Upto 400,000 bonus points with Citi Prestige

[Jack_OC]

Citi Australia

Earn 20,000 bonus Points every month for 20 months from approval when you spend $1,000 or more in each statement period.1

To be eligible to receive up to 400,000 bonus Points you must apply for a Citi Prestige Credit Card by 31 March 2019. You will receive 20,000 bonus Points when you spend a minimum of $1,000 during each monthly statement cycle. A maximum of 400,000 bonus Points can be earned over the first 20 monthly statement cycles. If you do not meet the minimum spend for one monthly statement cycle, you forfeit the bonus Points for that monthly statement cycle, however you are still eligible for subsequent months’ 20,000 bonus Points if you meet the minimum spend within each monthly statement cycle during the promotional period. Cash Advances, Balance Transfers, Refunds, Chargebacks and Special Promotions do not contribute to the spend threshold. The bonus Points will be credited within 6 - 8 weeks of meeting the spend criteria for any given month. All rewards are subject to the Terms and Conditions of the Citibank Rewards Program. Points do not expire while the card remains open and in good standing. Please note that if you have a balance transfer, you will be charged interest on any spend that you make. This offer is valid until 31 March 2019. Post this advertised date; Citi reserves the right to continue, withdraw or change the offer at any time without notice

Similar offers also available with Signature (upto 300,000 points) and Platinum (upto 200,000 points) cards.

 

[LadyC]

I couldn't see an exclusion period on this? I thought they generally were 12 months?

 

[Jack_OC]

I couldn't see an exclusion period on this? I thought they generally were 12 months?

I can’t see any exclusion period either. I posted a question on this on the Citibank forum on here a couple of weeks ago, but no reply. I’ve just applied - I figure I’ll find out quickly if I’m eligible for bonus points or not, and if not I will close account and demand a refund of annual fee on grounds that I only applied due to bonus offer, and the T&Cs say I’m eligible.

 

[siri]

CITI Platinum visa, I only got 10000 points spending $34,000... Whole thing is a scam since they keep on changing conditions and who got time to track those..

 

[Jack_OC]

CITI Platinum visa, I only got 10000 points spending $34,000... Whole thing is a scam since they keep on changing conditions and who got time to track those..

Are you talking about this specific promotion? As far as I can tell, it was only launched last week.

Anyway, if you met the specified terms of a promotion offer and didn't get the number of bonus points you were supposed to get, you should complain to Citi.

 

[burmans]

Anyway, if you met the specified terms of a promotion offer and didn't get the number of bonus points you were supposed to get, you should complain to Citi.

And if that doesnt work threaten to escalate to FOS.

 

[Saltywings]

CITI Platinum visa, I only got 10000 points spending $34,000... Whole thing is a scam since they keep on changing conditions and who got time to track those..

This seems like a simplistic complaint. I'd be willing to put money on the table that they will honour your T&Cs if your case is genuine and you go through the appropriate channels, escalating as necessary. I've applied for many Citi-managed CCs (e.g. Coles MC, Virgin Money to name a few) that have always posted points without issues when I correctly meet spend criteria.

If I only got 10k pts after spending 34k, I'd sure be reviewing whether or not my spend was actually eligible, and taking it to them if they haven't held up their end of the bargain.

 

[Jack_OC]

If I only got 10k pts after spending 34k, I'd sure be reviewing whether or not my spend was actually eligible, and taking it to them if they haven't held up their end of the bargain.

It should be noted that the Citi Platinum card normally only earns 1 pt/$, with a cap of 10k per month. So in the absence of a promotional bonus points offer, if someone was to spend $34k within a single month on that card, 10k points would be correct.

 

[Saltywings]

It should be noted that the Citi Platinum card normally only earns 1 pt/$, with a cap of 10k per month. So in the absence of a promotional bonus points offer, if someone was to spend $34k within a single month on that card, 10k points would be correct.

And thus, reading the fine print is a must

 

[Jack_OC]

And thus, reading the fine print is a must

Indeed. To be fair, a lot of cards have caps in place now, or alternatively a threshold, above which earn rates are reduced. Some of these thresholds are at very low levels - e.g. with the Qantas Premier everyday, the earn rate goes down to 0.4 pts/$ after the first $3k per statement period. Even with relatively high end cards like the NAB Visa Signature and the ANZ Black cards, the earn rates get cut in half once you spend $5k within a statement period.

There are now relatively few cards that allow completely uncapped points earning - so if anyone is planning to spend a large amount on any card in the hope of earning lots of points, they definitely need to read the fine print!

PS: I should also clarify that when I referred to a cap of 10k pts per month above, I should have said "per statement period". The statement period is usually one month, but not necessarily a calendar month.

 

[Jack_OC]

Anyway, getting back to the current Citi offer - IMHO it turns what are relatively poor cards (from a points earning perspective) into very good ones if you're not going to spend a lot. For example, if you spend exactly $1,000 per month on the Prestige card, you would earn between 21,000 and 23,000 Citi Rewards points per month, which is equivalent to:

• 10,500-11,500 Velocity points, i.e. 10.5-11.5 Velocity points per $, or
• 8,400-9,200 KrisFlyer miles, i.e. 8.4-9.2 KF miles per $

​

If you spend more, then the earn rate per $ will fall, but even at a monthly spend of $10k per month, the equation would be 30,000-50,000 Citi Rewards points per month, which is equivalent to::

• 15,000-25,000 Velocity points, i.e. 1.5-2.5 Velocity points/$, or
• 12,000-20,00 KrisFlyer miles, i.e. 1.2-2 KF miles/$

​

Even the latter are some pretty impressive earn rates for a Visa card, but realistically it makes sense to keep spending just above $1k per month.​

 

[travelislife]

Interesting....so they get you for 2 x annual fees. So cost is $1400. What do Citi points convert to Velocity at?

 

[wohoo]

based on what I read, Citi isn't exactly the best in telling what eligible spend or not. Citi cards also has a huge problem of counting eligible spend. Someone in the old virgin highflyer thread mentioned that anything you spend within 6-7 days of your statement dates sometimes won't post from *unbilled* to billed, leading to disappointment when award points not rewards. Also, statement also change depend on which month. This would mean you only have 20-21 days to make the eligible spend to get those 10k citipoints (which are fairly poor for conversion, anyway).

 

[Jack_OC]

Interesting....so they get you for 2 x annual fees. So cost is $1400. What do Citi points convert to Velocity at?

Yes, the 2 x annual fees is correct - presumably very deliberately! Bear in mind that this card comes with some valuable benefits though, e.g. unlimited free Priority Pass lounge visits for the holder plus 1 guest; an ongoing benefit of book 4 consecutive nights in a hotel and get the 4th night free; and a free hotel night once per year (although this can be somewhat tricky to redeem). Depending on your travel patterns, these benefits could potentially outweigh the annual fee on their own.

Citi points earned via the Prestige or Signature cards convert to Velocity at 2 for 1 - see my examples above. So the overall 400,000 bonus points = 200,000 Velocity points. You can also get a one-off bonus of 10,000 City points (5,000 Velocity points) if you take out the free companion Diners Club card and complete just a single eligible transaction with it.

Note that the conversion rate for KrisFlyer points is lower (2.5:1), and also that the conversion rates for other Citi cards are lower.

The ongoing earn rates are also tiered (i.e. complicated) and not great unless you are spending in one of the higher tiered categories. You earn 3 Citi points (= 1.5 Velocity points/1.2 KrisFlyer miles) per $ on overseas spend, as wells as spending on restaurants, hotels and airlines. Then it's 2 Citi points (=1 Velocity point/0.8 KrisFlyer miles) per $ at supermarkets, "major retailers" and petrol stations, but only 1 Citi point (=0.5 Velocity points/0.4 KrisFlyer miles) per $ on other eligible transactions.

EDIT: also bear in mind that Citibank usually participates in the Velocity bonus offers, where you get a bonus of 15%+ when transferring to Velocity at designated times.

based on what I read, Citi isn't exactly the best in telling what eligible spend or not. Citi cards also has a huge problem of counting eligible spend. Someone in the old virgin highflyer thread mentioned that anything you spend within 6-7 days of your statement dates sometimes won't post from *unbilled* to billed, leading to disappointment when award points not rewards. Also, statement also change depend on which month. This would mean you only have 20-21 days to make the eligible spend to get those 10k citipoints (which are fairly poor for conversion, anyway).

Thanks - these are good points. To be honest, I can pretty easily spend $1k+ early in each statement period, but yes I will have to keep an eye on this.

 

[PDog]

based on what I read, Citi isn't exactly the best in telling what eligible spend or not. Citi cards also has a huge problem of counting eligible spend. Someone in the old virgin highflyer thread mentioned that anything you spend within 6-7 days of your statement dates sometimes won't post from *unbilled* to billed, leading to disappointment when award points not rewards. Also, statement also change depend on which month. This would mean you only have 20-21 days to make the eligible spend to get those 10k citipoints (which are fairly poor for conversion, anyway).

Yeah, my experience (with Virgin money) was that you had to get your number spend in a couple of days before the end of the month to be sure. But... anything that missed one statement hits the next statement so really you do have the full 30/31 days - only the first month was a challenge.

My concern is holding the card for that long while the points are drip fed. I’d want them sooner!

 

[Jack_OC]

Yeah, my experience (with Virgin money) was that you had to get your number spend in a couple of days before the end of the month to be sure. But... anything that missed one statement hits the next statement so really you do have the full 30/31 days - only the first month was a challenge.

My concern is holding the card for that long while the points are drip fed. I’d want them sooner!

Yes the drip feeding could be seen as a downside, but realistically you are never going to get this number of points from a single sign on bonus (for example, until a week or so ago, Citi did have a normal sign up bonus offer, but I think it was 120,000 points, rather than 400,000).

For background, I previously held the Citi Prestige (and before that Citi Select, its predecessor). I only cancelled it because the ongoing earn rates became so poor. While the other benefits were excellent (probably second only to the Amex Platinum Charge in terms of Aussie credit cards), I wasn't sure if they justified a $700 annual fee on their own (I concluded not in the end).

The way I see it, this new offer is not so much a conventional sign up bonus points offer - but it means the ongoing earn rates would be excellent (for 20 months) if your monthly spend on the card is in the low thousands per month. IMHO, an earn rate of several points per $ on a visa card (potentially >10 pts/$!), combined with the other benefits, means the annual fee is easily justified.

 

[Jack_OC]

To follow up on the immediate rather than staggered bonus points issue:

Right now, I think the best MC/Visa (immediate) sign on bonus available is with the Virgin Money High Flyer card, which has an 80,000 Velocity point sign up bonus, and an ongoing earn rate of 1 pt/$ (reducing to 0.5 after the first $8k per month). There is virtually no scenario where you would earn as many points over 20 months with the High Flyer compared to the Prestige based on current offers, as long as you spend at least $1k per month on the card. Here are some examples:​

• If you spend $1k per month you would earn between 213k and 229k Velocity points with the Prestige, compared to 100k with the High Flyer.
• If you spend $5k per month you would earn between 245k and 325k Velocity points with the Prestige, compared to 180k with the High Flyer.
• If you spend $10k per month you would earn between 285k and 425k Velocity points with the Prestige, compared to 260k with the High Flyer.

And at higher spending levels, the advantage of the Prestige is likely to go grow, as it earns 0.4-1.2 Velocity points per $ (depending on the merchant), while the High Flyer only earns a 0.5 Velocity points per $ once you go past $8k.

But as the above examples show, the sweet spot for the Prestige card is definitely at spending levels just above the $1k per month mark.

EDIT: of course further advantages of the Prestige card are (a) flexibility to transfer directly to other FF programs, including Emirates and KrisFlyer and (b) potential to take advantage of the Velocity transfer bonuses, which you can't do with a card that automatically transfers to Velocity. The latter could easily increase your total Velocity points earn with the Prestige by 15%+.​

 

[PDog]

To follow up on the immediate rather than staggered bonus points issue:

Right now, I think the best MC/Visa (immediate) sign on bonus available is with the Virgin Money High Flyer card, which has an 80,000 Velocity point sign up bonus, and an ongoing earn rate of 1 pt/$ (reducing to 0.5 after the first $8k per month). There is virtually no scenario where you would earn as many points over 20 months with the High Flyer compared to the Prestige based on current offers, as long as you spend at least $1k per month on the card. Here are some examples:​

• If you spend $1k per month you would earn between 213k and 229k Velocity points with the Prestige, compared to 100k with the High Flyer.
• If you spend $5k per month you would earn between 245k and 325k Velocity points with the Prestige, compared to 180k with the High Flyer.
• If you spend $10k per month you would earn between 285k and 425k Velocity points with the Prestige, compared to 260k with the High Flyer.

And at higher spending levels, the advantage of the Prestige is likely to go grow, as it earns 0.4-1.2 Velocity points per $ (depending on the merchant), while the High Flyer only earns a 0.5 Velocity points per $ once you go past $8k.

But as the above examples show, the sweet spot for the Prestige card is definitely at spending levels just above the $1k per month mark.​

My bolding ^^

I think though that Virgin money is offering 80,000 velocity point, but the 400k citi points convert to 200,000 velocity points? I had 3 virgin money cards in 18 months (inc the spend time) earning 220k velocity points (bonus only: 40 + 120 + 60). Yup, it’s 3 credit hits, a much higher spend was required but cost of the cards was significantly less than $1400.

 

[Jack_OC]

My bolding ^^

I think though that Virgin money is offering 80,000 velocity point, but the 400k citi points convert to 200,000 velocity points? I had 3 virgin money cards in 18 months (inc the spend time) earning 220k velocity points (bonus only: 40 + 120 + 60). Yup, it’s 3 credit hits, a much higher spend was required but cost of the cards was significantly less than $1400.

Yes, my calculations all take account of the fact that Prestige points convert to Velocity at 2:1. Hence only 213-219k in total if you only spend $1k per month.

You are of course correct that you can get multiple immediate sign up bonuses over time by churning cards, but holding the Citi Prestige doesn't make that any harder to do! At the end of the day, most people need an MC/Visa card for ongoing use, so it makes sense to get one that earns the most points possible for ongoing spend - you can still churn other cards for sign up bonuses.

You are also correct that the fee for the Prestige is massive compared to the High Flyer and indeed most other cards. As I said though, it depends how much value you can get from the other benefits. It's quite feasible to get more than $700 hard value with the free hotel nights etc, but clearly not everyone will so that's definitely a judgement call based on personal circumstances.

 

[Jack_OC]

PS: I just realised that what I said about the High Flyer card above is not quite correct - the current sign up bonus is not a lump sum - it's 16,000 bonus points per month for the first 5 months if you spend at least $3k per month.

You would likely have to keep the card for close to 6 months to get all of the bonus points, and I assume you would not be able to close the account after 6 months and then immediately reapply, so I would say it's unlikely that you could get 3 sign up bonuses from the same card in 18-20 months these days. Obviously the $3k vs $1k monthly minimum is worth noting too.