New Citi Prestige promotion: Buy miles for 1.15 cents each

Citibank has just launched a new miles purchase promotion for Citi Prestige cardholders that runs from 1 April to 30 June 2020. This allows them to buy miles at just 1.15 cents each.

Here’s how it works.

How to register

First, you’ll need to register. This can be done by sending the following SMS to 72484

PRESTIGESPEND<space>Last 4 digits of Citi Prestige card (principal card) number

By registering, you give consent to Citibank to deduct the relevant admin fee for the purchase of miles, as explained below.

Tier A: Spend S$12,000, buy 24,400 miles for S$280

Under Tier A, cardholders need to spend at least S$12,000 by 30 June 2020. This earns them 39,000 base ThankYou points, or 15,600 miles.

By paying a one-time fee of S$280, they’ll be able to purchase a further 61,000 ThankYou points, or 24,400 miles. This works out to 1.15 cents per mile. 

Tier B: Spend S$30,000, buy 61,000 miles for S$700

Under Tier B, cardholders need to spend at least S$30,000 by 30 June 2020. This earns them 97,500 base ThankYou points, or 39,000 miles.

By paying a one-time fee of S$700, they’ll be able to purchase a further 152,500 ThankYou points, or 61,000 miles. This works out to 1.15 cents per mile, the same as Tier A.

You are eligible for either Tier A or B. If you spend enough to qualify for Tier B, you can’t opt for Tier A instead.

The admin fee of either S$280 or S$700 will be automatically charged to your account within two months from 30 June 2020, if you meet the spending criteria. Obviously, if you fail to meet either Tier A or B’s spending criteria, you won’t be charged any fee.

What kind of spending qualifies?

As per the T&C:

Based on past promotions, transactions like insurance, government payments, charitable donations and GrabPay top-ups will not earn you base miles, but will count towards the total spending threshold.

Citi PayAll spending will be eligible, which creates some interesting maths. The regular cost of miles through PayAll with a Citi Prestige is 1.54 cents each (2% divided by 1.3 mpd).

If you used PayAll to meet the S$30,000 spending threshold, then exercise the option to buy miles, you’d pay S$1,300 in total to purchase 100,000 miles, or 1.3 cents each.

The math is the same if you went for the S$12,000 target instead.

I suppose that if you have an income tax payment coming up and intend to pay it with PayAll anyway, this provides an option to further top up your miles.

Is it worth it?

Here’s a summary of the various ways of buying miles in Singapore:

[table id=4 /]

During regular times, I’d say that buying miles at 1.15 cents each would be a no-brainer. However, these times are anything but regular. With all travel plans on hold indefinitely, it’s hard to say when we’ll get to fly again.

I guess it comes down to what you think will happen after the dust settles. ThankYou points on the Citi Prestige never expire, but the question is whether we’ll see a spate of program devaluations as airlines try to shore up their balance sheets.

The good thing about ThankYou points is they let you hedge your bets. Citibank has 11 different transfer partners, so you’re less vulnerable to a devaluation by any given airline (versus, say, OCBC which only partners with KrisFlyer).

	Transfer Ratio (Points: Miles)
	5:2
	5:2
	5:2
	5:2
	5:2
	5:2
	5:2
	5:2
	5:2
	5:2
	5:2
	5:2

Conclusion

If you’ve got upcoming big ticket spending planned and want to give your miles account a shot in the arm, I can think of few cheaper ways to do so.

However, if you’re already well stocked with miles, this may not be the ideal time to load up on more.