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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 Jan 4, 2016, 12:30 am
  #4996  
 
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: ZRH
Programs: LH
Posts: 414
Originally Posted by spk307
The DBS Womens World Mastercard has to be bumped up in the list of best cards for earning miles. Confirmed they earn 4 miles (10x DBS points) for all online spend including those coming from Paypal, Uber and even flight or hotel bookings. So far only expedia or agoda promotions give higher miles, but they come with specific cards and many rules.
In principle I agree and use the card a lot. However for Uber I am not using it since (if I am not mistaken) a cross-border fee (2.5%?) applies since the charge originates in the Netherlands and hence also S$ trips incur that fee. I use the Citibank PremierMiles instead. 1.2 miles per $ instead of 4 miles but no fee.
Actually, this would work out to 2.5c for 2.8 miles, i.e. 0.9c/mile?!
flo-e is offline  
Old Jan 5, 2016, 8:47 pm
  #4997  
 
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Virginia City Highlands
Programs: Nothing anymore after 20 years
Posts: 6,900
Originally Posted by carrotjuice
Or open a new Citigold or DBS Treasures account - they provide sign on bonus miles - in her own name.
Last time I checked, they won't.
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Old Jan 5, 2016, 9:09 pm
  #4998  
 
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Virginia City Highlands
Programs: Nothing anymore after 20 years
Posts: 6,900
Question to the audience - which one would you choose - 8% cashback with Expedia/Shopback or 10x points with Expedia/Citi?

I thought for it couple of minutes and went for the first.
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Old Jan 5, 2016, 9:58 pm
  #4999  
 
Join Date: Apr 2015
Location: Singapore
Programs: Krisflyer Gold, Starwood Gold, Hilton Gold
Posts: 444
Originally Posted by invisible
Question to the audience - which one would you choose - 8% cashback with Expedia/Shopback or 10x points with Expedia/Citi?

I thought for it couple of minutes and went for the first.
Good choice I think. My last non chain hotel I did Expedia/Shopback paid for with DBS WWMC. Should be 8% cashback + 4 miles/$ (which I value around another 8%). Almost feels like I'm being paid to go on holiday. Almost...
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Old Jan 5, 2016, 10:20 pm
  #5000  
 
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Virginia City Highlands
Programs: Nothing anymore after 20 years
Posts: 6,900
Originally Posted by w4rd
Good choice I think. My last non chain hotel I did Expedia/Shopback paid for with DBS WWMC. Should be 8% cashback + 4 miles/$ (which I value around another 8%). Almost feels like I'm being paid to go on holiday. Almost...
On HWZ forums one guy claimed that he got $800 on cashback with shopback.
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Old Jan 6, 2016, 12:14 am
  #5001  
 
Join Date: Apr 2015
Location: Singapore
Programs: Krisflyer Gold, Starwood Gold, Hilton Gold
Posts: 444
Originally Posted by invisible
On HWZ forums one guy claimed that he got $800 on cashback with shopback.
I got just over $100 safely transferred to my bank account so I don't see why not. I also found their CS to be very prompt and helpful when I queried a different transaction.
I think Shopback is great, but its worth comparing with Krisflyerspree to see if they have a better deal on your merchant of choice.
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Old Jan 6, 2016, 12:21 am
  #5002  
 
Join Date: Jun 2015
Posts: 62
On HWZ forums ,it is mentioned that using citibank PM on shopback expedia link, you still get the 6x miles/$ on top of 8% cashback. Double benefits
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Old Jan 6, 2016, 6:14 am
  #5003  
 
Join Date: May 2012
Location: SIN
Programs: JL GC | Marriott LT Silver | Global Entry | SQ Silver
Posts: 6,820
Originally Posted by laurent_rio
On HWZ forums ,it is mentioned that using citibank PM on shopback expedia link, you still get the 6x miles/$ on top of 8% cashback. Double benefits
That is correct, not sure about hotels but should be similar since I earn 6 miles + 1% cashback on flights when booking airline tickets on Expedia.com.sg using my Citibank PremierMiles Visa. For other participating Expedia sites that I sometimes use, no cashback but it's fine too.

Citibank/Expedia promotion doesn't use a referral link, they use the merchant record of the transaction to determine whether a transaction is eligible for bonuses. The merchant record in this case is 'expedia'.
lcpteck is offline  
Old Jan 6, 2016, 6:16 am
  #5004  
 
Join Date: May 2012
Location: SIN
Programs: JL GC | Marriott LT Silver | Global Entry | SQ Silver
Posts: 6,820
Originally Posted by invisible
Question to the audience - which one would you choose - 8% cashback with Expedia/Shopback or 10x points with Expedia/Citi?

I thought for it couple of minutes and went for the first.
Should have went for both my friend. Refer to my previous post.

Btw, it's 15x reward points or 6 miles or 5% cashback depending on which Citibank card you're using. I use Citibank PremierMiles Visa for the 6 miles since most of my 'miles' are in that Citibank Card.
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Old Jan 6, 2016, 4:44 pm
  #5005  
 
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Anywhere
Posts: 6,576
Originally Posted by invisible
Last time I checked, they won't.
Why won't they? I now have an account for myself solely, my spouse solely, me and my spouse jointly...

In fact you can open an account for each of your children (provided they are over 18) solely, then jointly you and each child, then jointly your spouse and each child...

Because they are all each considered 'new customer entities' hence qualify for new relationship sign up bonuses.

As as long as you are not one of the parties, you can even qualify for referral bonus - you refer your spouse, your children, etc. for their respective standalone relationships.
carrotjuice is offline  
Old Jan 6, 2016, 5:22 pm
  #5006  
 
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Virginia City Highlands
Programs: Nothing anymore after 20 years
Posts: 6,900
Originally Posted by lcpteck
Citibank/Expedia promotion doesn't use a referral link, they use the merchant record of the transaction to determine whether a transaction is eligible for bonuses. The merchant record in this case is 'expedia'.
Originally Posted by lcpteck
Should have went for both my friend. Refer to my previous post.
So you are saying that whatever is said on their promo page is irrelevant?

To enjoy the offer, please book through Expedia.com.sg/citicard.
invisible is offline  
Old Jan 6, 2016, 5:28 pm
  #5007  
 
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Virginia City Highlands
Programs: Nothing anymore after 20 years
Posts: 6,900
Originally Posted by carrotjuice
Why won't they? I now have an account for myself solely, my spouse solely, me and my spouse jointly...
I think we are talking about different things. Last year, in October there was a promo - 'up to 58K bonus miles with new citigold relationship'. That was a poster hanging out at Holland Village branch.

When I went to check the details, the poster was gone but I was told that it is cash bonus given instead. Which according to my calculations was 2-3x worse in dollar terms comparing to miles offer.
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Old Jan 6, 2016, 9:00 pm
  #5008  
 
Join Date: May 2012
Location: SIN
Programs: JL GC | Marriott LT Silver | Global Entry | SQ Silver
Posts: 6,820
Originally Posted by invisible
So you are saying that whatever is said on their promo page is irrelevant?
It's relevant but it's also just marketing with easy to read information.

For us T&Cs point 5, 6, and 10 are the most important.
lcpteck is offline  
Old Jan 7, 2016, 5:30 am
  #5009  
 
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: HKG/ SIN
Posts: 203
shopback: I would like to sign up, can anyone refer me?
thanks
GwailoSIN is offline  
Old Jan 7, 2016, 6:13 am
  #5010  
 
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Virginia City Highlands
Programs: Nothing anymore after 20 years
Posts: 6,900
Originally Posted by GwailoSIN
shopback: I would like to sign up, can anyone refer me?
thanks
Sure, use this link https://www.shopback.sg/?raf=bE9Syo
invisible is offline  


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