Citi has extended the sign-up bonus window for its popular Citi Rewards card, with 10,800 additional miles on offer, subject to a retail spend of at least S$3,000 in the first three full calendar months of card membership. The deal is now offered for applications by 31st August 2021.
When the offer was first launched way back in January 2019, it was a rare bonus for the card which had previously not offered sign-up incentives. This further extension to the deal means it will have been running continuously for almost three years, and can now be considered a de facto year-round offer.
Given that the deal excludes those who have held a Citi credit card in the last 12 months prior to application date, those initially ineligible having only recently cancelled their cards may find that they can take advantage of the offer between now and the end of August 2021, provided their 12-month wait is up.
There’s also a S$350 cashback offer available for applications through SingSaver, which is arguably a better deal than the 10,800 miles bonus, with a couple of alternative gift options, when you apply by 31st July 2021.
10,800 miles sign-up bonus
The main sign-up bonus for the Citi Rewards card for those not currently holding a Citi credit card and having not held one in the last 12 months prior to application date, is worth 10,800 miles.
It requires a minimum spend of S$3,000 in the first three full calendar months starting from the end of the calendar month of card approval.
10,800 miles when you spend
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For example, if you are approved for the card on 7th August 2021, the qualifying spend period is from that date until 30th November 2021 (three full calendar months from the end of August 2021).
Bonus miles are awarded within two calendar months of meeting the spend criteria.
This card also features full fee waiver for the first year of membership as standard.
Spend exclusions
As usual with these promotions, your S$3,000 qualifying spend must fall outside the following excluded categories:
- Equal Payment Plan (EPP) purchases.
- Refunded / disputed / unauthorised or fraudulent retail purchases.
- Quick Cash / Ready Credit PayLite and other instalment loans.
- Paywise / cash advance / quasi-cash transactions, balance transfers, annual card membership fees, interest or goods and services taxes.
- Bill payments made using the card as a source of funds.
- Late payment fees.
- Any other form of service / miscellaneous fees.
Thankfully Citi PayAll transactions are counted towards the minimum spend, which is great news given the ongoing 2.5 mpd offer on up to S$120,000 of payments made between now and 31st August 2021, allowing you to buy miles at an excellent 0.8 cents each.
Existing Citi customers
If you are an existing Citi credit card holder, or had a Citi credit card account which was terminated in the last 12 months prior to application, you unfortunately won’t be eligible for this sign-up bonus.
Pro Tip: If the one year anniversary of your last Citi credit card cancellation comes up partway through this promotion period, wait until a year has passed then sign up to qualify for the 10,800 miles bonus.One exception is if you are a supplementary cardholder with Citi in Singapore, but not the main cardholder on any such account, you will be eligible for the sign-up bonus when you apply as a main cardholder.
How it works
Provided you are eligible, and you apply for a Citi Rewards card on or before 31st August 2021, which is subsequently approved within 30 days, you will be awarded 27,000 bonus Citi ThankYou Points once you’ve spent at least S$3,000 on the card in the qualifying spend period as defined above.
These are true bonus points, since you’ll also accrue Citi ThankYou Points at a rate of 1 per S$1 (or 10 per S$1 in eligible categories) for your first S$3,000 spending on the card as usual on top of that.
Remember that Citi ThankYou Points transfer to airline miles at a 2.5:1 ratio, which is why the 27,000 bonus is actually only worth 10,800 miles.
Earning rates
The Citi Rewards card earns just 0.4 miles (1 Citi ThankYou Point) for every S$1 spent both locally and overseas, though the real key to this card as you’ll see from our full review is the 4 miles (10 Citi ThankYou Points) per S$1 spent on shoes, bags and clothes at online or retail stores, or department stores, both locally and overseas.
Since March 2019, Citi added online retail transactions (excluding mobile wallet top-ups and travel-related transactions) to the list earning at the 4 mpd rate. That’s a very useful category as it includes things like online food delivery, Amazon purchases, Grab and Go Jek rides, etc.
For all the eligible MCC (merchant category codes) and exclusions, see our detailed review of this card.
Unfortunately in October 2018 Citi amended the S$12,000 annual cap for bonus miles earning at the 4 mpd rate using this card with a S$1,000 monthly cap instead, meaning it no longer works very well for large one-off purchases.
This also makes it more difficult to channel all your S$3,000 minimum spend for the sign-up bonus in the 4 mpd category, without sacrificing some points here and there, as you’ll want to ensure you meet the minimum amount in the first three months to be eligible for the bonus.
However, as we mentioned above, you can time your application to try and give yourself up to four months to meet the spend threshold, which should allow you to make almost all of it in the qualifying 4 mpd categories.
Total earning can be up to 22,800 miles
As you may have already concluded, you can actually do much better than Citi’s advertised “30,000 ThankYou Points (TYP)” welcome gift, by ensuring all your S$3,000 spend is in the 10X (4 mpd) category. For example:
- 3,000 TYP (S$3,000 x 1 on all spend)
- + 27,000 TYP (S$3,000 x 9 bonus category spend)
- + 27,000 TYP (welcome bonus)
- = 57,000 TYP total (22,800 miles)
Bear in mind that’s the maximum you can achieve under this offer, as you may not be able to channel all S$3,000 spend in the 10X (4 mpd) categories.
It’s also important to remember the bonus remains 10,800 miles whatever you do, since you’d get 30,000 of those ThankYou points (12,000 miles) for S$3,000 spend in the bonus category using this card even without a sign-up offer running.
Citi ThankYou points are very flexible
One of the best things about Citi ThankYou points (and Citi Miles) in Singapore is the wide range of transfer partners compared with other bank loyalty points.
You can transfer your miles into 11 different frequent flyer programmes and into IHG points.
Singapore credit card to FFP transfers
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As you can see from the table above, Citi gives you a wide range of flight redemption options including oneworld and SkyTeam carriers.
For a full list of which credit card loyalty points balances transfer into which frequent flyer programmes or hotel loyalty schemes in Singapore, check out our comprehensive guide here. It also gives examples of some of the alliance and partner airline redemptions you can achieve that you might not have considered before.
A new fantastic use for Citi ThankYou points is a transfer to Qatar Privilege Club for a Business Class redemption on Qatar Airways from Singapore to Europe for 70,000 miles (e.g. Athens) or 75,000 miles (e.g. London), plus just S$55 in taxes and fees.
That’s at least 17,000 miles less than Singapore Airlines is charging with KrisFlyer miles for its Europe flights.
The deal includes the Qsuite between Singapore and Doha, and possibly on your second flight too, depending on the routing. Even if you have to fly Qatar’s older Business Class some of the way (see our review), it’s still a great experience.
That’s come about because of a sudden revaluation of the programme back to its original levels, combined with the fact that Qatar does not pass on its hefty fuel surcharge to its own members when redeeming.
It also gets you access to Changi’s new best Business Class lounge for pre-departure à la carte dining, Champagne and a selection of cocktails from the Martini Bar. (see our review).
Something definitely worth considering for your travel plans once borders reopen.
Be careful – Citi ThankYou Points expire
Citi ThankYou Points accrued using the Citi Rewards card points “are valid for a period of 60 months”. That’s five years, which sounds very generous, but beware – it’s not as simple as the bank makes out.
In fact you have to accrue and redeem your points in fixed five-year periods, which is not really the same thing. For example, if you open your card account on 1st July 2020 your first 60-month reward period ends on 30th June 2025. All remaining points accrued on that date will then expire 3 months later, no matter whether you earned them five years ago or in the last week of June 2025!
We have a full article outlining how the policy works and how you also need to be careful when approaching your five-year expiry date to ensure you won’t be left with wasted ‘orphan’ expiring miles, which takes a little planning on your part!
This strange policy is quite unlike the Citi PremierMiles card (see our review) and Citi Prestige card (see our review) where the miles earned never expire.
Terms and conditions
Full terms and conditions for the Citi Rewards 10,800 miles sign-up bonus are available here:
Citi Rewards Welcome Offer T&C
SingSaver alternative
If you’re new to Citi cards and spending S$3,000 in the first three months sounds a bit steep, you can also consider an alternative deal through SingSaver until 31st July 2021, where you’ll instead be eligible to receive S$350 cashback.
This one’s valid for those who haven’t held a Citi credit card in the last 12 months prior to application.
The offer is applicable for a number of Citi credit cards including the Rewards card, and is subject to just S$500 minimum spend in the first 30 days of card approval, with first year fee waiver.
If you prefer a potentially more valuable gift instead of the cashback, SingSaver is alternatively offering a Dyson V8 Slim Fluffy (worth S$549) or B&O Beoplay E8 sport wireless earphones (worth S$499).
Dyson V8 Slim Fluffy (worth S$549)
or
B&O Beoplay E8 sport wireless earphones (worth S$499)
or
S$350 cash
APPLY HERE
For the SingSaver offer, you’ll have to follow these application steps:
- Apply via this link, which will take you to the SingSaver landing page for Citi cards.
- Click ‘Apply Now’ and enter your email address on the redemption form, then click ‘Confirm’.
- Submit your application and take a screenshot of your Application Reference Number (12 alphanumeric characters)
- Within 14 days of application, complete the SingSaver rewards form sent to your email address.
- Have the card approved by 21st August 2021, activate it and make a minimum spend of S$500 as within the first 30 days of account opening.
You’ll then receive a rewards notification from SingSaver confirming the redemption details for your gift within four calendar months (do take note, it’s far from immediate!).
Terms and conditions are available here.
Summary
Citi’s 10,800 bonus miles promotion for new-to-bank cardholders picking up the rewards card has been extended again through to 31st August 2021 – a decent offer given the relatively low spend requirement of S$3,000 in the first 3-4 months.
Also worth considering is Citi’s 34,200 miles sign-up bonus for its PremierMiles card, with a minimum spend of S$9,000 in the first three months, also valid until 31st August 2021 for new Citi customers.
Remember that to be eligible for the Citi Rewards offer you have to be new to Citi credit cards in Singapore (or at least new in the last 12 months). Existing customers, even those holding other Citi credit cards, won’t get the bonus.
Finally a S$350 cashback alternative or other gifts for a spend of S$500 in the first 30 days is definitely worth considering.
| Fast Facts
Annual fee: $192.60/yr (first year free) |
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Dyson V8 Slim Fluffy (worth S$549) |
10,800 miles when you spend APPLY HERE
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(Cover Photo: Shutterstock)
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