Citi Premierpass Card (Elite) Review
Summary - We recommend the Citi PremierPass® Card - Elite Level to the frequent flyer because this is the only travel reward credit card that lets you earn points not just from the dollars you spend, but also from the miles you fly. The key highlights of this card are:
- You earn points not just from the dollars you spend, but also from the miles you fly (at a rate of 1 point for every 1 miles flown)
- You will earn miles if you pay for your companion's ticket
- There are no blackout dates for airline ticket redemption
Let us look at this card in greater detail.
Reward Formula - With this card, you will earn double points for every dollar you spend on "everyday purchases and one point for every dollar you spend on regular purchases. You earn one point for every mile that you fly and you also earn one point for every mile that your friend or family flies as long as you have paid for their ticket with your card! You will also get a complimentary companion ticket when you buy a qualifying ticket. The definition of qualifying ticket means that you have buy a ticket through Citi for at least $299.
Annual Fee and APR - The annual fee is $75.00. The APR is 14.24% (variable rate) and the average daily balance method (including new purchases is used to calculate your monthly balance.
ThankYou Redemptions Network Program - The Citi PremierPass® Card's reward program is the ThankYou program, which is a great all round reward program. It has a unique travel rewards program for airlines. Cardholders have two choices. Firstly, you have a variable flight option plan where they can book any ticket or itinerary online through expedia. The number of points required to redeem for your ticket purchases will depend on the price. But you will have the flexibility to book any tickets you want.
The other options is the fixed flight option whereby the number of points for a particular destination is fixed.
However, to qualify for the fixed flight option, you either have to a Salomon Smith Barney FMA client, have a citibank account or have an eligible citicard. The Citi PremierPass Card is an eligible card for the fixed flight option.
Update - The Fixed and Variable Flight Options are no longer available on ThankYou. You can now use points to redeem for flights (100 points equals $1.00 in value). Their online travel portal is powered by expedia.com. Recently, expedia.com has stopped putting American Airlines on their portal so CitiCard users will also be affected by this.
Citi PremierPass Card Peer Comparison
To be honest, it is really hard to compare this card with others because it has the unique feature of allow you to earn points from the miles you fly. But let's just compare it with Citi's own Diamond Preferred Rewards Card and a couple of others.
Citi PremierPass vs Citi Diamond Preferred Rewards Card - Both these cards have the same reward program. The key difference is how they earn points. The Diamond Preferred Card has no annual fee and the PremierPass Card does. But while the Diamond Preferred Card can only earn one point for every dollar spent on the card, the PremierPass Card allows you to earn points on miles that you fly as well. Plus you also get a companion ticket every year. Compared to the Citi Diamond Preferred Card, this card is more suited to those who fly often.
Citi PremierPass vs Chase Sapphire - Let's now compare this card against the Chase Sapphire Card, which has a few things going for it. Firstly, you can earn double points when you book your trip with Chase Ultimate Rewards online travel booking site. The reason why we chose to compare this card is because recently, expedia.com, which powers Citi's travel booking site has stopped showing American Airline flights. Hence, Citi's portal will not show them as well. So for folks who fly American, this may be an issue. Chase on the hand, have no such problems. And though you cannot earn points on miles you fly with the Sapphire Card, you can book almost airlines with them.
Citi PremierPass Card - Truly Unique Travel Card
Verdict - We recommend the Citi PremierPass® Card - Elite Level to the frequent traveller who wants to rack up points quickly. This is the only card that allows you to earn points on both the miles you fly and the money you spend on the card.
The only thing you have to be aware of is that when you cannot just use your Flightpoints to redeem rewards. You have to combine both FlightPoints and ThankYou points. You must use at least the equal amount of ThankYou Points to redeem for a reward item. For example, if you wish to use 10,000 points and have some Flightpoints to use, you can use 5,000 Flightpoints and 5,000 ThankYou points. Hence, if you get this card, do not use it just for air travel, use it for your other purchases as well.
Update - The Citi PremierPass Card is no longer offered by Citi. This card has effectively been replaced by the Citi ThankYou Premier Card.
Positives
- Ability to earn points from miles flown aside from the points you earn buying the ticket and the points you earn from your frequent flyer program.
- Earn points from miles if you pay for a companion ticket
- Good reward program
| Citi PremierPass® Card | |
| Reward Benefits | |
| Bonus Points | 20,000 points after first $600 in spending (Elite Version) |
| Point Accumulation |
1 point per $1 spent on purchases In addition earn 1 flight point for every mile flown |
| Caps on Rewards |
100,000 points per calendar year (includes both regular and flight points Only 50,000 may come from flight points |
| Expiration | none if account is active within 3 years |
| Other Benefits | |
|
Online Account Access Zero liability on unauthorized purchases Dedicated customer service no pre-set spending limits |
|
| Cost/Fees/Interest rates | |
| Introductory rate | No balance transfer offer for Elite Version |
| Annual Fee | No annual fee |
| Purchase APR | As low as P+10.99% for elite version (variable rate) |
| Balance Transfer APR | As low as P+10.99% for elite version (variable rate) |
| Cash Advance APR | Prime Rate plus 16.99%, min is 21.99% (variable rate) |
| Penalty/Default Rate APR | 29.99% (variable rate) |
| Min Finance Charge | $0.50 |
| Grace Period | 20 days |
| Balance Calculation Method | Average Daily Balance (including new purchases) |
| Balance Transfer Fee | 3%, min $5.00 |
| Cash Advance fee | 3% min $5.00 |
| Over-the-credit-limit fee | $35.00 |
| Late Payment fee |
$15.00 - up to $100 $29.00 - $100 to $250 $39.00 - more than $250 |