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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 Sep 21, 2015, 11:00 pm
  #4681  
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Join Date: Oct 2014
Posts: 98
has anyone gotten the bonus expedia miles for bookings up till 31 july 2015?
TTOTY is offline  
Old Sep 21, 2015, 11:57 pm
  #4682  
 
Join Date: Apr 2012
Posts: 1,727
I just applied for the visa rewards to be safe for the Expedia promotion.
tboons is offline  
Old Sep 22, 2015, 12:25 am
  #4683  
 
Join Date: Apr 2006
Posts: 876
Originally Posted by carrotjuice
Seems the 120,000 points cap on Citi Rewards is rather complicated and noone at Customer Service was able to give me a straight answer until I had to probe with multiple people.

Apparently, the 120,000 points cap is applicable for your current membership year (note: not 1 Jan - 31 Dec calendar year). It applies to regular spends that yield 1X points + designated category spends (eg. shoes, clothing, bags, department stores) that yield 1X points + additional 9X bonus points. But any bonus points earned for specialized promotions (eg. Expedia 15X) are NOT limited by the cap.

Example: Say you've attained the cap of 120,000 points for your current membership year through all your spendings. Then you spend S$1,000 on Expedia flights. You will not get another 1,000 points (1X) as your standard spend on Expedia because your cap had already been reached. But you will (eventually) get 14,000 points (extra 14X) for the Expedia promotion.
that explain why mine seems never cap.
jjjohn is offline  
Old Sep 22, 2015, 12:29 am
  #4684  
 
Join Date: May 2012
Location: SIN
Programs: JL GC | Marriott LT Silver | Global Entry | SQ Silver
Posts: 6,820
Originally Posted by TTOTY
has anyone gotten the bonus expedia miles for bookings up till 31 july 2015?
You can refer to the wikipost for the details.
lcpteck is offline  
Old Sep 22, 2015, 2:23 am
  #4685  
 
Join Date: Aug 2015
Location: Singapore
Programs: KF EG
Posts: 61
Just got an SMS saying DBS altitude 2 complimentary lounge access can now be used with an accompanying guest wef 22 Sep 15
Kelvin L is offline  
Old Sep 22, 2015, 2:46 am
  #4686  
 
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: 7,741
Yes got the same. A welcome change. Details apparently at http://www.prioritypass.com/altitudevisa, but currently the site does not seem to work properly as. I get a "504 Bad Gateway Request" error.
demue is offline  
Old Sep 22, 2015, 4:55 am
  #4687  
 
Join Date: Sep 2001
Location: Singapore
Posts: 2,317
Apologies as this is not directly relevant but has anyone worked out a way to churn miles through a card in Singapore ?

There was one way through a shopping website called Qoo10 but the method has been closed through their backend.

Thanks
Singapore_Air is offline  
Old Sep 22, 2015, 6:35 am
  #4688  
 
Join Date: Apr 2015
Location: Singapore
Posts: 46
Originally Posted by Singapore_Air
Apologies as this is not directly relevant but has anyone worked out a way to churn miles through a card in Singapore ?

There was one way through a shopping website called Qoo10 but the method has been closed through their backend.

Thanks
Previously you could churn points with income tax payments, but some people went overboard and spoiled the market for the rest of us.

One avenue that's legit is that for your overseas trips, you could check around for folks wanting high value stuff that you could purchase on your card and bring home, and they could reimburse you. You can check out Airfrov portal for this, although many items are just in the double digits or triple digits range.
phelansg is offline  
Old Sep 22, 2015, 7:46 am
  #4689  
 
Join Date: May 2009
Location: Singapore
Programs: SQ PPS, OZ Gold, Marriott Titanium & lifetime Platinum, IHG Diamond
Posts: 174
Originally Posted by carrotjuice
Can anyone help me understand in what currency is Uber charged in Singapore?

When I use a Visa card, it shows the SGD amount on my Uber receipt exactly as I am billed.

But when I use one of the prepaid cards (Imagine Amex, M1 MC) the transaction shows a SGD amount as per my Uber receipt, but a foreign currency conversion fee separately ON TOP OF THAT.

Very curious!
When I pay by ANZ Travel card, it charged me S$+2.5% forex transaction fees.

When I pay by UOB PriviMiles card, it charged exactly the same S$ as shown in Uber.
cy1978hk is offline  
Old Sep 22, 2015, 9:55 am
  #4690  
 
Join Date: May 2012
Location: SIN
Programs: JL GC | Marriott LT Silver | Global Entry | SQ Silver
Posts: 6,820
Originally Posted by cy1978hk
When I pay by ANZ Travel card, it charged me S$+2.5% forex transaction fees.

When I pay by UOB PriviMiles card, it charged exactly the same S$ as shown in Uber.
There's an extra 0.8% incurred on DBS Cards.
lcpteck is offline  
Old Sep 22, 2015, 4:32 pm
  #4691  
 
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Anywhere
Posts: 6,576
Originally Posted by cy1978hk
When I pay by ANZ Travel card, it charged me S$+2.5% forex transaction fees.

When I pay by UOB PriviMiles card, it charged exactly the same S$ as shown in Uber.
Which PRVIMiles - Amex, Visa or MC?

Maybe this should be added to the wiki for people to decide which card (not) to use for Uber!
carrotjuice is offline  
Old Sep 23, 2015, 12:07 am
  #4692  
 
Join Date: May 2012
Location: SIN
Programs: JL GC | Marriott LT Silver | Global Entry | SQ Silver
Posts: 6,820
Originally Posted by carrotjuice
Which PRVIMiles - Amex, Visa or MC?

Maybe this should be added to the wiki for people to decide which card (not) to use for Uber!
I remember reading the T&Cs of PRVI Miles Cards (all 3 versions) charges 3.25% on FCY spending.
lcpteck is offline  
Old Sep 24, 2015, 4:11 am
  #4693  
 
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: 7,741
Well Redmart still seems to be missing from KrisFlyerSpree. It would be sad if it is gone for good. I dropped a note to customer support to understand if it is temporary or permanent. Let's see.
demue is offline  
Old Sep 24, 2015, 8:51 am
  #4694  
 
Join Date: Oct 2013
Location: Singapore
Programs: Marriott Titanium Elite, Hilton Diamond, Hyatt Explorist
Posts: 304
Originally Posted by demue
Well Redmart still seems to be missing from KrisFlyerSpree. It would be sad if it is gone for good. I dropped a note to customer support to understand if it is temporary or permanent. Let's see.
This may not be entirely relevant but interestingly enough, it has been dropped from ShopBack too.
markcwj is offline  
Old Sep 24, 2015, 10:15 am
  #4695  
 
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: 7,741
Well Redmart may be getting enough customer growth these days without such channels and cut cost this way, but I'm just speculating. I'd love for them to become available again, but only time will tell. Well they still owe me 300 odd miles so those I'm still expecting of course. Let's see.
demue is offline  


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