The Citi PremierMiles Card has been in the spotlight for the longest time: It’s 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.
Why? Citi PremierMiles Card has one of the best sign-up bonuses in town. 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.
Is the Citi PremierMiles still worth getting? Let’s find out.
Citi PremierMiles Card essential information
| Citi PremierMiles Card | |
| Annual fee | $192.60 |
| Supplementary annual fee | Complimentary |
| Interest free period | 25 days |
| Annual interest rate | 26.90% |
| Late payment fee | $100 |
| Minimum monthly repayment | 1% or $50, whichever is higher |
| 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, Citi Pay |
How the Citi PremierMiles Card works
The Citi PremierMiles Card was once a top pick for air miles because of its huge welcome bonus of 42,000 miles with $10,000 spend. For those with big expenses like home renovations or family vacations coming up, it made total sense to get this credit card. Sadly, this offer expired on 28 Feb 2018 and has been replaced by other slightly lousier — but still quite attractive — welcome promotions.
- Local Spend
- S$1 = Up to 1.2 Miles
- All Foreign Currency Spend including Retail and Online
- S$1 = 2 Miles
- Selected Online Hotel Bookings
- S$1 = Up to 10 Miles
Apply and spend $200 to get: $300 Cash PayNow OR Apple Watch SE (worth $419).
OR
Apply and spend $500 to get: $350 Cash PayNow OR Sony WH-1000XM4 (worth $499).
If you’re a new Citi credit card customer, you earn 37,300 Citi Miles when you pay the annual fee ($192.60) and spend $9,000 within your first 3 months of your card approval. Or still earn 10,000 Citi Miles — and enjoy first year annual fee waiver — when you spend $3,000o within your first 3 months of your card approval. Both are valid till 30 September 2020.
Got a Citi credit card already? You can still apply for the Citi PremierMiles one and receive up to 24,3000 Citi Miles and $100 Kaligo e-voucher when you spend $9,000 in 3 months. Got to pay the annual fee ($192.60) for the first year though. This is valid till 30 September 2020 too. The other option is apply for the card and have your first year annual fee waived.
Welcome promotions aside, the Citi PremierMiles Card standard miles accrual rate is $1 = 1.2 Citi Miles (local spend) and $1 = 2 Citi Miles (foreign currency spend).
Also, Citi Miles never expire, so you can slowly earn your air tickets.
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.
Citi PremierMiles Card promotions
Kaligo
- Earn 10 Citi Miles per $1 spent on Kaligo.com. Valid till 31 December 2020.
Agoda
- Earn up to 7 Citi Miles per $1 spent on hotel bookings worldwide. Valid for bookings made now till 31 August 2020 and for stays till 31 March 2021.
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 – Much 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
American Express Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer Ascend Credit Card
– Poorer overall earn rates than the Citi PremierMiles Card, but has bonus accrual for Grab rides ($1 = 3.2 miles). Its welcome offers is also less attractive: You only get 5,000 KrisFlyer miles the first time you charge to your card — for first-time American Express Singapore Airlines Credit Card applicants only.
- Local Spend
- S$1 = 1.2 Miles
- Overseas Spend
- S$1 = 2 Miles
- Grab rides
- 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 = 0.5 miles
All in all, the Citi PremierMiles Visa Card has a decent welcome bonus, but that’s about it. 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.
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