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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):
============

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 Aug 13, 2015, 7:32 pm
  #4546  
 
Join Date: Mar 2015
Programs: HH Diamond, GHA Titanium
Posts: 1,961
Originally Posted by Memphis8
I don't quite understand the foreign spend over $20 statement. Can you explain this please?
UOB has 2.4 miles per dollar (vs Citi PM 2.0 miles per dollar). But UOB has some funky rounding down issues. Presumably he means that below $20, the rounding down makes Citi PM better, but over $20 the rounding down loss is (relatively) minor and puts the UOB card ahead.

Note: I haven't done any of the math.
shuigao is offline  
Old Aug 13, 2015, 8:55 pm
  #4547  
 
Join Date: Aug 2015
Posts: 20
Originally Posted by shuigao
Presumably he means that below $20, the rounding down makes Citi PM better...
Ah, probably the UNI$ rounding down decimals. Thanks!
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Old Aug 13, 2015, 11:07 pm
  #4548  
 
Join Date: Aug 2015
Posts: 20
Originally Posted by lcpteck
True, just need to use it on those verified transactions.
Called up UOB and they were fairly certain that as long as it was online, purchased from Dell Australia would fall under the 10x UNI$ promo.

I'm going to take a punt and order it. Wish me luck!

FYI for anyone who cares, Dell Oz normally have discount coupons and plus the GST claimback, it ends up being cheaper than Dell SG.
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Old Aug 14, 2015, 12:09 am
  #4549  
 
Join Date: Aug 2015
Posts: 162
Originally Posted by Memphis8
Called up UOB and they were fairly certain that as long as it was online, purchased from Dell Australia would fall under the 10x UNI$ promo.

I'm going to take a punt and order it. Wish me luck!

FYI for anyone who cares, Dell Oz normally have discount coupons and plus the GST claimback, it ends up being cheaper than Dell SG.
Can share the model and price comparison that you have done ? Thanks.
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Old Aug 14, 2015, 12:31 am
  #4550  
 
Join Date: Jul 2015
Posts: 22
Originally Posted by Memphis8
Called up UOB and they were fairly certain that as long as it was online, purchased from Dell Australia would fall under the 10x UNI$ promo.

I'm going to take a punt and order it. Wish me luck!

FYI for anyone who cares, Dell Oz normally have discount coupons and plus the GST claimback, it ends up being cheaper than Dell SG.
How do you send it to Singapore?
naro is offline  
Old Aug 14, 2015, 1:15 am
  #4551  
 
Join Date: Aug 2015
Posts: 20
Originally Posted by appledabble
Can share the model and price comparison that you have done ? Thanks.
Dell AU
XPS 13 i5, 8gb mem, 256gb SSD. AUD 1,999 inc GST. I have a 15% promo code (don't have it with me now), so net price is AUD 1,699. take away 10% GST, you get final price of AUD 1544 (about SGD 1600)

Dell SG
XPS 13 i5, 8gb mem, 128gb SSD. SGD 1799. Save $200 (11% savings) and get bigger SSD.
XPS 13 i7, 8gb mem, 256gb SSD. SGD 2099. $500 more expensive but you get an i7 (although I remember reading that this particular i7 isn't that much faster than the i5)

A few weeks back AUD and SGD was almost on parity - then the difference would have been $250 for the first option.

Originally Posted by naro
How do you send it to Singapore?
Friend will be going for work, I'm getting a free courier service!

Actually, I just noticed today that Dell AU is having an Inspiron sale (up to AUD 500 off selected model).
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Old Aug 14, 2015, 3:03 am
  #4552  
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: SIN (LEJ once a year)
Programs: SQ, LH, BA, IHG Diamond AMB, HH Gold, SLH Indulged, Accor Gold, Hyatt Discoverist
Posts: 7,739
Originally Posted by Memphis8
Called up UOB and they were fairly certain that as long as it was online, purchased from Dell Australia would fall under the 10x UNI$ promo.

I'm going to take a punt and order it. Wish me luck!
Given Dell is the original online order pioneer I hope it works out as it would be a painful loss of 6-8k mls depending on final price. May the force be with you
demue is offline  
Old Aug 14, 2015, 3:51 am
  #4553  
 
Join Date: Aug 2015
Posts: 162
Originally Posted by Memphis8
Dell AU
XPS 13 i5, 8gb mem, 256gb SSD. AUD 1,999 inc GST. I have a 15% promo code (don't have it with me now), so net price is AUD 1,699. take away 10% GST, you get final price of AUD 1544 (about SGD 1600)

Dell SG
XPS 13 i5, 8gb mem, 128gb SSD. SGD 1799. Save $200 (11% savings) and get bigger SSD.
XPS 13 i7, 8gb mem, 256gb SSD. SGD 2099. $500 more expensive but you get an i7 (although I remember reading that this particular i7 isn't that much faster than the i5)

A few weeks back AUD and SGD was almost on parity - then the difference would have been $250 for the first option.


Friend will be going for work, I'm getting a free courier service!

Actually, I just noticed today that Dell AU is having an Inspiron sale (up to AUD 500 off selected model).
Oh I see. That's a different story if use commercial courier. Surely kanna gst also lol. Thanks for sharing though
appledabble is offline  
Old Aug 14, 2015, 3:54 am
  #4554  
 
Join Date: Aug 2015
Posts: 20
Originally Posted by demue
Given Dell is the original online order pioneer I hope it works out as it would be a painful loss of 6-8k mls depending on final price. May the force be with you
Yeah, it was either play it safe with PRVI or take a chance on PPV. Gotta risk it to get the biscuit!
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Old Aug 15, 2015, 11:07 am
  #4555  
 
Join Date: May 2012
Location: SIN
Programs: JL GC | Marriott LT Silver | Global Entry | SQ Silver
Posts: 6,819
Originally Posted by appledabble
Oh I see. That's a different story if use commercial courier. Surely kanna gst also lol. Thanks for sharing though
Do remember you're in an international forum so kindly avoid the local slang, thanks.
lcpteck is online now  
Old Aug 15, 2015, 7:16 pm
  #4556  
 
Join Date: Aug 2015
Posts: 162
Originally Posted by lcpteck
Do remember you're in an international forum so kindly avoid the local slang, thanks.
Apologize for the insensitivity. Have taken note. Thanks for the gentle reminder
appledabble is offline  
Old Aug 17, 2015, 12:19 am
  #4557  
 
Join Date: Aug 2015
Posts: 1
Just hit my limit of 120,000 Citi Dollar earning limit (72,000miles) on my Citi Rewards MC.

Called in to check if i can apply for Citi Rewards Visa so i get another 120,000 Citi Dollars earning quota. Was told i could do so.

Usually use this card to pay my Singtel bills online (4miles/$1) and shopping (4miles/$1).
alphaev7 is offline  
Old Aug 17, 2015, 12:25 am
  #4558  
 
Join Date: Aug 2013
Location: Singapore, Macau/HK
Programs: SQ *G, SPG Plat, IHG Plat, Le Accor Silver, Marriott Plat
Posts: 87
Which card should I use for my Uber spend? :
- Altitude
- Privi AMEX
- DBS Womans World

Currently using Privi as I;m unsure if it will register as an "online" transaction for DBS Womans World Card...

Hmmm?
BryanHuang is offline  
Old Aug 17, 2015, 1:45 am
  #4559  
 
Join Date: May 2012
Location: SIN
Programs: JL GC | Marriott LT Silver | Global Entry | SQ Silver
Posts: 6,819
Originally Posted by BryanHuang
Which card should I use for my Uber spend? :
- Altitude
- Privi AMEX
- DBS Womans World

Currently using Privi as I;m unsure if it will register as an "online" transaction for DBS Womans World Card...

Hmmm?
DBS Woman's registers as online if you
.
lcpteck is online now  
Old Aug 17, 2015, 5:01 am
  #4560  
 
Join Date: Jan 2012
Posts: 21
Originally Posted by alphaev7
Just hit my limit of 120,000 Citi Dollar earning limit (72,000miles) on my Citi Rewards MC.

Called in to check if i can apply for Citi Rewards Visa so i get another 120,000 Citi Dollars earning quota. Was told i could do so.

Usually use this card to pay my Singtel bills online (4miles/$1) and shopping (4miles/$1).
How do you know if you've hit the limit? Would the CSO tell you?
elliotng is offline  


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