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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 Jul 27, 2015, 9:43 pm
  #4486  
 
Join Date: May 2004
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Originally Posted by naro
Citibank Rewards card has a limit of 120,000 points per year. If all spending earns 10x points, its S$12k cap per year.
Interesting, I never realized that part. Not a problem normally, but good to know. Thanks.
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Old Jul 27, 2015, 10:23 pm
  #4487  
 
Join Date: Jul 2015
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Originally Posted by demue
Interesting, I never realized that part. Not a problem normally, but good to know. Thanks.
There are 2 cards: one Mastercard and Visa. You can have both.
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Old Jul 28, 2015, 2:12 am
  #4488  
 
Join Date: Apr 2012
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For the 120,000 limits, does it include the Expedia bonus? Would have almost hit the limit if it includes the 15x bonus!
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Old Jul 28, 2015, 4:48 pm
  #4489  
 
Join Date: Jul 2014
Posts: 26
Hello all,

I am afraid I have sad news. The HSBC Advance 10x rewards is no more as of 30 June 2015. They actually ended it a month earlier (supposed to end 31 July). The run was good while it lasted-I actually used the card to top up my M1 FEVO and still get the 10x

Also do any of you know if I can use my Paywave overseas ie Malaysia and still earn 4 miles per $1 for the UOB PP Visa? Please PM me if it's not convenient *wink*

Thank you!

Last edited by elybb; Jul 28, 2015 at 5:52 pm Reason: Correction
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Old Jul 28, 2015, 11:41 pm
  #4490  
 
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: SYD
Programs: QF WP
Posts: 1,799
Originally Posted by elybb
Also do any of you know if I can use my Paywave overseas ie Malaysia and still earn 4 miles per $1 for the UOB PP Visa?
It does, but after taking account of fx fees, and the limited places where you can use Paywave (just like in SIN), you might as well just leave it at home and use a card that gives bonus points based on fx transactions instead.

Keep in mind that paywave is generally for smaller transactions, and you wouldn't know the exchange rate so you wouldn't be able to avoid those $9.99 SGD transactions.
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Old Jul 29, 2015, 12:06 am
  #4491  
 
Join Date: May 2012
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Posts: 6,819
Originally Posted by elybb
Also do any of you know if I can use my Paywave overseas ie Malaysia and still earn 4 miles per $1 for the UOB PP Visa? Please PM me if it's not convenient *wink*

Thank you!
Verified yes, just make sure it's not a SMART$ merchant.
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Old Jul 29, 2015, 12:08 am
  #4492  
 
Join Date: May 2012
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Originally Posted by Awesom Andy
Keep in mind that paywave is generally for smaller transactions, and you wouldn't know the exchange rate so you wouldn't be able to avoid those $9.99 SGD transactions.
That's true, I only have 1 exclusive use for it when I fly into KUL.
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Old Jul 29, 2015, 12:26 am
  #4493  
 
Join Date: Jul 2015
Posts: 22
Originally Posted by lcpteck
That's true, I only have 1 exclusive use for it when I fly into KUL.
actually, it got me thinking.

if you use UOB Visa Signature at paywave overseas. Does it count towards the minimum of SGD1k for paywave or SGD1k for foreign currency?
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Old Jul 29, 2015, 5:32 am
  #4494  
 
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: SYD
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Originally Posted by naro
actually, it got me thinking.

if you use UOB Visa Signature at paywave overseas. Does it count towards the minimum of SGD1k for paywave or SGD1k for foreign currency?
"... Visa payWave transactions (excluding SMART$ merchant), which is equivalent to 5% cash rebate, subject to a minimum local spend of S$1,000 in total"
Awesom Andy is offline  
Old Jul 29, 2015, 5:41 am
  #4495  
 
Join Date: Jul 2015
Posts: 22
Originally Posted by Awesom Andy
"... Visa payWave transactions (excluding SMART$ merchant), which is equivalent to 5% cash rebate, subject to a minimum local spend of S$1,000 in total"
Thanks Andy!!
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Old Jul 29, 2015, 8:42 am
  #4496  
 
Join Date: May 2003
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Posts: 4,847
Originally Posted by Wadexis
Ha cool. I did not know that it was possible to top up with a credit card without using EZ-reload. I thought only Nets was accepted, therefore I misunderstood the statement.

Thanks for mentioning you still do get them.
Can confirm I have stopped getting points from EZ-reload transactions. Seemed to take effect mid-June (was awarded points for 2 out 3 reloads in June - so stopped somewhere between 11 June and 22 June). Original notification was earning stop effective from 18 March.
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Old Jul 29, 2015, 9:20 am
  #4497  
 
Join Date: Jul 2012
Location: SIN
Posts: 61
Originally Posted by lokijuh
Can confirm I have stopped getting points from EZ-reload transactions. Seemed to take effect mid-June (was awarded points for 2 out 3 reloads in June - so stopped somewhere between 11 June and 22 June). Original notification was earning stop effective from 18 March.
Thanks for your post. I do not track points so would not have known. Too bad. Any alternative route to get points on EZ reloads with a PMV card?
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Old Jul 29, 2015, 10:22 am
  #4498  
 
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Anywhere
Posts: 6,576
Originally Posted by lokijuh
Can confirm I have stopped getting points from EZ-reload transactions. Seemed to take effect mid-June (was awarded points for 2 out 3 reloads in June - so stopped somewhere between 11 June and 22 June). Original notification was earning stop effective from 18 March.
Which credit card do you use?
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Old Jul 29, 2015, 12:08 pm
  #4499  
 
Join Date: Jul 2014
Posts: 26
Thank you Andy and lcpteck.

It does, but after taking account of fx fees, and the limited places where you can use Paywave (just like in SIN), you might as well just leave it at home and use a card that gives bonus points based on fx transactions instead
But I don't quite follow the above..let's say Visa charges the 3% on top of the spot interbank rate. So if the Paywave transaction is RM30 and the conversion is RM2.7852 to $1, the amount will be $11.09 which still gives me 40 miles. Which other card will give 40 miles based on $10?
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Old Jul 29, 2015, 7:55 pm
  #4500  
 
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: SYD
Programs: QF WP
Posts: 1,799
Originally Posted by elybb
Thank you Andy and lcpteck.



But I don't quite follow the above..let's say Visa charges the 3% on top of the spot interbank rate. So if the Paywave transaction is RM30 and the conversion is RM2.7852 to $1, the amount will be $11.09 which still gives me 40 miles. Which other card will give 40 miles based on $10?
In theory, that is correct. However, in practise, the transaction could have been RM27, which results in $9.98 after the conversion - but you wouldn't know the exchange rate before hand. Also, not all countries have paywave terminals widely available. So depending on the actual situation, you might end up bringing an extra card for very little gain.
Awesom Andy is offline  


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