The boring one that never stops paying, because nothing on it is capped
| Min income | Base earn | Overseas earn | Monthly cap |
|---|---|---|---|
| S$30,000S$42,000 for foreigners | 1.2 mpdon everything, uncapped | 2.2 mpdforeign currency, uncapped | Noneon either rate |
| Annual fee | Fee returns | Points expiry | Transfer blocks |
| S$196.20first year waivable | 10,000 mileseach year you pay it | Neverwhile the account is open | 10,000 milesS$27.25 a time |
PremierMiles used to be the answer to "which miles card should I get". Then the category cards arrived, started paying 4 mpd on the things people actually buy, and made 1.2 mpd on everything look quaint. On a spreadsheet this card has been losing for about five years.
It is still in my wallet, and the reason is that it never asks me anything. There are no categories to memorise, no minimum spend to clear, no monthly cap to track, and the miles do not expire. It earns the same rate in January as it does in December on a bill I forgot I was going to get.
The number worth knowing is 2.2 mpd on foreign currency, uncapped. Most 4 mpd cards stop paying somewhere around S$1,000 a month. This one does not stop, which is why it quietly becomes the best card in the wallet the moment you leave the country or book anything priced in dollars.
Annual Fee
S$196.20, and this is one of the few cards where paying it is the better move.
| Card | First year | Second year on |
|---|---|---|
| Principal card | Waivable | S$196.20 |
| What the fee gives back | Nothing | 10,000 miles |
At any sane valuation 10,000 miles is worth more than S$196.20, so the renewal fee on this card is closer to a purchase than a charge. I pay it. (Run your own numbers on what you actually redeem for, though. If your miles reliably become economy seats to KL, the maths is thinner than mine.)
I am guessing Citi worked out that people who pay the fee are people who use the card, and that giving those people miles is cheaper than losing them to a free competitor. Whatever the reasoning, it is a rare fee that is genuinely optional in the useful direction.
Welcome Bonus
Citi PremierMiles
Welcome bonus: pick one of 5
- S$400 Cash via PayNow
S$440 Grab voucher- 25,000 miles Max Miles by HeyMaxTransferable to airlines
- S$799 Dyson Airstrait straightener
- S$559 Dyson V8 Cyclone vacuum
Offer ends 2026-08-31
Welcome bonus: pick one of 2
- 8,000 miles Bonus Citi Miles, first year fee waivedFee waived
- 30,000 miles Bonus Citi Miles, paying the annual fee
Offer ends 2026-09-30
Sign-up rewards change often, so confirm the current offer before you apply. New customers only, meaning no card from Citibank in about the last 12 months.
Sign-up offers move monthly and almost always carry a "new to bank" condition, meaning no Citi card in the past 12 months.
How many miles do I earn?
1.2 miles per dollar locally and 2.2 overseas, with no cap on either.
| Spend | Rate | Cap |
|---|---|---|
| Foreign currency and overseas | 2.2 mpd | Uncapped |
| Everything else, local | 1.2 mpd | Uncapped |
| Utilities, insurance, education | Nothing | Excluded |
The word doing the work in that table is uncapped. A 4 mpd card that stops at S$1,000 a month pays 4,000 miles and then nothing. This pays 2,200 on the first S$1,000 and keeps paying 2,200 on the next, and the one after that. On a big month it wins outright, which is not obvious from the headline rate.
What spend actually counts?
Almost everything, which is the whole pitch. The exclusions are the usual three.
There is very little to game here and that is deliberate. Citi does not care how you pay, where you tap, or which app it went through. It cares that the transaction is not a utility bill, an insurance premium or a school fee.
| Does it earn? | Bonus? | What actually happens |
|---|---|---|
| 🌐 Anything billed in foreign currency | ✓ Yes | The 2.2 mpd rate, with no cap to run out of |
| 📱 Apple Pay, Google Pay, contactless | ✓ Yes | Channel makes no difference on this card |
| 🏥 Insurance premiums | ✕ No | Excluded outright, as on most miles cards |
| 🎓 School and university fees | ✕ No | Excluded |
| 💡 Utilities | ✕ No | Excluded |
The Fee You Should Probably Pay
This is the section that costs people miles, and it is not a loophole, it is a checkbox. Citi offers a first-year fee waiver on this card, and taking it forfeits or reduces the sign-up bonus. The bigger welcome offer is contingent on paying the annual fee.
| Your choice at application | You pay | You get |
|---|---|---|
| Take the first-year waiver | S$0 | 8,000 miles |
| Pay the annual fee | S$196.20 | 30,000 miles |
That is 22,000 extra miles for S$196.20, which is under a cent a mile and cheaper than any way you can buy them. Then the renewal year hands back another 10,000 for paying it again. Saying yes to a fee feels wrong, and here it is the correct answer roughly every time.
Offer structures change without notice, so confirm which tier the waiver forfeits before you tick anything.
The Two Things The Rate Does Not Tell You
The flat rate is the point of this card, but two things sit outside it and both are worth knowing before you decide it is boring.
The first is the travel portals. Booking hotels through Citi Travel on Agoda earns up to 7.2 mpd, and Kaligo goes to 10 mpd, against the 2.2 mpd this card pays on ordinary foreign spend. That is a large multiple on a category most people spend real money in. The catch is the same one every portal carries: the rate is only worth having if the room is not dearer than booking it elsewhere. Ten miles a dollar on a room that costs S$80 more is a worse deal than 2.2 on the cheaper one, so price the room first and the miles second.
The second is the lounge benefit, which is smaller than the card's reputation suggests. Priority Pass here is two complimentary visits a calendar year, it is on application rather than automatic, and it is reserved for the principal cardmember. Bring someone and they are charged. After the two it is US$35 a person a visit. If lounge access is what you are buying, this is not the card that delivers it.
Transfer Partners
Citi Miles are already miles, so there is no points-to-miles conversion to think about, and they do not expire while the account is open. That removes the quiet tax that kills most balances: no clock, no forced transfer into a programme you did not want yet.
| Programme | Citi Miles for 10,000 miles |
|---|---|
 Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer | 10,000 |
 Qatar Privilege Club | 10,000 |
 Cathay Asia Miles | 10,000 |
 British Airways Avios | 10,000 |
 Etihad Guest | 10,000 |
 EVA Infinity MileageLands | 10,000 |
 Air France KLM Flying Blue | 10,000 |
 Qantas Frequent Flyer | 10,000 |
 Thai Royal Orchid Plus | 10,000 |
 Turkish Miles&Smiles | 10,000 |
 IHG One Rewards | 10,000 |
Transfers move in blocks of 10,000 miles at S$27.25 a time, so there is a floor to clear before any of it is useful. On 1.2 mpd that is about S$8,300 of local spend, which is worth knowing before you treat this as your only card.
How I actually use it. It is my default for anything not in a bonus category and everything priced in a foreign currency. I sit on the balance rather than transferring, because there is no expiry pushing me, and I move it only when I have a specific seat in mind. Mine usually goes to Qatar, partly to catch their transfer bonuses when they run one, and partly to keep the balance spread rather than sitting entirely in one programme.
Before any redemption, always check the route you want is actually available. The worst thing you can do is diversify into another mileage programme with no redemption in mind.
What should I pair it with?
Every card that beats PremierMiles on rate beats it on a leash. Take a S$3,000 month abroad. Two 4 mpd cards with a S$1,000 monthly cap each will absorb S$2,000 of that. Once you are past those lines, a 4 mpd card is a 0.4 mpd card, and this one is still paying 2.2 on foreign currency.
| Card | What it pays | Miles |
|---|---|---|
| A 4 mpd card capped at S$1,000 | 4 mpd on S$1,000, then base | 4,800 |
| Citi PremierMiles | 2.2 mpd on all of it | 6,600 |
| Both, in that order | 4 mpd on the first S$1,000, then 2.2 on the rest | 8,400 |
That is the fallback case in one line: PremierMiles is not competing with a 4 mpd card, it is competing with the 0.4 mpd that card turns into once its cap fills. Holding both beats holding either.
It only works if you will actually change cards when the cap fills, and plenty of people will not. If that is you, the middle row still beats the top one, which is the quieter reason to hold this card.
That crossover is why the card survives. It is not the best card for your first thousand dollars. It is the best card for your third.
A category card for the first S$1,000 a month, and let this one take everything after.
PremierMiles is not the card you optimise with, it is the card you fall back to. The pairing question is which card handles the spend it under-earns on, and the answer is anything paying 4 mpd on the everyday stuff.
| The gap | What it costs you | What closes it |
|---|---|---|
| Online shopping | 1.2 mpd on a category others pay 4 on | HSBC Revolution, Citi Rewards |
| Dining and transport | 1.2 mpd | HSBC Revolution |
| Groceries | 1.2 mpd | UOB Preferred Visa, Citi Rewards |
| Utilities and insurance | Nothing at all | Nothing does this well, budget for it |
Build your miles card stack
One card never covers everything. Put in what you actually spend and see which cards to hold together, and what to put on each.
Build my stack→The verdict, restated
The card that stops being boring the moment your spending stops being small. Nothing here is exciting on a per-dollar basis, and nothing here breaks: no cap to hit, no minimum to miss, no expiry to race. Pay the fee, take the 10,000 miles back, and let it catch everything the clever cards will not.
Sources
Citi PremierMiles product page and card T&Cs, checked 8 July 2026. Rates, fees, caps and the renewal-year miles credit correct as of that date. Welcome offer figures come from the current promotion and move monthly, so confirm the tier and its fee condition before applying. This guide shares my own experience for education, it is not financial advice, and card terms change: always verify with the bank before applying.