Go Back  FlyerTalk Forums > Miles&Points > Airlines and Mileage Programs > Singapore Airlines | KrisFlyer
Reload this Page >

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

Community
Wiki Posts
Search
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)***
============
In no particular order (apart from personal preference in terms of good-mileage opportunities):
============

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

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

Print Wikipost

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

Thread Tools
 
Search this Thread
 
Old Jun 14, 2017, 5:18 pm
  #7051  
 
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Anywhere
Posts: 6,576
But don't you need US proof of income? And US address?
carrotjuice is offline  
Old Jun 14, 2017, 6:16 pm
  #7052  
 
Join Date: Apr 2015
Location: Singapore
Programs: Krisflyer Gold, Starwood Gold, Hilton Gold
Posts: 444
Originally Posted by spk307
Am thinking of asking my manager for a 6 month stint in US, just to get a social security number (I guess 6 months should be enough?).
The kind of sign up offers they get - we can only dream of! :-(
Is it worth wrestling with the IRS and becoming a "US Person" for miles?
w4rd is offline  
Old Jun 14, 2017, 10:33 pm
  #7053  
 
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Virginia City Highlands
Programs: Nothing anymore after 20 years
Posts: 6,900
Originally Posted by spk307
Am thinking of asking my manager for a 6 month stint in US, just to get a social security number (I guess 6 months should be enough?).
The kind of sign up offers they get - we can only dream of! :-(
If you are staying in US for more than 6 month you will have to pay taxes for all money earned while in US from US sources.
https://www.irs.gov/businesses/taxat...ident-aliens-1
https://www.irs.gov/individuals/inte...esident-aliens

If you seriously consider it, would highly recommend to start reading Publication 501 AND get a consultation from tax attorney/accountant specializing on non-resident alien cases. This is for your own good to avoid sticker shock if you end up paying 40% of your income in taxes.

Originally Posted by carrotjuice
But don't you need US proof of income? And US address?
Yes, he does. Theoretically it is possible to obtain a credit card via ITIN and some people at HWZ claimed to be able to do so. However no one was able to provide any such recent (last 3 years) case.
invisible is offline  
Old Jun 14, 2017, 11:44 pm
  #7054  
 
Join Date: Mar 2015
Programs: HH Diamond, GHA Titanium
Posts: 1,961
I still have my SSN from studying in the US 12 years ago, think it's possible to get a credit card approved with no income and no US activity in those 12 years?

(Address is no probs cos my 3 sisters decided to marry angmohs and not to come back to MY/SG).
shuigao is offline  
Old Jun 15, 2017, 3:23 am
  #7055  
 
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Virginia City Highlands
Programs: Nothing anymore after 20 years
Posts: 6,900
Originally Posted by shuigao
I still have my SSN from studying in the US 12 years ago, think it's possible to get a credit card approved with no income and no US activity in those 12 years?
Order your credit history first.
invisible is offline  
Old Jun 15, 2017, 3:59 am
  #7056  
IHG 5+ Badge
 
Join Date: Jun 2014
Programs: IHG Spire Ambassador, HHonors Diamond, Hyatt Platinum, SPG Gold
Posts: 413
Now that the ANZ Travel Visa is going to be dissolved and replaced by DBS Altitude visa (which I already have)

What about the credit limit ? will it carry over ?
Highly doubt so. Just asking if anyone knows.
jedicat666 is offline  
Old Jun 15, 2017, 3:22 pm
  #7057  
 
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: singapore, the netherlands
Programs: SQ PPS, KLM Platinum, Air Berlin gold, HHonors Gold, SPG gold
Posts: 81
Originally Posted by qsharp
Just to re-iterate this, I have not seen a lot of people talking about this particular card, so is anyone in possession of this and can explain the specifics of the annual fees and how they handle it?
Presume you mean the Citi Prestige. They told me previously the annual fee cannot be waived regardless of spend. I didn't push, because you get 25k miles on renewal ie. about 2c per mile, Priority Pass unlimited, limo transfers, limited Jetquay and a decent concierge. The real kicker though, is the free night for each 4 night hotel stay which for just one stay a year, already pays off the annual fee. Note the stay can be at a $100 a night hotel, or a $1000.
tingadingling is offline  
Old Jun 15, 2017, 7:12 pm
  #7058  
 
Join Date: Mar 2015
Programs: HH Diamond, GHA Titanium
Posts: 1,961
Originally Posted by tingadingling
P
the free night for each 4 night hotel stay which for just one stay a year, already pays off the annual fee. Note the stay can be at a $100 a night hotel, or a $1000.
How do you know which hotels are eligible (other than calling up CWT/the citi concierge)?

Or is it basically the majority of hotels are eligible, just need to book it through citi concierge?

Last edited by shuigao; Jun 15, 2017 at 7:32 pm
shuigao is offline  
Old Jun 15, 2017, 9:29 pm
  #7059  
 
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: SIN
Programs: KrisFlyer, Asia Miles
Posts: 60
Originally Posted by shuigao
How do you know which hotels are eligible (other than calling up CWT/the citi concierge)?

Or is it basically the majority of hotels are eligible, just need to book it through citi concierge?
Most hotels are eligible. Key thing is that there must be a breakdown of the hotel charges including taxes as the reimbursement does not cover the latter.
chrispstan is offline  
Old Jun 16, 2017, 12:43 am
  #7060  
 
Join Date: Mar 2015
Programs: HH Diamond, GHA Titanium
Posts: 1,961
Originally Posted by chrispstan
Most hotels are eligible. Key thing is that there must be a breakdown of the hotel charges including taxes as the reimbursement does not cover the latter.
Thanks. I also note from the T&C that you can only get 1 night free per hotel per stay (i.e. 8 night stay doesn't get 2 free nights).

But I guess you could do 4 nights at one property, 4 nights at another, and get 2 nights off.
shuigao is offline  
Old Jun 17, 2017, 1:35 am
  #7061  
 
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Anywhere
Posts: 6,576
A senior Citibank staff has ever told me before that they will never waive the annual fee for the Prestige card.
carrotjuice is offline  
Old Jun 17, 2017, 2:03 pm
  #7062  
 
Join Date: Jan 2016
Posts: 654
Does anyone know what the latest renewal bonus is for ascend / pps Amex cards?
Mlee888 is offline  
Old Jun 18, 2017, 5:01 pm
  #7063  
 
Join Date: Sep 2001
Location: Singapore
Posts: 2,317
For those of us on HSBC - reminder to redeem all those points by 31 August 2017.
Singapore_Air is offline  
Old Jun 19, 2017, 3:59 am
  #7064  
 
Join Date: Nov 2008
Programs: SQ QPP1, HYATT DIA, SPG GOLD, HH GOLD, IHG GOLD
Posts: 656
I have used the SCB Visa Infinite Card for 1 year now. In the first year, the payment of annual fee of S$588.50 (including GST) entitled me to 35k miles. They just charged me for the annual fee this year. Has anyone tried to call and waive off the fees?

In addition, if I do choose to pay the annual fee, am I still entitled to the 35k miles again this year? It's not so explicitly mentioned in the T&C.

Thank you in advance for the info.
MilesBuzz is offline  
Old Jun 19, 2017, 5:47 am
  #7065  
 
Join Date: Jan 2016
Location: Singapore
Programs: KF, Marriott Gold, Hilton Gold
Posts: 182
Originally Posted by MilesBuzz
I have used the SCB Visa Infinite Card for 1 year now. In the first year, the payment of annual fee of S$588.50 (including GST) entitled me to 35k miles. They just charged me for the annual fee this year. Has anyone tried to call and waive off the fees?

In addition, if I do choose to pay the annual fee, am I still entitled to the 35k miles again this year? It's not so explicitly mentioned in the T&C.

Thank you in advance for the info.
no fee waiver. You get 20k miles. Plus the usual PP card with 6 free visits.
Am going to cancel it before they charge me. Poor value.
spk307 is offline  


Contact Us - Manage Preferences - Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Terms of Service -

This site is owned, operated, and maintained by MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. Copyright © 2024 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Designated trademarks are the property of their respective owners.