Citi PremierMiles Card
Earn 1.2 miles per dollar on local spend and 2.2 miles per dollar on foreign currency spend
2 Priority Pass visits per calendar year
Citi PremierMiles Card Overview:
If you love to travel and earn miles, the Citi PremierMiles Card might be a great entry card for you. This card lets you earn up to 2 Citi Miles per S$1 on overseas spending, and 1.2 Citi Miles per S$1 on local spending. Miles earned have no expiry, allowing you to take your time to accumulate miles for your next holiday. It gives you access to airport lounges worldwide with 2 free priority passes yearly as well as up to S$1 million in insurance coverage when you charge your travel tickets to Citi PremierMiles.
Local Earn Rate | 1.2 miles per dollar |
Foreign Currency Earn Rate | 2 miles per dollar |
Foreign Currency Fees | 3.25% |
Min. Miles Transfer | 10,000 Citi Miles (10,000 miles) |
Transfer Fee | S$27.25 (including 9% GST) |
Points Pooling | No |
Lounge Access | 2x Priority Pass |
Airport Limo | No |
Points Expiry | No Expiry |
Check out my TikTok video explaining the features of Citi PremierMiles Card where I break down the benefits, rewards, and tips for maximizing your miles!
Eligibility & Fees:
- Minimum Age: 21 years old
- Minimum Annual Income: S$30,000 (locals/PRs); S$42,000 (foreigners)
- Don’t worry if you income is below this threshold, there is a more secured version of this card where you can do a S$10,000 fixed deposit
- Annual Fee: S$196.20, waived for the first year
Key Benefits:
- Earn 1.2 Citi Miles for every dollar spent locally
- Earn 2.2 Citi Miles for every dollar spent overseas
- No minimum monthly spending required
- No maximum spending cap
- Citi Miles never expire
- Redeem Citi Miles for flights, hotel bookings, and more
- Complimentary travel insurance of up to S$1 million when you charge your travel tickets to this card (Policy wording here)
- Earn exclusive dining and lifestyle privileges
- Use Citi PayAll to earn Citi Miles, Citi ThankYou Points or Cash Back when you pay your bills, rent, condo maintenance fees, school fees, taxes with your Citi Credit Card (This might not always be worthwhile. If it’s a good deal, I will share in my telegram channel.)
How to Best Optimise it:
Best Used Locally:
- This card is a general spending card, so you can use it anywhere except anything on the exclusion list. The optimal way is to use only for local spending. This might not be a great card to use overseas, in my honest opinion as the cost per mile is around 1.62 cents per mile. You are better off using another card.
Free Insurance:
- With insurance coverage of up to S$1,000,000 when you charge your travels on your card, this could be helpful to cover you for some small impromptu trips. Do read the policy wording to ensure that you are well-covered.
Utilise Two Free Airport Lounge Passes Yearly:
- Take advantage of the two free airport lounge passes per calendar year at over 1300 Priority Pass lounges worldwide. You can have two separate visits by yourself or use two passes in the same visit with an accompanying guest. Unused passes will not carry forward to the following 12-month period. So it is best to utilise it when you are taking budget flights out of Singapore. One pass is equivalent of USD35 so you get twice of the value just by having this card. Remember to register for it via below:
- Citi PremierMiles Mastercard – Register online for membership
- Citi PremierMiles Visa Card – Register online for membership.
Any Hacks/Promos:
Citi PayAll:
- If you are wanting to use miles for business class flights, Citi PayAll could be a way to buy “Citi miles” when you pay for insurance, education, rent, utilities, mortgage, MCST fees etc., but it is subject to 2.2% service fee. It is not worth it during normal times, but when Citi PayAll has a promotion, it could be a time where we stock up on miles. Promotions are case-by-case basis and I will update it in my telegram channel when there is a good deal.
- This is only valid during the promotional period, and the earning rate outside of the promo period is way lower than that of the Citi Prestige.
Below is the monthly spending cap which you can spend on Citi PayAll:
Category | Monthly Cap |
Insurance | S$200,000 |
Education | S$100,000 |
Rent | S$30,000 |
Electricity Bills | S$30,000 |
Events Management etc. | S$30,000 |
Agoda x Citibank
You can earn up to 7.2 Citi Miles for bookings made from now until 31 December 2024 (for stays from now till 30 April 2025)
- Booking must be made here and must use Citi PremierMiles card to settle the payment; this will entitle you to a bonus 5 Citi Miles per S$1 spent on hotel bookings
- However, bookings through these links may be more expensive, so do compare prices across different sites. I personally like Trip.com as they have consistent and low pricing across any links or platforms with no markup. I also liked that at Diamond tier (with a certain number of bookings), you get to redeem two free lounge passes with the added benefit of earning more Trip coins. You can sign up for a Trip.com account here to receive S$20 promo off your first hotel booking.
Kaligo x Citibank
You can earn 10 Citi Miles for every dollar spent when you book from now until 31 December 2024 (for stays from now till 30 June 2025)
- Booking must be made here and must use Citi PremierMiles card to settle the payment; this will give you an additional 8.8 Citi Miles for every S$1 spend on local currency, and an additional 7.8 Citi Miles for foreign currency spend.
- However, bookings through these links may be more expensive, so do compare prices across different sites. I personally like Trip.com as they have consistent and low pricing across any links or platforms with no markup. I also liked that at Diamond tier (with a certain number of bookings), you get to redeem two free lounge passes with the added benefit of earning more Trip coins. You can sign up for a Trip.com account here to receive S$20 promo off your first hotel booking.
What to Avoid:
Exclusion List:
MCC | Description |
6529 | Quasi Cash – Remote Stored Value Load – Financial Institute |
6530 | Quasi Cash – Remote Stored Value Load – Merchant |
6534 | Quasi Cash – Money Transfer – Member Financial Institution |
6540 | Non-Financial Institutions – Stored Value Card Purchase/Load |
7349 | Cleaning and Maintenance, Janitorial Services |
7511 | Quasi Cash – Truck Stop Transactions |
7523 | Parking Lots, Parking Meters and Garages |
7800 | Government-Owned Lotteries (US Region only) |
7995 | Betting, including Lottery Tickets, Casino Gaming Chips, OffTrack Betting, and Wagers at Race Tracks |
4829 | Wire Transfer Money Orders (WTMOs) |
4900 | Utilities – Electric, Gas, Water, and Sanitary |
5199 | Nondurable Goods(Not Elsewhere Classified) |
5960 | Direct Marketing – Insurance Services |
6012 | Financial Institutions – Merchandise, Services, and Debt Repayment |
6050 | Quasi Cash – Financial institutions, Merchandise, Services |
6051 | Non-Financial Institutions – Foreign Currency, Money Orders (Not Wire Transfer), Stored Value Card/Load, Travelers Cheques, and Debt Repayment |
6211 | Securities – Brokers and Dealers |
6300 | Insurance Sales, Underwriting and Premiums |
6513 | Real Estate Agents and Managers – Rentals |
8211 | Elementary and Secondary Schools |
8220 | Colleges, Junior Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools |
8241 | Correspondence Schools |
8244 | Business and Secretarial Schools |
8249 | Vocational and Trade Schools |
8299 | Schools and Educational Services(Not Elsewhere Classified) |
8398 | Charitable and Social Service Organizations |
8062 | Hospitals |
8651 | Political Organizations |
8661 | Religious Organizations |
9211 | Court Costs Including Alimony and Child Support |
9222 | Fines |
9223 | Bail and Bond Payments |
9311 | Tax Payments |
9399 | Government Services(Not Elsewhere Classified) |
9402 | Postal Services – Government Only |
9405 | U.S. Federal Government Agencies or Departments |
9754 | Quasi Cash – Gambling – Horse Racing, Dog Racing, State Lotteries |
5993 | Cigar Stores and Stands |
i. AXS
ii. AMAZE* AXS
iii. BANC DE BINARY
iv. BUS/MRT^
v. AMAZE* BUS/MRT
vi. EZ-link
vii. AMAZE* EZ-link
viii. OANDA ASIA PAC
ix. SAM
x. Saxo Cap Mkts Pte Ltd
xi. SIMPLYGO*
xii. SPL AUTO*
xiii. SPL ATU*
xiv. SPL ONLINE*
xv. SKYFX.COM
xvi. TL-ABT
xvii. TRANSIT
xviii. AMAZE* TRANSIT
xix. Transit Link
xx. Youtrip Singapore SG
Transfer Partners:
Here is the list of their current transfer partners:
Transfer Partners | Conversion Ratio |
Krisflyer | 10,000:10,000 |
Flying Blue | 10,000:10,000 |
British Airways | 10,000:10,000 |
Thai Airways Royal Orchid Plus | 10,000:10,000 |
Etihad | 10,000:10,000 |
Asia Miles | 10,000:10,000 |
EVA Air | 10,000:10,000 |
Qantas | 10,000:10,000 |
Qatar Airways | 10,000:10,000 |
Turkish Airlines | 10,000:10,000 |
IHG Rewards | 10,000:10,000 |
Is it Worth it:
Advantages
- Two Free Priority Lounge Pass (worth US$70 in total) each year
- Citi Cards have one of the widest variety of transfer partners – This allows you to take advantage of other frequent flyer programs that offer better deals than Krisflyer.
- No expiry on your miles so you can take your time to earn miles
- Free basic travel insurance
Disadvantages
- Citi PremierMiles Card don’t pool with other Citibank cards— Pooling means that if you have points on your Citi PremierMiles Card and you have points on other Citi Credit Card, you can consolidate them for you to redeem all the points. In this case, since it does not allow pooling, you’ll need to make two separate redemptions therefore paying two separate transfer fee as well.
- Slow miles earn rate as compared to a card like Citi Rewards.
Frequently Asked Questions:
- When is the miles credited: This usually credits when the transaction posted, usually takes 24 hrs, or in some, it could take 2-3 days.
- How is miles calculated: For every S$1, you can get 1.2 miles per dollar on local spend, and 2 miles per dollar on overseas spend
- Let’s say you spent S$49 locally (S$49 x 1.2mpd = 58.8 miles earned). This is great since the minimum spend required is only S$1, comparing it to OCBC’s 90N card which has a minimum increment of S$5 (S$45 x 1.3 mpd = 58.5 miles earned), this is a greater option for miles conversion.
- How to redeem:
- You can redeem your rewards via your Citi Mobile app.
- Click on your Points
- Click on “Redemption Catalogue” or “Miles Transfer”
- You can redeem your rewards via your Citi Mobile app.
Comparison table with other non-expiring cards with similar earn rates:
Cards | Citi PremierMiles | DBS Altitude |
Local Earn Rate | 1.2 miles per dollar | 1.3 miles per dollar |
Foreign Earn Rate | 2 miles per dollar | 2.2 miles per dollar |
Lounge Access | 2x Priority Pass | Yes (on VISA) |
Transfer Partners | SIA, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Etihad, EVA Air, Flying Blue, Qantas, Qatar Airways, THAI, Turkish Airlines, IHG | SIA, Air Asia, Cathay Pacific, Qantas |
Transfer Fee | S$27.25 (including 9% GST) | S$27.25 (including 9% GST) |
Min. Transfer Block | 10,000 Citi Miles(10,000 miles) | 5,000 DBS Points(10,000 miles) |
Final Thoughts:
- A particularly good choice in a miles chaser’s arsenal of cards
- What I like is, the Citi PremierMiles Card gives you access to two free airport lounges passes per year. You could even use one to bring an accompanying guest in with you. If you apply for the card in Nov, you could technically use the lounge passes in Dec, and in Jan, you receive two new lounge passes for the new year! Yay to free bougie experiences!
- This card’s points never expire, which is a truly wonderful feature that lets you accumulate points at your own time and utilize them to book a big vacation. This is especially beneficial if you’re not a frequent traveller, or a high spender.
- Overall, this is a great miles credit card for someone starting on their miles journey!
💳 Credit cards change their T&Cs every so often and it is difficult to stay updated. That’s why I created a Telegram Broadcast where you can receive timely bite-sized updates to get the most out of your spending.
💡 We believe in always paying our credit card bills on time and in full. It is only by doing that, can we fully maximise our credit card benefits.
