Citi Rewards card
 

An update for those who hold the Citi Rewards card. The 10x Citi$ bonus for shopping is now capped to just spend on the first $12,000 during your card anniversary year. After that it reverts to just 1 Citi$ for every $ spent. Makes the card even more unattractive.

UOB Infinite Visa
 

UOB Infinite Visa used to offer a renewal gift of UOB Dollars that can be converted into 80,000 krisflyer miles if you pay the S$1,500 annual fee.

I was recently told there is no renewal gift at the present moment & I think the fee has been increased to S$1,600.

However, Sunday Times recently ran an article saying there is a renewal gift of 60,000 miles.

Please can anyone comment on who is right? Thanks.

I'm in the market for a CC in SG.

Was wondering what the consensus is and whether or not I should go for a non-mileage earning vs. mileage earning card. KF is quite a stingy program so I'm sticking with AP as my main mileage program as Asia 1-2 redemptions for regionals are just simply amazing on AP.

So shall I just stick with a good rebate card? Really appreciate the insights.

There aren't really too many good rebate cards around. It's probably a choice between CIMB World Mastercard (1% on all transactions) or Citibank Dividend Card (5% on petrol, 2% on restaurants & 0.5% on everything else).

Compared to what you can get from DBS Altitude or Citibank Premiermiles in mileage, the rebates aren't too flash.

If you don't want to use Krisflyer, some of the cards do support other FFP (many support Asia Miles as well, and some cards support other FFPs), so you do have a choice. What's AP, btw?

There is a renewal bonus of 60,000 miles but annual fee has been increased to $1,800 plus GST or $1,926, which is simply daylight robbery. The HSBC card gives 30,000 miles for just $248. This just reinforces my belief that UOB is the stingiest among the banks with its credit card offers.

Thanks. The renewal fee I was asked to pay is S$1605 (inclusive of GST) for 60k miles. I have since canceled my card since it is useless.

Re : new HSBC Infinite Visa card, I read on another forum that for someone with no existing HSBC card, the entry fee is S$488 and you can get a Sony tablet S or 30k miles.

I see. Yea I looked at the rebate cards and thought I had missed something when I couldn't find anything decent!

As a whole SG's CC market is pretty grim! No big sign up bonuses and quite high membership fees for barebones benefits. Even the AMEX Platinum benefits are watered down so I didn't bother transferring my Canadian one, just not worth it.

AP is AC's FFP. It's got fantastic redemption ratios for Asia 1-2 regionals in Y/J/F and of course little surcharge/tax on SQ metal redemptions.

Thanks for the input. I'll look at the mileage cards closer to see which one possibly supports AC's AP.

I guess why UOB Infinite's renewal looks so unattractive as they are not specifically targeting the "renewal package" to those who spend a lot. Those in that category would have automatically achieved a waiver if they spent more than a certain amount (40k IIRC) in a year.

$1600 is charged for those who spend less than 40k and wish to hold on to the card for various privileges (Kudeta, etc.)

The welcome gift for HSBC Infinite looks good, unfortunately it is for non-HSBC card holders only.

Compared to the US, yes, our CC market is pretty grim. However, on the flip side, credit card churn can be easily done for little to no drawbacks & banks can be fairly liberal in issuing cards. Also, most banks are very flexible in waiving of annual fees, esp if the card shows a decent amount of activity.

However, you can occasionally find some decent deals though. If you are looking for KF miles, these are the decent sign up bonuses available atm.

Krisflyer Amex: 5,000 miles (after 1st transaction)
Amex Rewards: 15,000 miles (need to spend $1.5k within 90 days)
HSBC Visa Infinite Card: 30,000 miles (need to pay annual fee of $488)

KF Amex is a hopeless card, btw, and I would get that card only for the free miles. You can easily earn much more mileage on other cards.

Also, sorry but none of the credit cards in the SG market support Aeroplan.

I just did a thorough read of the DBS Altitude AMEX and seems like they do support Aeroplan as well as 38 other FFPs.

This is quite fantastic even if this is just a co-branded card and not a real AMEX and thus won't really count towards my history with AMEX.

Alas, I think so far this is the best card in SG market with an all around good package. It doesn't do everything but does a few things pretty well enough.

Another annoyance with SG CCs: The mileage transfer fee! I guess now I know why my friends call PAP = Pay And Pay. ;)

I know that's how they market it, but it doesn't support Aeroplan (or those 38 other FFPs). The catch is that those are Star Alliance Airlines that you can get tickets for, using the Krisflyer points (which DBS allows you to transfer into). DBS also supports Asia Miles, which can gives you access to OneWorld as well, hence the 39 airlines.

One way you can tell is by looking at their points redemption page at https://rewards.dbs.com/Index.aspx?id=5. Only KF and Asia Miles are listed as partners.

Having said that, this is still a good card and you probably won't go wrong with it.

Yeah, the mileage transfer fee sucks, but it's not much and we're sort of used to that... :p

Oh I see. That's really deceptive! I thought I read through it carefully enough but guess not.

So it appears I'll be stuck with KF regardless.

Thanks again.

Wirelessly posted (Palm850/V0100 Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows CE; IEMobile 7.11))

39 airlines not 39 FFPs http://www.dbs.com/sg/personal/cards/credit-card/american-express-altitude/default.aspx. The former is marketing baloney but still argurably factual. The latter is false advertising.

I was just wondering if this would work...

OCBC has this new Frank credit card, which is offering 100 bonus OCBC$ each time you charge to iTunes.

So, if you buy 25 apps worth US$0.99 each, you would have spend SGD$25.75, and gotten 2525 OCBC$s. Seeing as how 2500 OCBC$ translates to 1000 KF miles, is this a nice cheap way to get KF miles?

Time to send in my application form...

I have an HSBC Premier Visa card and the HSBC Traveller's Elite card that I obtained recently

1. This card also gives you free limo to the airport and check in at Jet Quay if you so desire
2. Although they say one transaction to be charged in the month in which you want to take their limo, they have never bothered to check this
3. You can get supplementary cards and each supplementary card holder qualifies for airport limo transfer when travelling by themselves i.e. without main cardholder
4. My card has low annual fees - I dont remember, but I think 85 dollars, waived for 1st year, but if you pay it, you get some gift, including rewards points ( I think I got 8 or 10k) but I think that promo is over now
Anyway, my point is no need to get HSBC Infinite card for a higher fee to get free airport limo transfers

Amex Platinum Reserve Credit Card
 

A friend keeps on insisting the Amex Platinum Reserve Credit Card is the best card in Singapore for Krisflyer point transfers

Looking through their website, seems to me that it gives you 2 miles for $1.6 spend, i.e 80 S$ cents spends give you one mile with the double bonus, which is worse than the DBS Amex Altitude Card's 62.5 S$ spend for 1 mile

Where the Amex Platinum Reserve Credit card scores higher is with the 10x points at preferred platinum partners, but that is a small universe of merchants where I would spend money, and also I can get the same 10X rewards with other Amex cards at these merchants.

(Side question - Does the Amex Platinum Reserve Credit card holder receive double the normal 10 points i.e. 20 points per dollar spend at platinum partners? I thought I saw somewhere that this is so for the first $16,000 spend at platinum partners, but cant find that weblink any more)

So that only leaves the sign up bonus, which according to their website is
50,000 Membership Rewards Points.

50,000 Membership Rewards ("MR") points will be credited to American Express Platinum Reserve Basic Cardmember's Account. This offer is only applicable to American Express Platinum Reserve Basic Cardmembers who:
a.has his/her Card approved on/after 6 September 2010.
b.is a new American Express Platinum Reserve Basic Cardmember paying an annual fee of S$500.
c.has accumulated a spend of S$5,000 within the first 6-months statement

Does anyone with this card know if the bonus is given on every anniversary if you pay the $500 annual fee, or if this is only a sign on bonus available first time?

If it is recurring bonus each anniversary, then the card gets interesting, otherwise the DBS Amex Altitude plus the normal Platinum Amex Card for the occassional spend at 10X Platinum partners would be a better deal.

Any thoughts?

I managed to get 20k points everytime I renew at $300 after some negotiations.

However, I cancelled this card as the perks are no longer as good as it once was. It was 10+10 times at plat partners.

He apparently pays 1300 S$ pa and claims he gets quarterly points bonuses

Re: American Express Platinum Reserve Card

Couple of things. You don't get 2 miles per $1.60. You got 2 Members Rewards Points for $1.60, which translates to 0.78 miles per $1, far inferior to DBS Altitude's 1.2 -1.6 miles per $1.

Right now, the only difference between the Platinum Reserve and the Platinum card are dining priviledges. In terms of earning points, they are exactly the same. There used to be a 10+10 program for the PR, which would have made it worthwhile if you shopped at those places but that program is no longer running.

So, is this the best? If you are spending a lot at the 10 times merchants, eg. having a function at M Hotel. Even if you do, you might want to get the Platinum card instead & save some of the annual fee (Amex is notoriously difficult to get waiver on the first year's fee). If not, as you have surmised, there are better options.

BTW, the sign-up offer for 50,000 points is not that great either. That translates to 31,250 miles. Signing up for the HSBC Infinite Visa will net you 30,000 miles after paying the $488 annual fee, even without charging anything to the card.

But I am curious, what are these quarterly points bonus that he is talking about?

I have not heard about the PR having quarterly promos.

1.2k in annual fees sound like platinum charge?

There actually is still a 10+10 rewards programme but this is only for the Amex Platinum Card (charge, not credit).

Agree that for the Amex Platinum Reserve, it makes sense only if you frequent the merchants on the 10x list. I do dine at the Tung Lok chain quite a bit so the card has been useful to me. I received a waiver of the annual fee last year but this year, they refused to waive so I paid $300 but received 25k points in return (or 15,625 miles). Decent but no great shakes.

While the HSBC Infinite card sign up offer of 30k miles is attractive, the earn rate on the card is quite poor. For local spend, it is $1=1 mile which is less attractive than DBS Altitude (up to 1.6 miles) and Citi PremierMiles (1.2 miles). On top of this, there are no merchants to earn accelerated miles and HSBC has a very weak record of offering extra-points promotions.

Really?

They managed to waive platinum reserve annual fees for you?

I got sick of the no waiver rule and pulled the plug.

As an aside, the HSBC Infinite, I guess, gives you free limo rides to the airport as well as access to Jet Quay, which is a nice perk. However, I understand you need to spend $2,000 in the month of travel to qualify for the free limo, but am not sure if this is the case. I have HSBC Premier, and based on that they issued me an HSBC Travel Elite card for $90 annual fee (but they gave me 10,000 points for it) and that gives the same free limo rides plus Jet Quay access without the need to rack up the $2,000 per month charge. Also you can get free supplementary cards for family members, who will also get the free limo and Jet Quay access in their own name

There is no need to charge 2000 sgd to qualify for the airport transfer. Just a transaction will suffice.

The HSBC Travel Elite card ($90 annual fee) seems like a good alternative to their HSBC Infinite.

Has anyone tried their free limo rides? Do you have to book well in advance?

I must say JetQuay seems kind of tacky, especially since Changi is such a great and hassle-free airport anyway. ;)

You need to book at least 24 hour in advance

Are we talking about the Platinum (credit) or Platinum Reserve? The annual fee for the Platinum (credit) card is $300 but the Platinum Reserve is $500.

For overseas spend, it's 2 miles per $ which is pretty good. If you can rack up the spending ($75k per year), it goes to 2.5 miles per $ for the subsequent year (1.5 miles per $ for local spends). Anyway, to me, it's just a matter of getting the sign up miles and the Priority Pass card (for the rare occassion where the PP lounge is better than the *A lounge). :)

I think you'll find the 'rule' a lot more flexible these days, depending on your card usage. I've managed to get the fee on my Platinum (credit) card waived for the past 4 years.

The DBS Altitute card now gives 2 points/$ on overseas spend, though when using the card abroad you are always hit with the currency exchange costs.

I'm an American who moved to Singapore about 2 months ago and am still using my US cards (with no foreign transaction fees). However, Starhub won't take non-Singapore credit cards (at least online). I suppose I might run into this with other vendors as well. I will rarely use my Singapore based card since I get paid in the US in US$.

1) What would you recommend that earns some meager rewards with little to no fees?
2) Is there a way to pay for Starhub with a foreign card?
3) Any other way to pay Starhub and earn some miles?

I apologize as this is not KF related.

Are you on a contract with Starhub that requires payment via a credit card, or can you use a debit card instead?

If a debit card is fine then you might want to get one of these: http://www.fevocard.com.sg/

As for racking up miles, only credit cards offer reasonable mileage accrual.

That is a promotion running till end of year, and not exactly 2 miles/$. You get 0.4 miles /$ more, so if that month, you spend less than $1k, your overseas spend is only 1.6 miles/$.

HSBC Infinite's is permanent, regardless of spend.

As mentioned, you could use debit cards, which you can get from any of the banks by opening an account with them. However, debit cards here generally have no rewards.

Depending on your situation, you might want to get a local credit card anyway. From what some expats have shared, it makes sense to wire the money from US to Singapore to pay off local credit card bills (for Singapore transactions), as they have some control over the rates (transfer when the exchange rate is favorable) and it's much cheaper than paying credit card transaction fees.

Banks in Singapore are generally quite open to waiver of annual fees as long as you have a decent spending record. Do note that most of them will only transfer to KF miles (sometimes AsiaMiles).

If you intend to just have the one card, DBS Altitude Amex card is probably your best bet.

New card in town!!

Maybank VISA Infinite!

By invitation only, call Maybank Singapore and someone will get in touch with you.

First year free, S$200,000 income, $1=3 points local n foreign charges (same as CitiPremiermiles), FREE transfer to KrisFlyer/ENRICH (Citibank charge you S$25), FREE Rewards Infinite membership, earn 10x points at certain merchants like EZ-Link, no expiry date for points, transfer in blocks of 500 Miles = 1250 points, round up for transactions >=$0.50 (Citi Premiermiles round down), FREE Priority Pass card.

Eg: For a charge of $9.50, Maybank VISA Infinite gives you 10x3=30 points = 12miles, Citi Premiermiles = 9x1.2 = 10.8miles!

Oh? I didn't know about that?

Is the Citi Platinum card back as being the best card to use in supermarkets?

What is the best "interest free" card out there to earn miles?

They're all interest free if you pay your bills in time (about 2-3 weeks after end of statement period), right?

No interest accruel(sp?) as well plz

No accrued interest if you pay on time either.

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The only perks I see is the only free transfer and rounding up of dollar.

Depends. At Cold Storage, you are better off with Amex Rewards, if you shop during the weekends (Fri - Sun). For all other, Citi Plat is still the best, even if it is no longer offered to new applicants.

Re: Maybank Visa Infinite
There is actually another perk to this. You can combine this with Maybank Horizon card. So, Visa Infinite for 1.2 miles /$ for local spends, Horizon for 2 miles /$ for overseas spends. If you have multiple cards, Maybank pools points from all your cards, so this helps with accumulation.

It's a fairly minor point, TBH, but if you are looking to consolidate your points, this might be useful to consider.