The Citi PremierMiles Card used to be in the spotlight for the longest time: It was considered one of the most popular Citibank credit cards, and once upon a time, some even regarded it as the best miles credit card in Singapore. It was an accessible, entry-level card, has decent earn rates, and most importantly, came with one of the best sign-up bonuses in town of 45,000 miles.
Earning miles on an air miles credit card takes a painfully long time, and one way to work around that is to get a credit card with a big sign-up bonus so you can get a sizeable bump in your miles. But with the days of a 45,000 miles present behind us, is the Citi PremierMiles Card still worth getting? Let’s find out.
| Citi PremierMiles Card Review—Is it MoneySmart? | ||
Overall: ★★★★☆ |
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| Category | Our rating | The deets |
| Earn rates: 360 Rewards Points | ✈️✈️✈️✈️ | – Citi Miles never expire! – 1.2 Citi Miles per S$1 local spend – 2 Citi Miles per S$1 foreign currency spend – Up to 10 Citi Miles per S$1 on online travel bookings via Kaligo and Agoda – Renewal bonus of 10,000 Citi Miles on card anniversary with annual fee payment |
| Earn categories | ✈️✈️✈️✈️ | |
| Annual fees and charges | ★★★★☆ | S$194.40 principal fee / No fee for supplementary cards |
| Accessibility | ★★★★☆ | Minimum income requirement: $30,000 (Singaporeans) / $42,000 (non-Singaporeans) |
| Extras/periphery rewards | ★★☆☆☆ | – 2 complimentary visits every year to Priority Pass airport lounges worldwide – Esso: 5% Esso site discount + 5% Esso Smiles discount + 4% Citi card discount = Total of 14% savings effectively – Shell: 5% Shell site discount + 5% Shell Escape discount + 4% Citi card discount = Total of 14% savings effectively |
| Sign-up bonus | ★★★★☆ | Spend $500 within 30 days of card approval to receive one of the following: – Apple iPad 10.2′ 64GB, 9th Gen (worth S$503.65) – ErgoTune Supreme V3 Ergonomic Chair (worth S$599) – Apple HomePod 2nd Gen (worth S$429) – S$300 Cash via PayNow |
See our credit card ranking rubric to find out how we rank credit cards.
Contents:
- Citi PremierMiles Card: Essential information
- Citi PremierMiles Card: Eligibility
- Citi PremierMiles Card: Earn rates
- Citi PremierMiles Card: Sign-up promotion
- Who should use the Citi PremierMiles Card?
- Alternatives to the Citi PremierMiles Card
1. Citi PremierMiles Card: Essential information
- Local Spend
- S$1 = 1.2 Miles
- All Foreign Currency Spend including Retail and Online
- S$1 = Up to 2 Miles
- Selected Online Hotel Bookings
- S$1 = Up to 10 Miles
[MONEYSMART LUCKY DRAW]
Get an Apple iPad Wi-Fi, 64GB 9th Gen (worth S$503.65) OR a Nintendo Switch OLED Gaming Console (worth S$549) OR a Sony WH1000-XM5 Wireless Noise Cancelling Headphones (worth S$575) or S$300 Cash via PayNow when you apply and spend a min. of S$500 in "Qualifying Spends" within 30 days from card approval date. T&Cs apply.
PLUS stand a chance to win a MacBook Air M2 15-inch or an Apple iPhone 14 Pro or an Apple Watch Ultra today! T&Cs apply.
The Citi PremierMiles Card is a good entry level miles card for the casual miles chaser. The earn rates are competitive, and we love that Citi Miles never expire. That means that you can take your time to accumulate them, and the card works for you even if you aren’t a very frequent flyer.
Here’s a quick overview of the fees and rates of the Citi PremierMiles Card:
| Citi PremierMiles Card | |
| Annual fee | $194.40 |
| Supplementary annual fee | Complimentary |
| Interest free period | 25 days |
| Annual interest rate | 26.90% |
| Late payment fee | $100 |
| Minimum monthly repayment | Whichever is higher: – 1% + 1% of any outstanding unbilled instalment amounts, plus interest charges, plus late payment charge; OR – S$50 |
| Foreign currency transaction fee | 3.25% |
| Cash advance transaction fee | 6% or $15, whichever is higher |
| Overlimit fee | $40 |
| Minimum income | $30,000 (Singaporean/PR) / $42,000 (non-Singaporean) |
| Card association | Mastercard |
| Wireless payment | MasterCard PayPass, Samsung Pay, Apple Pay, Citi Pay |
2. Citi PremierMiles Card: Eligibility
The Citi PremierMiles card is about as accessible as miles card gets. Here are its eligibility conditions and income requirements:
- Minimum income for Singaporeans: S$30,000
- Minimum income for non-Singaporeans: S$42,000
- Minimum age: 21 years
So if you’re a Singaporean adult (even if just barely one), you can apply for this card as long as you earn $2,500 a month.
3. Citi PremierMiles Card: Earn rates
The Citi PremierMiles card earns you 1.2 Citi Miles per S$1 local spend and 2 Citi Miles per S$1 foreign currency spend. That’s pretty much the base rate for entry level miles cards—the Standard Chartered Journey Credit Card and DBS Altitude Visa Signature Card have the exact same earn rates for these spend types.
Some entry level cards edge past the Citi PremierMiles Card. The UOB PRVI MASTERCARD Miles Card, for example, earns you 1.4 miles per S$1 local spend (UNI$3.5 per S$5 spend) and 2.4 miles per S$1 overseas spend (UNI$6 per S$5 spend).
On top of the regular earn rates for general local and foreign spend, you’ll also earn extra for certain travel bookings:
- 7 Citi Miles per S$1 overseas spend with Agoda
- 10 Citi Miles per S$1 overseas spend with Kaligo
But the biggest draw of the Citi PremierMiles Card? You don’t get with many miles cards is the fact that Citi Miles have eternal life. Yup, that’s right—these miles never expire!
4. Citi PremierMiles Card: Sign-up promotion
The Citi PremierMiles Card comes with a pretty generous sign-up promotion if you apply via MoneySmart:
- Apple iPad 10.2′ 64GB, 9th Gen (worth S$503.65) OR
- ErgoTune Supreme V3 Ergonomic Chair (worth S$599) OR
- Apple HomePod 2nd Gen (worth S$429) OR
- S$300 Cash via PayNow
And the spending requirement to redeem the welcome gifts also isn’t too difficult to meet: spend $500 within 30 days of card approval.
5. Who should use the Citi PremierMiles Card?
The Citi PremierMiles Card is fantastic for making travel bookings and big purchases. Both the overseas and local earn rates lose to its biggest competitor the UOB PRVI Miles Card ($1 = 2.4 miles for foreign currency spend, and $1 = 1.4 miles for local spend, no minimum).
That said, you may get quite a bit of utility out of the Citi PremierMiles Card if you make most (if not all) your bookings via travel aggregators Agoda and Kaligo, thanks to the current travel promotions and bonus earn rates.
The Citi PremierMiles Card also comes with Priority Pass membership for the Principal cardmember only (on application basis, 2x airport lounge visits per year) and complimentary travel insurance coverage of up to $1,000,000.
6. Alternatives to the Citi PremierMiles Card
I mentioned earlier that the Citi PremierMiles has poorer earn rates than its main competitor, the UOB PRVI Miles Card. Let’s compare it against similar credit cards on the market:
UOB PRVI Miles Card: Better earn rates than the Citi PremierMiles, at $1 = 1.4 miles (local) and 2.4 miles (overseas), hence a better credit card for day-to-day use. It also has a competitive travel booking promotion with $1 = up to 6 miles (Agoda, Expedia, UOB Travel).
- Local Spend
- S$1 = 1.4 Miles
- Overseas Spend
- S$1 = 2.4 Miles
- Selected Online Hotel and Flight bookings
- S$1 = 6 Miles
[MoneySmart GIVEAWAY]
Stand to receive a ASUS Vivobook x BAPE ® (worth S$2,349) OR a Sony PlayStation®5 Disc Console (worth S$799) OR a Nintendo Switch OLED (worth S$549) when you successfully apply for an eligible UOB Credit Card through MoneySmart and meet the Giveaway eligibility criteria! T&Cs apply.
PLUS get up to 50,000 miles from UOB when you successfully apply for a UOB PRVI Miles Card and spend a min. of S$1,000 on their new UOB PRVI credit card for 2 consecutive months from card approval date, payable first-year annual fee and SMS registration required. T&Cs apply.
American Express Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer Ascend Credit Card: Poorer overall earn rates than the Citi PremierMiles Card, but has bonus accrual for Grab rides capped at $200 (3.2 KrisFlyer miles = S$1). Its welcome offer is also less attainable: You’ll only get your 21,500 worth of KrisFlyer Miles after you spend at least S$1,000 within the first month of card approval and pay the annual fee of S$340.20.
- Local Spend
- S$1 = 1.2 Miles
- Overseas Spend
- S$1 = 2 Miles
- on Eligible Grab transaction, capped at $200 per month
- S$1 = 3.2 Miles
Maybank Horizon Visa Signature Card—With high bonus earn rates ($1 = 3.2 miles) on local dining, petrol and taxis, it’s hard to beat this one for getting miles on your daily expenses. There is a $300 minimum spend, which is reasonably low. Rewards are capped at 30,000 TREATS points per month.
- on Dining, Petrol, Taxi and Hotel Bookings at Agoda
- S$1 = 8X Points
- on Air Tickets, Travel Packages and Foreign Currency Spend
- S$1 = 5X Points
- Rewards to Miles Conversion for Selected Airline Partners
- 1 Point = 0.4 miles
All in all, the Citi PremierMiles Visa Card has a decent, no-strings-attached welcome bonus, and is a decent entry level miles card. Its main spend category for bonus miles is travel booking sites, but even for those, you’re better off with the UOB PRIVI Miles card’s more attractive earn rates.
If you want to earn miles while swiping for day-to-day stuff like meals and transport instead, then the Maybank Horizon Visa Signature is a much, much better choice.
P.S. Here’s our MoneySmart credit card ranking rubric
In case you’re wondering, here’s how we decide on our credit card rankings.
| Is that credit card MoneySmart? Our MoneySmart credit card ranking rubric | |
| Category | Our rating |
| Overall | The average rating for the credit card on the whole, calculated from the ratings for the individual categories below. Plus, we’ll give you a one-liner on who we think the credit card is best suited for. |
| Earn rates: Air miles / Cashback / Rewards points | Air miles ✈️✈️✈️✈️✈️ / Cashback 💰💰💰💰💰/ Rewards points 🎁🎁🎁🎁🎁. This category looks at the depth rather than breadth of earn rates.
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| Earn categories | This category looks at the breadth rather than depth of your earnings.
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| Annual fees and charges |
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| Accessibility | Minimum income requirements:
Exclusivity: We dock 1-2 stars if there is/are another category/categories that make the card exclusive and very specific to a certain clientele. |
| Extras/periphery rewards | These include:
We count the number of benefits and award between 0.5 to 2 stars for each, depending on how good the perk is. |
| Sign-up bonus |
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Check out all our MoneySmart credit card reviews: The Ultimate List of Credit Card Reviews in Singapore.
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