Kris+ has a bonus conversion offer running between now and 24th May 2022, where you’ll get 15% more KrisPay miles when you transfer Citi ThankYou Points or Citi Miles from your credit card across to the programme, all of which can be instantly transferred into your KrisFlyer account.
This almost brings a Citi-to-KrisFlyer miles transfer up to the standard ratios, but the benefit here is that when you transfer this way it’s both instant and fee-free, with smaller transfer blocks available too.
Normally to transfer from Citi to KrisFlyer at the standard ratios you’ll wait around 24-48 hours for the transfer to be completed, and pay a S$26.75 fee when transferring from each separate card account you hold with the bank, since unfortunately Citi points don’t pool with one another.
The minimum transfer from each of your Citi Miles / ThankYou Points balances to Kris+ is also smaller at 4,000 Citi Miles or 10,000 Citi ThankYou Points (usually 10,000 Miles and 25,000 Points respectively, for direct transfers).
That means you can transfer a more precise quantity, or potentially clear out ‘orphan’ miles from a Citi card account you no longer use, without taking too much of a hit on the ratio.
Citi to KrisPay transfers
Citi transfers to Kris+ first became available in late October 2021, but as with other bank partners they usually come at a 15% poorer rate than you’d get converting to miles, as shown below.
| Transfer Ratio
Citi Miles KrisPay miles 4,000 : 3,400 |
| Transfer Ratio
Citi Thank You Points KrisPay miles 10,000 : 3,400 |
Transfers should be conducted in 4,000 Citi Miles or 10,000 City TYP blocks thereafter (e.g. 4k Citi Miles, then 8k Citi Miles, then 12k Citi Miles, etc…), otherwise the net transfer amount will not increase until each new threshold is reached.
Bonus offer
Between now and 24th May 2022, you will get a 15% bonus on Citi to KrisPay transfers.
| Transfer Ratio (15% Bonus Offer) Citi Miles KrisPay miles 4,000 : 3,910 |
| Transfer Ratio (15% Bonus Offer) Citi Thank You Points KrisPay miles 10,000 : 3,910 |
Unfortunately a 15% bonus on something that was already discounted by 15% only brings you back to 97.75% of where you started, so it doesn’t quite outweigh the 15% reduction in the first place.
Overall the net transfer ratio is still 2.25% below the standard Citi to KrisFlyer conversion rate, but that’s very close and in some cases perhaps inconsequential, as we’ll show below.
Full terms and conditions for the transfer offer are available here.
It may be worth considering
Despite a small sacrifice of miles compared to a direct bank-to-KrisFlyer transfer, remember that converting via Kris+ is fee-free and instant, which adds some potential benefits worth considering for some readers.
For example, if you have 28,000 Citi Miles accrued on your PremierMiles card, these would transfer to KrisFlyer at a 1:1 ratio meaning 28,000 KrisFlyer miles credited, with a S$26.75 fee for the process.
Let’s say you also have 70,000 Citi ThankYou Points accrued on your Prestige card, which would transfer to KrisFlyer at a 2.5:1 ratio for 28,000 KrisFlyer miles, but also attracting another S$26.75 fee when you transfer.
In total you’ll net 56,000 KrisFlyer miles with these two transfers, at a cost of S$53.50.
Under this Kris+ offer, you can immediately transfer all those Citi Miles and ThankYouPoints at no cost into Kris+, then immediately across to your KrisFlyer account, at a slightly poorer ratio but remember – with no fee whatsoever:
- 28,000 Citi Miles = 27,370 KrisPay / KrisFlyer miles
- 70,000 Citi TYP = 27,370 KrisPay / KrisFlyer miles
In total you’ll then have credited 54,740 KrisFlyer miles into your account, instantly and for free, rather than the 56,000 miles you would have accrued within 24-48 hours for a S$53.50 fee.
Sure, you are short by 1,260 miles by following the process via the Kris+ app, but personally we would rather save the S$53.50 fee in this case, unless you value KrisFlyer miles at 4.2 cents each!
Obviously the value reduces as your transfer becomes larger – once you’re transferring the equivalent of around 70,000 KrisFlyer miles for each S$26.75 Citi fee it’s probably then worth following the direct bank to KrisFlyer transfer process, for the normal (full) transfer ratio.
For smaller transfers, however, we would recommend this promotion.
Orphan miles
If you no longer accrue Citi Miles or Citi TYP for one of the cards you hold with the bank, but have a small balance (less than 10,000 Citi Miles or less than 25,000 Citi TYP) remaining in your rewards account, which you won’t be adding to in future, you may as well cash out into KrisFlyer via the Kris+ app to recover something useful from the balance.
You’ll need at least 4,000 Citi Miles or 10,000 Citi TYP in your individual card account to make this work, and under this promotion you’re no longer even taking much of a hit at all compared to the usual direct transfer ratio for a transfer that size.
Remember to still transfer in 4k Citi Miles or 10k Citi TYP block sizes (e.g. 4k Citi Miles, or 8k Citi Miles), otherwise you are wasting points for an intermediate transfer because the KrisPay transfer will not update until a new ‘block’ is reached.
How to transfer
The process for transferring Citi TYP or Miles into KrisPay miles is as follows.
Simply tap ‘Wallet’ on the Kris+ app homepage, then ‘Transfer’.
You’ll then see the Citi ThankYou Rewards option (if you don’t, you may need to update to the latest version of the app).
Click on ‘Citi ThankYou Rewards’ and you will be redirected to log in to your Citi Rewards account on your mobile device to then proceed with a Citi Rewards to Kris+ transfer.
Be careful
There are two main catches to remember when transferring bank miles to KrisFlyer this way.
Firstly you’ll have to move any miles or points transferred from Citi to KrisPay into KrisFlyer miles within 7 days, otherwise they are stuck in KrisPay forever (value 0.67 cents per mile, expire in 6 months).
The second is just as important, you cannot use any of the KrisPay miles you have earned from your Citi transfer for any Kris+ purchase, no matter how small, as that automatically renders that entire transfer stuck in Kris+ until expiry.
The golden rule therefore is to transfer in to Kris+, then transfer straight out to KrisFlyer. Even with a 7-day window available, don’t even wait – you may forget later.
Wait till May to transfer
All Citi Miles and most Citi ThankYou Points do not expire while they are at the bank side, but as soon as you transfer to KrisFlyer the three-year validity clock starts ticking.
If you make a transfer in April under this promotion the KrisFlyer miles credited will expire on 30th April 2025, but if you’re super-savvy and do it from 1st-25th May instead, you’ll get till 31st May 2025 to use them.
It may seem of little relevance now, but this might just be a big help to you in three years’ time.
Summary
With a 15% bonus running on Citi to KrisPay conversions, this may be a good time to consider a transfer.
Even though you still take a slight hit on the transfer usual ratios when making a direct conversion, you’ll potentially benefit from the following advantages during this offer:
- Transfers are instant (as opposed to 24-48 hours)
- Transfers are free (as opposed to S$26.75 from each card account), outweighing the slight 2.25% poorer ratio for smaller conversions
- Minimum transfer quantities are reduced, for smaller top-ups to instantly achieve a redemption threshold if necessary
- You may be able to extract orphan points from unused Citi cards at practically the ‘normal’ bank-to-KrisFlyer conversion rate
If you’re taking advantage of the offer, remember to do so in May rather than April, to give yourself an extra month of miles validity at the KrisFlyer side.
(Cover Photo: Cam Morin)