Citi Rewards Card Review: Still the best miles card in 2025?

In recent years, the Citi Rewards card has been a must-have for Singapore-based miles chasers. Let’s find out if this card is still the king in 2025. Here’s all you need to know about the Citi Rewards Card.

Note: There are two versions of the Citi Rewards Card: Mastercard and Visa (no longer open for application since 2020). Both versions have identical benefits. Those who are still holding on to the Visa version can still get their card replaced upon expiry, to continue enjoying benefits on twice the monthly cap.

Key information about the Citi Rewards Card

Here’s a quick rundown of the important details of the Citi Rewards card.

Citi Rewards Card

Suitesmile rating:

Card tier
World Mastercard

Annual fee
S$196.20

(first year waived,
request for waiver every year)

Income requirement
S$30,000/year
^{(equivalent to S$2,500/month)}

Foreign currency fee
3.25%

Points expiry
5 years + 3 months
^{(from card opening date)}

Transfer partners
9
^{(useful ones)}

Transfer ratio
2.5 points = 1 mile

Min. transfer block
25,000 points
^{(10,000 miles)}

Transfer fee
$27.25 per transfer

Points pooling
No

General earn rate
1X point per dollar
^{(0.4 mpd)}

Bonus earn rate
10X points per dollar
^{(4 mpd)}

Earning block
Every S$1

Calendar/Statement month
Statement

Transaction/Posting date
Posting

Sign-up bonus
Check here

In a few words
With no annual fee, free points transfers, 9 useful transfer partners and a 4 mpd earn rate, this is one of the best cards for pretty much everything non-travel-related, with an Amaze pairing. This card also gives you access to great frequent flyer programs (FFPs) like KrisFlyer, Infinity MileageLands and Executive Club. Other spendings like flight/hotel bookings, have a very poor earn rate of 0.4 mpd.

Apply now

Pros and Cons of the Citi Rewards Card

Here are the pros and cons of the Citi Rewards card, as compared to other Singapore credit cards.

Citi Rewards Card’s annual fee

Like most other credit cards in Singapore, the Citi Rewards card has an annual fee of S$196.20. This annual fee is automatically waived for the first year.

Is the annual fee worth it?

Although the Citi Rewards card is one of the best miles/rewards cards out there, the annual fee is not worth it, as it does not come with any miles/points (unlike cards like Citi PremierMiles, HSBC TravelOne). In other words, the annual fee would negate some value that you get from the card.

Cardholders are encouraged to keep track of the card anniversary date, and request for an annual fee waiver every single year. Based on readers’ feedback, the annual fee on this card is quite-easily waivable.

How to request for an annual fee waiver?

Citibank credit card annual fee waivers can be done over the phone. Say something along the lines of “I saw the annual fee posted on my card. I am thinking of cancelling it, but can you waive the annual fee?”.

What if the annual fee waiver is rejected?

If/When an annual fee waiver is not granted, cardholders can attempt the following steps:

1. Appeal the rejection via phone
2. Still rejected? Redeem/Transfer out all remaining points immediately
3. Wait for points transfer to complete
4. Call to cancel the card
5. If it was your only Citi credit card, apply for the card 12 months later to enjoy the bank’s consistently-superb sign-up bonuses

🙌 Fun fact: There are only 2 good credit cards in Singapore that do not come with any annual fee: Trust Cashback, HSBC Revolution.

Earn rates on the Citi Rewards Card

Citi Rewards cardholders earn 10 ThankYou points per dollar (equivalent to 4 miles per dollar) on:

• Online spending (except travel-related)
• In-person shopping (officially, at specific merchant categories only*)

^{*Officially, cardholders can only earn 4 mpd for in-person spending on the following MCCs: 5311, 5611, 5621, 5631, 5641, 5651, 5655, 5661, 5691, 5699, 5699. However, with an Amaze linkage (see below) cardholders can enjoy the great earn rate on almost all in-person spending that is not travel-related.}

All other transactions earn just 1 point per dollar (0.4 mpd).

Enjoy this great earn rate for up to S$1,000 worth of eligible spending per statement month, with no minimum spending required. Depending on your expenditure, the monthly limit may be too low. Consider other cards for spendings beyond S$1,000/month.

Use this card with Amaze to turn transactions online

The Citi Rewards card has been made better than advertised, since the launch of the revolutionary Amaze card in late-2021.

This is because, by linking your Citi Rewards card to Amaze, and using the Amaze card to spend, all transactions will be seen as “online” by Citibank. With this magical linkage, carholders can unlock the 4 mpd earn rate even on non-online transactions like dining, groceries and other in-person shopping, in any currency.

As a bonus, cardholders can enjoy about 1% off foreign currency fees with the Amaze x Citi Rewards combo.

Additional note: All SGD spending on the Amaze card, in excess of S$1,000 per calendar month, will incur a 1% fee. There is no reason to use the Citi Rewards card for more than S$1,000 worth of spending per month, however, keep in mind that the Citi Rewards enforces limits based on “statement month”, while Amaze looks at “calendar month”.

Which merchants are eligible?

Citi Rewards cardholders can earn 4 mpd at any merchant that are not travel-related or excluded, in any currency.

This covers a wide variety of eligible merchants, including those in the following categories:

• Online shopping (e.g. Shopee, Lazada)
• In-person shopping (with Amaze linkage)
• Dining (with Amaze linkage)
• Groceries (with Amaze linkage)
• Ride-hailing
• Food delivery
• Streaming services (e.g. Spotify, Netflix)
• Phone/Internet bills
• Fuel (with Amaze linkage)
• Hospital, Polyclinics (with a little trick)
• Miles/Points purchases (via points.com)

What are the travel-related merchants to AVOID?

These popular merchants/categories have travel-related Merchant Category Codes (MCCs) that are NOT eligible for the 4 mpd earn rate:

• Hotels
• Airlines
• Klook
• Pelago
• Travel Agencies (e.g. Chan Brothers, WTS Travel)
• Online Travel Agencies (e.g. Agoda, Expedia)

Can I check the MCC before paying?

It requires a little trick, but you can! To do this, you’ll need an Amaze card to intentionally get a payment declined.

Here are the steps:

1. Make sure that you have $0 or low balance in your Amaze wallet
2. Link your Amaze card to the Amaze wallet (instead of a credit card)
3. Next, attempt to pay for the online transaction using your Amaze card details
4. The transaction will not go through (due to insufficient balance), but you can now check the MCC of the transaction in the ‘Activity’ tab in your Amaze app

Related: How to Check Merchant Category Code (MCC) Before You Pay

Calendar or statement month?

Bonus earn rates on credit cards typically have monthly caps, which come in two forms

1. Calendar month (ends on the last day of the calendar month)
2. Statement month (ends the day before your statement date)

The Citi Rewards card’s bonus earn rate is capped at S$1,000 worth of spending per statement month. This translates to a total of 10k points (4k miles) that can be earned in every statement month.

Transaction date or posting date?

Credit card providers determine monthly qualifying spend based on either:

1. Transaction date (date of the transaction, in Singapore time)
2. Posting date (date when the transaction is posted in your credit card account, usually 1 to 3 days after the transaction)

The Citi Rewards card considers the posting date. So, if you want the transaction to count for the current statement month, it is advisable to complete the purchase around 4 to 5 days before your usual statement date.

Citibank rewards exclusions

Citibank shares the list of transactions that are excluded from earning rewards points. Using the Citi Rewards card for the following transactions will not earn any points:

tl;dr: There’s nothing out of the ordinary here. Most of these are also excluded from earning miles/cashback on other cards.

When are Citi Rewards points credited?

Unlike most other credit cards with bonus earn rates, Citibank credits both base (1X) and bonus points (9X) immediately when a transaction is posted.

This totals up to 10 points per dollar spent, which converts to 4 miles per dollar when transferred to an FFP.

Not having to wait for bonus points is beneficial as:

• You’d be able to redeem them right away, if needed
• You can cancel the card comfortably (after transferring out all earned points), if/when an annual fee waiver is not granted

Citi Rewards points expiry

Points earned on the Citi Rewards card expire 60 calendar months + 3 calendar months grace period, after the calendar month in which the card was approved. This fixed 5 yr 3 mths cycle continues until the card is cancelled.

This can get a little tricky when you are close to the end of the cycle, when points that are recently earned have a very short expiry term. So, be sure to mark your calendar and keep good records of the important dates of your credit cards.

Free Google Sheet Template: Suitesmile’s Credit Card Management Sheet

Here are some examples, for a Citi Rewards card that was approved on 17^th March 2020:

^{*As the points were earned after the first 60-month cycle, these points will expire at the end of the next cycle.}

How to check expiring Citibank points?

As mentioned earlier, Citibank points have a fixed expiry term, starting from the card approval date. If you’ve forgotten your approval month and year, try one of these methods:

1. Call the bank to check
2. Check your email inbox (see screenshot below)

Citibank points pooling

Points earned on the Citi Rewards card do not pool with those that are earned on other points-earning cards like Citi PremierMiles and Prestige.

Lack of points pooling gives you 2 key disadvantages:

• If/When an annual fee waiver is not granted, and you want to cancel the card, you can only transfer out Citi points in blocks of 25k points (10k miles). A balance smaller than this block can be used to redeem as cashback or for vouchers, although not ideal.
• If/When you need to transfer points from 2 or more Citi cards, you’ll need to pay the transfer fee of S$27.25 for each transfer.

This feature is lacking across all Citibank credit cards. While it’s unfortunate, I don’t see it as a dealbreaker, as Citi miles/points have far better flexibility, as compared to most miles/rewards credit cards in Singapore.

Citibank transfer partners

Points earned on the Citi Rewards card can be converted to miles on the following FFPs.

Technically, this card has 12 airline/hotel transfer partners. However, due to a number of reasons like the usefulness of the loyalty programs, Citibank cards have 9 useful transfer partners. This makes Citibank points the most flexible in the Singapore market.

Related: Credit card transfer partners in Singapore (all banks)

0 Good conversion ratio, useful FFP
0 Good conversion ratio, poor FFP
0 Unlock useful FFP through an additional step*

^{*Transfer Citi points to British Airways Executive Club (BAEC) first to enjoy good conversion ratio, then, convert BAEC Avios to another FFP in the Avios family for free.}

How to transfer Citibank points?

Citi cardholders can transfer credit card points to FFPs easily using the Citi mobile app. Here’s a quick guide:

1. Tap on the points balance that you want to redeem from
2. Tap on Points Transfer
3. Tap on Let’s Go

4. Tap on an FFP of choice
5. Choose the amount of frequent flyer miles to receive
6. Fill up your name and membership no. carefully (must match your FFP profile)

How long do Citibank points transfers take?

Points transfers to all useful FFPs typically take 2 to 3 days.

Additional note: Where the expiry term permits, cardholders are encouraged to keep their miles/points in the credit cards, instead of transferring to FFPs speculatively. This gives you the flexibility to only transfer the points to an FFP when making a booking, after checking award availability.

Best ways to redeem Citibank points

As mentioned earlier, Citibank points give you superb flexibility when redeeming for an award ticket. It gives you access to FFPs with great award rates to regions that are overdemanded (hence, overpriced) on KrisFlyer. These are:

• Japan, South Korea
• Europe

Here’s a quick comparison:

There are many other factors to consider, such as award availability, fuel surcharges and other taxes and fees. But the general take away is: Citibank points give you choices and depending on where you are flying, possibly better award rates and availability.

Read more about the cheapest ways to fly to the following destinations using credit card miles:

• North Asia
• Europe
• US/Canada

Citi Rewards sign-up bonus

New cardholders of Citibank can usually get cash, vouchers and/or gadgets worth about S$350 to S$800 when applying for a credit card.

Previous Citibank credit cardholders who cancelled their last card with the bank (as principal cardholder) more than 12 months ago will also qualify as a new cardholder.

Click here to check the latest sign-up bonuses for the Citi Rewards Card.

Should you get the Citi Rewards Card?

You absolutely should, if you want to accumulate miles for better/cheaper flying experiences. With the Amaze pairing, I currently see this as the best miles credit card in Singapore, due to a number of key advantages that it has over other cards:

✅ Great earn rate on almost everything: Earn 4 mpd on almost everything not travel-related

✅ Access to 9 useful FFPs: No other Singapore cards offer better

✅ 5-year points expiry cycle: Gives you more than enough time to earn and plan, but take note of the card approval date

So, you now understand the pros and cons of the Citi Rewards card. Should you get it?

You should get the card if you:

• Want to accumulate miles for future travels
• Appreciate flexibility when searching for award flights (e.g. award rate, date, FFP, airline, destination)
• Want to take advantage of a great sign-up bonus (e.g. get 40k points after spending S$800)

P.S. This card is part of my 2025 miles & credit card strategy.

You should NOT get the card if you:

• Don’t like to travel much
• Only want cashback
• Don’t want the trouble of requesting for an annual fee waiver every year (consider the HSBC Revolution card instead)

✍️ Apply for the Citibank Rewards Card

Important documents

📄 Citi Rewards Card’s 10X Rewards Promotion Terms and Conditions

📄 Citi Rewards Card’s 10X Rewards Promotion FAQs

📄 Citibank Rewards Exclusions

📄 Citi Rewards Cardmember’s Agreement