From the small print on Page 3 of my DBS Altitude statement received today "Effective 1 November 2013, all Credit/Debit card transactions performed overseas or on overseas websites, in Singapore dollars, will be subject to an administrative fee of up to 0.8% on the Singapore dollar amount." It just keeps getting worse :td:

We should not be transacting in SGD when making payment overseas. You'll be hit by DCC first. Always opt for the respective local currency of that country.

So generally speaking we should not be affected by this. ^ But I agree that there's more and more redtape being deployed...

From Oct 2013, it's 1 CitiMile = 1 Asia Mile.
So it looks Citi Premier Miles are 1 of the best and balanced cards in the market!

http://www.citibank.com.sg/gcb/credi...s/cc_xx_pm.htm

Unfortunately it hasn't happened yet. It's still showing the old redemption rate of 0.4 Asia Miles on the website.

Same goes for the redemption page and the T&Cs as well.

http://s20.postimg.cc/kco3mocdl/Citi_PM_redemption.jpg

Not sure if I missed something, but the link I've provided earlier had the following written - it's from the Citibank webpage:

Quote:

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(With effect from 1 October 2013, the conversion rate for Asia Miles will be updated to 1 Citi Miles to 1 Asia Mile)

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Yep, I did notice that. The redemption page (the screenshot I posted) still shows as 0.4 miles. However, I just read the T&Cs and it's showing 1:1 ratio. My guess is it's probably in effect but not corrected on the redemption page. Well, we'll only know the outcome when someone actually makes the redemption. ;)

True, only good value for business or first saver redemptions or better still for saver upgrades to business or first class

At 5000 pts for $100 taka voucher it is essentially an 8% cash back, supposing 10X rewards - which is pretty good.

I mean we all need miles, but then sometimes you need to buy some crystalware and household and using vouchers arent that bad an option? I was at the Riedel factory and the decanters were so well priced, but there was no way I would be able to carry it back.

What are the best uses for AM?
I know its good for AA metal upgrades as there are less restrictions.
And they are redeemable for Macau ferry tickets.

But what are the sweet spots for Cathay redemptions?

I honestly really love CX F. The Chinese food is superb and the service is sometimes not as 'creepy' as SQ F.

Nothing beats SQ suites of course. =)

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

IMHO- the best value from Asiamiles is a) companion awards (costing ~40% lesser miles), b) oneworld multi carrier awards for long routings

Basic info on the award charts- PM me in case you need any specific info.

Thanks jagmeets.

For a) I guess it would be great especially if a company is paying for your F fare

b) are the YQs really expensive then?

Yes, for Asia Miles Awards Chart (two stopovers, two transits/transfers or one open-jaw) - This awards chart applies to redemption for single or mixed (two) carrier awards. For mixed carrier awards, Cathay Pacific must be included, the miles required for Singapore to Europe is higher than oneworld multi carrier award. If I take CX & MH to London, I need 145000 miles in Business Class, but if I take CX, JL & MH, I need 135000 miles, savings of 10000 miles!

Strangely, we cannot redeem one-way tickets on Japan Airlines or part of a 1 way ticket. But can include Japan Airlines in 1 round trip ticket.

But Asia Miles allows 5 stopovers, 2 transits and 2 open jaws for oneworld multi carrier awards, they want you to make more stopovers (> 24hours stay). KrisFlyer works differently, 1 stopover, 1 destination and no cap on transits.

You pick Asia Miles, after that key in any amount of miles you like to transfer and it will reflect the same amount of miles to be transferred. This is before the "confirm" part.

a) Yes..or biz, or, if you are doing what some other people do (I class revenue ticket from a 'cheap' originating point, and a companion award for a subset of the routing - saw examples of TPE-HKG-MEL vv with the companion award for the HKG-MEL segment).

b) Pretty decent - no YQ on AA/LAN redemptions - no clue on other partners, but a CX metal only redemption for SIN-SFO is 145K Asiamiles+~SGD500 (vs 136K KF +~SGD850..and a companion redemption with CX would be 95K+~SGD500)

Uh oh. I just used my Maybank card for quite a few transactions in Beijing, and in all the transactions, I have cancelled the SGD amount and tick off the RMB amount.

:(

Will have to see when I receive my CC statement.