Citi Premier miles credit card comes with a high base reward rate of 1.8%. The card has a beautiful 3D effect design which makes it seem more attractive than it deserves to be. It is advertised as a travel card. It is a simple card to use and maximise. I do feel that this card is becoming outdated and needs more oomphf!
Welcome Miles and Fees
The annual card fee is Rs.3000 + GST = Rs. 3540 and will be levied in the first month's bill.
10000 miles will be credited on the first transaction greater than INR 1000 within 60 days of card issuance. Considering the value of each mile = Rs 0.45, the return in the first year is Rs 4500.
Use my referral link to get additional ₹1000 cash back on spends of ₹5000 in 60 days of card issuance.
My referral to apply for this card.
Renewal Miles
3,000 miles are credited upon renewal every year which are worth Rs 1350. That means you will lose Rs. 2190 every year you renew your card. Very surprising that this card does not come with a spend criterion to make the card free.
Do use the SAVINGS CALCULATOR to check if your spends justify renewing this card beyond the first year.
For the default spends, I have considered 50% of your spends in travel which will be highly unlikely for the present scenario. Go ahead and put in your own likely spends to see if this card justifies its place in your wallet.
If the Calculator doesn't run, click here and run again.
Lounge Access
Domestic Airport: Master/Visa card variants each give respective 6/8 complimentary visits per calendar quarter.
The list of lounges covered is quite limited. (see the tables)
For Master card world variant:
For the Visa Signature variant:
Reward Programme
10 Miles for every INR 100 spent (4.5% savings): for your travel spends made on www.premiermiles.co.in . Airline spends made at airline owned websites, at airline counters, airline helpline numbers are also considered here.
Bookings made through any travel agents are given the default 4 Miles for every INR 100 spent
Default 4 Miles for every INR 100 spent are given which is a healthy 1.8% savings.
The points never expire.
Reward Redemption
Since, this card is a travel card. You can transfer your points to the following list of frequent flier programmes as per the below given ratio.
The other redemption options have been compiled well by Citi itself.
The different ways you redeem have different value to each mile. The best value of Rs 0.45 per mile is given on redeeming for flight bookings.
Citi has an awesome feature of Universal Pay with Points:
Post every transaction, you get an SMS which has a link to pay with points.
This works most prominent travel websites. The advantage here is that you can use any coupon code available while booking through these travel websites and later use points to pay for the transaction. There is no charge for using pay with points. This gives you the full value of Rs 0.45 per mile and more! Whats more is you can partially pay with points too!
Fuel Surcharge Waiver
Fuel Surcharge is provided only at Indian Oil outlets. Why such a premium card misses out on such a basic feature? (biased opinion since I generally use Shell petrol pumps)
Similar or better cards
For flight booking you do get 4.5% savings, but you can always find better offers. E.g. HDFC’s smart buy gives 5% cashback on flights too. HDFC Regalia credit card is always a better option even though it is not advertised as a Travel card.
1.8% default savings is a healthy number. Axis Ace credit card provides 2% default cash back and has lower annual fees of just Rs 500.
Conclusion
Overall it’s a mediocre card. The market has better options out there.