Our Travelations

ADVERTORIAL

If there’s one thing we always make sure to bring with us during our travels, it’s our credit cards. No, it’s not for any luxurious purchases or anything (well, if Jeff wants to indulge me now and then, I won’t mind!), but rather, it’s for emergencies. And sometimes, it’s just easier and safer to pay with a credit card than risk carrying wads of cash around.

Some cards also give travel-related privileges that, as avid travelers, we really, really like. Jeff has one that allows him to convert his spending into miles that can be used to redeem flights on a much sought after airline. I don’t have such a credit card, but I have two frequent flier cards. Anyway, we both thought we were sorted when it came to smart spending for our travelling needs.

Well, we were wrong – luckily, we can now remedy that, thanks to a very informative dinner session with Citibank recently.

During the sharing session, we were ‘educated’ on their suite of credit cards, which includes the one we think is most suitable for avid travelers, the Citibank Citi PremierMiles Card.

Citibank presentation session. It was very useful - check out J paying attention at the top of the table!

While our current travel related reward cards allow us to claim miles for flights, this one lets us claim our accumulated miles for just about anything that is travel related.

And being independent travelers (fortunately, we do sometimes enjoy full-fare flights and hotels as part of our work), we fly a lot on budget airlines and stay frequently at guesthouses and hostels. So, being able to claim for these is just great!

Citi PremierMiles Card

Features/benefits of the Citi PremierMiles Card include:

• Up to 2 Citi Miles with every $1 spend
• Annual bonus of up to 20,000 Citi Miles
• Citi Miles are redeemable on most airlines or any travel-related spend (you have to make the travel-related purchase using your Citi PremierMiles Card)
• Citi Miles never expire

Honestly, travelling is a major part of our lives – it’s part of our work, it takes up a big chunk of our leisure time and needless to say, our relationship is strengthened through shared experiences while travelling – so this card would really help us make the best of our travelling budget. Hey, who doesn’t want a free 5-star hotel stay, eh?

Well, we’re both going to sign-up for one.

If you would like one too, head to this Citibank Credit Cards/Ready Credit page, where you can enjoy a $40 Tangs voucher if you successfully apply for both a Citibank Credit Card and Citibank Ready Credit. If you successfully apply for either a Citibank Credit Card or Citibank Ready Credit, you’ll enjoy a $20 TANGS shopping voucher.

[Comparatively, offline sign-ups will not receive any vouchers. Online sign-ups not using the link above will receive only a $20 Wisma Atria voucher.]

Besides this, all holders of Citibank Credit Cards can participate in the Citibank Gourmet Pleasures programme, something which I think would be right up our alley (and yours too!). I think there’s a foodie in every true-blue traveler – I recently had a great discussion with a group of travel writers and we came to the fantastic conclusion that food, travel and culture are very natural bedfellows.

Here’s evidence that the Citibank folks really know their food – we were treated to a very delicious feast at Coriander Leaf that night:

A very interesting starter: Eggplant with a pomegranate salsa

Crab cakes, the second starter and my number 1 dish that night

My main: Codfish with a miso dressing

J's main dish: Roasted rack of lamb with a balsamic dressing

Anyway, I’ll do a reveal of my card, and hopefully, what I spent my miles on, soon.

Thanks Citibank & 24seven for a fun and informative session (and a yummy dinner)! We also met many new friends and fellow bloggers

Esther