The Citi PremierMiles Visa card hasn’t been without a sign-up bonus for over a year now, with a longstanding 21,000 miles offer for new Citi credit card applicants running for some time. This month though the bank has enhanced the bonus, with 26,500 miles now offered for applications made in the next four months.
As before, there are three sign-up offers in total, ranging from 6,400 to 26,500 miles bonus, depending on whether you are an existing Citi credit card customer or not, and whether you wish to pay the first year annual fee.
This extension and enhancement to the deal gives brand new customers, and former cardholders who have now exceeded 12 months without a Citi credit card, the opportunity to secure the 26,500-mile sign-up bonus with a spend of S$9,000 in the first three months.
The details
Here are the full details of the sign-up bonus options for the Citi PremierMiles Visa card, for applications by 31st January 2020.
The main offer – 26,500 miles bonus:
Provided you don’t currently hold a Citi credit card and haven’t held one in the last 12 months, you’ll be eligible for a bonus of 26,500 miles, subject to having S$9,000 of spending to do from the approval date until the end of the third full calendar month, not including the calendar month of card approval.
For example, if you are approved for the card on 11th October 2019, the qualifying spend period is from that date until 31st January 2020 (three full calendar months from the 1st November 2019).
It is subject to payment of the annual fee, which is S$192.60.
As usual, Citi sells this 26,500 miles bonus as a 40,000 miles one, because they include the miles you would earn anyway for spending S$9,000 locally at the (currently enhanced, but complicated) 1.5 miles per dollar rate.
Those 13,500 miles aren’t part of the bonus because you would receive them if you spent that amount on the card without a sign-up bonus even running, and frankly you could get them with another card like the BOC Elite Miles.
40,000 miles may well be the total you will receive, but 26,500 miles is the bonus.
Not only is the 40,000 miles headline a bit false, Citi are being very cheeky indeed here by suggesting that to meet the S$9,000 minimum spend over the first three months you will definitely spend S$3,000+ each statement cycle to generate the 1.5 mpd local earn rate instead of 1.2 mpd.
In reality you could spend S$2,500 in month 1, S$2,500 in month 2 and $4,000 in month 3 to qualify for the sign-up bonus, only giving you 12,000 miles from your regular spend ((2,500 x 1.2) + (2,500 x 1.2) + (4,000 x 1.5)) not the 13,500 miles they claim.
Furthermore it might not even be possible to access the 1.5 mpd rate at all, because you could apply for this card at the end of the year, and the 1.5 mpd offer ends on 31st December 2019! Citi does mention this, but surprise, surprise – it’s buried deep in the T&Cs.
Not withstanding the trickery, cost per mile for the 26,500 mile sign-up bonus is the annual fee (S$192.60) divided by the bonus (26,500) = 0.73 cents each. A very competitive rate to buy miles.
Full terms and conditions for the main sign-up offer can be found here.
Offer 2 – 6,400 miles bonus:
If you’re still new to Citi credit cards but prefer not to pay the annual fee (first year fee waiver), and will spend at least S$3,000 from card approval to the end of the third full calendar month following the month card approval (as defined above), you will earn a 6,400 miles bonus.
Again Citi includes the miles you would earn anyway for spending S$3,000 on this card, even if a sign-up bonus didn’t exist, and so claims it to be a 10,000 miles bonus (this time based on the regular 1.2 miles per dollar local earn rate).
The terms and conditions for Offer 2 can be found here (note that unlike the other two options, this offer is only available for applications until 31st December 2019).
Offer 3 – 13,500 miles bonus:
This one’s for you if you already hold another Citi credit card, for example the Citi Rewards or Citi Prestige, or you had a Citi credit card account which was terminated within the last 12 months and therefore don’t qualify as a ‘new’ Citi credit cardholder.
You can choose either from first year fee-waiver, or provided you spend S$9,000 from card approval to the end of the third full calendar month following the month card approval (as defined above):
- 10,000 Citi Miles on approval and payment of the annual fee (S$192.60).
- An additional 3,500 Citi Miles (13,500 miles total) and a S$100 Kaligo.com e-voucher.
Remember both bonuses are subject to meeting the S$9,000 spend in the required time, including the 10,000 Citi Miles for payment of the annual fee.
Citi advertises this one as a 27,000 miles bonus, but of course again includes the 10,000 miles you would always earn spending S$9,000 on this card (back at the 1.5 mpd rate) – so the true bonus is only 13,500 miles.
That has actually reduced by 500 miles since the same offer ended on 30th September 2019.
The terms and conditions for Offer 3 can be found here.
Citi Miles / ThankYou points are very flexible
One of the best things about Citi Miles and Citi ThankYou points in Singapore is the wide range of transfer partners compared with other bank loyalty points.
You can transfer your points into 11 different frequent flyer programmes and into IHG points.
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This gives you a wide range of flight redemption options including oneworld and SkyTeam carriers.
In our review earlier this year of the excellent Oman Air 787 Apex Suite Business Class, we highlighted how you can redeem this seat from Bangkok to Paris for 76,000 Etihad Guest miles (equivalent to 76,000 Citi Miles).
Our card review
We updated our full review of the Citi PremierMiles Visa card today in light of the sign-up bonus extension. Read the full review here if you’re considering this card, as it goes into a lot more depth on the other features, to help you decide if it’s the right product for you.
Still no bonus for the Citi PremierMiles Amex
There is still no sign-up bonus for the Citi PremierMiles Amex card, which features a local earning rate of 1.3 miles per dollar spent (no current promo applies), but in most other aspects is identical to the PremierMiles Visa offering.
Citi seems to be falling out of love with this card, not even advertising it on its homepage of travel credit cards (it’s hidden in a side menu), and neglecting it in the latest batch of updated card face designs. Will it last?
Top sign-up bonuses
We’ve updated our Top Credit Card Sign-up Bonuses page to reflect this enhanced offer from Citi.
Summary
The good sign-up bonus for Citi’s PremierMiles Visa card not only gets extended, it gets even better this month with a 26,500-mile bonus to be had for brand new customers willing to pay the annual fee, which we think you absolutely should do given the low cost per mile.
Unfortunately Citi continues to embellish the bonus to be something it’s not – 40,000 miles, even going so far as to assume a 1.5 mpd local earning rate you might not even be able to access at all during the promotion period. Bad form.
That said, the 26,500 miles bonus is unaffected by their slightly exaggerated maths, and it’s one of the best in the market with a low cost per mile assuming you have S$9,000 spend to make in the next three months.
If you cancelled your Citi credit card more than 12 months ago (e.g. if you cancelled in September 2018 or before that, you’re now eligible for the bonus again). That also applies later in the year if your 12 months comes up halfway through this promotion. Simply wait for the 12-month window to be clear, then apply.
Citi has upped the generosity with this offer, and continues to include options for those who don’t want to pay the annual fee, plus an alternative bonus for those already holding another Citi credit card type.
If you don’t have a Citi credit card – this deal is definitely worth a look.