRVI Miles (S$30K)YesS$1MN/A
Maybank Horizon (S$30K)NoS$1MN/A
KrisFlyer Ascend (S$50K)YesS$1MN/A
Citi PremierMiles Visa (S$30K)YesS$1MS$40K
OCBC VOYAGE (S$120K)NoS$1.5MS$35.5K
HSBC Visa Infinite (S$120K)YesUS$2MS$100K
SCB Visa Infinite (S$150K)NoS$1MS$50K
 Travel Inconvenience (Per Pax)
 Flight DelayBag Delay/LossTrip Cancel.
DBS Altitude (S$30K)N/AN/AN/A
UOB PRVI Miles (S$30K)N/AN/AN/A
Maybank Horizon (S$30K)N/AS$200/
500
N/A
OCBC VOYAGE (S$120K)S$200S$200/
400
N/A
KrisFlyer Ascend (S$50K)S$200S$200/
500
N/A
Citibank PremierMiles Visa (S$30K)S$500S$600/
1,000
S$500
SCB Visa Infinite (S$150K)N/AS$1,000/
5,000
N/A
HSBC Visa Infinite (S$120K)1,000S$500/
1,000
S$4,000

From the table above, you can see how the coverage provided by the Citi PremierMiles Visa is significantly better than other cards at the S$30,000 income threshold, comparable even to some cards at the S$120-150,000 mark. More importantly, you also get coverage if you redeem an award ticket, so long as you pay for the taxes and fees with your Citi PremierMiles Visa.

For your travel insurance coverage to be valid, the award ticket must be redeemed with points earned by a rewards program associated only with the Citi card- i.e. the 11 airline partners mentioned below

This is not always a given with other cards, as their T&C may require that you charge the full fare to the card to activate coverage. 

Transfer your Citi Miles to 12 different partners

Citi PremierMiles Visa cardholders get access to 11 different frequent flyer programs and one hotel partner, the widest selection of any bank in Singapore.

 Transfer Ratio
Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer1:1
Asia Miles1:1
British Airways Executive Club1:1
Etihad Guest1:1
EVA Air Infinity Mileagelands
1:1
Flying Blue1:1
IHG Rewards Club1:1
Malaysia Airlines Enrich1:1
Qantas Frequent Flyer1:1
Qatar Airways Privilege Club1:1
Thai Airways Royal Orchid Plus1:1
Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles1:1

A $25 conversion fee applies for every transfer, and do note that Thank You points earned on the Citi Prestige/Citi Rewards cards do not pool with Citi Miles, so you’ll have to redeem them separately.

The flexibility of Citi Miles means they’re a great way to enjoy sweet spots in programs like Etihad Guest, British Airways Avios and Turkish Miles&Smiles.

From June 2020, Turkish Airlines will be flying its new Business Class to Singapore on its B787-9s

For example, you could redeem a Singapore to Europe round-trip Business Class flight for just 90,000 miles with Miles&Smiles. That’s half the price that Singapore Airlines charges, which means you could fly two people with Miles&Smiles for the cost of flying one with KrisFlyer. 

Redemption ideas for 40,000 miles

So what fun things can you do with a 40,000 miles sign up offer? Here’s some potential routings:

Transfer to…And redeem…
  • 2x round-trip Economy Class tickets to Bangkok
  • 2x round-trip Business Class tickets to Koh Samui on Bangkok Airways
  • 1x one-way Business Class ticket to Seoul on Asiana
  • Up to 8x Economy Class flights within Europe on Air Serbia
  • Up to 13x Economy Class flights within South America on GOL 
  • 2x round-trip Economy Class (or 1x round-trip Business Class) tickets to Bali
  • 1x one-way Business Class ticket to Shanghai, Beijing, Mumbai or the Maldives

By saving up a little more, you could even redeem a round-trip Economy Class ticket to Tokyo on JAL through British Airways Avios (41,500 miles), or a pair of round-trip Business Class tickets to Colombo on Sri Lankan Airlines through Etihad Guest (56,000 miles). 

Conclusion

The Citi PremierMiles Visa is a solid general spending card to have in your wallet- in fact, it’s one of the options in my Miles Game Starter Pack for anyone just getting into the miles and points game. 

If you know you’ll be spending more than S$3,000 in a statement month, then it also offers one of the highest local earning rates in the market at 1.5 mpd. Citi’s extensive list of transfer partners make Citi Miles more valuable than your average bank rewards points, and Citi Miles don’t expire. 

The 40,000 Citi Miles sign up offer ends on 31 Jan 2020, so be sure to apply in time:

Sign up for the Citi PremierMiles Visa here

Aaron Wong
Aaron Wong
Aaron founded The Milelion to help people travel better for less and impress chiobu. He was 50% successful.

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milestone

My card got approved 18 September. I hope they have mercy to qualify me for the 40k miles promo

DK

Hi Aaron, can i ask if grabpay top ups would count for the $9000 spending requirements? Thank you.

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