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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 Feb 20, 2017, 6:04 am
  #6736  
 
Join Date: Jun 2016
Posts: 53
Originally Posted by carrotjuice
I contacted UOB via their IVR to request annual fee waiver for my Pref Plat MasterCard (previously one had to get this as a "pair" to Pref Plat Amex that gives 10X UNI$ on dining). It was unsuccessful, presumably because I haven't even used it once since getting the card about 4 years back. So I cancelled it and the CSO says it's perfectly fine for the Pref Plat Amex to remain as a standalone card - no need to "pair" with anything else.
really? Last time I ask CSO to cancel pref Mastercard, I was been told that Amex and Mastercard was under one account. Can't cancel separately
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Old Feb 22, 2017, 7:17 am
  #6737  
 
Join Date: Dec 2016
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Do you guys know if any card gives points / Miles for property tax payment through AXS? Send a private message if preferred. Thanks !
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Old Feb 22, 2017, 9:45 am
  #6738  
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Last edited by solewalker; Feb 22, 2017 at 9:55 am
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Old Feb 22, 2017, 4:41 pm
  #6739  
 
Join Date: Jun 2015
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Anyone pay cardup using UOB PPV recently ?. Last month i get 10x for my rental payment but this month sadly only 1x.
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Old Feb 22, 2017, 6:52 pm
  #6740  
 
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Originally Posted by laurent_rio
Anyone pay cardup using UOB PPV recently ?. Last month i get 10x for my rental payment but this month sadly only 1x.
Ahhh, UOB inconsistency strikes again. Like redmart worked before just fine (and still should as it is a true online business), suddenly no more. My guess would be they reclassified the merchant to earn only 1uni$. Maybe inquire with CSR, see what clueless answers you get.
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Old Feb 22, 2017, 7:15 pm
  #6741  
 
Join Date: Jun 2015
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Originally Posted by demue
Ahhh, UOB inconsistency strikes again. Like redmart worked before just fine (and still should as it is a true online business), suddenly no more. My guess would be they reclassified the merchant to earn only 1uni$. Maybe inquire with CSR, see what clueless answers you get.
I think call UOB definitely will get answer that it is consider as online money transfer which exclude.
I already send mail to cardup hope they allow refund and allow me to repay using DBS WWMC . If not allowerd then i wont use cardup and UOB PPV again loh
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Old Feb 23, 2017, 1:26 am
  #6742  
 
Join Date: Jan 2013
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Originally Posted by laurent_rio
Anyone pay cardup using UOB PPV recently ?. Last month i get 10x for my rental payment but this month sadly only 1x.
ay yah. I just made a payment today. I'll take a look over the next couple days to see how many points actually accrue. Let us know what cardup says about refund and changing CCs.
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Old Feb 23, 2017, 7:17 am
  #6743  
 
Join Date: Jan 2015
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shucks. i just applied for UOB PPV specifically to use with cardup. please update once you hear back from cardup. thanks!
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Old Feb 23, 2017, 7:32 am
  #6744  
 
Join Date: Feb 2017
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Hi everyone~~~

newbie here. What are the cards you guys use to accrue KF points? I am currently using Ascend AMEX. I felt the only advantage it gives me is that it is a direct accrual into our KF accounts and no need to pay conversion fees and wait for it to be credited. However, with 1.2 pts for local spend and for overseas spend at 2 points only in June and Dec, I thought it is abit lacking behind.

I will be travelling 2 weeks a month to places like OZ, NZ, SEA, Taiwan, Japan, Korea.... what would be the best card to use or combination of cards to use? I have read through but some of their terms and conditions are killing me haha! Sorry again for asking a newbie question~

Forgot to mention I am based in Singapore and is asking about Singapore credit cards hehe

Last edited by gasband; Feb 23, 2017 at 7:35 am Reason: Add last line for location
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Old Feb 23, 2017, 4:25 pm
  #6745  
 
Join Date: Jun 2015
Posts: 62
Originally Posted by vade
shucks. i just applied for UOB PPV specifically to use with cardup. please update once you hear back from cardup. thanks!


This is reply from Cardup

We have been informed of a situation that the UOB Preferred Platinum Card had stopped paying out 10x UNI$ to CardUp transactions.

We have been in constant contact with UOB and have been informed that this is a mistake on UOB's part. We have cooperated by providing a list of all CardUp payments using this card and UOB has agreed to manually award the bonus points for those that were not credited properly.

Rest assured that the UOB Preferred Platinum Card will continue to give you 4miles/$ or 10x UNI$ for all CardUp payments. Going forward, we are working with UOB to ensure that this does not happen again in the future.

I will see how true UOB will credit back the points until then i will not use cardup with UOB PPV
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Old Feb 23, 2017, 4:40 pm
  #6746  
 
Join Date: Dec 2016
Programs: LH, BA
Posts: 93
Originally Posted by gasband
Hi everyone~~~

newbie here. What are the cards you guys use to accrue KF points? I am currently using Ascend AMEX. I felt the only advantage it gives me is that it is a direct accrual into our KF accounts and no need to pay conversion fees and wait for it to be credited. However, with 1.2 pts for local spend and for overseas spend at 2 points only in June and Dec, I thought it is abit lacking behind.

I will be travelling 2 weeks a month to places like OZ, NZ, SEA, Taiwan, Japan, Korea.... what would be the best card to use or combination of cards to use? I have read through but some of their terms and conditions are killing me haha! Sorry again for asking a newbie question~

Forgot to mention I am based in Singapore and is asking about Singapore credit cards hehe
how about You check the wiki on the first page of the thread? If you are looking for one card simple and easy, I'd say either DBS Altitude or Citi premier miles. Many recommend UOB PRVI miles but YoU will just get crazy over their customer service. Also UOB rounds down the number of points (per 5 $ spent). The earning rate is thus not 1.4 ... moreover , points expire after 2 years.
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Old Feb 23, 2017, 6:24 pm
  #6747  
 
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: SIN and wandering.
Posts: 1,549
Originally Posted by gasband
Hi everyone~~~

newbie here. What are the cards you guys use to accrue KF points? I am currently using Ascend AMEX. I felt the only advantage it gives me is that it is a direct accrual into our KF accounts and no need to pay conversion fees and wait for it to be credited. However, with 1.2 pts for local spend and for overseas spend at 2 points only in June and Dec, I thought it is abit lacking behind.

I will be travelling 2 weeks a month to places like OZ, NZ, SEA, Taiwan, Japan, Korea.... what would be the best card to use or combination of cards to use? I have read through but some of their terms and conditions are killing me haha! Sorry again for asking a newbie question~

Forgot to mention I am based in Singapore and is asking about Singapore credit cards hehe
The Wiki on the first page provides a lot of information, and also quite a few travel blogs (Eg. Shutterwhale) give a very good run down/comparison of the various miles accruing cards.

It also depends on your personal preference. Some ppl may choose to use one card, some may prefer to use different cards for different purposes etc.

For myself, I have quite a few cards mentioned on the wiki and will use different cards for different expenditure, so you need to find what works for you.
SQ319 is offline  
Old Feb 23, 2017, 11:05 pm
  #6748  
 
Join Date: Jan 2015
Posts: 129
Originally Posted by laurent_rio
This is reply from Cardup

We have been informed of a situation that the UOB Preferred Platinum Card had stopped paying out 10x UNI$ to CardUp transactions.

We have been in constant contact with UOB and have been informed that this is a mistake on UOB's part. We have cooperated by providing a list of all CardUp payments using this card and UOB has agreed to manually award the bonus points for those that were not credited properly.

Rest assured that the UOB Preferred Platinum Card will continue to give you 4miles/$ or 10x UNI$ for all CardUp payments. Going forward, we are working with UOB to ensure that this does not happen again in the future.

I will see how true UOB will credit back the points until then i will not use cardup with UOB PPV
thanks for the update!
vade is offline  
Old Feb 24, 2017, 4:39 am
  #6749  
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At the moment there is no way to earn miles for IRAS payments via Citi PM or UOB. Is that correct?
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Old Feb 24, 2017, 8:25 am
  #6750  
 
Join Date: Jun 2016
Posts: 53
Originally Posted by yosithezet
At the moment there is no way to earn miles for IRAS payments via Citi PM or UOB. Is that correct?
UOB privilege reserve card can pay tax and earn miles
Ghost07 is offline  


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