Hi all
I am currently considering whether to use my citibank signature credit card in an upcoming overseas holiday. I do have a credit card with a local institution in the country (Singapore) so my consideration is between using a local card with no 3.3% fee which yields no points, vs using my citibank signature card which has a 3.3% fee but yields 4 points per $.
I've done some rough calculations and the results show that it may be worthwhile for me to use my citi, copping the forex surcharge but netting 4 points per dollar, bearing in mind that I aim to use the points to redeem a Suites/J class SQ ticket.
Here are my initial calculations, just posting them up here for suggestions / comments / to see if there is anything I have missed or if my math is horribly wrong. Plenty of experts in these forums so just want to get some advice
I have used the SIN -> CDG route for comparison
One way suites saver from SIN -> CDG (ignoring the 15% online booking discount) = 107,500 KF Miles
Cost of a one way suites flight from SIN -> CDG = ~$8,500 SGD (using the cost as $7,000 AUD for conservative calculations)
The scenario would have each KF mile valued at $0.065 per KF mile.
Now on to the cost of using my signature card overseas.
Using a $100 AUD transaction as the example (i.e. a $3.30 surcharge).
$3.30 AUD would result in 400 citibank reward points (266.67 KF miles)
This would have each KF mile valued at $0.012 per KF mile.
Using this logic, is it fair to say that I am spending money (via the forex surcharge) to 'buy' points at $0.012 per mile, with the intention of using those miles for a ticket that values each mile at $0.065 (i.e. higher than what I paid for them and therefore 'worth it').
I know there are other factors such as the exchange rate that citi/visa uses and the availability of Suites/J class flights but from what I've read, availability doesn't seem to be an issue and VISA exchange rates are not exorbitant.
Would love input on the above, thanks for your time.
I am currently considering whether to use my citibank signature credit card in an upcoming overseas holiday. I do have a credit card with a local institution in the country (Singapore) so my consideration is between using a local card with no 3.3% fee which yields no points, vs using my citibank signature card which has a 3.3% fee but yields 4 points per $.
I've done some rough calculations and the results show that it may be worthwhile for me to use my citi, copping the forex surcharge but netting 4 points per dollar, bearing in mind that I aim to use the points to redeem a Suites/J class SQ ticket.
Here are my initial calculations, just posting them up here for suggestions / comments / to see if there is anything I have missed or if my math is horribly wrong. Plenty of experts in these forums so just want to get some advice
I have used the SIN -> CDG route for comparison
One way suites saver from SIN -> CDG (ignoring the 15% online booking discount) = 107,500 KF Miles
Cost of a one way suites flight from SIN -> CDG = ~$8,500 SGD (using the cost as $7,000 AUD for conservative calculations)
The scenario would have each KF mile valued at $0.065 per KF mile.
Now on to the cost of using my signature card overseas.
Using a $100 AUD transaction as the example (i.e. a $3.30 surcharge).
$3.30 AUD would result in 400 citibank reward points (266.67 KF miles)
This would have each KF mile valued at $0.012 per KF mile.
Using this logic, is it fair to say that I am spending money (via the forex surcharge) to 'buy' points at $0.012 per mile, with the intention of using those miles for a ticket that values each mile at $0.065 (i.e. higher than what I paid for them and therefore 'worth it').
I know there are other factors such as the exchange rate that citi/visa uses and the availability of Suites/J class flights but from what I've read, availability doesn't seem to be an issue and VISA exchange rates are not exorbitant.
Would love input on the above, thanks for your time.