Citi PremierMiles Credit Card Review: Redeem Air Miles across 15+ Airlines & Hotels

If you are looking for a travel credit card, you will find Citi PremierMiles Credit Card to be the most common suggestion. A highly rewarding air miles program and flexibility to redeem them happens to be a remarkable feature of this card. Citi PremierMiles is available at an annual fee of Rs. 3,000 and stands as a worthy competitor to other travel credit cards like Axis Bank Miles and More and American Express Platinum Travel Credit Card. Read Citi PremierMiles Credit Card Review to know its pros and cons.

*This offer is not applicable if the card is closed due to inactivity within 30 days of card issuance.

Start Your Credit Card Journey with 10,000 Miles

Citi PremierMiles Credit Card offers 10,000 Miles upfront as a welcome gift. When compared against the joining fee of Rs. 3,000, this benefit seems to be fair as the monetary value of these miles is Rs. 4,500. Every year, on payment of renewal fee, you will get 3,000 bonus miles.

Earn Miles on every transaction you make

With Citi PremierMiles Credit Card, you will earn miles in this way:

• 10 Miles per Rs. 100 for booking flights or hotels on PremierMiles Website
• 4 Miles per Rs. 100 spent across all other categories
• Additional 4 Miles / Rs.100 on spends at Amazon India, Flipkart, Myntra  (Validity: 15th Feb’21 to 15th Aug’21)
• Earned miles never expire
• You can redeem your points for Cashback against card outstanding

Citi PremierMiles website is much like the exclusive travel booking platform offered by HDFC Bank to its Regalia Credit Card users. HDFC Bank’s platform is an extended service of their offer display platform- SmartBUY, whereas PremierMiles is powered by Goibibo and hence you can expect better services at this platform.

The reason why ‘miles’ are not referred to as ‘air miles’ like other cards is because these are not directly connected to any airline’s frequent flyer program or hotel loyalty program. Read on to understand the redemption of these miles.

Make Travel Cheaper by Redeeming Your Miles

Citibank offers two ways to redeem the miles earned on Citi PremierMiles Credit Card:

Transfer to Airline Frequent Flyer Programs

You can transfer the earned miles to the Frequent Flyer Program of the Airline Partners or Loyalty Programs of Hotel Partners given below. The table also shows the time it would take for the miles to reflect in your airline or hotel loyalty account.

Please note that the Miles to Air Miles transfer rate is 2:1. This means for every 2 Miles on your card, you can get 1 Air Mile in the FFP of your choice. You must have at least 100 miles in your account to initiate a transfer.

Use miles to book tickets through PremierMiles Platform

You can also book flight tickets or hotel stays directly through PremierMiles website. Online redemption option was previously available but from January 2020 onwards, miles can only be redeemed through a 3-step SMS verification process. If you wish to redeem the miles, an SMS with miles/reward redemption link will be sent to your registered mobile number. You must confirm the number of miles to redeem and then click on ‘redeem now’.

Complimentary Insurance Cover

Citi PremierMiles Credit Card also provides complimentary air accident cover to the primary cardholder. The cover amount is limited to Rs. 1 Crore.

The card also offers lost card liability cover of Rs. 10 Lakh which can be availed only if you report loss of the credit card within 24 hours.

Up to 20% Discount at Partner Restaurants

This offer is applicable to all Citibank credit cards under which you will get up to 20% discount at partner restaurants across the country. Partner outlets include bars, cafes as well as fine dine restaurants. Click here to find partner restaurants of Citibank.

Annual Savings on Citi PremierMiles Credit Card

The table below shows an estimate of the total amount that you would save in a year.

*Discount of only 10% has been considered.

Citi PremierMiles Comparison with other similar Travel Cards

Drawbacks of Citi PremierMiles Credit Cards

Citi PremierMiles has been designed to offer maximum benefits to the users, especially those who travel frequently. At an annual fee of only Rs. 3,000, the value back on usage is aplenty. Yet, there are a few travel features where this card fails to meet our expectations as compared to other travel-centric cards in the market. Some such drawbacks are listed below:

• There is no complimentary international lounge visit.
• There is no free membership to any frequent flyer program or loyalty program.
• It is not good for international usage as the foreign exchange markup is very high (3.5%).
• Extra miles can be earned only on using the PremierMiles Platform. No other accelerated earning is offered.

Apart from the travel benefits, Citi PremierMiles also falls short with respect to dining, shopping and entertainment features.

Suggested read: Top 25 Credit Cards in India

Should You Get This Card?

As we have already mentioned in the beginning of this review, Citi PremierMiles Credit Card is a premium travel credit card and is much popular in the market. Relatively easier eligibility terms may also be one of the reasons why this card is so popular. The best part of this card is that the miles earned can be redeemed across several airlines, unlike popular co-branded cards which offer benefits with only one airline. Also, earned air miles never expire so you can continue to earn thousands of miles and redeem whenever you want. As a welcome benefit, it gives 10,000 Miles upfront.

You should get this credit card only if you plan on taking domestic trips but if you want to save more on international expenses, it may not be the right choice as the foreign exchange markup is very high (3.5%) plus the card doesn’t offer international airport lounge access. Also, since the rewards/miles are redeemable only on travel, you should look for other options if you wish to enjoy benefits that are not boxed into one category.

Citi PremierMiles Credit Card Terms and Conditions