Citi Prestige – The best credit card for Airline Miles and International Spends in India
Introduction
The Citi Prestige Credit Card is Citibank’s Super Premium Credit Card offering in India. If you are a travel buff who loves collecting flexible points and converting them into Airline/Hotel points then you have come to the right place.
Eligibility & Fees
- Annual Income of INR 2,500,000 (25 lacs)
- Age 21 or older
- Annual Fees of INR 20,000 + taxes (18%) = INR 23,600
While the annual fees look steep, the card has multiple benefits on offer which make this a very attractive proposition. Unlike some other super premium credit card offerings in the market like American Express Platinum Charge card, these benefits are not one time (Hope they are listening) and help reduce the effective cost of the card to a great extent.
Benefits Overview
- Welcome gift of 10,000 bonus Air Miles on first transaction every year (14 Airline Programs to Choose from!)
- Gift Voucher (Taj or ITC) worth INR 10,000 every year
- Unlimited Priority Pass Access (Including Supplementary Card Holders)
- Stay 4 consecutive nights and get 4th night complimentary at participating hotels
- Meet & Assist Service at Airport with One Way Airport Transfer in Asia Pacific Region twice per year
- Three complimentary green fees at select golf courses globally
- Earn 2x points on international spends
- Taj Epicure Plus and InnerCircle Silver membership
- Overseas Medical Insurance of USD 50,000
Benefits Value Estimate
Airline Miles – INR 10,000 assuming we value Airline Miles at INR 1 per mile which is a reasonable estimate
Gift Voucher (Taj or ITC) – INR 10,000
Unlimited Priority Pass – INR 6,000 considering unlimited access (each paid access is USD 32 ~ INR 2,000) including for supplementary card holders. Most cards offer 4 – 6 visits free per year and hence such a conservative value. The effective value jumps if you travel very frequently.
Free Night Stay – INR 10,000 which is a very conservative estimate assuming you book a hotel worth INR 5,000 twice a year for 4 nights and get 2 nights free
Airport Transfer – INR 2,000 for a luxury transfer (In a city like Tokyo it can easily go to 10x this amount)
Even this conservative estimate ignoring many other benefits comes out to approximately INR 38,000. If you travel regularly (even sweeter if you do international travel) then you can easily recoup the fees. This card is a no brainer in our opinion but read on for a more detailed analysis.
Airline Miles
With the collapse of Jet Airways in India, one could easily say that there is no point in earning Airline miles in India. Air India is the last in our pecking order and Air Vistara really does not have as comprehensive a network as Jet or Air India and is primarily a Delhi based airline at present.
To make proper use of this card, you must travel to international destinations. Technically you could use your points for Air India miles and travel domestically but that would be a complete waste. Let us look at their 14 Airline partners
| Airline | Alliance | Region |
|---|---|---|
|
Cathay Pacific |
One World |
Asia - Hong Kong |
|
Singapore Airlines |
Star |
Asia - Singapore |
|
Air France / KLM |
Sky Team |
Europe |
|
Eva Air |
Star |
Asia - Taiwan |
|
Quantas Airlines |
One World |
Australia |
|
Turkish Airlines |
Star |
Europe - Turkey |
|
Qatar Airways |
One World |
Asia - Qatar |
|
Virgin Atlantic |
NA |
Europe - UK |
|
Etihad Airways |
NA |
Asia - UAE |
|
British Airways |
One World |
Europe - UK |
|
Thai Airways |
Star |
Asia - Thailand |
|
Malaysia Airlines |
One World |
Asia - Malaysia |
|
Air India |
Star |
Asia - India |
|
Jet Airways |
NA |
Asia - India |
Out of the 14 airlines above, there are 12 airlines outside India where you should credit your miles. This is an impressive network across the 3 major airline alliances and some independent airlines which have fantastic airline award programs. You could use them to book cheap flights within North America as well (Say example American Airlines using British Airways Avios). This practically covers the entire globe.
Other Transfer Partners
You can transfer points to Taj and IHG (Intercontinental Hotels Group) as well but this would probably not be the best use of points. Still this is an option which can prove to be valuable if you need to top up your balances or keep points from expiring.
Reward Rate
You earn 1 reward point per INR 100 spent domestically. Overseas spends earn 2x points viz. 2 reward points per INR 100 spent. There is an additional bonus for CitiGold / Citi Private customers but the qualification criteria is minimum relationship value of INR 5 crores (~700k USD) which is super steep.
Each Reward Point can be converted to 4 Airline miles across all of their 14 partners. The same ratio applies to IHG and 5 reward points equal 1 Taj Inner Circle Point.
If you value Airline Miles at INR 1 per mile the effective reward rate turns out to be
- 4% for Domestic Spends
- ~7% for International Spends (After adjusting for taxes and foreign currency markup of 3.5%)
Sample Redemptions
If your annual spends on the Card are INR 10 lacs with 25:75 split between domestic and international transactions you will earn 17,500 reward points which are equal to approximately 70,000 airline miles. These can be redeemed for these fantastic awards
These are some incredible fares and take your effective reward rate to INR 3 per mile in Cathay (~20% Cashback) and almost INR 2 per mile in ANA (~15% Cashback) which have fantastic business class products.
Bottom Line
This is a solid credit card offering from Citibank and we are increasingly moving a lot of our spending on this card (especially international spends). The card boasts of an impressive array of benefits to suit different needs. Yes, devaluation of airline miles is a risk here but with 14 partners to choose from I guess it is a hedged bet to some extent. As long as your travel plans are flexible and you love to travel, this will be a card you will love to have in your wallet. What do you think ?
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