svellmann

Not sure if this has been posted before, but wanted to share I'm currently bagging 35,000 miles through fairly nice welcome offers from citi (only relevant to those who don't already hold a card from citi nor a bank account with them; I didn't):

1. 20,000 miles welcome offer for Premiermiles VISA card:
spending target: 20,000 HKD in 2 months.
This offer is only available at three designated branches: Mongkok, Causeway Bay and Central. Other branches only have the regular welcome offer of 8,000 miles for 10,000 HKD in 2 months.

2. 15,000 miles welcome offer for Citibanking Payroll account:
Have your company transfer a salary higher than 30k or set up a standing instruction of 30k+ each month into that account for at least 6 months (at least that is what the citi Sales told me, other sources like their website say only 3 months or 4 months, but better be safe than sorry).

percysmith

(update 10 Jun 13) Bankcomm: faxed Wed 29 May/Tue 4 Jun, credited Mon 3 Jun/Mon 10 Jun (next Monday)

Cdubbyou

hi all,

Love the passion of this thread - It's great to see everyone is willing to share how best to maximise Asia Miles.

I will be relocating to HK soon and would like someone to recommend a credit card for me. I will be earning roughly 60K a month and do not currently have any HSBC HK or Citibank HK accounts. Furthermore, I am not a Cathay Asian Miles member, but I believe there could be some welcome benefits if I join as a new member along with my new credit card.

I am a CitiGold member in Australia, but do not know whether this will be beneficial to me if I continue to bank with Citibank HK.

Please recommend a credit card for me.

thanks in advance.

percysmith

Apply for these cards in the order given:
P.S. no welcome offer for AM/MPO.

CrazyJ82

percysmith is the best expert on this and I won't dispute his advice, but I'd also throw a few other ideas in the mix:

The Citi Rewards card has a very enticing welcome offer, if you can meet the spending target in the first couple months (shouldn't be hard if you have expenses related to your move): 200,000 rewards points, which works out to about 13,000 AsiaMiles. After that you can use this card for grocery shopping, department stores and autopay on your mobile phone bill to earn at 1 mile per $3 on those charges. I think the charge to convert points to miles is something like $50 for every 5000 miles or part thereof.

I carry the Cathay branded AmEx, although lately I'm not using it much. They waive the annual fee if you're a MarcoPolo Club (MPO) elite, and on the rare occasions when I book tix on Cathay's website I can earn double miles on that charge. However, I do the bulk of my booking through a TA and would not keep this card if I had to pay the annual fee.

Right now I use the Citi Rewards card for spending that gets the 5x points bonus, HSBC for dining (I set that as my category for the 6x promotion, meaning around 1 mile for $3 at non-hotel restaurants), and the Citi PremierMiles for other local spending. I know I could accelerate my earning somewhat by getting the DBS Black Amex, but I also value the convenience of having two of my three most-used cards show up on the same bill. I'll probably break down and get the Black eventually.

MilesBuzz

The Citibank PM card is an all-rounder card that is widely accepted in HKG and overseas too, considering AE may not be that well-accepted in some countries (like Indonesia or China). I would definitely suggest you to get one.

One HSBC card will also be useful since they have been very aggressive with 6x Promo since Summer 2011 and have regular promos during the Summer and New Year holidays. The 20-40x Promo on Mannings coupons will be the one that I will miss as I will no longer need to consume any more daily necessities from end of this month onwards

With this two cards, you can practically enjoy some promos every now and then.

For the other "special" cards, it takes time to apply to each and it also depends on whether you really want to get so many cards when you first start your job. But I will suggest the two cards that I have at the moment:
1. BankComm CUP - a useful card from the increasingly regular promo they are offering since last year. HK$6/mile on Octopus AAVS and any retail purchase in HKG over HK$300 will come in very handy.

2. DBS Black - not much promo unfortunately for DBS but the HK$6/mile for local spending and HK$4/mile for overseas spending are attractive features.

With these 4 cards in your wallet, you practically don't have to worry about forking cash in HKG.

hakzai

I have the DBS Black Amex, but i rarely use it.
Shops, restaurants and hotels keep saying that the magnetic strip doesn't work. (I've changed the card once already and my SCB VI works everytime)
Has this happened to anyone here?

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)

DBS black - not really, that's weird. You've already change the DBS black card once already and it's still playing up? What kind of shops are you shopping at?

MilesBuzz

I also don't have a problem with the DBS Black Card so far.

jagmeets

DBS Black - I used to have the exact same problem 3 to 2 years ago!

percysmith

jagmeets, MilesBuzz - exactly. So I'm wondering if its hakzai's merchants trying to skimp on AE interchange by pretending DBS Black doesn't work. Of course if the other card hakzai tried was a SCB AE or Amex charge then it's not a matter of avoiding expensive AE interchange...

jagmeets

Now that I think about it, I think that i got the card changed like thrice in a two year period - and had issues both in HK and overseas (definitely including once at a place where I used the CX Amex instead) - slim chance, but my money's on the DBS Blacks having a 'physical' defeciency!

hakzai

I've tried the DBS black amex at restaurants where i am a regular customer, dont think they would try to skimp on me.

Does Amex use the "chips" ? the chips are much more reliable.

Yes I do believe there is something physically wrong with the DBS black amex

percysmith

Alright. Defective card then...

Just had a quick look at my card. It's from 2008, I've never had cause to replace it. Wow...

Amex in HK does not use chip - in fact Amex does not use chip anywhere unless Chip-and-PIN is required by local law (UK and Europe, Aus (Canada as well))?

percysmith

But seriously, I can't remember how long ago is it since I've physically swiped the DBS Black.

No earn promos
$6/mile < WLB CUP $4/mile (not finished yet)

And even if that's finished, probably get more places to take Bankcomm Diamond $6/mile CUP than AE. I'm seeing a lot more shop windows with Visa/MC/CUP acceptance stickers now; AE acceptance is getting less and less (even Tai Hing posterboy is cutting acceptance).

The only real use for my DBS Black is now for mail and fax orders (online covered by CCB eye) and instalments (flipped a couple of iPhone 5s last year).

Oh - and for nabbing free magazines at the airport (Page One/Page Two/Page Three/Page Four http://www.hongkongcard.com/forum/fo...ow.php?id=8583 ) - but the card is keyed in not swiped.