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

Old Oct 31, 14, 6:05 am
FlyerTalk Forums Expert How-Tos and Guides
Last edit by: SingaporeDon
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:
From 15 May 2015, 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 together for all UOB cards.

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 & UOB Preferred Platinum American Express Card (AMEX no longer available for application wef 01 Oct 2015)

http://www.uob.com.sg/personal/cards..._platinum.html
http://www.uob.com.sg/personal/cards...visa_card.html


Mileage accrual: Earn a MASSIVE 4 miles for every $1 spent using VISA Paywave contactless payments (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 (every $5 gives 1 UNI$ which equal 2 miles).

WARNING: From 3 July 2017, earning 4 miles/$ is limited to the first S$1110 spent during the per calendar month (via Paywave and online). 2,000UNI$ refers to the extra 9UNI$ and does not include the normal 1UNI$.(Not sure if this is true as I think UNi$2000 they are talking about is total earned including the basic 1, plus bonus 9 = total 10 per $1 spend "The total UNI$ awarded to each Cardmember from qualifying spend on Selected Online Transactions and Contactless Transactions is capped at UNI$2,000 for each calendar month. After which, UNI$1 will be awarded for every S$5 spent"https://www.uob.com.sg/personal/cards/credit-cards/rewards-cards/uob-preferred-platinum-visa-card.page Stop when you notice you earn 3UNI$ (1 + bonus 2) for the last S$5 payWave transaction. ($1110/5)x9=1998UNI$, hence the last S$5 payWave transaction will earn 2 bonus UNI$.

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. A full list of merchants where Paywave transactions will NOT earn miles can be found here:
http://www.uob.com.sg/personal/cards...smartclub.html

(Wef 01 Oct 2015 no new applications) UOB Preferred Platinum American Express Card: Cardmembers will earn 10X UNI$ at any F&B establishments WORLDWIDE registered under the following MCC:

5812 Eating Places and Restaurants
5813 Drinking Places (Alcoholic Beverages) – Bars, Taverns, Nightclubs, Cocktail Lounges, and Discotheques
5814 Fast Food Restaurants

F&B establishments does not include bakeries, caterers and F&B spending at establishments that does not have F&B as its main business activity such as hotels and supermarkets. Best for local dining. Very hard to determine MCC code for overseas dining places.

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 Visa & AMEX

http://www.citibank.com.sg/gcb/credi...CAAEENCCHOCALM
http://www.citibank.com.sg/gcb/credi...s/cc_xx_pm.htm
http://www.citibank.com.sg/global_do...iles/index.htm



Mileage accrual: Earn 1.2 miles (1.3 miles for AMEX) for every $1 spent (every $0.83 [VISA] or S$0.769 gives 1 mile [AMEX]). Earn 2 miles for every $1 spent OVERSEAS. 10,000 bonus miles for VISA & 15,000 bonus miles for AMEX for each annual membership renewal.

Requirements: min. income $50,000 for VISA & S$80,000 for AMEX (very strict for AMEX). Principal cardholder must be at least 21 years of age.
Cost: First year free, then $192.60 for VISA main, supplementary always free. S$267.50 for AMEX. Annual fee waiver available in exchange for forfeiting the 10,000 or 15,000 miles renewal 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 or 1.3 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 & Citibank Clear Platinum Card (No longer for new application from 01 June 2015)

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!

Citibank Clear Platinum Card (No longer for new application from 01 June 2015)
http://www.citibank.com.sg/gcb/credi...CACPENCCHOCALM
Earn 5X Rewards (5 Rewards Points or 2 Miles for every S$1 spend) on Overseas Spend, Dining & Online Shopping.

Pros: Transfer to 11 FFPs & 3 Hotel programs in blocks of 25,000 points=10,000 miles; S$25 fee.

Cons: 10x Citidollars based on MCC code. Very hard to determine for overseas merchants. Points awarded per S$1 spend. Cents not included. Need to call in to Citibank to ask to combine the Citidollars earned before making a transfer.

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-resources/pdf/cards/credit-cards/womans-platinum-mastercard/womans_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-banking/cards/titaniumrewards-mastercard.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/cards/titanium_rewards_credit_card-terms-conditions.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

============

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

Old Nov 26, 15, 7:17 am
  #4876  
formerly Fly-Swiss
 
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: SIN
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Originally Posted by Fly-Swiss View Post
Does anyone know if ANZ travel card gives points in PayPal transactions?
anyone?
Volasia is offline  
Old Nov 26, 15, 9:19 am
  #4877  
 
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Originally Posted by Fly-Swiss View Post
anyone?
Why you think it will not?
lingua101 is offline  
Old Nov 26, 15, 9:35 pm
  #4878  
formerly Fly-Swiss
 
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Posts: 878
The 'Best credit cards for KF miles accrual' master thread

Some banks classify PayPal in a way that no points are awarded.
Volasia is offline  
Old Nov 27, 15, 10:46 am
  #4879  
 
Join Date: May 2012
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Programs: Marriott LT Silver | JL Sapphire | SQ Gold | Global Entry
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Originally Posted by Fly-Swiss View Post
Some banks classify PayPal in a way that no points are awarded.
That is true, it purely depends on the bank since they make the rules.
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Old Nov 28, 15, 4:13 am
  #4880  
 
Join Date: Feb 2010
Posts: 810
Originally Posted by lcpteck View Post
Yep I never do cause of the exclusions that some banks impose.
Last year I bought but choose to pay through Paypal and got 10x Citidollars with Citi Rewards Card. This year I did not pay though Paypal but key in the credit card numbers instead. My post is here:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/22976091-post3005.html
vsepr is offline  
Old Nov 29, 15, 10:08 pm
  #4881  
 
Join Date: Jan 2015
Location: SG
Programs: KF, MP
Posts: 15
I want to check with the rest on this forum if they have experienced such an incident:

I did not spend any amount on my UOB PP Amex in the last billing cycle (only transaction was the payment of the previous month's balance), but in the current statement, it was indicated that "You've been awarded additional XYZ UNI$ for spending at participating 10X F&B merchants with your Preferred Plat AMEX Card".

I always thought UOB's award of UNI$ is current, unlike DBS Points (specifically for Altitude), where the additional "points will be computed and awarded ... within 90 days after each calendar month", making the tracking of DBS awarded points especially difficult and slow.

Any comment?
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Old Nov 30, 15, 9:53 am
  #4882  
 
Join Date: May 2012
Location: Singapore
Programs: Marriott LT Silver | JL Sapphire | SQ Gold | Global Entry
Posts: 6,780
Originally Posted by pompipi View Post
I want to check with the rest on this forum if they have experienced such an incident:

I did not spend any amount on my UOB PP Amex in the last billing cycle (only transaction was the payment of the previous month's balance), but in the current statement, it was indicated that "You've been awarded additional XYZ UNI$ for spending at participating 10X F&B merchants with your Preferred Plat AMEX Card".

I always thought UOB's award of UNI$ is current, unlike DBS Points (specifically for Altitude), where the additional "points will be computed and awarded ... within 90 days after each calendar month", making the tracking of DBS awarded points especially difficult and slow.

Any comment?
Hmm, never been in this situation since I would always have some transaction every month.
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Old Dec 1, 15, 4:08 am
  #4883  
 
Join Date: Sep 2015
Location: Shinjuku, Tokyo
Programs: Accor Plus Plat, Marriot Plat, AF Gold
Posts: 305
Originally Posted by generikz View Post
I'm curious to know why I was rejected. If I am rejected... it feels like 99% others would be. Unless they discriminate foreigners vs. locals. By the way, Citicard approved within 3 business days.
To be fair, I must post an update to this story.

MAS claim obviously forced UOB to treat me like a normal client and not an automated application robot. I was called directly by an account manager who assured the application process would be reviewed and that I could eventually re-apply (if I still wanted to) without waiting for the 6-month black-out period after being denied.

I re-did my application today on their advice (note that the website has changed now and makes things a lot easier to upload documents), using exactly the same information and... instant in-principle approval.

Go figure.

Now I will be able to arbitrage between UOB Amex and Citibank Amex mileage cards and decide after one year which one I should keep.

So, my thanks to MAS for listening/acting when contacted and my respect to UOB for adopting a more proper attitude and going the extra mile to manage an unhappy prospect to eventually bring him back to their card offering.

Julien
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Old Dec 4, 15, 4:50 pm
  #4884  
 
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Anywhere
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Foreign currency conversion charge different between cards

I'm trying to do some analysis on this but unsure if I'm approaching it right, so would appreciate comment from some of the regulars here.

Whenever I travel abroad, aside from Citi Rewards MC / Visa that I use for shopping at department stores, shoes, clothes, bags (that earn 4 miles per S$1 and charges 2.5% foreign currency conversion fee) there are 2 cards that I normally use for my other foreign currency spends.

They are:
- UOB PRVI MC (charges 3.25% foreign currency conversion and earns 2.4 miles per S$1)
- Citi PM Visa (charges 2.5% foreign currency conversion and earns 2 miles per S$1)

With UOB PRVI MC, when I spend S$1,000 I effectively pay S$1,032.50 to earn 2,478 miles.

Whereas with Citi PM Visa, I effectively pay S$1,025 to earn 2,050 miles.

So... the difference is 428 miles at an additional cost of S$7.50, which works out to "buying extra miles" at S$0.1752 per mile - is this correct?
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Old Dec 4, 15, 4:52 pm
  #4885  
 
Join Date: Apr 2007
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Originally Posted by pompipi View Post
I want to check with the rest on this forum if they have experienced such an incident:

I did not spend any amount on my UOB PP Amex in the last billing cycle (only transaction was the payment of the previous month's balance), but in the current statement, it was indicated that "You've been awarded additional XYZ UNI$ for spending at participating 10X F&B merchants with your Preferred Plat AMEX Card".

I always thought UOB's award of UNI$ is current, unlike DBS Points (specifically for Altitude), where the additional "points will be computed and awarded ... within 90 days after each calendar month", making the tracking of DBS awarded points especially difficult and slow.

Any comment?
This may shed some light to why UOB customer service can't for their lives compute how the miles are broken down whenever I ask them to...
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Old Dec 4, 15, 7:35 pm
  #4886  
 
Join Date: May 2012
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Originally Posted by carrotjuice View Post
So... the difference is 428 miles at an additional cost of S$7.50, which works out to "buying extra miles" at S$0.1752 per mile - is this correct?
That's right.

I also use Citibank Rewards Visa for department store and clothes and shoes, etc..

My primary general spending FCY card is UOB Visa Signature. If the S$2k threshold is reached, I would fall back to Citibank PM Visa or UOB PRVI Miles Amex depending on promotions.
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Old Dec 4, 15, 8:04 pm
  #4887  
 
Join Date: Aug 2010
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Originally Posted by carrotjuice View Post
So... the difference is 428 miles at an additional cost of S$7.50, which works out to "buying extra miles" at S$0.1752 per mile - is this correct?
There may be a difference between MC and Visa fx rates. I wouldn't know which one is better but others may know more on this than I do.
Awesom Andy is offline  
Old Dec 5, 15, 2:22 am
  #4888  
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Originally Posted by Awesom Andy View Post
There may be a difference between MC and Visa fx rates. I wouldn't know which one is better but others may know more on this than I do.
Worst I've seen is 1.56% Visa over MC rate for NZD http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trave...l#post25470190

But this is truly YMMV, there is no simple statement "MC better than Visa for forex". Use the calculators, they roughly correspond to what you will be charged before fees:

https://www.mastercard.com/global/cu...ion/index.html
https://usa.visa.com/support/consume...alculator.html

Last edited by percysmith; Dec 5, 15 at 7:56 pm
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Old Dec 5, 15, 5:29 pm
  #4889  
 
Join Date: Apr 2000
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Programs: 3.2MM AA, 1.4MM UA,StwdLftPlt
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Originally Posted by percysmith View Post
Worst I've seen is 1.56% Visa over MC rate for NZD http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trave...l#post25470190

But this is truly YMMV, there is no simple statement "MC better Visa from forex". Use the calculators, they roughly correspond to what you will be charged before fees:

https://www.mastercard.com/global/cu...ion/index.html
https://usa.visa.com/support/consume...alculator.html
Thanks for the links..never knew these Forex calculators for the cards existed.
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Old Dec 5, 15, 9:39 pm
  #4890  
 
Join Date: Feb 2010
Posts: 810
Citibank now gives 10% more miles for miles transfer to Asia Miles. Only for Asia Miles.

Citi Clear & Rewards Card
1250 Citidollars = 550 Asia Miles!!
0.44 Asia Miles for 1 point

Citi PremierMiles:
1000 CitiMiles = 1100 Asia Miles!!
1.1 Asia Miles for 1 mile

It's a PERMANENT feature, not one off promotion!!

Last edited by vsepr; Dec 5, 15 at 9:47 pm
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