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

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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

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Old Dec 19, 2016, 6:23 am
  #6511  
 
Join Date: Jun 2016
Posts: 53
Originally Posted by naro
Anyone knows if uob prvi miles amex still rewards UNI$ for EZ-Reload? Thanks
According to the T&C, no UNI$ is rewarded for visa & master, so Amex should earn points. But still need to wait someone to confirm.
Ghost07 is offline  
Old Dec 20, 2016, 6:18 am
  #6512  
 
Join Date: Jan 2012
Posts: 26
Using Paywave at Caltex Stations

Now that UOB doesn't award SMART$ at Caltex stations, does it make sense to make use of the PP Visa on Paywave there? Does anyone know if the 10x UNI$ works at Caltex Stations?
Linkster is offline  
Old Dec 20, 2016, 4:53 pm
  #6513  
 
Join Date: Feb 2010
Posts: 819
Originally Posted by Ghost07
According to the T&C, no UNI$ is rewarded for visa & master, so Amex should earn points. But still need to wait someone to confirm.
All 3 PRVI VISA, MasterCard and AMEX does NOT award UNI$ for EZ-Reload transactions since mid April 2016. Tried and tested.
vsepr is offline  
Old Dec 20, 2016, 5:44 pm
  #6514  
 
Join Date: Jul 2015
Posts: 22
Originally Posted by vsepr
All 3 PRVI VISA, MasterCard and AMEX does NOT award UNI$ for EZ-Reload transactions since mid April 2016. Tried and tested.
thank u!
naro is offline  
Old Dec 20, 2016, 10:07 pm
  #6515  
 
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Anywhere
Posts: 6,575
Originally Posted by vsepr
All 3 PRVI VISA, MasterCard and AMEX does NOT award UNI$ for EZ-Reload transactions since mid April 2016. Tried and tested.
My AMEX does. Even in last month's statement.
carrotjuice is offline  
Old Dec 21, 2016, 1:32 am
  #6516  
 
Join Date: Dec 2016
Programs: LH, BA
Posts: 93
Originally Posted by vsepr
All 3 PRVI VISA, MasterCard and AMEX does NOT award UNI$ for EZ-Reload transactions since mid April 2016. Tried and tested.
Mine does award EZ-Reload, and it is supported by T&C which clearly say that the exception only applies to Visa and MasterCard.


If yours doesn't, have you contacted UOB to complain?
flyasia is offline  
Old Dec 21, 2016, 4:37 pm
  #6517  
 
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Anywhere
Posts: 6,575
Originally Posted by flyasia
Mine does award EZ-Reload, and it is supported by T&C which clearly say that the exception only applies to Visa and MasterCard.


If yours doesn't, have you contacted UOB to complain?
My thought exactly. For my PRVI Amex, I had noticed EZ-Reload failed to award UNI$ in one statement... so I called up and had UOB investigate, after which they made good on all previous non-awards. FWIW they told me they had to 'reset' the system to enable Amex to award UNI$ for EZ-Reload. But why switch off for all 3 cards, only to have to manually reset for Amex when the cardholder finds out... is strange.
carrotjuice is offline  
Old Dec 21, 2016, 9:59 pm
  #6518  
 
Join Date: Dec 2016
Programs: LH, BA
Posts: 93
UOB is definitely the worse of all. Only Keep PRVI for EZRELOAD and preferred platinum for paywave. I otherwise direct everything else to Citi which I find much more reliable.

I don't even bother with online transactions with uob as they seem to change t&c as they please. Redmart is the last shenanigan...
flyasia is offline  
Old Dec 22, 2016, 6:58 pm
  #6519  
 
Join Date: Feb 2015
Location: SIN
Programs: SQ Krisflyer, Hilton Gold, Best Western Diamond, SPG Gold
Posts: 155
the citibank-expedia 6x miles promotion has returned.

https://www.citibank.com.sg/global_d...pedia-tncs.pdf

valid for bookings till 31st Jan. do remember to check for the qualifying airlines.
kt85 is offline  
Old Dec 23, 2016, 3:08 am
  #6520  
 
Join Date: Jun 2016
Posts: 53
Originally Posted by flyasia
UOB is definitely the worse of all. Only Keep PRVI for EZRELOAD and preferred platinum for paywave. I otherwise direct everything else to Citi which I find much more reliable.

I don't even bother with online transactions with uob as they seem to change t&c as they please. Redmart is the last shenanigan...
But if use the right UOB card for right category of spending, it will earn much more miles than citi
Ghost07 is offline  
Old Dec 23, 2016, 3:37 am
  #6521  
 
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: 7,738
That holds true for all category spend type cards regardless of issuer / bank. However, UOB is the absolute worst when it comes to ability to verify correct points accrual, informing of changes and having a capable customer service - all big fails in my book.

So some people may chose to forgo some extra points / miles for accurate posting and an ability to verify your accruals at each transaction level like with Citi. YMMV.
demue is online now  
Old Dec 23, 2016, 6:02 am
  #6522  
 
Join Date: Jan 2016
Location: SIN
Posts: 352
Expedia last quarter bonus points to Citi

My Expedia bonus points (citi) have not yet arrived for flight bookings done b/w last promo quarter Aug-Oct (or was it till Nov?). Credit date is indicated as 'by end of dec'

Has anyone received the bonus points yet?
ExSin is offline  
Old Dec 23, 2016, 10:17 am
  #6523  
 
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Anywhere
Posts: 6,575
Originally Posted by ExSin
My Expedia bonus points (citi) have not yet arrived for flight bookings done b/w last promo quarter Aug-Oct (or was it till Nov?). Credit date is indicated as 'by end of dec'

Has anyone received the bonus points yet?
As my kindergarten teacher taught me years ago, December has 31 days... not sure why the hurry.
carrotjuice is offline  
Old Dec 23, 2016, 7:36 pm
  #6524  
 
Join Date: Feb 2010
Posts: 819
Originally Posted by ExSin
My Expedia bonus points (citi) have not yet arrived for flight bookings done b/w last promo quarter Aug-Oct (or was it till Nov?). Credit date is indicated as 'by end of dec'

Has anyone received the bonus points yet?
Mine is in today (24/12) in my Clear Platinum Card.
vsepr is offline  
Old Dec 23, 2016, 8:09 pm
  #6525  
 
Join Date: Feb 2010
Posts: 819
Originally Posted by flyasia
Mine does award EZ-Reload, and it is supported by T&C which clearly say that the exception only applies to Visa and MasterCard.


If yours doesn't, have you contacted UOB to complain?
UOB said EZ-Reload transactions will not earn UNI$ for all 3 PRVI Miles card. So I switched to DBS Altitude card which is better because no $0.25 convenience fee charged.
vsepr is offline  


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