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The 'Best credit cards for KF miles accrual' master thread

Old Oct 31, 2014, 6:05 am
FlyerTalk Forums Expert How-Tos and Guides
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):
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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

Old Jul 29, 2015, 7:58 pm
  #4501  
 
Join Date: Jul 2014
Posts: 26
Noted, noted. I am just thinking to leave a supp card in KL for my mom to use since she is quite diligent with the conversion
elybb is offline  
Old Jul 29, 2015, 9:28 pm
  #4502  
 
Join Date: Jul 2012
Location: SIN
Posts: 61
Originally Posted by carrotjuice
Which credit card do you use?
That was about the Citi PM.
Wadexis is offline  
Old Jul 30, 2015, 9:09 pm
  #4503  
 
Join Date: Mar 2015
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Originally Posted by carrotjuice
Did you add in the various conversion fees for each card to work out the $ per mile?
Good point. Especially on the DBS one with $43 annual conversion fee, the cpm value loses a bit of lustre.

Anyways since I primarily use citi pm visa, i also signed up for the citi pm amex. CS agent told me both cards will have combined miles/points, hope that's true. amex has marginally higher local earn rate at 1.3miles/$ anyways.
shuigao is offline  
Old Jul 30, 2015, 9:30 pm
  #4504  
 
Join Date: May 2012
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Originally Posted by shuigao
Anyways since I primarily use citi pm visa, i also signed up for the citi pm amex. CS agent told me both cards will have combined miles/points, hope that's true. amex has marginally higher local earn rate at 1.3miles/$ anyways.
Previously the CitiMiles earned from both cards can't be combined when they first introduced this card.

Let us know your experience when you're transferring to your FFP account.
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Old Jul 30, 2015, 9:31 pm
  #4505  
 
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Take note that the Citibank/Expedia promotion ends today.
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Old Aug 1, 2015, 5:44 pm
  #4506  
 
Join Date: Aug 2013
Programs: Hilton Diamond, CX MPO DM
Posts: 96
My first trouble with UOB cards. Got off the phone talking to 3 different agents but no solution. For future reference, here's how it unfolds:

Beginning balance (per statement): n UNI$
Spending after the last statement (posted transactions): m UNI$ (I had them go through line by line how much UNI$ each transaction earns)
UNI$ balance reflected in system: <n+m by 6000+ UNI$.

*edit* reason found: deduction of UNI$ in lieu of annual fees.

Last edited by landingpoint; Aug 1, 2015 at 7:50 pm
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Old Aug 2, 2015, 3:42 am
  #4507  
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: SIN (LEJ once a year)
Programs: SQ, LH, BA, IHG Diamond AMB, HH Gold, SLH Indulged, Accor Gold, Hyatt Discoverist
Posts: 7,665
Yup, just look a few posts up and I had the same issue. Isn't it nice how they make it "easy" for us to pay a fee in points without even asking? Apparently it is in T&Cs, but I'm not trough them yet. Lesson learned.
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Old Aug 2, 2015, 10:24 am
  #4508  
Moderator, El Al and Marriott Bonvoy, FlyerTalk Evangelist
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Join Date: Feb 2005
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Originally Posted by Awesom Andy
So depending on the actual situation, you might end up bringing an extra card for very little gain.
Bringing the card along can't be that much of a burden. It isn't heavy like the Centurion.
Originally Posted by lcpteck
Previously the CitiMiles earned from both cards can't be combined when they first introduced this card.

Let us know your experience when you're transferring to your FFP account.
I'm also very curious.
yosithezet is offline  
Old Aug 3, 2015, 4:57 am
  #4509  
 
Join Date: Mar 2015
Programs: HH Diamond, GHA Titanium
Posts: 1,955
Originally Posted by lcpteck
Previously the CitiMiles earned from both cards can't be combined when they first introduced this card.
Originally Posted by yosithezet
I'm also very curious.
Damn, really? Should have known better than to trust the phone sales lady lol (she had a very nice voice ). OK I go swipe some transactions and see whether it posts to a combined mileage pool or separate mileage pool.
shuigao is offline  
Old Aug 3, 2015, 6:49 am
  #4510  
 
Join Date: Aug 2015
Posts: 162
I have just joined the club on mileage accumulation. As a start, I now hold the altitude visa and uob VS cards. More cards will be added progressively late but better than never.

I have a question. When I accumulate sufficient points to redeem an award flight, will I be getting some miles back on the award flight itself? I was trying playing about on SQ website to redeem a flight , and the usual class cabin on the redemption is class I. Was trying to find some info on class I but can't seem to find much info. Hope some learned seniors could advise. Thanks.
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Old Aug 3, 2015, 7:16 am
  #4511  
 
Join Date: Jul 2012
Location: SIN
Posts: 61
Originally Posted by appledabble
I have just joined the club on mileage accumulation. As a start, I now hold the altitude visa and uob VS cards. More cards will be added progressively late but better than never.

I have a question. When I accumulate sufficient points to redeem an award flight, will I be getting some miles back on the award flight itself? I was trying playing about on SQ website to redeem a flight , and the usual class cabin on the redemption is class I. Was trying to find some info on class I but can't seem to find much info. Hope some learned seniors could advise. Thanks.
Hi,

No you will not earn miles on award flights.
Cheers
Wadexis is offline  
Old Aug 3, 2015, 8:52 am
  #4512  
 
Join Date: Aug 2015
Posts: 162
Originally Posted by Wadexis
Hi,

No you will not earn miles on award flights.
Cheers
Thank you for the info.

I just come across this article.

http://upgrd.com/pursuedadventures/h...-not-dead.html

Wonder if there have been discussions on how we can reverse engineer certain scenario using SQ as the base.

(Pardon if there were past discussion. I have only finished reading about 50 pages of this thread, will continue to catch up on the remaining pages)
appledabble is offline  
Old Aug 3, 2015, 11:27 am
  #4513  
 
Join Date: May 2012
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Originally Posted by shuigao
Damn, really? Should have known better than to trust the phone sales lady lol (she had a very nice voice ). OK I go swipe some transactions and see whether it posts to a combined mileage pool or separate mileage pool.
Citibank CitiMiles or Citi$ earned are always in a separate pool. They are tagged to each individual card.

The question is whether Citibank PremierMiles Amex and Visa CitiMiles can be combined (which previously stated was they couldn't). Citi$ can be combined from different Cards (though not sure whether it's still valid).
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Old Aug 3, 2015, 11:30 am
  #4514  
 
Join Date: May 2012
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Posts: 6,818
Originally Posted by Wadexis
Hi,

No you will not earn miles on award flights.
Cheers
That's true. If you could earn miles on award flights, then you'll be forever accumulating miles so how does the airline make money?
lcpteck is offline  
Old Aug 3, 2015, 4:03 pm
  #4515  
 
Join Date: Jul 2015
Posts: 973
Originally Posted by shuigao
What do you guys and gals think of applying for and holding multiple cards specifically for the annual renewal miles 'bonus?'

For example, even without any spending, holding 4 cards (ANZ(10,000), Citi PM Visa(10,000)+Amex(15,000) and a DBS(10,000)) gives 50,000 miles via S$927.60 annual fee. i.e. you're effectively buying miles at 1.86 sing cents / 1.35 us cents each.
Looks like 45,000 to me, unless your DBS card is different to mine (Altitude Visa).
Phaze is offline  

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