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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 Dec 22, 2017, 7:36 am
  #7351  
 
Join Date: Jan 2006
Posts: 87
Originally Posted by invisible
Could you provide examples which one does and which does not?
I can only confirmed Uber and Q10 Singapore got 10X with DBS woman card via Paypal
ronaldko is offline  
Old Dec 23, 2017, 10:58 pm
  #7352  
 
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Anywhere
Posts: 6,576
Originally Posted by invisible
Separate question - Citi Rewards cards and PayPal - any experiences with 10x?
If it’s just sending money to someone’s PayPal account, then no.

But if paying to a merchant who sends a PayPal invoice, it depends on what MCC (Citi Rewards details an exhaustive list) the merchant is registered under PayPal. Best is to get the merchant to check with PayPal themselves and let you know before paying. If the MCC matches the Citi Rewards MCC list then yes will receive 10X.
carrotjuice is offline  
Old Jan 3, 2018, 3:32 am
  #7353  
 
Join Date: Aug 2003
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KrisFlyer UOB

Saw this double miles promotion. Interestingly, it said that the customer needs to own the UOB KrisFlyer debit card to be eligible for double miles. But there is no indication if the purchase needs to be charged to the card.

Fly with Singapore Airlines or SilkAir and earn twice the KrisFlyer miles from 1 Jan to 31 Mar 2018.
Sale period: 7 Dec 2017 – 15 Jan 2018*
Travel period*: 1 Jan – 31 Mar 2018


Terms and Conditions:
  • This promotion is only applicable to bookings made between 7 Dec 2017 and 15 Jan 2018. (both dates inclusive)*, with a travel or stay period between 1 Jan and 31 March 2018 (both dates inclusive).
  • To qualify for this promotion, travelers must be KrisFlyer members who own a KrisFlyer UOB debit card.
  • All Singapore Airlines or SilkAir cabin classes and bookings classes are eligible for this promotion, except Group fares (G), codeshare and redemption award tickets.
  • Bonus KrisFlyer miles will only be awarded for round trips completed between 1 Jan to 31 Mar 2018.
  • A round trip refers to a trip where the outbound flight and inbound flight return to the same airport. Bonus KrisFlyer miles will only be awarded for flights originating from Singapore.
  • Double KrisFlyer miles awarded will be only based on the distance travelled that was paid for by cash. This excludes any distance redeemed by KrisFlyer miles. Tier bonus is not included in the calculation.
  • If any changes to the bookings are made after the eligible booking period, the bookings will not be eligible for double KrisFlyer miles.
  • Bonus KrisFlyer miles will be automatically credited to member’s KrisFlyer membership account within 8 weeks after completion of flights.
  • KrisFlyer terms and conditions apply.
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Old Jan 8, 2018, 3:56 am
  #7354  
 
Join Date: Jun 2016
Posts: 53
Originally Posted by Kilian Zoll
Anyone know if Alipay HK peer to peer transactions count as online spend on a SG based credit card (e.g. Citi Rewards Card)? Ping @percysmith
a bit off topic, may I know is there any additional charge for Alipay peer to peer payment
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Old Jan 8, 2018, 7:06 pm
  #7355  
Ambassador, Hong Kong and Macau
 
Join Date: May 2009
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Originally Posted by Kilian Zoll
Anyone know if Alipay HK peer to peer transactions count as online spend on a SG based credit card (e.g. Citi Rewards Card)? Ping @percysmith
I'll stick my head out a bit and say yes.
It counts as online spend for the HK cards we checked.
I cannot imagine Singapore V/M returning different AID values

Originally Posted by Ghost07
a bit off topic, may I know is there any additional charge for Alipay peer to peer payment
Not unless it counts as cash advance.
I see that possibility as remote.
percysmith is online now  
Old Jan 11, 2018, 10:16 am
  #7356  
 
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Posts: 6,900
As an add on data here - I tried to use Apple Pay at GTM to top up NETS FP card. Did not work.
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Old Jan 11, 2018, 8:11 pm
  #7357  
 
Join Date: May 2006
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Programs: KF, MPC, BAEC // Bonvoy, WoH, Honors
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Originally Posted by percysmith
I'll stick my head out a bit and say yes.
It counts as online spend for the HK cards we checked.
I cannot imagine Singapore V/M returning different AID values
I owe an update since I originally asked the question -- it appears AlipayHK only accepts HK issued credit cards anyway.
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Old Jan 11, 2018, 8:57 pm
  #7358  
Ambassador, Hong Kong and Macau
 
Join Date: May 2009
Location: HKG
Programs: Non-top tier Asia Miles member
Posts: 19,803
Originally Posted by Kilian Zoll
I owe an update since I originally asked the question -- it appears AlipayHK only accepts HK issued credit cards anyway.
Ooops
percysmith is online now  
Old Jan 14, 2018, 6:49 am
  #7359  
 
Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: Living in SIN™
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Originally Posted by invisible
Could anyone provide here definite and facts based answer if paypal transactions with DBS Woman card earn 10x points or not?
I made 2 Paypal payments last week. One to an overseas merchant, one a payment to a personal account.

The merchant payment earned 3X points, so I'm confident the remainder 7X will post on 16 Feb.
The payment to a personal account earned 0 points.
Savage25 is offline  
Old Feb 19, 2018, 10:25 pm
  #7360  
 
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Anywhere
Posts: 6,576
I am getting the HSBC Visa Infinite. Anyone has a HSBC Visa Infinite who is able to refer me? We can share the referral bonus equally. Please contact via PM... thanks!
UPDATE: Referral made by a fellow FTer.

Last edited by carrotjuice; Feb 21, 2018 at 6:26 pm
carrotjuice is offline  
Old Feb 20, 2018, 12:22 am
  #7361  
Moderator, El Al and Marriott Bonvoy, FlyerTalk Evangelist
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Join Date: Feb 2005
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Programs: SQ*G, Mar LTT, Hyatt Glb, AA LTG, LY, HH, IC, BA, DL, UA SLV
Posts: 12,018
Originally Posted by carrotjuice
I am getting the HSBC Visa Infinite. Anyone has a HSBC Visa Infinite who is able to refer me? We can share the referral bonus equally. Please contact via PM... thanks!
I got rid of that because it was too hard to pay off. I couldn't go online to UOB and send money to HSBC and I couldn't go into HSBC and pull money from UOB. Hopefully they changed something in the past few years.
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Old Feb 20, 2018, 12:29 am
  #7362  
 
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Anywhere
Posts: 6,576
Originally Posted by yosithezet
I got rid of that because it was too hard to pay off. I couldn't go online to UOB and send money to HSBC and I couldn't go into HSBC and pull money from UOB. Hopefully they changed something in the past few years.
Direct debit (GIRO) is your friend, my friend!
carrotjuice is offline  
Old Feb 27, 2018, 5:12 am
  #7363  
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Posts: 5,174
KrisFlyer UOB Feature

Has anyone looked into the new debit card from UOB?

Seems virtually solely aimed at savers who are willing to put up a sizeable balance in their UOB account as the 5% cap on monthly bonus miles earned (in relation to the average monthly balance) isn't as much about "damage limitation" as it is about not making this card worthwhile for anyone other than high-balance holders.

Still, if someone maintains a high balance then this might be a neat, new way to accumulate KrisFlyer miles.
aster is offline  
Old Feb 27, 2018, 5:44 am
  #7364  
 
Join Date: Jul 2015
Posts: 82
Originally Posted by aster
KrisFlyer UOB Feature

Has anyone looked into the new debit card from UOB?

Seems virtually solely aimed at savers who are willing to put up a sizeable balance in their UOB account as the 5% cap on monthly bonus miles earned (in relation to the average monthly balance) isn't as much about "damage limitation" as it is about not making this card worthwhile for anyone other than high-balance holders.

Still, if someone maintains a high balance then this might be a neat, new way to accumulate KrisFlyer miles.
This is covered by milelion here: http://milelion.com/2017/04/19/the-krisflyer-uob-account-is-dead-on-arrival/
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Old Feb 27, 2018, 7:17 pm
  #7365  
 
Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: SIN
Posts: 84
Was browsing through the wiki and found this for DBS Women World Mastercard,

Cons: DBS points are valid for 1 year based on card anniversary date.
Is this still valid?

Thanks!
Traflying is offline  


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