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Besides the classic gladiator design on American Express charge cards, Citi Bank definitely having one of the most iconic design on its premium lineup. Citibank (Malaysia) offers the new looking cards not too long ago, from February 2019.
Being as one of the major credit card issuers around the world, let's see what Citi Bank offers to Malaysians' market.
Similar to other credit card issuers in Malaysia, Citi Bank offers two "currencies" for points earning. PremierMiles for one card and Citi Rewards Point for the rest. While both points never expired.
A. Travel Citi PremierMiles
As from the name, this is indeed the only card earning PremierMiles from Citi Bank (Malaysia) lineup.
Is this travel focused card a yay or nay?
Benefits
- 1 PremierMiles per 3 MYR spent locally
- 2 PremierMiles per 3 MYR spent in foreign currencies or selected travel merchants*
*AirAsia.com, CathayPacific.com, MalaysiaAirlines.com, SingaporeAir.com, Agoda.com, Airbnb.com, Expedia.com, Traveloka.com
- 8x worldwide Plaza Premium Lounge access
- Complimentary rides home from KLIA (3 transactions in foreign currencies, limited up to Klang valley or zone 8, budget category's car from airportlimo)
- Personal accident and travel inconvenience insurance coverage
- Discount on hotel dining, booking.com and Agoda as per Citiworld Privilege.
Citibank rewards 10,000 PremierMiles to its cardholders yearly upon payment of annual fee.
Mileage redemption rates
This is a difficult input, as Citi Bank does not advertised it publicly online. The information is obtained from airlines' official websites.
Malaysia Airlines Enrich 1.5:1 (Min 1,500 points : 1,000 Miles)
AirAsia Big Points 1.5:1 (Min 750 points : 500 Miles)
There is no official document indicating the mileage redemption rates on Malaysia's Citibank website, which is a little bit disappointing. From the trend, the rate would probably be 1.5:1 across partnered airlines.
Annual Fee 600 MYR
First 3 years waived for new customers
Eligibility Minimum annual income of 100,000 MYR
B. High Tier Citi Prestige
A truly prestige metal card in the market that is open for application.
Benefits
- Complimentary 4th night stay at any hotel booked through Citi Prestige Concierge
- Relationship Bonus Points: Up to 40% relationship bonus points of annual spending.
**Citigold is a wealth management service offered by Citi Bank, for individuals with minimum portfolio value of 200,000 MYR.
- Complimentary rides home from KLIA (3 transactions in foreign currencies, limited up to Klang valley or zone 8, Premier category's cars by airportlimo)
- 12x worldwide lounge access by LounegKey
- Discount on hotel dining, booking.com and Agoda as per Citiworld Privilege.
Citibank offers welcome bonus of 250,000 Citi Reward Points after 240,000 MYR spending within one year.
Citibank does not advertised the points earning rate online too. But from few resources, indicate that there is a 2x on overseas retail spending and 1x on local retail spending. Plus, travel insurance coverage that are missing on official website.
Mileage redemption rates
The same as Citi PremierMiles, the information is not publicised too.
Malaysia Airlines Enrich 7:1 (Min 7,000 points : 1,000 Miles)
AirAsia Big Points 6.4:1 (Min 3,200 points : 500 Miles)
Annual Fee 1,000 MYR
Eligibility Minimum annual income of 192,000 MYR
C. Mid Tier Citi Rewards
Starting from this category, the information is precisely advertised.
Benefits
- 5x on spending at major department stores and supermarkets (Capped at 3,000 MYR per month)
- 5x on overseas spending (Capped 240,000 MYR annually)
- 1x on other local spending
- Complimentary Plaza Premium Lounge access at KLIA
- Overseas personal accident coverage
- 30 days purchase protection
- Exclusive discounts on Executive screening and walk-in hospital room rates at participated KPJ hospitals
Annual Fee 600 MYR
First 3 years waived for new customers
Eligibility Minimum annual income of 60,000 MYR
D. Low Tier Citi Clear and Lazada Citi Credit Card
Two cards are selected in this category. As the entry level cards to Citi Bank.
Citi Clear
Benefits
- 3x on spending at Borders, Topshop, La Senza, GAP, Vincci, Topman, G2000, Zouk Club KL, Sakae Sushi
- 1x on other transactions
- Friday 1-for-1 movie tickets at Golden Screen Cinema
- 1-for-1 drinks at Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf from Monday to Friday
Annual Fee 90 MYR
First 3 years waived for new customers
Lazada Citi Credit Card
Benefits
- 10x on spending at Lazada and Lazada Wallet Top up
- 5x on spending at selected lifestyle, travel and wellness partners
- 1x on other spending
- Exclusive discount at selected partners (Lazada, Domino's Pizza, Malindo Air, Klook, Healthland and Frasers hospitality properties)
Citi Bank offers additional 1,000 Reward Points when hitting a minimum spending of 1,500 MYR.
Annual Fee 100 MYR
Waived for first 3 years and subsequent years with minimum spending of 15,000 MYR
Eligibility Minimum annual income of 24,000 MYR for both cards.
Mileage Redemption Rates for Mid and Low tiers
AirAsia Big Points, Singapore Airlines Krisflyer and Asia Miles
15:1 (Min 7,500 points : 500 miles)
British Airways Avios 15:1 (Min 15,000 points : 1000 miles)
Etihad Guest 16:1 (Min 16,000 : 1,000 miles)
Thai Airways Royal Orchid Plus 16:1 (Min 24,000 points : 1,500 miles)
Qatar Airways Privilege Club 18:1 (Min 18,000 points : 1,000 miles)
EVA Air Mileageland, Malaysia Airlines Enrich
25:1 (Min 25,000 points : 1,000 miles)
Hotel Redemption
IHG Rewards Club 12:1 (Min 12000 : 1000)
Final Thoughts
It is a huge plus to have various redemption channels. However, the redemption rates do not seem quite positive for Citi Bank mid and low tier's cards despite huge multipliers are offered.
Citi PremierMiles does stand out from the competition of points and miles game. Marketing wise, it is indeed disappointing, as the most important part- redemption is not publicly shared to public.
Points earning is important, but redemption is an art.
It will be grateful if all the partnered airlines having redemption rate of 1.5:1. If it does, it is clearly the best applicable travel credit card in Malaysia. If not, the crown will still go to the non annual fee HongLeong Bank Visa Infinite, that offers 1 Enrich Mile per 2.8 MYR local spend or 1.8 MYR overseas spend. Well, Enrich miles could be transferred to other OneWorld's airlines, not that bad at all.
Another highlight from Citibank is Citi Rewards card. Despite inefficient redemption rate, the multipliers is perfectly suit for users travelling to overseas occasionally and having a higher local spend. With 5x on department stores and supermarket spending, it could accelerate the redemption rate to be as high as 1 mile per 3 MYR spend.
Not a great deal for short term, but not bad for long term accumulation.
Have a glance of estimated earning miles by using the excel file below:
By inserting the amount of expense in Yellow Column
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