Open to all: Citi PayAll offering fee-free or 1% fee payments; buy miles from 0.42 cents each

Citibank is kicking off 2021 with a honking good deal for Citi PayAll, and something you really need to consider if. 

From 4 January to 30 April 2021, Citi PayAll customers will either receive 1% cashback (for existing users), or two free-free payments (for new users). This lowers the cost per mile to as little as 0.42 cents depending on your card, and at that price you can’t possibly lose. 

Citi PayAll recently expanded its range of supported payments, and now covers insurance, utilities, charitable donations, rent, tax payments and more. You can also pay miscellaneous invoices, but if you’re planning to pay a friend or family member, keep in mind there may be tax implications. 

New Customers: 0% Citi PayAll fee for two payments

New customers can enjoy two fee-free Citi PayAll payments, provided they schedule at least three payments between 4 January to 30 April 2021. 

The fee waiver will be applied to the two smallest payments scheduled, and rebated in the form of cashback. A maximum cap of S$400 applies. 

To illustrate: 

Your actual cost per mile will depend on the amount you’re paying. I’m assuming you’re maxing out the S$400 rebate on the dot, which means you can buy miles from just 0.42 cents each- a complete no-brainer. 

	Earn Rate (Miles)	Fee	Cost Per Mile
Citi ULTIMA	1.6 mpd (48,000 miles)	S$200	1.25 cents 0.42 cents
Citi Prestige	1.3 mpd (39,000 miles)	S$200	1.54 cents 0.51 cents
Citi PremierMiles	1.2 mpd (36,000 miles)	S$200	1.67 cents 0.56 cents
I’m not showing the Citi Rewards or Citi Lazada Card because the earn rate is a paltry 0.4 mpd and you’d have to be mental to use them

Cashback will be credited within 8 weeks of the end of the promotion, i.e by 30 June 2021. The T&C for the new customer offer can be found here. 

Existing Customers: 1% Citi PayAll fee

Existing customers can enjoy 1% cashback on Citi PayAll payments between 4 January to 30 April 2021. At least three payments must be scheduled in total. 

You might recall a similar 1% cashback offer for PayAll back in September 2020. This one’s arguably better, because the minimum payment is just S$500 per month (versus S$3,000 previously). 

That said, there is an overall cap of S$200 (down from S$1,800 previously), which means you’ll exhaust the offer with a total payment of S$20,000. 

The set up date and charge date for your first Citi PayAll payment must fall within the promotion period (4 January to 30 April 2021) to qualify, and a minimum payment of S$500 must be made for three consecutive months. 

To illustrate:

Based on a 1% admin fee, you could potentially be buying miles from as little as 0.63 cents each, depending on the Citi card you use. 

	Earn Rate	Cost Per Mile @ 1%
Citi ULTIMA	1.6 mpd	1.25 cents 0.63 cents
Citi Prestige	1.3 mpd	1.54 cents 0.77 cents
Citi PremierMiles	1.2 mpd	1.67 cents 0.83 cents
I’m not showing the Citi Rewards or Citi Lazada Card because the earn rate is a paltry 0.4 mpd and you’d have to be mental to use them

Cashback will be credited within 8 weeks of the end of the promotion, i.e by 30 June 2021. The T&C for the existing customer offer can be found here. 

Is it worth it?

Yes, yes, yes. 

Simply put, this is the cheapest price I’ve ever seen miles sold for, and remember: it’s not just KrisFlyer. Citibank points can be transferred to 11 different frequent flyer programs, including some with great sweet spots like Etihad Guest, British Airways Executive Club, and Turkish Miles&Smiles.

Citibank Transfer Partners

I realise that flying isn’t on anyone’s agenda right now, but just imagine what you could do with miles bought at 0.42-0.83 cents each:

• Singapore to Koh Samui on Bangkok Airways in Business Class for S$84-S$166 round-trip
• Singapore to Europe on Qatar Airways Business Class for S$630-1,245 round-trip
• Singapore to Bangkok on Cathay Pacific Business Class for S$134-266 round-trip

Even better- neither the Qatar Airways nor Cathay Pacific awards above will have fuel surcharges, meaning you’ll just pay for airport taxes. 

But even if you opt for plain vanilla KrisFlyer, buying miles at less than 1 cent each is flat out arbitrage. For example, you could use KrisFlyer miles to pay for air tickets at a rate of 1.02 cents each, so buying miles at 0.42-0.83 cents is like locking in a travel discount of 19-59%. 

Alternatively, you could convert those miles into Shangri-La Golden Circle points at a ratio of 12:1. Golden Circle points can be used for F&B credit at a rate of 10 points= US$1 or US$1.25 (for Jade/Diamond members), so you’d be enjoying quite the discount on dining too. 

This does not stack with other Citi PayAll promotions

The T&Cs for new and existing customers mention the following:

I believe the “bonus ThankYou points/bonus miles promotion” is referring to the one launched back in August 2020, which covers payments up till February 2021. If you’re participating in this promotion, you won’t be able to double dip with the current one. Likewise, the other 1% cashback promotion launched in September 2020 can’t be stacked here either.

Conclusion

This is an offer that’s almost too good to pass up, and it’s very hard to lose when you buy miles at a price this low. 

You have no shortage of options for converting Citi points, and even if flying’s not on the immediate agenda, you could just as well spend it as F&B credit at the Shangri-La through the Infinite Journeys partnership.

Did you get this offer? Are you taking it?