percysmith

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_1_1 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9B206 Safari/7534.48.3)

1 Sep 12-31 Dec 13 http://www.hsbc.com.hk/1/PA_esf-ca-app-content/content/hongkongpws/cards/rewards/your_choice/pdf/your_choice_tc.pdf

Really need a dining card or next year should HSBC discontinue...DBS Plat?!

CrazyJ82

I peg this as HK$0.79 per mile, correct, assuming you shop on the weekends? In which case, not as generous as the last go-round, which as I recall was around HK$0.50 on weekends, but still much better than nothing!

percysmith

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_1_1 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9B206 Safari/7534.48.3)

Yep. Loaded up on $5K coupons this morning.

Timothy Lin

I just got my Citi Prestige Card and DBS Black World Mastercard this week. I am wondering whether there is any reason for me to keep my existing DBS AMEX card and Citi Premiermiles Card since both cards require annual fees.

percysmith

Citi Premiermiles - does Prestige get you into Wellness lounge near Arrivals Lounge? And do you need it?

DBS Black Amex - do you have CX Elite to use outside of HK in lieu? In case of DCC.

Timothy Lin

Thanks percysmith for your prompt response. I don't think that Citi Prestige card gets me into Wellness lounge near Arrivals Lounge. Even with Citi Premiermiles, I hardly ever use it.

I do have CX AMEX Elite to use outside of HK in case of DCC, but now, I use that card mainly for booking my tickets online.

For overseas spending, I use Fubon Platinum, HSBC Platinum and Standard Chartered AMEX for now. I will be getting rid of SC AMEX on November 18. Since I go back to Taiwan every weekend, I find the Fubon Platinum best for miles conversion.

IncyWincy

As Standard Chartered Amex is axing the 6x bonus soon, plus the emergence of new cards such as Citi Prestige, DBS Black MasterCard and then there is the problem of DCC, can someone point me to the latest summary of what best to use in HK and overseas? Thank you very much.

Timothy Lin

Hi IncyWincy,

For local spending, I would use :

From Monday to Friday:

i. Citibank Prestige Card (no fee) (1 mile per $6 spent local and up to 30% annual relationship points)
ii. DBS Black World Mastercard or DBS Black AMEX (no fee) (1 mile per $6 spent local)
iii. If you spend between HKD 600 and HKD 2,000, then Fubon Platinum (1 mile per $12 local). "Sure Win Spending Rewards" Brings You up to 180,000 Extra Bonus Points Every Month. You will get at least 2,000 points, which is 167 more miles
iv. Diners Club Card (1 mile $6 local)


On Saturdays and Sundays:

If you spend more than HKD 300, you can use either Citi Prestige, DBS Black AMEX/World Mastercard, Diners Club or Fubon Platinum

If you spend more than HKD 600, then Fubon Platinum has the best miles conversion rate

For shopping and supermarkets:

(to 31 Dec 13) HSBC - 1 mile per $2.78 spent (select one category only) ($300 fee for a year's worth of redemptions)
*** ii. Citibank Rewards - 1 mile per $3 spent ($50 fee per 5,000 mile redeemed) (on first $12,500 spending per month)
***iii. Standard Chartered Shop & Gain Platinum Card, you get 8x Double Points on the 8th of every month capped at HKD 30,000 per annum - 1 mile per $1.875

I. Overseas

i. (to 31 Dec 13) HSBC - 1 mile per $2.78 spent (select one category only) ($300 fee for a year's worth of redemptions)
ii. Fubon Plat - 1 mile per $3 spent ($250 flat redemption fee) (plus 167 Sure win miles if txn amt >$600)
Fubon Plat for overseas and bill payment (1 mile per $3 for overseas, 1 mile per $6 for bills>$300 paid on weekend) ($250 flat redemption fee)
Note: 1 mile per $0.6 for TWD spendings in Taiwan, and 1 mile per $1.5 for KRW and JPY spendings in Korea and Japan (Seperate registration needed, two mths per calendar year max)
iii. Citibank Prestige Card, Citi Premiermiles, DBS Black AMEX/World Mastercard, CX Elite - 1 mile per $4 spent (no fee)

IncyWincy

Timothy, Many thanks!

rhleung

Bill Payment Question (?) - I understand that Bill payment > $400 by Fubon on Saturday/Sunday is the most effective where it gives you $6=1AM. But I always been wondering what constitutes Bill Payment. Payments of electricity bills, government demands, water rates etc are certainly Bill Payments. But what about (1) mobile bills e.g. Smartone (2) monthly due on gym memberships e.g. California Fitness (3) autopay on certain services on monthly basis via credit cards e.g. Bupa healthcare plans. Are all these Bill Payments or Retail. Just thinking putting these into the new DBS Black Mastercard on autopay given it is $6=1AM and save the trouble.

percysmith

Unless HSBC renews 6X Rewards Of Your Choice for overseas, Fubon $3/mile is going to be the go-to card for overseas spending now.

The obvious concern is DCC, which can come up in:
- over the counter without consent (esp. PRC)
- making hotel bookings (e.g. IHG)
- certain loyalty programs that pre-store your card data (e.g. Avis)

For China I'll use Bankcomm Diamond. Bit collaborationist but my PRC spend is less enough to not concern about over-submission to the devil.
For bookings I'll use DBS Black (since I'll probably lose my CX AE next year for inadequate spend)

An interesting card to consider using is HSBC (Diamond/Classic) Unionpay for overseas...take the following spreads:

GBP (over HKAB rate): http://www.hongkongcard.com/forum/fo...hp?id=3939&p=6
AE (SCB AE): 1.90%
MC (Shacom PLK MC, as a substitute for Visa): 1.248%
UP (I didn't actually use it, but I got the exact Unionpay rate from here http://en.unionpay.com/front_ExchangeRate.html for the same posting date as the other two (25 Sep 12)): 0.16%

EUR (over HKAB rate): http://www.hongkongcard.com/forum/fo...p?id=3939&p=15
AE: 2.51%
Visa: 2.02%
UP (Bankcomm Diamond): 0.75%

Using $0.1/mile for reference valuation of miles, the cards earn the following cash-equivalent rebates overseas:

SCB AE ($2.5/mile): 4%
HSBC Visa/Unionpay* ($2.78/mile): 3.6%
Fubon Plat ($3/mile): 3.33%
Bankcomm Diamond ($6/mile): 1.67%

*HSBC Unionpay has 1% fee over the fee-free UP spread above. Bankcomm doesn't have it

So the spread net of miles is:

GBP:
HSBC Unionpay: -2.44%
HSBC Visa: -2.352%
SCB AE: -2.1%
Fubon Plat: -2.082%
Bankcomm Diamond: -1.51%

EUR:
HSBC Unionpay: -1.85%
HSBC Visa: -1.58%
SCB AE: -1.49%
Fubon Plat: -1.31%
Bankcomm Diamond: -0.92%

HSBC Unionpay actually leads SCB AE on a net spread basis.

However, I am personally reluctant to change over my own 6X from Overseas to Dining cos my dining spending (including those from work) are multiples of my overseas spend. But if this is not your case then HSBC Unionpay is really a card to have a look at with or without SCB AE.

CrazyJ82

Would anyone be opposed to asking our mods to create a wiki post at the top of this thread basically for the summary in kaka's first post and the welcome offers? That might take some of the pressure off a single poster to have to keep it updated as special offers come and go. Thoughts?

percysmith

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_1_1 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9B206 Safari/7534.48.3)

Can we create multiple first wiki posts? Or it'll have to be a long first wiki post?

theworld

The Citibank Prestige Card looks interesting, but I am right in assuming that you need to be a CitiGold customer to get it if you don't want to pay the annual fee?

percysmith

I never heard CitiGold customers can get the Prestige annual fee waived....?