Oct 31, 2014, 6:05 am
Last edit by: lifeonthego_k
I'm going to update this first post as more info flows in to create a 'master list' of all credit cards that offer a decent way of accruing miles - so please help out!
If you know of and/or use any other cards (or the ones already mentioned), please share your thoughts.
***ALL VALUES BELOW IN SINGAPORE DOLLARS (SGD)***
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In no particular order (apart from personal preference in terms of good-mileage opportunities):
============
1. UOB PRVI Miles VISA, MasterCard, AMEX
VISA:
http://www.uob.com.sg/personal/cards...iles_visa.html
MasterCard:
http://www.uob.com.sg/personal/cards...astercard.html
Amex:
http://www.uob.com.sg/personal/cards...amex_card.html
http://www.uob.com.sg/personal/cards...ard/microsite/
Mileage accrual:
The earn rate will be 1.4 miles for every $1 spent in multiples of S$10 (every multiple of S$5 gives 6 to 7 miles due to 3.5 UNI$ rounding off, every S$10 gives 14 miles), and 2.4 miles for every $1 spent OVERSEAS (every $5 gives 12 miles).
Requirements: min. income $80,000 (not strict).
Cost: First year free, then S$256.80 for main, first two supplementary always free. Annual fee waiver for Amex card if you charge $50,000 or more in a year.
Miles conversion fee: $25 per conversion. UNI$ are combined in 1 cardholder's name/FIN Number/NRIC together for all UOB cards which earn UNI$.
Pros: Best mileage accrual rates for overseas spend only. 20,000 bonus miles and annual fee waiver with spend of $50,000 per year (both only for Amex card). $45 1-way airport transfer voucher for $1,000 overseas spend in a given quarter (Amex only).
Cons: AMEX not always accepted by merchants. Points allocated on every $5 spent, rounded down to next $5. Transfer in blocks of 5000 UNI$ points = 10,000 miles. Points are valid for 2 years (transfer before expiry and they will subsequently be valid for a further 3 years from the date of transfer to KrisFlyer).
2. UOB Preferred Platinum Visa
http://www.uob.com.sg/personal/cards..._platinum.html
http://www.uob.com.sg/personal/cards...visa_card.html
Mileage accrual: Earn 4 miles for every $1 spent using ONLY MOBILE CONTACTLESS every $5 gives 10 UNI$ which equal 20 miles). Same incredible mileage-earning ratio for internet shopping with certain restrictions (travel-related, utilities, etc.). Earn 0.4 mile for every $1 for regular, signature-based payments AND ORPHAN SPEND DUE TO $5 ROUNDING OR EXCEEDING THE BONUS U$2000 SPEND (every $5 gives 1 UNI$ which equal 2 miles).
Earning 4 miles/$ is limited to the first S$1110 spent during the per calendar month (via Mobile Contactless). 2,000UNI$ refers to the extra 9UNI$ and does not include the normal 1UNI$.(Stop when you notice you earn 3UNI$ (1 + bonus 2) for the last S$5 transaction. ($1110/5)x9=1998UNI$, hence the last S$5 transaction will earn 2 bonus UNI$. The total bonus UNI$ awarded to you from qualifying spend on Selected Online Transactions and Mobile Contactless Transactions is capped at UNI$2,000 for each calendar month. THE CAP IS ON THE 9 UNI$ BONUS NOT 10UNI$ TOTAL YOU GET WITH BASE OF U$1 PER $ SPEND
Keep in mind that some merchants offer different, non-mileage accruing awards with UOB cards which are called SMART$. Some popular merchants include Cold Storage, Guardian and Giant Supermarket, ToastBox and Starbucks. A full list of merchants where Mobile contactless transactions will NOT earn miles can be found here: http://www.uob.com.sg/personal/cards...smartclub.html
Requirements: min. income $30,000 ($60,000 for foreigners).
Cost: First year free, then $192.60 for main and $96.30 for supplementary. Annual fee waived off easily.
Miles conversion fee: $25 per conversion, in blocks of 5000 UNI$=10,000 miles. UNI$ are combined in 1 cardholder's name for all UOB cards.
Pros: Incredible mileage accrual rates for Paywave transactions (not all merchants - some give SMART$ instead which are different rewards!) as well as internet transactions (some restrictions apply).
Cons: Points allocated on every $5 spent, rounded down to next $5. Transfer in blocks of 5000 UNI$ points = 10,000 miles. Points are valid for 2 years (transfer before expiry and they will subsequently be valid for a further 3 years from the date of transfer to KrisFlyer).
3. Citi PremierMiles MasterCard
https://www.citibank.com.sg/credit-cards/travel/premiermiles-card/?ecid=PSGONSGCCAENPM
Mileage accrual: Earn 1.2 miles for every $1 spent. Earn 2 miles for every $1 spent OVERSEAS. 10,000 bonus miles for each annual membership renewal.
Requirements: min. income $50,000 for VISA. Principal cardholder must be at least 21 years of age.
Cost: First year free, then $192.60 for VISA main, supplementary always free. Annual fee waiver available in exchange for forfeiting the 10,000renewal bonus.
Miles conversion fee: $25 per conversion.
Pros: Decent all-rounder, good for overseas spend. Points never expire. Bonus miles for annual card renewal. 11 frequent flyer programs & 3 hotel programs to choose from, including EVA Air - only 25,000 miles for 1 way Business Class within Asia!!
Cons: No miles awarded for EZ-Link & Transitlink transactions. Miles awarded per S$1. Cents not included. 1.2 miles/S$1. Transfer in blocks of 10,000 miles.
4. DBS Altitude VISA/AMEX
http://www.dbs.com/sg/personal/cards...e/default.aspx
http://www.dbs.com/sg/personal/cards...e/default.aspx
Mileage accrual: Earn 1.2 miles for every $1 spent (every $5 gives 3 DBS points which equal 6 miles). Earn 2 miles for every $1 spent OVERSEAS.
Requirements: min. income $80,000.
Cost: First year free, then $180 for main and $90 for supplementary. Annual fee waiver if you charge $25,000 or more in a year.
Miles conversion fee: S$26.75 per transfer, redeem 1700 DBS points to waive off.
Pros: Points never expire. No rounding down transaction amount to nearest $5 (calculation is done as follows: DBS points = 'transaction amount' divided by 5, multiply by 3, after that round down to nearest whole number. Minimum spend is S$1.67. Each DBS point = 2 miles). Earn 3 miles per S$1 spent on all online Flight and Hotel transactions (capped at S$5,000 per month). 10,000 miles renewal bonus if you have to pay card renewal fees.
Cons: All local spend now down to 1.2 miles/$ (since Dec 1, 2013). AMEX not always accepted by merchants. Transfer in blocks of 5000 DBS points = 10,000 miles (on the plus side points don't expire). Per transfer of S$26.75, redeem 1700 DBS points to waive off.
5. Maybank Horizon Platinum Visa
http://info.maybank2u.com.sg/persona...visa-card.aspx
Earn 3.2 air miles (8X TREATS Points) with every dollar spent on dining, petrol, taxi fares and hotel bookings at Agoda.com/horizon
Earn 2 air miles (5X TREATS Points) with every dollar spent on air tickets, travel packages and foreign currency transactions, with a minimal S$300 in a calendar month
Earn 0.4 mile for every $1 spent elsewhere (1 mile for every $2.50 spent).
Requirements: min. income $30,000 ($80,000 for foreigners).
Cost: $150 for main, supplementary always free. Unsure of any annual fee waiver conditions.
Miles conversion fee: In blocks of 5,000 points to 2000 Asia Miles or KrisFlyer. S$26.75 fee applies.
Pros: Great for ticket purchases and overseas spend. Complimentary access to selected VIP airport lounges when you charge a minimum of S$400 in a single transaction on air tickets or travel packages to your Card 3 months prior to the date of travel.
Cons: Great ONLY for ticket purchases and overseas spend. Points are valid for 1 year only, expire either on 30 June or 31 December of the same year if not Rewards Infinite member.
6. Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer Ascend AMEX
https://www.americanexpress.com/sg/s...nd-credit-card
Mileage accrual: Earn 1.2 KrisFlyer miles for every S$1 spent on all your eligible purchases with your Card
Earn 2 KrisFlyer miles for every S$1 equivalent in foreign currency spent overseas on eligible purchases during June and December
Requirements: min. income $50,000 ($60,000 for foreigners). Principal cardholder must be over 21 years of age.
Cost: First year free, otherwise $256.80 for main, 2 supplementary cards always free (more available at $80.25 each). Annual fee cannot be waived unless you spend alot.
Miles conversion fee: None - your KrisFlyer miles are transferred to your account directly with no conversion fees or charges.
Pros: None, except for welcome offers (4 complimentary airport lounge access vouchers, one complimentary night with Millennium Hotels and Resorts).
Cons: Simply nothing special - there are better cards available for all types of purchases, including flight tickets, even with all of the bonuses above applied. AMEX not always accepted by merchants.
7. Citibank Rewards Card
http://www.citibank.com.sg/gcb/credi...CACRENCCHOCALM
Earn 10X Rewards (10 Rewards Points or 4 Miles for every S$1 spent) when you shop for clothes, bags and shoes or at departmental stores or online shopping websites, including SingTel & M1 online bill payment!
Pros: Transfer to 11 FFPs & 3 Hotel programs in blocks of 25,000 points=10,000 miles; S$25 fee.
Cons: Points awarded per S$1 spend. Cents not included. Cannot combined Thank You Points across cards.
8. DBS Woman's World MasterCard® Card
http://www.dbs.com.sg/personal/cards...astercard-card
10X Rewards for Online Retail Purchases
T&C Here: https://www.dbs.com.sg/iwov-resource...s_card_tnc.pdf
Pros: Men also can get this card!! DBS points are combined in 1 cardholder's name. No rounding down transaction amount to nearest $5 (calculation is done as follows: DBS points = 'transaction amount' divided by 5, multiply by 10, after that round down to nearest whole number. Minimum spend is S$1. Each DBS point = 2 miles).
Cons: DBS points are valid for 1 year based on card anniversary date. The additional 9X DBS Points for online retail spend in a calendar month will be awarded on the 16th of the next calendar month. If the above days are not working days, the Points will be awarded on the next working day. The additional 9X DBS Points are only applicable to the first S$2,000 online retail spend every calendar month.
9. OCBC Titanium Rewards Card
https://www.ocbc.com/personal-bankin...astercard.html
10x OCBC$ on your shopping Local & Overseas Shopping Transactions, Local & Overseas Department Store Transactions and Local & Overseas Online Transactions.
The remaining 9 OCBC$ will be posted to the Card Account by the end of the next calendar month
https://www.ocbc.com/assets/pdf/card...ons.pdf?rand=1
10,000 KrisFlyer miles requires OCBC$ 25000, For each conversion of OCBC$ to KrisFlyer miles a fee of S$25 will be charged
10. UOB Lady's Card
https://www.uob.com.sg/personal/card...ard/index.page
============
If you know of and/or use any other cards (or the ones already mentioned), please share your thoughts.
***ALL VALUES BELOW IN SINGAPORE DOLLARS (SGD)***
============
In no particular order (apart from personal preference in terms of good-mileage opportunities):
============
1. UOB PRVI Miles VISA, MasterCard, AMEX
VISA:
http://www.uob.com.sg/personal/cards...iles_visa.html
MasterCard:
http://www.uob.com.sg/personal/cards...astercard.html
Amex:
http://www.uob.com.sg/personal/cards...amex_card.html
http://www.uob.com.sg/personal/cards...ard/microsite/
Mileage accrual:
The earn rate will be 1.4 miles for every $1 spent in multiples of S$10 (every multiple of S$5 gives 6 to 7 miles due to 3.5 UNI$ rounding off, every S$10 gives 14 miles), and 2.4 miles for every $1 spent OVERSEAS (every $5 gives 12 miles).
Requirements: min. income $80,000 (not strict).
Cost: First year free, then S$256.80 for main, first two supplementary always free. Annual fee waiver for Amex card if you charge $50,000 or more in a year.
Miles conversion fee: $25 per conversion. UNI$ are combined in 1 cardholder's name/FIN Number/NRIC together for all UOB cards which earn UNI$.
Pros: Best mileage accrual rates for overseas spend only. 20,000 bonus miles and annual fee waiver with spend of $50,000 per year (both only for Amex card). $45 1-way airport transfer voucher for $1,000 overseas spend in a given quarter (Amex only).
Cons: AMEX not always accepted by merchants. Points allocated on every $5 spent, rounded down to next $5. Transfer in blocks of 5000 UNI$ points = 10,000 miles. Points are valid for 2 years (transfer before expiry and they will subsequently be valid for a further 3 years from the date of transfer to KrisFlyer).
2. UOB Preferred Platinum Visa
http://www.uob.com.sg/personal/cards..._platinum.html
http://www.uob.com.sg/personal/cards...visa_card.html
Mileage accrual: Earn 4 miles for every $1 spent using ONLY MOBILE CONTACTLESS every $5 gives 10 UNI$ which equal 20 miles). Same incredible mileage-earning ratio for internet shopping with certain restrictions (travel-related, utilities, etc.). Earn 0.4 mile for every $1 for regular, signature-based payments AND ORPHAN SPEND DUE TO $5 ROUNDING OR EXCEEDING THE BONUS U$2000 SPEND (every $5 gives 1 UNI$ which equal 2 miles).
Earning 4 miles/$ is limited to the first S$1110 spent during the per calendar month (via Mobile Contactless). 2,000UNI$ refers to the extra 9UNI$ and does not include the normal 1UNI$.(Stop when you notice you earn 3UNI$ (1 + bonus 2) for the last S$5 transaction. ($1110/5)x9=1998UNI$, hence the last S$5 transaction will earn 2 bonus UNI$. The total bonus UNI$ awarded to you from qualifying spend on Selected Online Transactions and Mobile Contactless Transactions is capped at UNI$2,000 for each calendar month. THE CAP IS ON THE 9 UNI$ BONUS NOT 10UNI$ TOTAL YOU GET WITH BASE OF U$1 PER $ SPEND
Keep in mind that some merchants offer different, non-mileage accruing awards with UOB cards which are called SMART$. Some popular merchants include Cold Storage, Guardian and Giant Supermarket, ToastBox and Starbucks. A full list of merchants where Mobile contactless transactions will NOT earn miles can be found here: http://www.uob.com.sg/personal/cards...smartclub.html
Requirements: min. income $30,000 ($60,000 for foreigners).
Cost: First year free, then $192.60 for main and $96.30 for supplementary. Annual fee waived off easily.
Miles conversion fee: $25 per conversion, in blocks of 5000 UNI$=10,000 miles. UNI$ are combined in 1 cardholder's name for all UOB cards.
Pros: Incredible mileage accrual rates for Paywave transactions (not all merchants - some give SMART$ instead which are different rewards!) as well as internet transactions (some restrictions apply).
Cons: Points allocated on every $5 spent, rounded down to next $5. Transfer in blocks of 5000 UNI$ points = 10,000 miles. Points are valid for 2 years (transfer before expiry and they will subsequently be valid for a further 3 years from the date of transfer to KrisFlyer).
3. Citi PremierMiles MasterCard
https://www.citibank.com.sg/credit-cards/travel/premiermiles-card/?ecid=PSGONSGCCAENPM
Mileage accrual: Earn 1.2 miles for every $1 spent. Earn 2 miles for every $1 spent OVERSEAS. 10,000 bonus miles for each annual membership renewal.
Requirements: min. income $50,000 for VISA. Principal cardholder must be at least 21 years of age.
Cost: First year free, then $192.60 for VISA main, supplementary always free. Annual fee waiver available in exchange for forfeiting the 10,000renewal bonus.
Miles conversion fee: $25 per conversion.
Pros: Decent all-rounder, good for overseas spend. Points never expire. Bonus miles for annual card renewal. 11 frequent flyer programs & 3 hotel programs to choose from, including EVA Air - only 25,000 miles for 1 way Business Class within Asia!!
Cons: No miles awarded for EZ-Link & Transitlink transactions. Miles awarded per S$1. Cents not included. 1.2 miles/S$1. Transfer in blocks of 10,000 miles.
4. DBS Altitude VISA/AMEX
http://www.dbs.com/sg/personal/cards...e/default.aspx
http://www.dbs.com/sg/personal/cards...e/default.aspx
Mileage accrual: Earn 1.2 miles for every $1 spent (every $5 gives 3 DBS points which equal 6 miles). Earn 2 miles for every $1 spent OVERSEAS.
Requirements: min. income $80,000.
Cost: First year free, then $180 for main and $90 for supplementary. Annual fee waiver if you charge $25,000 or more in a year.
Miles conversion fee: S$26.75 per transfer, redeem 1700 DBS points to waive off.
Pros: Points never expire. No rounding down transaction amount to nearest $5 (calculation is done as follows: DBS points = 'transaction amount' divided by 5, multiply by 3, after that round down to nearest whole number. Minimum spend is S$1.67. Each DBS point = 2 miles). Earn 3 miles per S$1 spent on all online Flight and Hotel transactions (capped at S$5,000 per month). 10,000 miles renewal bonus if you have to pay card renewal fees.
Cons: All local spend now down to 1.2 miles/$ (since Dec 1, 2013). AMEX not always accepted by merchants. Transfer in blocks of 5000 DBS points = 10,000 miles (on the plus side points don't expire). Per transfer of S$26.75, redeem 1700 DBS points to waive off.
5. Maybank Horizon Platinum Visa
http://info.maybank2u.com.sg/persona...visa-card.aspx
Earn 3.2 air miles (8X TREATS Points) with every dollar spent on dining, petrol, taxi fares and hotel bookings at Agoda.com/horizon
Earn 2 air miles (5X TREATS Points) with every dollar spent on air tickets, travel packages and foreign currency transactions, with a minimal S$300 in a calendar month
Earn 0.4 mile for every $1 spent elsewhere (1 mile for every $2.50 spent).
Requirements: min. income $30,000 ($80,000 for foreigners).
Cost: $150 for main, supplementary always free. Unsure of any annual fee waiver conditions.
Miles conversion fee: In blocks of 5,000 points to 2000 Asia Miles or KrisFlyer. S$26.75 fee applies.
Pros: Great for ticket purchases and overseas spend. Complimentary access to selected VIP airport lounges when you charge a minimum of S$400 in a single transaction on air tickets or travel packages to your Card 3 months prior to the date of travel.
Cons: Great ONLY for ticket purchases and overseas spend. Points are valid for 1 year only, expire either on 30 June or 31 December of the same year if not Rewards Infinite member.
6. Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer Ascend AMEX
https://www.americanexpress.com/sg/s...nd-credit-card
Mileage accrual: Earn 1.2 KrisFlyer miles for every S$1 spent on all your eligible purchases with your Card
Earn 2 KrisFlyer miles for every S$1 equivalent in foreign currency spent overseas on eligible purchases during June and December
Requirements: min. income $50,000 ($60,000 for foreigners). Principal cardholder must be over 21 years of age.
Cost: First year free, otherwise $256.80 for main, 2 supplementary cards always free (more available at $80.25 each). Annual fee cannot be waived unless you spend alot.
Miles conversion fee: None - your KrisFlyer miles are transferred to your account directly with no conversion fees or charges.
Pros: None, except for welcome offers (4 complimentary airport lounge access vouchers, one complimentary night with Millennium Hotels and Resorts).
Cons: Simply nothing special - there are better cards available for all types of purchases, including flight tickets, even with all of the bonuses above applied. AMEX not always accepted by merchants.
7. Citibank Rewards Card
http://www.citibank.com.sg/gcb/credi...CACRENCCHOCALM
Earn 10X Rewards (10 Rewards Points or 4 Miles for every S$1 spent) when you shop for clothes, bags and shoes or at departmental stores or online shopping websites, including SingTel & M1 online bill payment!
Pros: Transfer to 11 FFPs & 3 Hotel programs in blocks of 25,000 points=10,000 miles; S$25 fee.
Cons: Points awarded per S$1 spend. Cents not included. Cannot combined Thank You Points across cards.
8. DBS Woman's World MasterCard® Card
http://www.dbs.com.sg/personal/cards...astercard-card
10X Rewards for Online Retail Purchases
T&C Here: https://www.dbs.com.sg/iwov-resource...s_card_tnc.pdf
Pros: Men also can get this card!! DBS points are combined in 1 cardholder's name. No rounding down transaction amount to nearest $5 (calculation is done as follows: DBS points = 'transaction amount' divided by 5, multiply by 10, after that round down to nearest whole number. Minimum spend is S$1. Each DBS point = 2 miles).
Cons: DBS points are valid for 1 year based on card anniversary date. The additional 9X DBS Points for online retail spend in a calendar month will be awarded on the 16th of the next calendar month. If the above days are not working days, the Points will be awarded on the next working day. The additional 9X DBS Points are only applicable to the first S$2,000 online retail spend every calendar month.
9. OCBC Titanium Rewards Card
https://www.ocbc.com/personal-bankin...astercard.html
10x OCBC$ on your shopping Local & Overseas Shopping Transactions, Local & Overseas Department Store Transactions and Local & Overseas Online Transactions.
The remaining 9 OCBC$ will be posted to the Card Account by the end of the next calendar month
https://www.ocbc.com/assets/pdf/card...ons.pdf?rand=1
10,000 KrisFlyer miles requires OCBC$ 25000, For each conversion of OCBC$ to KrisFlyer miles a fee of S$25 will be charged
10. UOB Lady's Card
https://www.uob.com.sg/personal/card...ard/index.page
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The 'Best credit cards for KF miles accrual' master thread
Jun 23, 2011, 2:19 am
#256
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: SIN
Posts: 543
But is there a need to transfer every month? Do not forget that miles are valid for 3 years. If you transfer every now and then, you create a 3 year deadline for your miles. Even if you do not wish to travel, you have to use them or forfeit them. Transfer only when you need them.
If you charge everything to DBS Altitude card, you will miss much better miles earning opportunities at supermarkets, departmental stores, where you earn 10x and 5x (bonus points given once charge is posted), or $0.25/mile or $0.50/mile, no minimum spending required, but for DBS, you need to spend $1000, first $1000 get 3x and the balance after the first $1000 (ie $1001 onwards) get only 4x!! (Details can be found in earlier posts). Further, the bonus 1x points is awarded based on the Cardmember's statement cycle, not instantly. What if you need the points urgently?
If you use Citibank's card, you need not spend $1000 monthly and can get more miles compared to DBS Altitude card, if you have expenses at selected merchants like shopping, supermarkets, cafes, cinemas etc. Well, you have to carry 4 cards: Citi Premiermiles card, Citi Platinum VISA (Discontinued), Citi Clear Platinum and Citi Rewards Card. Citidollars earned can be combined to do a redemption by calling the customer service hotline and they will merge the Citidollars for you to 1 card.
I'm not saying Citi Premiermiles Card is #1 card to use in Singapore for mileage-accrual. Every card has its strong points, hence there is no #1 card to use in Singapore. Yes, DBS Altitude Card is better IF you charge everything to it and it amounts to more than $1000 a month. But if you analyse it's points earning and redemption details carefully, you will realise that DBS Altitude card has more bad points than Citi Premiermiles card, especially if you don't charge more than $1000 a month to it.
The #1 way to earn the most miles is to use strategies, with the inconvenience of carrying a few cards, by combining the strengths of each card. The strategy is not charge everything to Citi Premiermiles or DBS Altitude Card. Yes, you need to pay 2 times the $25 admin transfer fee for Citi Premiermiles plus Citi Reward card. But you can use part of the points from Citi Reward card to redeem vouchers to offset the $50 admin fee with some points. After deducting say 10000 points for $50 voucher, the remaining points transferred to FFPs converted to miles is still higher than charging everything to 1 card.
Eg: You spend about $20,000 a year, $5,000 on shopping, $5,000 at supermarkets, $2,500 at cafes, movies, balance $7,500 on bills and other merchants.
Shopping total Citidollars: 5,000x10 = 50,000 = 20,000miles (Every 5 Citidollars = 2 miles, hence divide by 2.5 or amount spent x 4= number of miles earned)
Supermarket total Citidollars: 5,000x5 = 25,000 = 10,000miles
Cafes, movies: 2,500x5 = 12,500 = 5,000miles
Bills and others: 7,500x1.2 = 9,000miles
Total number of miles earned: 44,000miles, compared to if you charge everything to CitiPremiermiles card: 20,000x1.2 = 24,000miles, a difference of 20,000miles!! (Pay $25 admin fee 2x = $50)
For $20 dining voucher, you can redeem with 4,800 Citidollars (or 1,920miles), for $20 shopping voucher, need 4,900 Citidollars (or 1,960miles). Redeem vouchers to “offset” the $25 admin transfer fee!! From previous eg, even after deducting 4,800 Citidollars for $20 dining voucher, you still have 87,500-4,800 = 82,700Citidollars, = 33,080 + 9,000 (from CitiPremiermiles) = 42,080miles! Still better than charging everything to CitiPremiermiles!!
Moreover, DBS awards points for every $5 spent. You will certainly lose out part of your spending unless you charge in multiples of $5. This is where Citibank is better. They award points for every $1 spent. Consider a charge of $19.99. For DBS, you are sure to lose out the points for the $4.99 part, same for UOB cards. For Citibank cards, you just lose out the $0.99 part. Of course, there are cards like Maybank, Standard Chartered, AMEX, OCBC that awards points by rounding up, say $9.80, they award 10 points instead of 9. But their bonus points are not as good as Citibank's.
Yes, I admit that I'm a bit stingy or a miser because every cent or dollar that I spent must be turned into miles, that why I don't like to see wastage. Especially if you transfer to FFPs in blocks of 2000miles like DBS, you are sure to lose out some small amount of Rewards points (eg: 1050 DBS points, waste 50 points) or forced to spend more to round up to blocks of 2000miles (Eg: 4500 DBS points, need to spend more to round up to 5000 DBS points). Citibank allows you to transfer to FFPs in any amount greater than 500 miles, eg 12346 miles.
These are the reasons I strongly recommend using Citibank cards and Maybank Horizon VISA Platinum card.
It really depends on your spending behavior, some may benefit much more using Amex platinum for the 10+10 times rewards.
Recently, I did turn to HSBC card for Asia Miles...
Jun 23, 2011, 5:37 am
#257
Original Poster
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: Singapore, Warsaw, Surfers Paradise
Programs: KrisFlyer Gold>>>Silver>>>Blue, Finnair Silver, Royal Caribbean Diamond
Posts: 5,158
No there isn't. But if you transfer more than once a year then you will pay a lot more in charges with Citi, whereas with DBS you will be able to transfer as many times as you like... 2... 5... 10... it's your choice, and it won't cost you a penny more.
Like I said, for the first $1,000 dollars you will get exactly the same ratio with DBS and Citi. But above $1,000 DBS goes much higher ^ ... while Citi offers the same, low ratio. 
You see, that's the problem. With Citi a different card is good only for one type of spend and sucks completely at everything else you charge to it, so you'd have to carry around 4 different cards, possibly paying fees for all, etc. Why bother when you can carry just 1 DBS card that gives excellent mileage that Citi PM can't even compete with?
I think this is the bottom line right here and I agree with you on that.
If you spend >$1,000 on your credit card each month then you should go for Citi PM card.
If you spend >$1,000 on your credit card each month then you should get the DBS Altitude AMEX.
It really is as simple as that. As long as you intend to stick to say one card for general spend in Singapore then this is the way to go. If you want to get several cards then of course you can find those that give bonus miles for a certain type of spend, which is where Citi is good.
I only use one CC, so without question DBS Altitude AMEX is the best in my situation. But if I were to go for several cards then I would probably grab 2-3 from Citi as well.
I'm not saying Citi Premiermiles Card is #1 card to use in Singapore for mileage-accrual. Every card has its strong points, hence there is no #1 card to use in Singapore. Yes, DBS Altitude Card is better IF you charge everything to it and it amounts to more than $1000 a month.
If you spend >$1,000 on your credit card each month then you should go for Citi PM card.
If you spend >$1,000 on your credit card each month then you should get the DBS Altitude AMEX.
It really is as simple as that. As long as you intend to stick to say one card for general spend in Singapore then this is the way to go. If you want to get several cards then of course you can find those that give bonus miles for a certain type of spend, which is where Citi is good.
I only use one CC, so without question DBS Altitude AMEX is the best in my situation. But if I were to go for several cards then I would probably grab 2-3 from Citi as well.
Jun 23, 2011, 9:06 pm
#259
Join Date: Feb 2010
Posts: 819
Blindspots cardholders do not see...
No there isn't. But if you transfer more than once a year then you will pay a lot more in charges with Citi, whereas with DBS you will be able to transfer as many times as you like... 2... 5... 10... it's your choice, and it won't cost you a penny more.
Like I said, for the first $1,000 dollars you will get exactly the same ratio with DBS and Citi. But above $1,000 DBS goes much higher ^ ... while Citi offers the same, low ratio.
You see, that's the problem. With Citi a different card is good only for one type of spend and sucks completely at everything else you charge to it, so you'd have to carry around 4 different cards, possibly paying fees for all, etc. Why bother when you can carry just 1 DBS card that gives excellent mileage that Citi PM can't even compete with?
I think this is the bottom line right here and I agree with you on that.
If you spend >$1,000 on your credit card each month then you should go for Citi PM card.
If you spend >$1,000 on your credit card each month then you should get the DBS Altitude AMEX.
It really is as simple as that. As long as you intend to stick to say one card for general spend in Singapore then this is the way to go. If you want to get several cards then of course you can find those that give bonus miles for a certain type of spend, which is where Citi is good.
I only use one CC, so without question DBS Altitude AMEX is the best in my situation. But if I were to go for several cards then I would probably grab 2-3 from Citi as well.
Like I said, for the first $1,000 dollars you will get exactly the same ratio with DBS and Citi. But above $1,000 DBS goes much higher ^ ... while Citi offers the same, low ratio.
You see, that's the problem. With Citi a different card is good only for one type of spend and sucks completely at everything else you charge to it, so you'd have to carry around 4 different cards, possibly paying fees for all, etc. Why bother when you can carry just 1 DBS card that gives excellent mileage that Citi PM can't even compete with?
I think this is the bottom line right here and I agree with you on that.
If you spend >$1,000 on your credit card each month then you should go for Citi PM card.
If you spend >$1,000 on your credit card each month then you should get the DBS Altitude AMEX.
It really is as simple as that. As long as you intend to stick to say one card for general spend in Singapore then this is the way to go. If you want to get several cards then of course you can find those that give bonus miles for a certain type of spend, which is where Citi is good.
I only use one CC, so without question DBS Altitude AMEX is the best in my situation. But if I were to go for several cards then I would probably grab 2-3 from Citi as well.
1. DBS Altitude card award points for every $5 spent. How many of your charges in a month are exactly in multiples of $5? I'm sure most of them are like $18.90, $37.80 etc...so all this residue part ($3.90, $2.80) all are wasted. Even if Altitude card awards you 4x, the total amount of points & miles you actually earn is not much different if you charge entirely to Citi Premiermiles or sometimes even more if your charges are like $39.90. Don't forget, if you charge $1 or $2 to DBS Altitude card, you will not earn any miles, whereas for Citi Premiermiles, you earn 1.2 or 2.4miles. Yes, I do charge $1 or $2 to credit cards. You can take a month's statement and do some calculation on the miles you earn by calculating the number of miles earn if charged entirely to Citi Premiermiles compared to DBS Altitude Card. Only if you can make all your charges in multiples of $5, you will get more miles for the 4x points compared to Citi Premiermiles. Have you ever wondered why DBS Altitude Card never highlight the clause "Points are earned for every $5 spent?" in their advertisements? And only $1 spent = 1.6miles?
2. DBS points are transferred in blocks of 1000 DBS Points = 2000 miles (They also never highlight this in their advertisements). Compared to ANZ, Maybank, original AMEX where miles are transferred in blocks of 500 miles and Citibank is best, any amount greater than 500 miles. (UOB is the WORST...transfer in blocks of 10000 miles, most of the cardholders now boycott UOB Cards because their redemption levels are too high) Most of the time, you will not able to use up completely the entire miles transferred. Let's say you need another 7188 miles to do a redemption. Hence you need to transfer 4000 DBS Points = 8000 miles to KrisFlyer, where only 7188 miles will be used up. So the balance 812 miles or $508 spent (based on 4x points) are wasted. This is where Citi Premiermiles is better. You just need to transfer EXACTLY 7188 miles over to KrisFlyer, and none of your precious, hardearned miles are wasted!
Many cardholders do not see all these blindspots. They just think that "earn more miles ah? good lo, use this card". The right way is that you must also see the redemption part of it and how the miles are earned too.
aster, I hope I have given you enough reasons to switch to Citi Premiermiles card based on my analysis so that you earn the most miles from your spending by using only 1 card. If not, well, I have done my best!
Last edited by vsepr; Jun 23, 2011 at 9:32 pm
Jun 23, 2011, 9:31 pm
#260
Ambassador, Hong Kong and Macau
Join Date: May 2009
Location: HKG
Programs: Non-top tier Asia Miles member
Posts: 19,775
But if you notice the charges you make and the final amount of miles you actually earn and use after redemption, Citi Premiermiles may be more useful for 2 good reasons:
1. DBS Altitude card award points for every $5 spent. How many of your charges in a month are exactly in multiples of $5? I'm sure most of them are like $18.90, $37.80 etc...so all this residue part ($3.90, $2.80) all are wasted. Even if Altitude card awards you 4x, the total amount of points & miles you actually earn is not much different if you charge entirely to Citi Premiermiles or sometimes even more if your charges are like $39.90. You can take a month's statement and do some calculation on the miles you earn by calculating the number of miles earn if charged entirely to Citi Premiermiles compared to DBS Altitude Card. Only if you can make all your charges in multiples of $5, you will get more miles for the 4x points compared to Citi Premiermiles. Have you ever wondered why does DBS Altitude Card never highlight the clause "Points are earned for every $5 spent?" in their advertisements? And only $1 spent = 1.6miles?
1. DBS Altitude card award points for every $5 spent. How many of your charges in a month are exactly in multiples of $5? I'm sure most of them are like $18.90, $37.80 etc...so all this residue part ($3.90, $2.80) all are wasted. Even if Altitude card awards you 4x, the total amount of points & miles you actually earn is not much different if you charge entirely to Citi Premiermiles or sometimes even more if your charges are like $39.90. You can take a month's statement and do some calculation on the miles you earn by calculating the number of miles earn if charged entirely to Citi Premiermiles compared to DBS Altitude Card. Only if you can make all your charges in multiples of $5, you will get more miles for the 4x points compared to Citi Premiermiles. Have you ever wondered why does DBS Altitude Card never highlight the clause "Points are earned for every $5 spent?" in their advertisements? And only $1 spent = 1.6miles?
Say you run 45 Amex transactions a month (I did in April 2011), your loss from rounding down is 45 x 2.5 (average of rounding down) x 1.6 (earn rate) = 180 miles a month.
If I spend $1,450 I already earn back the rounding down from Citi. Any spending after that is pure profit. YMMV on whether you run more or less than 45 Amex transactions a month or not.
2. DBS points are transferred in blocks of 1000 DBS Points = 2000 miles (They also never highlight this in their advertisements). Compared to ANZ, Maybank, original AMEX where miles are transferred in blocks of 500 miles and Citibank is best, any amount greater than 500 miles. (UOB is the WORST...transfer in blocks of 10000 miles, most of the cardholders now boycott UOB Cards because their redemption levels are too high) Most of the time, you will not able to use up completely the entire miles transferred. Let's say you have 15555miles in your KF account, you need another say 7188 miles to do a redemption. Hence you need to transfer 4000 DBS Points = 8000 miles to KrisFlyer, where only 7188 miles will be used up. So the balance 812 miles or $508 spent (based on 4x points) are wasted. This is where Citi Premiermiles is better. You just need to transfer EXACTLY 7188 miles over to KrisFlyer, and none of your precious, hardearned miles are wasted!
Many cardholders do not see all these blindspots. They just think that "earn more miles ah? good lo, use this card". The right way is that you must also see the redemption part of it and how the miles are earned too.
Many cardholders do not see all these blindspots. They just think that "earn more miles ah? good lo, use this card". The right way is that you must also see the redemption part of it and how the miles are earned too.
Remember any miles orphaned can be carried forward to the next redemption unless you're churning, at which your max loss is 1,000 miles.
In any case we in HK even avoid orphan miles by making bill payments to redeem one extra block of miles and/or split card payments at co-operative merchants to ensure no orphan miles remain on redemption.
Jun 25, 2011, 12:50 am
#261
Original Poster
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: Singapore, Warsaw, Surfers Paradise
Programs: KrisFlyer Gold>>>Silver>>>Blue, Finnair Silver, Royal Caribbean Diamond
Posts: 5,158
Cit: 39x1.2 = 46 miles.
DBS: 35x1.6 = 56 miles.
A lot of stores require min. $20 to pay with CCs, but even at $19.99
Citi: 19x1.2 = 22 miles
DBS: 15x1.6 = 24 miles
And where's the problem? You transfer to KF whatever miles you need for a given free ticket, not your entire balance, right? Though of course you can transfer over everything if you want. And nothing is ever lost. So what's your point?
DBS is better because I can transfer over as many times as I like in a given year, whereas with Citi you have to pay for each and every transfer.
Jun 25, 2011, 2:04 am
#262
Join Date: Feb 2010
Posts: 819
"A lot of stores require min. $20 to pay with CCs, and most stores won't even let you pay such small amounts by CC."
This is not true. Yes, some stores have minimum amount to charge to credit cards and not all need $20, some need $10, some $5, some $15 etc, but MOST places do not, like Giant, Guardian, Robinsons, vpost.com.sg (minimum $1, VISA/MasterCard only), SP Services (again VISA/MasterCard only) etc.... It's really up to you if you want to charge to credit cards. For me, I'm thick skinned. It's not as if you are not paying or stealing, but the trouble is not all places accept AMEX. It's either you use another DBS VISA/MasterCard (not for <$5) for places that accept VISA/MasterCard only OR use Citi Premiermiles card for places that do not accept American Express.
Ok, to this work example, "That's just not true. On your $39.90 purchase this would be:
Cit: 39x1.2 = 46 miles.
DBS: 35x1.6 = 56 miles.
A lot of stores require min. $20 to pay with CCs, but even at $19.99
Citi: 19x1.2 = 22 miles
DBS: 15x1.6 = 24 miles"
Don't forget that the bonus 1x points are not given instantly. You have to wait to your statement date, then the bonus points are given. What if you need the points urgently? Spend more?
To "And where's the problem? You transfer to KF whatever miles you need for a given free ticket, not your entire balance, right? Though of course you can transfer over everything if you want. And nothing is ever lost. So what's your point?"
My point is: let's say you need only another say 7188 miles to do a redemption. Hence you need to transfer 4000 DBS Points = 8000 miles to KrisFlyer, where only 7188 miles will be used up. So the balance 812 miles or $508 spent (based on 4x points) are wasted OR you need to go and spend $508 immediately. This is where Citi Premiermiles is better. You just need to transfer EXACTLY 7188 miles over to KrisFlyer, and none of your precious, hardearned miles are wasted! I prefer to see 0 balance in KrisFlyer after redemption than to see for example 1000 miles not being able to use because the "transfer in blocks" rule.
Another example: you have 12346 miles in KrisFlyer, you need to redeem a round trip return Business Class ticket to TPE at 42500miles, hence you need to transfer another 30154miles. If you transfer from DBS, you need to transfer 32000 miles (in blocks of 2000 miles). If you transfer from Citi Premiermiles Card, you just transfer exactly 30154miles. The rest of the miles in Citi PM, you can keep. So because of that 154 miles, you wasted 1846 miles!!! or $1155 spent (based on 4x)!!! Ok, you can say you can keep the balance 1846 miles in KF for another 3 years. But what if you do not have plans to travel? It is forfeited!!
I'm curious, at places that do not accept American Express, may I know which card you use? Such as vpost.com.sg to pay bills, SP Services to pay your utilities? I suggest you use Citi Premiermiles for places that do not accept AMEX and for transactions that are less than $5 or any DBS VISA/MasterCard (not for <$5) if you do not mind the usual 1x points to combine the points with DBS Altitude Card. And for the rest of the charges, you can continue to support DBS Altitude Card. Cardholders who use AMEX as their main card for payment always need another VISA/MasterCard bcos not all places accept AMEX. Cardholders who use VISA/MasterCard as their main card just need to carry 1 card.
This is not true. Yes, some stores have minimum amount to charge to credit cards and not all need $20, some need $10, some $5, some $15 etc, but MOST places do not, like Giant, Guardian, Robinsons, vpost.com.sg (minimum $1, VISA/MasterCard only), SP Services (again VISA/MasterCard only) etc.... It's really up to you if you want to charge to credit cards. For me, I'm thick skinned. It's not as if you are not paying or stealing, but the trouble is not all places accept AMEX. It's either you use another DBS VISA/MasterCard (not for <$5) for places that accept VISA/MasterCard only OR use Citi Premiermiles card for places that do not accept American Express.
Ok, to this work example, "That's just not true. On your $39.90 purchase this would be:
Cit: 39x1.2 = 46 miles.
DBS: 35x1.6 = 56 miles.
A lot of stores require min. $20 to pay with CCs, but even at $19.99
Citi: 19x1.2 = 22 miles
DBS: 15x1.6 = 24 miles"
Don't forget that the bonus 1x points are not given instantly. You have to wait to your statement date, then the bonus points are given. What if you need the points urgently? Spend more?
To "And where's the problem? You transfer to KF whatever miles you need for a given free ticket, not your entire balance, right? Though of course you can transfer over everything if you want. And nothing is ever lost. So what's your point?"
My point is: let's say you need only another say 7188 miles to do a redemption. Hence you need to transfer 4000 DBS Points = 8000 miles to KrisFlyer, where only 7188 miles will be used up. So the balance 812 miles or $508 spent (based on 4x points) are wasted OR you need to go and spend $508 immediately. This is where Citi Premiermiles is better. You just need to transfer EXACTLY 7188 miles over to KrisFlyer, and none of your precious, hardearned miles are wasted! I prefer to see 0 balance in KrisFlyer after redemption than to see for example 1000 miles not being able to use because the "transfer in blocks" rule.
Another example: you have 12346 miles in KrisFlyer, you need to redeem a round trip return Business Class ticket to TPE at 42500miles, hence you need to transfer another 30154miles. If you transfer from DBS, you need to transfer 32000 miles (in blocks of 2000 miles). If you transfer from Citi Premiermiles Card, you just transfer exactly 30154miles. The rest of the miles in Citi PM, you can keep. So because of that 154 miles, you wasted 1846 miles!!! or $1155 spent (based on 4x)!!! Ok, you can say you can keep the balance 1846 miles in KF for another 3 years. But what if you do not have plans to travel? It is forfeited!!
I'm curious, at places that do not accept American Express, may I know which card you use? Such as vpost.com.sg to pay bills, SP Services to pay your utilities? I suggest you use Citi Premiermiles for places that do not accept AMEX and for transactions that are less than $5 or any DBS VISA/MasterCard (not for <$5) if you do not mind the usual 1x points to combine the points with DBS Altitude Card. And for the rest of the charges, you can continue to support DBS Altitude Card. Cardholders who use AMEX as their main card for payment always need another VISA/MasterCard bcos not all places accept AMEX. Cardholders who use VISA/MasterCard as their main card just need to carry 1 card.
Last edited by vsepr; Jun 25, 2011 at 2:31 am
Jun 25, 2011, 5:38 am
#263
Original Poster
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: Singapore, Warsaw, Surfers Paradise
Programs: KrisFlyer Gold>>>Silver>>>Blue, Finnair Silver, Royal Caribbean Diamond
Posts: 5,158
Plus for a 1-card person, DBS Amex is great because first of all: DBS is #1 in terms of dining/shopping discounts/offers.
Secondly, by having a DBS Amex card, you can take advantage of Amex discounts too! So you get the best of both worlds, all conveniently available via a single card.
Jun 25, 2011, 6:16 am
#264
Join Date: Feb 2010
Posts: 819
"Nothing is wasted. Nothing at all. You transfer 8000 miles to KR, you use 7188, so you have 812 miles left in your KF account that will be used for your next redemption. I can't believe you actually have a problem with that..."
I do not have a problem with that unless you are someone who do a redemption often within 3 years. I don't, so I have to make sure that there is 0 miles after a redemption to avoid wastage of miles. Just that I do not like the idea of purposely spending a lot at the last minute to create that block of miles to round it up. Example, I need miles urgently and I am short of 500 miles to create a 2000 miles block, so I have to quickly spend $313 to top up and create a 2000 miles block to transfer. You see my point?
Ok, I see your point. Your idea is not the same as mine. Basically, I make sure that every single dollar that I spend is turned into miles. Perhaps you do not mind that some money spent is not turned into miles. Or maybe you travel often for work, so some miles are earned regularly by flying, hotel stays etc. But I do not. The only way for me to earn miles is through credit cards. So, I have to make sure that every dollar I spent create miles. And it must be the maximum miles that I can earn with the card that awards the most miles out of it. For example, use Citi Rewards Card at shopping rather than Premiermiles Card. I do not mine carrying 4 cards to earn the maximum miles that I can and also do not mine charging $1, $2 to credit cards to make sure that I earn miles for the $ I spent. I'm the typical "kiasu" singaporean...
I do not have a problem with that unless you are someone who do a redemption often within 3 years. I don't, so I have to make sure that there is 0 miles after a redemption to avoid wastage of miles. Just that I do not like the idea of purposely spending a lot at the last minute to create that block of miles to round it up. Example, I need miles urgently and I am short of 500 miles to create a 2000 miles block, so I have to quickly spend $313 to top up and create a 2000 miles block to transfer. You see my point?
Ok, I see your point. Your idea is not the same as mine. Basically, I make sure that every single dollar that I spend is turned into miles. Perhaps you do not mind that some money spent is not turned into miles. Or maybe you travel often for work, so some miles are earned regularly by flying, hotel stays etc. But I do not. The only way for me to earn miles is through credit cards. So, I have to make sure that every dollar I spent create miles. And it must be the maximum miles that I can earn with the card that awards the most miles out of it. For example, use Citi Rewards Card at shopping rather than Premiermiles Card. I do not mine carrying 4 cards to earn the maximum miles that I can and also do not mine charging $1, $2 to credit cards to make sure that I earn miles for the $ I spent. I'm the typical "kiasu" singaporean...
Jun 25, 2011, 9:51 am
#265
Original Poster
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: Singapore, Warsaw, Surfers Paradise
Programs: KrisFlyer Gold>>>Silver>>>Blue, Finnair Silver, Royal Caribbean Diamond
Posts: 5,158
Well, if you don't use your KF miles then they will expire after 3 years. I don't have a problem with that, though it would be nice if Singapore Airlines changed this policy.
If you urgently need 1000 miles then you can always purchase them online with the airline itself.
Now even if I exclude $1 transactions (where I would never use a CC) I would still earn more miles at the end of each month using the DBS Amex than I would with Citi including those one Dollar spends. And certainly more convenient too from my POV.
Whereas I can understand someone getting 4 different cards to cover all angles, I think it's quite funny that one would need all 4 cards from the same bank to do that. Can't Citi produce one super-card, instead of various cards that are good for only one thing and rubbish for everything else?
How much are you having to pay Citi for all those cards issued, their renewal, etc.?
If you urgently need 1000 miles then you can always purchase them online with the airline itself.
Now even if I exclude $1 transactions (where I would never use a CC) I would still earn more miles at the end of each month using the DBS Amex than I would with Citi including those one Dollar spends. And certainly more convenient too from my POV.
Whereas I can understand someone getting 4 different cards to cover all angles, I think it's quite funny that one would need all 4 cards from the same bank to do that. Can't Citi produce one super-card, instead of various cards that are good for only one thing and rubbish for everything else?
How much are you having to pay Citi for all those cards issued, their renewal, etc.?
Jun 25, 2011, 10:16 am
#266
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: SIN
Programs: SQ, UA, Delta, BMI(RIP), Marriott Lifetime Titanium, Hilton Diamond (Thanks Amex) Hyatt Discov
Posts: 1,942
[QUOTE=aster;16623676] If you urgently need 1000 miles then you can always purchase them online with the airline itself.
QUOTE]
Or you can buy them from HSBC for S$20 !!!!! <<<< GREAT PROMOTION, 2 S$ cents to buy one Krisflyer mile OR Asiamile outright - in case someone has missed the recent discussion in a buried thread here in Flyertalk!!! >>>>
Incidentally, while I will let you two slug it out re. Citi versus DBS, don't forget that for ALL overseas spend, DBS Treasure's Black Amex is still the best value, which lets you earn 1 Krisflyer mile for under 42 S$ cents. You will no doubt pay the FX fees to DBS/Amex, but at that mileage conversion rate, I don't mind paying those fees.
QUOTE]
Or you can buy them from HSBC for S$20 !!!!! <<<< GREAT PROMOTION, 2 S$ cents to buy one Krisflyer mile OR Asiamile outright - in case someone has missed the recent discussion in a buried thread here in Flyertalk!!! >>>>
Incidentally, while I will let you two slug it out re. Citi versus DBS, don't forget that for ALL overseas spend, DBS Treasure's Black Amex is still the best value, which lets you earn 1 Krisflyer mile for under 42 S$ cents. You will no doubt pay the FX fees to DBS/Amex, but at that mileage conversion rate, I don't mind paying those fees.
Last edited by SingaporeDon; Jun 25, 2011 at 11:50 am
Jun 25, 2011, 6:43 pm
#267
Join Date: Feb 2010
Posts: 819
Well, if you don't use your KF miles then they will expire after 3 years. I don't have a problem with that, though it would be nice if Singapore Airlines changed this policy.
If you urgently need 1000 miles then you can always purchase them online with the airline itself.
Now even if I exclude $1 transactions (where I would never use a CC) I would still earn more miles at the end of each month using the DBS Amex than I would with Citi including those one Dollar spends. And certainly more convenient too from my POV.
Whereas I can understand someone getting 4 different cards to cover all angles, I think it's quite funny that one would need all 4 cards from the same bank to do that. Can't Citi produce one super-card, instead of various cards that are good for only one thing and rubbish for everything else?
How much are you having to pay Citi for all those cards issued, their renewal, etc.?
If you urgently need 1000 miles then you can always purchase them online with the airline itself.
Now even if I exclude $1 transactions (where I would never use a CC) I would still earn more miles at the end of each month using the DBS Amex than I would with Citi including those one Dollar spends. And certainly more convenient too from my POV.
Whereas I can understand someone getting 4 different cards to cover all angles, I think it's quite funny that one would need all 4 cards from the same bank to do that. Can't Citi produce one super-card, instead of various cards that are good for only one thing and rubbish for everything else?
How much are you having to pay Citi for all those cards issued, their renewal, etc.?
Ok, it's up to you if you want to charge $1 or $2 transactions to credit cards to earn more miles. It's your $.
No, its too expensive to buy directly from KrisFlyer at US$40 for 1000 miles. HSBC allows you to buy 1000 miles for S$20. (I started this discussion about HSBC selling miles at cheap price in Flyertalk.
)
Jun 25, 2011, 6:46 pm
#268
Join Date: Feb 2010
Posts: 819
[QUOTE=SingaporeDon;16623771]
Not everyone qualifies for DBS Treasure's Black AMEX. The criteria for that card is too high. For me, I do not qualify.
The next best card is Maybank Horizon VISA Platinum, at S$0.50/mile for S$1= 2 miles. Free transfer to KrisFlyer too and the card is easy to get, almost everyone with income can get it. Admin fees for overseas charges at 2.5% (1% for VISA and 1.5% for Maybank.) You can find out the exchange rate for your transactions here: http://corporate.visa.com/pd/consume...r_ex_rates.jsp key in the date as 1 day before date of posting of charge. (If its posted on 26th June, put 25th June). Put 0% as admin fees first. After you get the rate, multiply by 1.025%. That's the rate incurred on your transactions for all VISA transactions. Very accurate.
If you urgently need 1000 miles then you can always purchase them online with the airline itself.
QUOTE]
Or you can buy them from HSBC for S$20 !!!!! <<<< GREAT PROMOTION, 2 S$ cents to buy one Krisflyer mile OR Asiamile outright - in case someone has missed the recent discussion in a buried thread here in Flyertalk!!! >>>>
Incidentally, while I will let you two slug it out re. Citi versus DBS, don't forget that for ALL overseas spend, DBS Treasure's Black Amex is still the best value, which lets you earn 1 Krisflyer mile for under 42 S$ cents. You will no doubt pay the FX fees to DBS/Amex, but at that mileage conversion rate, I don't mind paying those fees.
QUOTE]
Or you can buy them from HSBC for S$20 !!!!! <<<< GREAT PROMOTION, 2 S$ cents to buy one Krisflyer mile OR Asiamile outright - in case someone has missed the recent discussion in a buried thread here in Flyertalk!!! >>>>
Incidentally, while I will let you two slug it out re. Citi versus DBS, don't forget that for ALL overseas spend, DBS Treasure's Black Amex is still the best value, which lets you earn 1 Krisflyer mile for under 42 S$ cents. You will no doubt pay the FX fees to DBS/Amex, but at that mileage conversion rate, I don't mind paying those fees.
The next best card is Maybank Horizon VISA Platinum, at S$0.50/mile for S$1= 2 miles. Free transfer to KrisFlyer too and the card is easy to get, almost everyone with income can get it. Admin fees for overseas charges at 2.5% (1% for VISA and 1.5% for Maybank.) You can find out the exchange rate for your transactions here: http://corporate.visa.com/pd/consume...r_ex_rates.jsp key in the date as 1 day before date of posting of charge. (If its posted on 26th June, put 25th June). Put 0% as admin fees first. After you get the rate, multiply by 1.025%. That's the rate incurred on your transactions for all VISA transactions. Very accurate.
Jun 25, 2011, 8:16 pm
#269
Ambassador, Hong Kong and Macau
Join Date: May 2009
Location: HKG
Programs: Non-top tier Asia Miles member
Posts: 19,775
Ok, I see your point. Your idea is not the same as mine. Basically, I make sure that every single dollar that I spend is turned into miles. Perhaps you do not mind that some money spent is not turned into miles. Or maybe you travel often for work, so some miles are earned regularly by flying, hotel stays etc. But I do not. The only way for me to earn miles is through credit cards. So, I have to make sure that every dollar I spent create miles. And it must be the maximum miles that I can earn with the card that awards the most miles out of it. For example, use Citi Rewards Card at shopping rather than Premiermiles Card. I do not mine carrying 4 cards to earn the maximum miles that I can and also do not mine charging $1, $2 to credit cards to make sure that I earn miles for the $ I spent. I'm the typical "kiasu" singaporean...
I've been yelling at the top of my lungs that SCB earns its HK$300 redemption fee in HK for providing a HK$2.5/mile earn rate on certain local travel agents' and all overseas AE purchases (and because it's an AE, it's immune to Dynamic Currency Conversion, so it's a must-carry item unless I have a local spending card). Citi Premiermiles offers HK$4/mile on overseas spending with no transfer fee (I gather in SG a fee is payable), which isn't bad but still 60% more than SCB AE, plus it's a Visa (susceptible to compulsory DCC...). All you have to spend more than HK$20,000 on the SCB AE overseas and at a nominal value of HK$0.1/mile I recover my fee in miles - anything above that is pure profit.
My argument has been falling on deaf ears - at least as far as the extended percysmith clan is concerned. I also get the added insult that "AE is hard to use".
Last edited by percysmith; Jun 25, 2011 at 8:31 pm
Jun 25, 2011, 8:54 pm
#270
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: SYD
Programs: QF WP
Posts: 1,799
I find that in SG, I need to have a Visa/MC at a minimum, even if I carry an Amex around. If you say to me that I'm only allowed to one and only one card, I would choose the PM - e.g. I just earned 30 miles in McDonalds that I wouldn't have been able to do so with an Amex.
I think the DBS card is especially good if you regularly make bigger purchases, 1. to make use of the higher earn rate >$1k, and 2. bigger purchases/less number of transactions means the rounding issue has less effects. Failing that, the advantage would be much reduced.
I think the DBS card is especially good if you regularly make bigger purchases, 1. to make use of the higher earn rate >$1k, and 2. bigger purchases/less number of transactions means the rounding issue has less effects. Failing that, the advantage would be much reduced.