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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 Aug 1, 2017, 11:57 pm
  #7171  
Moderator, El Al and Marriott Bonvoy, FlyerTalk Evangelist
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Originally Posted by shuigao
Having used the Citi Prestige for a couple of months now, I think it's a great card, will probably permanently replace my Citi PremierMiles Visa/Amex for all-round spend.
Are the miles/points of the SG Citi PM and Prestige exact same value for both cards?

I've been considering whether to get the US or SG version of Prestige. The problem is that I am rarely able to stay in the same hotel 4 nights in a row.
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Old Aug 3, 2017, 1:28 am
  #7172  
 
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Originally Posted by yosithezet
Are the miles/points of the SG Citi PM and Prestige exact same value for both cards?

I've been considering whether to get the US or SG version of Prestige. The problem is that I am rarely able to stay in the same hotel 4 nights in a row.
I remember it was the same earn rate. Someone take a look.
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Old Aug 3, 2017, 7:16 am
  #7173  
 
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Citi PM Visa 1.2 mls
Citi PM Amex 1.3 mls
Citi Prestige 1.3 mls

All for local spend. Abroad 2 mls same for all.
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Old Aug 3, 2017, 7:06 pm
  #7174  
 
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Originally Posted by yosithezet
Are the miles/points of the SG Citi PM and Prestige exact same value for both cards?
Originally Posted by lcpteck
I remember it was the same earn rate. Someone take a look.
Originally Posted by demue
Citi PM Visa 1.2 mls
Citi PM Amex 1.3 mls
Citi Prestige 1.3 mls
I guess technically the Prestige eventually earns 1.32-1.42mpd local, and 2.02-2.12mpd foreign from the relationship bonus (5-30% depending on citigold/non-citigold, and how long you've been a customer). Not significantly more, but every little bit helps, I guess?
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Old Aug 6, 2017, 10:46 pm
  #7175  
 
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What are your experiences with getting late charges/interests waived with UOB/DBS/OCBC?
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Old Aug 6, 2017, 11:58 pm
  #7176  
 
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Originally Posted by SQ319
What are your experiences with getting late charges/interests waived with UOB/DBS/OCBC?
Got DBS to waive late charges a couple of times. I haven't had experiences with the other banks.
lifeonthego_k is offline  
Old Aug 7, 2017, 12:56 am
  #7177  
 
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Originally Posted by SQ319
What are your experiences with getting late charges/interests waived with UOB/DBS/OCBC?
Don't ever go with OCBC. They never waive late charges and interests even if they are at fault. Worst bank in the world literally.

I did a change of address in OCBC but they change only my bank account address without changing my credit card account. The interest accumulated and they refused to waiver the late and interest charges. I told them I never received any bill but their excuse is 'We sent out the statement' even though it was to an old address I no longer stay in.

Also when I tried to cancel my card, they keep pressuring me to keep them. And ask me to make a payment and pay in full and they will waive the charges off. I told them I will only pay the amount I spent and will only keep it if the charges are waived off.. In the end the late charges snowballed another month as they stubbornly refused to waive the late charge yet again. Finally enough of this s*** bank, I immediately cut off the card but they threatened the interest will only keep ballooning unless I pay the accumulated interest. Threatened with no way out, I was forced to pay them.

Never ever go with OCBC. Their card sucks anyway

Last edited by Kelvin L; Aug 7, 2017 at 1:04 am
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Old Aug 7, 2017, 1:38 am
  #7178  
 
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OCBC hard to waive, but not impossible. But most people are not successful with them.
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Old Aug 7, 2017, 1:41 am
  #7179  
 
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My quick check shows that Amazon Prime Now Singapore is generally same or more expensive than Redmart and even more expensive for its imported items (Like AmazonBasic) than Amazon.com itself.

Originally Posted by shuigao
As a typical kiasu sinkie, I bought $80 worth of groceries, snacks and fruits that I didn't need just to take advantage of the $40 off (used my wife's account too). Stayed awake for the 12midnight refresh to immediately snag next-day delivery slots.

Now that the promo is over, my wife is comparing grocery/household goods between prime and redmart, and will decide based on that where to buy.

For me, I've been comparing prices of electronics, etc, but so far don't feel that prime's prices are all that competitive vis a vis lazada, carousell, etc.

The 2-hour delivery thing is possibly a great selling point for some, but not for me (I live next to a mall so I don't really need super fast delivery), so I'm not sure I'll really bother signing up once the subscription fee kicks in.
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Old Aug 7, 2017, 1:58 am
  #7180  
 
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Originally Posted by Kerean
OCBC hard to waive, but not impossible. But most people are not successful with them.
So the few who are successful, how do they do it?
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Old Aug 7, 2017, 2:20 am
  #7181  
 
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Originally Posted by Kelvin L
Don't ever go with OCBC. They never waive late charges and interests even if they are at fault. Worst bank in the world literally.

I did a change of address in OCBC but they change only my bank account address without changing my credit card account. The interest accumulated and they refused to waiver the late and interest charges. I told them I never received any bill but their excuse is 'We sent out the statement' even though it was to an old address I no longer stay in.

Also when I tried to cancel my card, they keep pressuring me to keep them. And ask me to make a payment and pay in full and they will waive the charges off. I told them I will only pay the amount I spent and will only keep it if the charges are waived off.. In the end the late charges snowballed another month as they stubbornly refused to waive the late charge yet again. Finally enough of this s*** bank, I immediately cut off the card but they threatened the interest will only keep ballooning unless I pay the accumulated interest. Threatened with no way out, I was forced to pay them.

Never ever go with OCBC. Their card sucks anyway
I signed for their Titanium Rewards card because it's very similar to the CitiRewards card with more categories of spending for the 10X Rewards.

Kinda regretted it though, cuz now I feel I am spreading my points accumulation too thin for my liking. They also forced me to sign for the OCBC360 which I don't really need.

Now I feel like I need to accumulate 25k points to change for my miles before I can ditch the card.
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Old Aug 7, 2017, 7:23 am
  #7182  
 
Join Date: Mar 2008
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Originally Posted by SQ319
So the few who are successful, how do they do it?
if you have an account with Bank of Singapore, their Private Banking arm, they will waive all such fees for you. Don't even need to call the credit card hotline, just text your request to the RM and he/she will take care of it.
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Old Aug 7, 2017, 8:08 pm
  #7183  
 
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Got a Secure Message reply from HSBC Singapore today confirming I need to redeem all my Rewards points by 31 August 2017
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Old Aug 10, 2017, 8:15 pm
  #7184  
 
Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: SIN
Posts: 84
Originally Posted by Kelvin L
Don't ever go with OCBC. They never waive late charges and interests even if they are at fault. Worst bank in the world literally.

I did a change of address in OCBC but they change only my bank account address without changing my credit card account. The interest accumulated and they refused to waiver the late and interest charges. I told them I never received any bill but their excuse is 'We sent out the statement' even though it was to an old address I no longer stay in.

Also when I tried to cancel my card, they keep pressuring me to keep them. And ask me to make a payment and pay in full and they will waive the charges off. I told them I will only pay the amount I spent and will only keep it if the charges are waived off.. In the end the late charges snowballed another month as they stubbornly refused to waive the late charge yet again. Finally enough of this s*** bank, I immediately cut off the card but they threatened the interest will only keep ballooning unless I pay the accumulated interest. Threatened with no way out, I was forced to pay them.

Never ever go with OCBC. Their card sucks anyway
Omg.. I had the exact bad experience with my Frank card but mine was a bit different..

I asked them to waive off my late charge which happened because I paid my bill using UOB and according to them it took like 3 working days to be processed or something (even though I paid 2 days before the due date)..

As they insisted not to waive off the late charge, I asked them to close off the card but they didn't send me the final statement for 2-3 months.. Eventually paid an extra $300 for just the late charge + interest (final bill was just $45).. Paid everything, closed the card, never looked back.. (had used Stanchart, DBS, and Citi in the past, no issue at all..)

-

Onto another topic, my ANZ points have been credited to my DBS account but it's credited under the new card that they provided to me, can I opt not to activate the new card and keep my ANZ points?

Last edited by Traflying; Aug 10, 2017 at 8:28 pm
Traflying is offline  
Old Aug 10, 2017, 8:59 pm
  #7185  
 
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: SIN and wandering.
Posts: 1,549
Originally Posted by Traflying
Onto another topic, my ANZ points have been credited to my DBS account but it's credited under the new card that they provided to me, can I opt not to activate the new card and keep my ANZ points?
Why would you want to do that?

The short answer is No. ANZ retail banking no longer exists. If you want to keep ANZ points, they are essentially worth nothing now.
SQ319 is offline  


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