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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 Apr 7, 2016, 11:54 pm
  #5356  
 
Join Date: Jan 2015
Posts: 129
Originally Posted by toothpick2
its a very inefficient use of money then.
It's not too bad if it's just for a month or two at most. Or if it's possible to time it such that you buy the tickets, get status, then cancel and get refund before payment is due on the card, that's even better!

Either way, this offers the fastest way to *A Gold status at the moment no? Unless there's an easier way? Especially for not so frequent flyers.
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Old Apr 8, 2016, 12:13 am
  #5357  
 
Join Date: May 2004
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Programs: SQ, LH, BA, IHG Diamond AMB, HH Gold, SLH Indulged, Accor Gold, Hyatt Discoverist
Posts: 7,739
Originally Posted by Fly-Swiss
Can you clarify this? Citi-expedia promotion is also valid for Prestige card?
Yes, see here: https://www.citibank.com.sg/gcb/cred...ti_expedia.htm
demue is online now  
Old Apr 8, 2016, 12:15 am
  #5358  
 
Join Date: May 2012
Location: SIN
Programs: JL GC | Marriott LT Silver | Global Entry | SQ Silver
Posts: 6,819
Originally Posted by Fly-Swiss
Can you clarify this? Citi-expedia promotion is also valid for Prestige card?
It's valid for almost all types of Citibank cards. You can read more at the promotion page.
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Old Apr 8, 2016, 12:15 am
  #5359  
 
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 vade
It's not too bad if it's just for a month or two at most. Or if it's possible to time it such that you buy the tickets, get status, then cancel and get refund before payment is due on the card, that's even better!

Either way, this offers the fastest way to *A Gold status at the moment no? Unless there's an easier way? Especially for not so frequent flyers.
Again, ethics aside, you assume that they have no means of reconciling or rolling back your KF status. Probably a fair assumption initially, but as always it may only last for a limited time when such an offer is abused. YMMV.
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Old Apr 8, 2016, 12:41 am
  #5360  
 
Join Date: Jan 2015
Posts: 129
Originally Posted by demue
Again, ethics aside, you assume that they have no means of reconciling or rolling back your KF status. Probably a fair assumption initially, but as always it may only last for a limited time when such an offer is abused. YMMV.
On the contrary, I actually do think they will monitor this "loop-hole" and I suspect any KF status you get from this will be revoked. That's why I said one will be risking US$150 to test it out. Let's see
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Old Apr 8, 2016, 12:53 am
  #5361  
 
Join Date: Mar 2015
Programs: HH Diamond, GHA Titanium
Posts: 1,961
Originally Posted by toothpick2
Its a very inefficient use of money then.
I would pay us$150 in a heartbeat for 1 year KF EG.
shuigao is offline  
Old Apr 8, 2016, 8:11 am
  #5362  
 
Join Date: Jan 2016
Location: SIN
Posts: 352
Amazing and not surprising that the SG based merlion blogger picked up the AMEX KF post almost verbatim - to the extent that even copied the analysis about double miles promo possibly placed due to School Holidays.. lol
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Old Apr 8, 2016, 8:36 am
  #5363  
 
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: Singapore
Programs: HHonors Gold; Accor Plat; SQ/TG
Posts: 111
Originally Posted by Tyrhung
Same thought here. Does mobile app top up for fevo applies the same for online to get the bonus?
yes, mobile app counts as online topup for WMC.
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Old Apr 8, 2016, 8:04 pm
  #5364  
 
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Anywhere
Posts: 6,576
Originally Posted by shuigao
I would pay us$150 in a heartbeat for 1 year KF EG.
I would argue on the other extreme that KFEG isn't worth US$150...
carrotjuice is offline  
Old Apr 8, 2016, 8:09 pm
  #5365  
 
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Anywhere
Posts: 6,576
Originally Posted by vade
On the contrary, I actually do think they will monitor this "loop-hole" and I suspect any KF status you get from this will be revoked. That's why I said one will be risking US$150 to test it out. Let's see
You're giving the benefit of the doubt that the bank "talks" to its partners (in this case KF)... chances are it's not that "bright".
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Old Apr 8, 2016, 8:31 pm
  #5366  
 
Join Date: Jan 2015
Posts: 129
Originally Posted by carrotjuice
I would argue on the other extreme that KFEG isn't worth US$150...
That's subjective. Usually, something is most valuable when you want it, but can't/don't have it
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Old Apr 8, 2016, 8:45 pm
  #5367  
 
Join Date: May 2006
Location: SIN
Programs: KF, MPC, BAEC // Bonvoy, WoH, Honors
Posts: 1,464
Originally Posted by carrotjuice
I would argue on the other extreme that KFEG isn't worth US$150...
Perhaps not on its own, especially for Singapore based travelers given that Changi offers an overall nice experience without any lounge access, but since you can use KF EG to match with other programs and thus keep the status alive for a longer time period, I'd say $150 is not bad at all.
Kilian Zoll is offline  
Old Apr 9, 2016, 12:50 am
  #5368  
 
Join Date: Aug 2012
Programs: HHonors Diamond, SPG Plat, Avis PC, Hertz PC
Posts: 109
But surely an airline as calculating as sq would have set up some sort of safeguard against this...
awxm88 is offline  
Old Apr 9, 2016, 2:08 am
  #5369  
 
Join Date: May 2006
Location: SIN
Programs: KF, MPC, BAEC // Bonvoy, WoH, Honors
Posts: 1,464
Originally Posted by awxm88
But surely an airline as calculating as sq would have set up some sort of safeguard against this...
YMMV
Kilian Zoll is offline  
Old Apr 9, 2016, 4:50 am
  #5370  
 
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Virginia City Highlands
Programs: Nothing anymore after 20 years
Posts: 6,900
Originally Posted by carrotjuice
Far from "so many restrictions" these cards are a valid open market reality that Singapore based card owners can take advantage of.

Live and learn.
I do not think that moralizations are good way in conversation.
invisible is offline  


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