The value of a citibank reward point

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halogen

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Hi all

I am currently considering whether to use my citibank signature credit card in an upcoming overseas holiday. I do have a credit card with a local institution in the country (Singapore) so my consideration is between using a local card with no 3.3% fee which yields no points, vs using my citibank signature card which has a 3.3% fee but yields 4 points per $.

I've done some rough calculations and the results show that it may be worthwhile for me to use my citi, copping the forex surcharge but netting 4 points per dollar, bearing in mind that I aim to use the points to redeem a Suites/J class SQ ticket.

Here are my initial calculations, just posting them up here for suggestions / comments / to see if there is anything I have missed or if my math is horribly wrong. Plenty of experts in these forums so just want to get some advice :)

I have used the SIN -> CDG route for comparison

One way suites saver from SIN -> CDG (ignoring the 15% online booking discount) = 107,500 KF Miles

Cost of a one way suites flight from SIN -> CDG = ~$8,500 SGD (using the cost as $7,000 AUD for conservative calculations)

The scenario would have each KF mile valued at $0.065 per KF mile.

Now on to the cost of using my signature card overseas.

Using a $100 AUD transaction as the example (i.e. a $3.30 surcharge).

$3.30 AUD would result in 400 citibank reward points (266.67 KF miles)

This would have each KF mile valued at $0.012 per KF mile.

Using this logic, is it fair to say that I am spending money (via the forex surcharge) to 'buy' points at $0.012 per mile, with the intention of using those miles for a ticket that values each mile at $0.065 (i.e. higher than what I paid for them and therefore 'worth it').

I know there are other factors such as the exchange rate that citi/visa uses and the availability of Suites/J class flights but from what I've read, availability doesn't seem to be an issue and VISA exchange rates are not exorbitant.

Would love input on the above, thanks for your time.
 
Basically you are buying points for longhaul which is pretty good value especially if you get a Suites saver and SQ has good availability for business saver. The redemption fees can be a bit so this plan is no good for SQ flights in economy.
So yes .....do it!
 
Basically you are buying points for longhaul which is pretty good value especially if you get a Suites saver and SQ has good availability for business saver. The redemption fees can be a bit so this plan is no good for SQ flights in economy.
So yes .....do it!

Thanks for the quick reply Cove, by redemption fees you mean fuel surcharges etc? is there any place on the SQ website that lists the fees associated with a redemption booking?
 
Just do a dummy booking and you will see the figures. It is 68,000 Kris Miles from Singapore to Los Angeles or 91,375 Kris Miles for suites plus about $300 to $500 in fees which is approximate. Put them on your card as well.
London has some special extra landing charges.
 
Hi all


Would love input on the above, thanks for your time.

I use my Signature Citi Points for J or F redemptions...and so happilly use my Signature card for all my international credit card spend at present.

This is much better value than using say a card like 28 Degrees which gains more $Aust per International Currency spent, but which earns no points.

ie Points gained are worth a lot more than the cash difference saved by using 28 Degrees/Citiplus vs Signature Card.
 
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I'm interested to use my Citi signature in Singapore for this reason as well.

Can someone confirm if the 4pts/$1 is for any international transaction or eligible/retail purchases only?

Beside the usual hotel, dining, shopping transactions, I'm also going to pay substantial hospital bill and I don't want to end up paying surcharges and not get the points.
 
They have not mulched on any of my overseas purchases....I use Citi Select which is 5 Citi Rewards points per dollar which translate to 3.33 Kris Flyer miles for a cost of 3.3 % in fees.
 
They have not mulched on any of my overseas purchases....I use Citi Select which is 5 Citi Rewards points per dollar which translate to 3.33 Kris Flyer miles for a cost of 3.3 % in fees.

That's even better deal, cove.

I did a simple calculation that if $1 = 2.67KFF, putting $30K on the card will earn you 80K KFF at the cost of $990. That's juust about enough to redeem one way business saver (with 15% discount) Sydney-Europe. Even with surcharges, it's still pretty good.
 
OP

I stopped thinking about using Citi Select / Signature for KFF a long time ago.

It's a no-brainier to me really.

3.33 / 2.6 per $ overseas spend

Even with the forex surcharge, it is worth it - no if or but !
 
Servous that's $990 for the use on overseas transactions? Then there is the Singapore fuel charge after Kris ticket?
 
thanks for all the input, seems like I'll be going with my signature overseas...

Handy to know this too as I'll be footing the bill for my wedding in Singapore in the near future, should be able to rack up some points! Only issue is having to convert all the SGD (given as wedding gifts) back into AUD.
 
They have not mulched on any of my overseas purchases....I use Citi Select which is 5 Citi Rewards points per dollar which translate to 3.33 Kris Flyer miles for a cost of 3.3 % in fees.
YEP 1c/1KFpt all day long o/s for Select - another one of those no-brainers as cove and legroom regularly point out. WKF Amex is almost as good - 3pts/$1 compared to 3.3 with Select.
 
The trips since February have gone on my US Citi for 0.93 miles per our dollar or about 1.7 AA miles per pound with no foreign exchange charges. Before that it was Citi Select.
 
thanks for all the input, seems like I'll be going with my signature overseas...

Handy to know this too as I'll be footing the bill for my wedding in Singapore in the near future, should be able to rack up some points! Only issue is having to convert all the SGD (given as wedding gifts) back into AUD.

Heh, i did the same recent, except in KL.

Paid the deposit for my wedding with my signature card (about 25k citi points)
Paid the balance the day after the wedding with red packet money. Still have a bunch of RM left which i'll progressively use over time.
I had the option of putting the balance of the wedding on CC and then converting my RM to AUD to pay off the CC to net about 100k citi points, but just figured that it's just too wasteful to do that as I'll lose too much in the conversion back to AUD.
 
thanks for all the input, seems like I'll be going with my signature overseas...

Handy to know this too as I'll be footing the bill for my wedding in Singapore in the near future, should be able to rack up some points! Only issue is having to convert all the SGD (given as wedding gifts) back into AUD.

Yep, depending on where you have your wedding you could get hotel points too; I got a bunch of SPG points for mine which converted nicely to KF :)
 
yup a no brainer for me to use it for overseas purchases just for the points.
even transferring it to AM has OK value as well...
 
Hi all!

Finished up with my short break and not enjoying the drain of being back in the office.

Have a quick question for you all, how do you reconcile the amount of reward points vs the dollars spent?

I also have a platinum edge amex card and the reward points match transactions neatly and clearly, making it easy to spot discrepancies in points rewarded (and in turn resolve through a quick email to their rewards team).

After checking with the Citi call centre, it seems that the same transaction style listing is not available. The maximum time it can take for points to be credited in is 14 days. Obviously you will be using the cc within those 14 days so is it almost impossible to reconcile the points that you have earned? The only way (that I can see) to have an accurate count is to stop using the credit card for 14 days and make a count then (very impractical).

Is this just an inconvenience that people live with due to the fact that its a decent 'premium' credit card with no annual fee for life (for those who got it on the F&F offer)?
 
With the Australian Citi never bother calling them about an exact reconciliation of points as three calls could get you three answers. Generally it is close enough.
I love where I get to go on these points so just relax and book the flights you want.
 
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