Here’s our review of the Citi Prestige MasterCard credit card issued in Singapore. It forms part of our series of credit card reviews, which are all summarised on our dedicated Credit Cards page.
Dollar amounts refer to SGD, and ‘miles’ refer to KrisFlyer Miles, except where stated. This review was updated on 25th November 2019.
| Fast Facts
Annual fee: $535.00/yr |
Annual fee
The annual fee on this card is high, over 2.5x that of its little brother, the Citi PremierMiles Visa card, at $535 a year.
The good news is that you’ll receive 62,500 Citi ThankYou Points (25,000 miles) on payment of the annual fee, with no minimum spend requirement.
Also at each renewal, on payment of the annual fee, you will be credited another 62,500 Citi ThankYou Points (25,000 miles).
These Citi ThankYou Points can be transferred into one of 11 frequent flyer schemes (including KrisFlyer) at a 2.5:1 ratio.
As we value KrisFlyer miles at 1.9 cents each, those 25,000 miles are worth at least $475 against future redemptions, so the card isn’t far off paying for itself.
It’s worth mentioning that the annual fee for this card is not waivable.
Sign-up bonus
Back in 2017 the Citi Prestige card offered a sign-up bonus of 72,500 Citi ThankYou Points (29,000 miles), however since this ended the regular bonus on payment of the annual fee in the first year and for subsequent years is 62,500 Citi ThankYou Points (25,000 miles).
However, because there is no promotion – there are also no minimum spending requirements and the points will be credited to your card account as soon as the annual fee is paid.
Earning rates
The Citi Prestige Mastercard earns:
- 3.25 Citi Thank You Points (1.3 miles) for every $1 spent locally (i.e. transacted in SGD)
- 5 Citi ThankYou Points (2 miles) for every $1 spent overseas (i.e. transacted in foreign currency)
However, with the Citi Prestige card, there is also a Relationship Bonus.
The table here shows how it works. For the normal banking customer, it’s 5% in the first 5 years – more if you are a Citigold customer.
So surely, 5% means 1.365 miles per dollar spent locally, right? Wrong! That’s what I first assumed, and so was understandably surprised at the end of my first card year when far fewer ‘bonus’ miles showed up.
This is actually very differently applied and has been mistaken on other reviews and forums in the past.
Actually the percentages referred to in this table are applied to your total overall spend and then paid in Citi ThankYou Points, not in miles e.g. spend $10