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

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

Old Mar 1, 2017, 9:37 pm
  #6766  
 
Join Date: May 2012
Location: SIN
Programs: JL GC | Marriott LT Silver | Global Entry | SQ Silver
Posts: 6,819
Originally Posted by SQ319


Now we have to make our cards work even harder to ensure we get enough miles to travel.
Our cards are working too hard already to scrap miles off them.. My cards are showing big wear and tear... T_T

Last edited by lcpteck; Mar 1, 2017 at 9:49 pm
lcpteck is offline  
Old Mar 2, 2017, 3:35 pm
  #6767  
 
Join Date: Feb 2017
Posts: 4
Originally Posted by laurent_rio
Easy way is check UNI$ IN your last statement (u can get it from UOB Ibanking), from there you can compare with transactions you made after that last statement

transactions after last statement/ 5 * 10 = total additional UNI$ you should get (if all transaction eligible) after last statement;

I email again cardup and they said still working with UOB for additional missing UNI$ point but i dont hope too much, better next month switch to other payment provider and pay with DBS WWMC
I suspected this was the only way to calculate correctly. A little clunky but thanks for the info. Citi does a much better job!
jberriman is offline  
Old Mar 2, 2017, 6:44 pm
  #6768  
 
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Singapore
Programs: CX Gold, Krisflyer PPS, Hyatt Diamond, SPG Platinum
Posts: 738
Racking up welcome miles .....to cover the 15% loss

I recently applied for three new cards - ANZ (2) as per below and the SC infinite card with 35K miles bonus without spending.

I have some major spendings this month so I have the ANZ minimum spend covererd.

So welcoming 110K miles with three cards in a month!

ANZ Signature Priority Banking Visa Infinite Credit Card

1. Pay annual fee of S$600 – 35,000 welcome miles

2. Spend $5000 in first month – 15,000 miles

3. Complimentary 2 access to Airport lounges

4. Complimentary 1 Limousine ride to Singapore Airport from home

5. 3.2 miles for every S$1 spend on highest foreign currency spend of the month

6. 0.8 miles for every S$1 spend on other foreign currencies and local currency (SGD)



ANZ Travel Visa Signature Credit Card

1. Pay annual fee of S$200 – 10,000 miles

2. Spend $3000 in first month – 15,000 miles

3. 1.4 miles for every S$1 spend on foreign currencies and local currency (SGD)

4. 2.8 miles for every S$1 spend on Australia and New Zealand currencies
sl00001 is offline  
Old Mar 2, 2017, 9:39 pm
  #6769  
 
Join Date: May 2003
Location: Singapore
Programs: QF LTG, SQ EGTP, Bonvoy LTG
Posts: 4,844
Originally Posted by Phaze
"From 30 March, 2017 the number of Citi Points or Miles that can be transferred to a Participating Travel Loyalty Program must be in blocks of 10,000 partner points/miles"
Annoying. What difference does it make to them whether it is 10,000 or 11,756? Other than the fact they can probably write off a good dose of points that people won't redeem, because they won't get to the 10000 - but why not just make it a minimum amount. This penny pinching attitude p#%sses me off.
lokijuh is offline  
Old Mar 2, 2017, 10:48 pm
  #6770  
 
Join Date: Jul 2015
Posts: 973
Originally Posted by lokijuh
Annoying. What difference does it make to them whether it is 10,000 or 11,756? Other than the fact they can probably write off a good dose of points that people won't redeem, because they won't get to the 10000 - but why not just make it a minimum amount. This penny pinching attitude p#%sses me off.
Answered your own question. Same reason SQ have a 3 year expiry - balance sheet liability control mechanism.
Phaze is offline  
Old Mar 3, 2017, 8:44 am
  #6771  
 
Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: SIN
Posts: 24
Originally Posted by jjjohn
Manage to combine all citi$ in one account.
Did you combine it recently? How did you convince the CSO? Hope you don't mind sharing. Thanks.
tranceaty is offline  
Old Mar 4, 2017, 8:25 pm
  #6772  
 
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: SIN
Posts: 543
Originally Posted by tranceaty
Did you combine it recently? How did you convince the CSO? Hope you don't mind sharing. Thanks.
It is too late, the final day to request redemption via phone is 28 Feb 2017.
luv_flying is offline  
Old Mar 5, 2017, 7:37 am
  #6773  
 
Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: SIN
Posts: 24
Originally Posted by luv_flying
It is too late, the final day to request redemption via phone is 28 Feb 2017.
I tried asking several times before 28 Feb, but all the response was no. And I couldn't find the t&c that states that we can combine citi$, I thought that the one shared by vespr was expired t&c.

Well, no luck I guess.

Thanks for replying.
tranceaty is offline  
Old Mar 5, 2017, 10:15 pm
  #6774  
 
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: SIN and wandering.
Posts: 1,549
I will be travelling to Australia soon. Still holding onto my ANZ Travel Card (though currently in cold storage).

Is this still the best card to use Down Under at 2.8 miles per dollar of retail spend? Does retail spend only limit to spending in retail outlets (ie. no hotels, airbnb, F&B etc)

Thanks.

Rgds
KS
SQ319 is offline  
Old Mar 6, 2017, 6:27 pm
  #6775  
 
Join Date: Jun 2015
Posts: 62
Originally Posted by SQ319
I will be travelling to Australia soon. Still holding onto my ANZ Travel Card (though currently in cold storage).

Is this still the best card to use Down Under at 2.8 miles per dollar of retail spend? Does retail spend only limit to spending in retail outlets (ie. no hotels, airbnb, F&B etc)

Thanks.

Rgds
KS
If u spend between 1000-2000 SGD in foreign transaction, u can use UOB Visa Signature, it get 4 miles/$ per statement period as long as u spend min 1000 and max 2000 SGD
laurent_rio is offline  
Old Mar 6, 2017, 9:02 pm
  #6776  
 
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: SIN and wandering.
Posts: 1,549
Originally Posted by laurent_rio
If u spend between 1000-2000 SGD in foreign transaction, u can use UOB Visa Signature, it get 4 miles/$ per statement period as long as u spend min 1000 and max 2000 SGD
Great. Thanks, will check it out.
SQ319 is offline  
Old Mar 6, 2017, 9:40 pm
  #6777  
 
Join Date: Feb 2015
Location: SIN
Programs: SQ Krisflyer, Hilton Gold, Best Western Diamond, SPG Gold
Posts: 155
what cards would your recommend to pay singtel bills?

Apparently Citibank rewards is out of the picture now
kt85 is offline  
Old Mar 7, 2017, 2:54 am
  #6778  
 
Join Date: Apr 2012
Posts: 1,726
Just to check, if HSBC advance awards bonus points more than 200 for fever card?

And if Mr Women still give the bonus for having fever? Finds it really hard to track them. Especially advance points
tboons is offline  
Old Mar 7, 2017, 7:51 am
  #6779  
 
Join Date: May 2012
Location: SIN
Programs: JL GC | Marriott LT Silver | Global Entry | SQ Silver
Posts: 6,819
Originally Posted by kt85
what cards would your recommend to pay singtel bills?

Apparently Citibank rewards is out of the picture now
Anyway to do it without a SingTel online account and still earn miles? Paying for family.
lcpteck is offline  
Old Mar 7, 2017, 9:09 pm
  #6780  
 
Join Date: Jan 2016
Location: Singapore
Programs: KF, Marriott Gold, Hilton Gold
Posts: 182
Originally Posted by lcpteck
Anyway to do it without a SingTel online account and still earn miles? Paying for family.
WWMC + Fevo + AXS.
spk307 is offline  

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