Drew’s Discovery : A Hidden Points Factory with Citibank

Citibank is on the verge of being purchased by NAB which means one less credit card points program on offer. After the big four banks and Amex, Citibank has always offered a generous Qantas Frequent Flyer sign on bonus.

One of the best Citibank credit card deals at the moment is a 100,000 bonus Qantas points offer on the Citi Premier Qantas credit card. The annual fee is reduced to $175 fee and you just need to spend $4,000 in 90 days to get the bonus points.

How Easy Is It To Get Approved For A Citibank Premier Qantas Credit Card?

One of the challenges with Citibank is their approval process. I have 4 other credit cards and was  able to get approved relatively easily.  It took two days from application to approval.

Our fully employed, home owning guest blogger Annie (who has no credit card at the moment) was declined. 

How Quickly Does Citibank Credit The Bonus Qantas Frequent Flyer Points?

My credit card application was approved on the 1st of November. I had planned to spend the $4,000 minimum in the first month. The sign on bonus points were credited on the third of December.

What Are The Benefits Of The Citi Premier Qantas Credit Card

Points accrue from between 0.5 to 1 qantas point per $ spend. The Citi Premier Credit Card offer is less than what is available on Amex, however is comparable to both Commbank Ultimate Awards  and Westpac Altitude Black.

At the time of writing a cashback offer on Deliveroo and Spotify was included, however this expires in January 2022.

One of thet attractive features of the card is the mobile phone insurance.  This covers both theft or accidental damage. All you need to do is pay your monthly phone bill with the card.

The other notable benefit is the Citibank dining offer, which provides a free bottle of wine at certain restaurants. In my current home city of Melbourne only 11 restaurants were included. When looking at the Google reviews they were all over 4 stars. I wonder if under the NAB takeover the number of restaurants will increase dramatically with their strong business customer base.

I also received a complimentary Diners Card, however I cannot see the value if I am chasing a sign on bonus.

What Are The Disadvantages of the Citi Premier Qantas Credit Card

The biggest drawback on the card is that points are capped at 100,000 per year. You would need to spend around $200,000 to hit the cap.

The Annual fee is $350 per year, if you spend $48,000 per year then the fee is reduced to $175.

CitiBank PayAll Points – A New Way to Manufacture Points

One of the great new features launched by Citibank is the PayAll feature. Essentially you can use Citibank to transfer money into any Australian Bank Account. This is designed to pay suppliers who do not normally accept a credit card such as Cleaners, Gardeners, Taxes, Rent, Bills etc. 

I have not seen such a generous points offer for some time. You can now transfer to any bank account in Australia and earn one Qantas point per two dollars transferred. What’s more you still get the interest free period. 

There is no charge to use PayAll until 31 Oct 2022 and then a 2% fee applies. I believe this will make the offer uneconomic as you will pay 4c per point accrued.

In the meantime I plan to use it for a whole range of suppliers/tradespeople to earn all the way up to my annual 100k pont cap.

Summary – Should I Get The Citibank Premier Qantas Credit Card

If you are looking to boost your points then the short answer is Yes. For $175 you can earn 100,00 points and with some creative paying of bills earn a further 100,000 points. To me this is a no brainer. If you can get approved.

Drew
Drew

Drew spends 3 months of the year travelling, and 9 months working which is just enough to support a credit card application habit. Destinations are chosen around cycling, hiking or skiing opportunities. For Drew it's as much about the deal as the destination!

Articles: 96