Just found out from UOB CS Agent that (after a long wait and being transferred around to 4 agents)

1; The UOB Preferred Platinum Visa 4 miles per Mobile contactless $ spend uses calendar month and not statement month to apply the Bonus Uni$2,000 (=actual spend of S$1,111) cap
2: And since they do not give you any breakdown of Uni$ earned by transaction or easy way to track it
3: plus the $5 issue,
4: plus no bonus Uni$ on Cold Storage, Giant, & SPC

this card is just good for a fewer large ticket transactions, where you can get close to the $1111 spend in $5 multiples

For those who need to buy Krisflyer miles in a hurry the UOB Payment facility is a cheaper way of buying them (than buying from SQ directly) for between 1.7 cent to 2.1 cents per mile depending on which UOB card you have

The UOB Payment Facility allows you to pay everyday expenses such as monthly bills, rent, taxes and even a one-off large purchase with your UOB Credit Card, with a low one-time administrative fee.

The approved amount will be transferred to your designated bank account and the payment will be reflected on your UOB Credit Card statement. Every dollar approved will earn you UNI$2.5 for every S$5 approved (equivalent to one air mile for every dollar) or 5 KrisFlyer miles for every S$5 approved (applicable to KrisFlyer UOB Credit Card only)
Payment Facility | UOB Singapore
You just get the cash for a one time fee, use the money until statement payment date ( 4 to 6 weeks) - may be even put it on 1 month FD with ICBC to reduce the cost of buying the miles a bit!

Regarding #1, it is stated in their T&Cs. Regarding #2, breakdown by transaction is viewable via UOB's mobile app.

The UOB PPV, is in fact one of my go-to cards for everyday use as almost every shop these days has the possibility to pay with mobile contactless. You just need to be mindful of stores like Cold Storage, Baker & Cook, etc. which indeed, do not award UNI$ but rather cashback. You can earn 9xUNI$ though with the UOB Visa Signature card, though the card has different mechanics - Confirmed: UOB$ merchants qualify for bonus miles with UOB cards and Review: UOB Visa Signature Card

HSBC Visa Revolution is a good alternative to the UOB PPV. Awards 4 MPD at all supermarkets as well, and no multiples of $5 issue.

Miles for Hospital spend. Confirmed UOB Reserve works
 

A lot of confusion about miles on hospital payments and a lot of mis information on the web and in some blogs, but finally got confirmation that UOB Reserve is the only card in the UOB stable that earns (1.6 miles per $ spend to boot) on hospital spend - both public and private (MCC 8602) and several other medical categories too

The DBS Yuu card is also a good alternative now for grocery purchases at Cold Storage, Giant & Guardian. Upto 18% cashback and a good sign on bonus too until Sept 2023
Make a min. spend of S$500 within 30 days from card approval date and get up to S$250 cashback in your account within 2–3 months of meeting the min. spend
Enjoy upsized 18% cash rebates (36x yuu Points) at over 1,000 places • Earn additional rewards at Cold Storage, Giant, 7-Eleven Guardian, Bread Talk, Toast Box, Food Republic, Food Junction, Mandai Wildlife Reserve and many more!

DBS yuu Cards | DBS Singapore

I assume you were trying to figure out if any UOB cards work for hospitals specifically? Because if you were just looking for a card that works at both public and private hospitals, it is (knock on wood) any of the main Citibank CCs like Premier Miles, Prestige. Safest bet so far.

Combine Citi Rewards MC with Amaze and you'll even get 4mpd (for the first $1k /statement month)

Fair though personally I don't have an Amaze card and I can't recall the last time any hospital bill I got in SG that ever was below 1k SGD ;) (10k SGD and you are getting warmer, especially for private ones). Once you start splitting your bill over multiple cards and all the Business Office gets confused mightily, haha.

Maybe for specialist visit or so, but in those cases I'm not sure how the transactions code MCC wise, also as hospital or rather some medical services or so?

Not sure if anyone has tried SQ's Kris+ program but I recently gave it a go and was quite positively surprised by the experience.

In short you can pick up some bonus miles by paying using the Kris+ app on your phone (which for iPhone users works in conjunction with the Apple Pay card stored on your device). Scan the merchant's QR code, type in the amount to be paid, send... and instantly receive your Kris+ points. This is in addition to whatever points/miles your CC generates for this transaction, so I guess you could call it double-dipping. :)

A list of supported merchants can be found here and the points earnings rate per S$1 ranges from 1 to a whopping 9 points:
https://www.singaporeair.com/saar5/p...tners_2310.pdf

After each transaction the points are credited instantly in the app and you can also send them to your KrisFlyer account straight away (for free, 1:1 ratio).

Hopefully the list of merchants will expand over time but the idea works well and the implementation is flawless, no issues whatsoever.

Singapore Airlines does have a still valuable currency, Krisflyer miles to fight in the crowded space. But I don't see major push from Singapore Airlines after COVID.

For me at the moment, it is just nice to have, but non-essential.

Yeah, this is a good payment option at merchants who support it. SQ made a big push for this payment method last year offering upto 16mpd at many merchants, on top of the usual credit card points. Make sure to transfer out your Kris+ miles to your Krisflyer account within 7 days of earning them! If not, you won't be able to transfer them and will need to use them within the Kris+ ecosystem.

Good point! The transfer needs to be done within 7 days but I usually do shortly after the transaction takes place. It would be useful for the app to have a setting to automatically send miles to KrisFlyer as opposed to having to click on the link each time...

I was wondering if anyone has any experience with the free Hilton night benefit of the Singapore issued KF Ascend Amex?

I know how to book the free night and all and that a reservation made using the voucher code can also be cancelled if permitted based on the booked properties reservations rules.

What is not clear to me is that if one made a booking using the voucher code and then has to cancel that reservation again due to changes in travel plans, how does one make a new, different reservation then in the future (within voucher validity) if the code has been used already and supposedly works only once?

Does the cancellation "reset" the voucher code use (kind of from redeemed to unredeemed) or does one have to call Amex and ask for another voucher (maybe providing proof of cancellation of the earlier reservation) or worse is one out of luck and won't be able to enjoy the free night even if the voucher is still well within its validity period?

The SG Amex T&Cs for the Hilton night are extremely vague on this point and even the various local credit card reviewing travel blogs are pretty much silent on this topic. If it would mean out of luck, that would be a huge downside to the benefit as it would mean one shot to get a free night and if plans change then tough sh*t for the customer.

​​​​​​Appreciate any pointers. Thanks.

Well after some discussions with the Amex Customer Service Team, I can share that definitely one needs to be super careful when "pulling the trigger" to use the Singapore KF Ascend Amex one free night Hilton certificate.

You book a night at one of the permitted properties and you better be damn sure you can make that stay. While the booked room follows the properties cancellation rules and can certainly be cancelled, e.g. two days prior to arrival, your Amex voucher code has been "used / redeemed" and that is it.

No, it does not reset from "redeemed" to "unredeemed" when the certificate reservation is cancelled like it may happen with some hotel loyalty program free night certs, it's gone, used, puff ... The fact that your voucher may still have months validity, again, doesn't matter.

The fact that one never gets to consume the promised free night doesn't matter either, tough luck basically. Is that erm "quirk" spelled out clearly in the voucher T&Cs or anywhere else?

Well to me at least it is not and I deal with contract language on a daily basis. Even the Amex CSRs were baffled when digging into it, but alas the vague T&Cs are probably cooked up by the ominous back room "product managers" and they seem not keen to spell it out clearly as it may turn off some customer from signing up for the card.

So basically, one should treat such a Amex Ascend Hilton certificate booking like a non-refundable booking as that will set the right expectations.

I use the card for SG private hospitals only anyways (after Citibank following DBS, OCBC also stupidly - in my view - wholesale excluded all SG hospital spend from earning any miles instead of just public ones), but that can be achieved with a cheaper fee or even free Blue KF Amex as well (waivable annual fee or hold any of the 3 SG Platinum Amex and it's free too) albeit at a 0.1mls/$ lower earn rate. YMMV.