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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 Mar 9, 2011, 6:13 pm
  #151  
 
Join Date: Feb 2011
Posts: 14
I applied for the DBS altitude, but had an afterthought when I received a notice from the krisflyer amex gold card about a large amount of bonus miles that I made in 2010 - just wanted to ask your advise regarding whether the analysis above of DBS Altitude > Krisflyer amex for my situation includes the bonus miles that come the krisflyer amex?
nb123 is offline  
Old Mar 9, 2011, 7:41 pm
  #152  
 
Join Date: Aug 2009
Programs: SPG Gold, SQ Blue, OZ Diamond, JAVA and occasionally C
Posts: 5,563
Even with 100% bonus of SQ Amex Gold, it amounts to $0.80 per mile. But with condition of spending $12k per calendar year and limit of 8k bonus miles. Not worth it in my opinion. I just cancelled my SQ Gold card last month after getting billed for annual fees. But then the Amex rewards card is much better as it gives you 10k bonus miles for signing up.
kitsura is offline  
Old Mar 9, 2011, 9:58 pm
  #153  
Original Poster
 
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: Singapore, Warsaw, Surfers Paradise
Programs: KrisFlyer Gold>>>Silver>>>Blue, Finnair Silver, Royal Caribbean Diamond
Posts: 5,167
I once did the calculations for the SQ card and didn't find it as enticing as it promised to be. I would skip it.
aster is offline  
Old Mar 10, 2011, 11:00 pm
  #154  
 
Join Date: Feb 2011
Posts: 14
Thanks guys will stick with DBS Altitude Amex!
nb123 is offline  
Old Mar 22, 2011, 3:34 am
  #155  
 
Join Date: Mar 2011
Programs: Krisflyer Gold, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 62
Miles transfer charges

Originally Posted by nb123
Thanks guys will stick with DBS Altitude Amex!
DBS Altitude has an annual fee of SGD 42 to enable unlimited transfers to Krisflyer. If you value each SQ miles as 2 s$-cents, that is essentially 8400 miles you are paying to convert DBS points to miles.
keepinitsimple is offline  
Old Mar 22, 2011, 3:37 am
  #156  
 
Join Date: Mar 2011
Programs: Krisflyer Gold, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 62
ezlink merchant

Originally Posted by aster
So this is only for auto-topups, which in turn can only happen when you run out of credit when entering the MRT or boarding a bus.
Burger King now accepts ezlink :-)
keepinitsimple is offline  
Old Mar 22, 2011, 6:31 am
  #157  
Original Poster
 
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: Singapore, Warsaw, Surfers Paradise
Programs: KrisFlyer Gold>>>Silver>>>Blue, Finnair Silver, Royal Caribbean Diamond
Posts: 5,167
Originally Posted by keepinitsimple
DBS Altitude has an annual fee of SGD 42 to enable unlimited transfers to Krisflyer. If you value each SQ miles as 2 s$-cents, that is essentially 8400 miles you are paying to convert DBS points to miles.
I think you need to redo your math.
aster is offline  
Old Mar 22, 2011, 7:50 am
  #158  
 
Join Date: Aug 2009
Programs: SPG Gold, SQ Blue, OZ Diamond, JAVA and occasionally C
Posts: 5,563
I think that is closer to 2100 miles.
kitsura is offline  
Old Mar 22, 2011, 8:36 am
  #159  
Original Poster
 
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: Singapore, Warsaw, Surfers Paradise
Programs: KrisFlyer Gold>>>Silver>>>Blue, Finnair Silver, Royal Caribbean Diamond
Posts: 5,167
On a side note, if you use a Nets Flashpay card for MRT/bus travel then are you charged the same as if you were using an EZ-link card?
aster is offline  
Old Mar 22, 2011, 9:42 am
  #160  
 
Join Date: Mar 2011
Programs: Krisflyer Gold, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 62
Originally Posted by aster
I think you need to redo your math.
FISH.... I always had that sixth sense something was wrong in the assumption
keepinitsimple is offline  
Old Mar 22, 2011, 9:43 am
  #161  
 
Join Date: Mar 2011
Programs: Krisflyer Gold, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 62
Originally Posted by aster
On a side note, if you use a Nets Flashpay card for MRT/bus travel then are you charged the same as if you were using an EZ-link card?
Does NETS flashpay offer ez-reload? If not, dont bother due to the incovenience of topping up manually.
keepinitsimple is offline  
Old Mar 22, 2011, 12:00 pm
  #162  
Original Poster
 
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: Singapore, Warsaw, Surfers Paradise
Programs: KrisFlyer Gold>>>Silver>>>Blue, Finnair Silver, Royal Caribbean Diamond
Posts: 5,167
I don't use EZ-reload even on my EZ-link card(s), I just prefer to top-up manually. Plus I like to maintain a >$100 balance so it's not like I'm going to run out of credit when entering the MRT...

I'm just curious if the Flashpay card will be charged exactly the same fare.
aster is offline  
Old Mar 22, 2011, 10:50 pm
  #163  
 
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Constantly Positioning
Programs: SPG Plat, CX DM, DL Gold, HHonors Gold, AA Plat
Posts: 346
I've been using Amex Plat Charge for both business and personal. I do not have a personal credit card, only debit. Should I go for the CitiPremier?

Now that I am an EP holder I'm wondering from the SG FTers what are some creative ways to earn miles here? I suppose there's not a Singapore Mint eh?!
JackDaniels is offline  
Old Mar 23, 2011, 12:18 am
  #164  
Original Poster
 
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: Singapore, Warsaw, Surfers Paradise
Programs: KrisFlyer Gold>>>Silver>>>Blue, Finnair Silver, Royal Caribbean Diamond
Posts: 5,167
DBS Altitude Amex should be your first pick. You might want to get the Citi one as a second card though...
aster is offline  
Old Mar 23, 2011, 12:35 am
  #165  
 
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Constantly Positioning
Programs: SPG Plat, CX DM, DL Gold, HHonors Gold, AA Plat
Posts: 346
Originally Posted by aster
DBS Altitude Amex should be your first pick. You might want to get the Citi one as a second card though...
I do all my personal banking with OCBC. I'd think that doesnt really make a difference in this case right?
JackDaniels is offline  


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