If you have perused a year-end list of holiday destinations and then wondered how you could afford any of those places, this article is for you.
Even if you don't have thousands of points and miles on your card, there are ways to take the sting out of your vacation bill if you have a smart look at your Citibank credit card.
Paying for everything by credit card is a good move because it lets you earn reward points, air miles, cashback and more as you spend. Putting all, or at least most, of your spending on your card helps maximise the rewards you receive, and keep a better track of your spending, which is hard to do if you only use cash.
Citi PayAll – a first-of-its-kind payment solution in the UAE – enables Citibank credit cardholders to turn big payments into big rewards which means they can earn points and miles along the way.
How it works
• You could schedule this one-time (or recurring) payment using your Citi credit card
• Reason for payment needs to be selected (rent, school fees etc)
• It can take up to 7 working days for the transfer to be completed
• A processing fee is charged per transaction
• You earn points or miles similar to normal retail transactions
Game-changer
This new feature from Citibank is a genuine game-changer. It takes the sting out of big-ticket one-off or recurring expenditures such as rent payments because they can now be paid using credit card, earning you loads of valuable reward points.
Expenses like your home rent and children's education expenses are not just big payments – they are also some of the most important. Citi PayAll lets you manage your cashflow smartly and stay in control, so you don't miss a payment.
Covers big payments
Yes, it covers big-ticket expenses – from yearly or monthly rents, school fees and residential property management fees. This means customers no longer have to waste time and effort settling these transactions using cash, checks or autopay, giving them more autonomy and flexibility.
Easy to set up
Available to Citi cardholder, it’s refreshingly easy to set up too. Use Citi Payall instantly in a few simple steps via the Citi Mobile App. Upon logging into the app and going to the “Payment“ page, you only need to choose between “single payment“ or “recurring payments“ for up to two years, provide the necessary payment details such as recipient‘s name, bank account number and the amount to be settled – and finally select the credit card to be used to settle the payment.
Customers will receive a payment alert when the amount is deducted from the credit card and the full transaction amount including any applicable fees will reflect in the credit card statement. Easy peasy!
The bottom line
Credit cards that offer this service are: Emirates-Citibank, Citi Premier, Citi Rewards, Citi Cashback, Citi PremierMiles, Citi, Life, and Citi Simplicity.
And here’s a great example of what you could earn. If you spend Dh120,000 ($32,697) on the Citi Ultima card as your annual rent, you will get a whopping 32,697 Skywards Miles on Emirates ($1=1 Skyward mile). Meaning that dream trip to Paris suddenly looks a lot more likely.
