CITI Bank Credit Cards in India have been one of the sought-after Credit Cards for those who have been long associated with the Bank. But not all CITI credit cards are focused on travel. There are only two CITI Bank Credit Cards that have the potential to exploit the world of Travelling. Let’s find out about these cards and what they offer.
Which Citi Credit Cards work for Travel?
Although CITI has different travel offers from time to time on “MakemyTrip” and other travel websites for all its cards, only two of these cards work well for travelling. Since these cards give lounge access and allow you to earn points that you can transfer to different partners. These cards are:
- CITI Premiermiles Card
- CITI Prestige Credit Card
Fees and Welcome Benefits
Like other credit cards, Citi Premium Credit Cards have significant fees. Here are how much fees you pay and the welcome benefits you get:
| Credit Cards | Annual Fees | Welcome Benefits |
| Citi PremiumMiles Card | INR 3000 | 10000 Miles |
| Citi Prestige Credit Card | INR 20000 | 2500 Bonus Points; and INR 10000 Voucher from Taj/ITC |
Renewal Benefits
On your card renewal, you also get renewal benefits; however, they are not as big as welcome benefits:
| Credit Cards | 2nd Year Fee | Renewal Benefits |
| Citi PremiumMiles Card | INR 3000 | 3000 Miles |
| Citi Prestige Credit Card | INR 20000 | INR 10000 Voucher from Taj/ITC |
How to get Citi Credit Cards for free?
Just like other Private Banks, Citi Bank gives free credit cards based on the nature of the accounts. Two premium CITI Bank accounts require significant relationship value with which you can get these cards for free. Here are the details:
| Credit Cards | Free For | Relationship Value |
| Citi PremiumMiles Card | Citigold clients | INR 75 Lacs |
| Citi Prestige Credit Card | Citigold Private Clients | INR 7.5 Cr |
Complimentary Memberships
Of these two cards, only the CITI Prestige Credit Card gives two complimentary memberships. These two members are from the house of TAJ. Here are the details:
| Credit Cards | Complimentary Memberships |
| Citi PremiumMiles Card | Nil |
| Citi Prestige Credit Card | Taj Epicure; and Taj Innercircle (Silver) |
The Citi Prestige Credit Card would be India’s only card that provides complimentary memberships to Taj Innercircle and Taj Epicure. Usually, you get benefits of TAJ Epicure. However, the catch here is that you have to CITI to get these memberships and do it every year to get it complimentary.
Base Points Earning on Citi Credit Cards
The base points earned on Citi Bank Credit Cards are low or similar to AMEX. This is how many base points you can earn:
| Credit Cards | Points Earned | Amount Spent |
| Citi PremiumMiles Card | 4 Miles | INR 100 |
| Citi Prestige Credit Card | 1 | INR 100 |
Bonus Points Earning on Citi Credit Cards
Even the bonus points earned on Citi Bank Credit Cards are not exciting.
| Credit Cards | Bonus Points |
| Citi PremiumMiles Card | 10x Miles on Airlines Spend |
| Citi Prestige Credit Card | 2x on International Spending |
In the case of the Citi PremiumMiles Card, you can get 10 Miles per INR 100 spent only if the spending is on “Airline Merchant Code”. You can’t get 10 miles while booking on MMT or third-party websites.
Lounge Access on Citi Bank Credit Cards
The lounge Access on Citi Bank Credit Card is not exceptional, except for Prestige Credit Card. Even though PremiumMiles has “Miles” as a currency, it does not have International Lounge Access. These are the lounge access benefits:
| Credit Cards | International | Domestic | Provided by |
| Citi PremiumMiles Card | Nil | Unlimited | Master Card/Visa |
| Citi Prestige Credit Card | Unlimited | Unlimited | Priority Pass |
Points Redemption on Citi Bank Credit Cards
This is the most exciting thing part about Citi Bank Credit Card. As there are multiple options at which you can redeem your points. These options range from online travel websites to utilities to fuel and much more. But the value of one Point varies at these options. Here are the details:
| Merchant | PremierMiles | Prestige |
| MakeMyTrip | 0.45 | 1 |
| EaseMyTrip | 0.45 | 1 |
| Indigo | 0.45 | 1 |
| Cleartrip | 0.45 | 1 |
| Go Ibibio | 0.45 | 1 |
| Premiermiles.co.in | 0.45 | 1 |
| Yatra | 0.45 | 1 |
| Vodafone | 0.3 | 1 |
| Airtel | 0.3 | 1 |
| Jio | 0.3 | 1 |
| Book My show | 0.3 | 1 |
| Shopper Stop | 0.3 | 1 |
| Westside | 0.3 | 1 |
| Dining merchants | 0.3 | 1 |
| Grocery & Medical merchants | 0.3 | 1 |
| PayPal, Points for People, Old Sanawarian Society, Akshaya Patra foundation & PM Cares fund. | 0.2 | 1 |
| CashBack | 0 | 1 |
Even though Prestige is the premier card, its reward rate is lower than PremiumMiles, at least for Travel related merchants such as MMT or Indigo. So, the premier miles card gives an average 1.8% of reward rate, whereas prestige gives a 1% of reward rate on domestic spending. But with prestige, you also get other benefits.
Points Transfer on Citi Bank Credit Cards
Any Card with the functionality of points transfer can provide great value. This is also where Citi Credit Cards shines but not that much. Below are the partners to which points can be transferred, along with the time taken:
| Airline | Working Days |
| InterMiles | 5 |
| Air India | 13 |
| Etihad Airways | 14 |
| Cathay Pacific | 5 |
| British Airways | 5 |
| Singapore Airlines | 14 |
| Qatar Airways | 5 |
| Taj InnerCircle Membership | 3 |
| IHG Hotels | 5 |
| Flying Blue | 5 |
| Virgin Atlantic | 5 |
| Qantas | 5 |
| Turkish Airlines | 5 |
Citi PremierMiles Card Points Transfer
| Airline | Conversion Ratio | Minimum Transfer |
| InterMiles | 2:1 | 100 |
| Air India | 2:1 | 100 |
| Etihad Airways | 2:1 | 100 |
| Cathay Pacific | 2:1 | 100 |
| British Airways | 2:1 | 100 |
| Singapore Airlines | 2:1 | 100 |
| Qatar Airways | 2:1 | 100 |
| Taj InnerCircle Membership | 2:1 | 100 |
| IHG Hotels | 1:1 | 100 |
| Flying Blue | 2:1 | 100 |
| Virgin Atlantic | 2:1 | 100 |
| Qantas | 2:1 | 100 |
| Turkish Airlines | 2:1 | 100 |
Citi Prestige Credit Card Points Transfer
| Airline | Conversion Ratio | Minimum Transfer |
| InterMiles | 1:4 | 250 |
| Air India | 1:4 | 250 |
| Etihad Airways | 1:4 | 250 |
| Cathay Pacific | 1:4 | 250 |
| British Airways | 1:4 | 250 |
| Singapore Airlines | 1:4 | 250 |
| Qatar Airways | 1:4 | 250 |
| Taj InnerCircle Membership | 1:1 | 250 |
| IHG Hotels | 1:4 | 250 |
| Flying Blue | 1:4 | 250 |
| Virgin Atlantic | 1:4 | 250 |
| Qantas | 1:4 | 250 |
| Turkish Airlines | 1:4 | 250 |
Reward Rate on Points Transfer
Since, in most cases, PremierMiles Cards have a transfer ratio of 2 to 1, its reward rate can be 2% or 5% if you can fetch a value of INR 1 for points received. But in the case of the Citi Prestige Credit Card, the reward rate jumps to 4% or to 8% if you spend internationally. These reward rates further jump when you transfer points while there is a bonus transfer offer. However, the reward rate can be reduced if you cannot get an INR value of 1.
Bottomline
Citi Bank Credit Cards work well if you can get them for free otherwise they don’t excite you much. As the reward rate can be really low. Also, there are no 5x or 3x earning opportunities as we see on Axis, Amex or HDFC. So, they might not work for everyone.
