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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 Oct 29, 2012, 12:21 am
  #946  
 
Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: Singapore
Programs: Krisflyer
Posts: 25
Does supplementary card spend on any of the cards mentioned in this thread contribute to principal card member's miles accrual?
stgrim is offline  
Old Oct 29, 2012, 2:09 am
  #947  
 
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: HAK / HFE / NYC / SIN / SZX
Programs: UA 1K 1MM, Honors Diamond, IHG Diamond Amb, Marriott Platinum,SQ, DL, AA, Hyatt
Posts: 688
Originally Posted by stgrim
Does supplementary card spend on any of the cards mentioned in this thread contribute to principal card member's miles accrual?
Yes.
chrisksc is offline  
Old Nov 1, 2012, 3:50 am
  #948  
 
Join Date: Feb 2010
Posts: 819
http://www.uob.com.sg/personal/cards..._platinum.html

*The "10X UNI$ on shopping" for UOB Preferred Platinum American Express Cardmembers will be replaced by "10X UNI$ on dining" with effect from 1 November 2012. Cardmembers can still enjoy 10 UNI$ for every S$5 spent at department store or any retail store worldwide that sells clothes, shoes, or bags as its main business activity on or before 31 October 2012. Thereafter, shopping transactions made on or after 1 November 2012 will earn 2 UNI$ for every S$5 spent. Cardmembers can enjoy 10 UNI$ for every S$5 spent at food and beverage ("F&B") establishments from 1 November 2012.
vsepr is offline  
Old Nov 1, 2012, 8:18 am
  #949  
 
Join Date: Jan 2012
Posts: 26
can i confirm that paying the annual fee for the citibank premiermiles card to get the 10,000 miles is worth it? or should i call the bank to try to waive off the annual fee?
Linkster is offline  
Old Nov 2, 2012, 5:59 am
  #950  
 
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Sunny Singapore
Programs: TG*G, SQ, QF
Posts: 911
For those of us with both a locally issued Amex credit card (ie, Krisflyer) + a DBS credit card (ie, Altitude) by charging to the Amex and then using the Altitude to pay the Amex (online at DBS.com) it seems we can get a double dip in the points bin..
cmdsea is offline  
Old Nov 2, 2012, 8:33 am
  #951  
 
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: HAK / HFE / NYC / SIN / SZX
Programs: UA 1K 1MM, Honors Diamond, IHG Diamond Amb, Marriott Platinum,SQ, DL, AA, Hyatt
Posts: 688
Originally Posted by cmdsea
For those of us with both a locally issued Amex credit card (ie, Krisflyer) + a DBS credit card (ie, Altitude) by charging to the Amex and then using the Altitude to pay the Amex (online at DBS.com) it seems we can get a double dip in the points bin..
Have you performed this task before?

Not too sure if it is a loophole or the transaction might be considered as a cash advance, hence, no points earn and hit with high cash advance fee plus interest accrual from day 1.
chrisksc is offline  
Old Nov 2, 2012, 8:37 am
  #952  
 
Join Date: May 2012
Location: SIN
Programs: JL GC | Marriott LT Silver | Global Entry | SQ Silver
Posts: 6,819
Originally Posted by Linkster
can i confirm that paying the annual fee for the citibank premiermiles card to get the 10,000 miles is worth it? or should i call the bank to try to waive off the annual fee?
That is correct.

10k miles comes with the annual fee. If you do not want it, ask for waiver.
lcpteck is offline  
Old Dec 8, 2012, 7:36 pm
  #953  
formerly Fly-Swiss
 
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: SIN
Programs: SQ
Posts: 878
Is there any card scheme where the supplementary cardholder can transfer miles to his own FFP account ?
Volasia is offline  
Old Dec 8, 2012, 9:36 pm
  #954  
 
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Singapore
Programs: BAEC Gold, Hh Gold, NH*G, SPGP, SQ-CC
Posts: 1,381
Originally Posted by Fly-Swiss
Is there any card scheme where the supplementary cardholder can transfer miles to his own FFP account ?
None that I know of.
tycosiao is offline  
Old Dec 9, 2012, 8:21 pm
  #955  
Marriott 10+ BadgeHilton Contributor Badge
 
Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: Switzerland
Programs: Bonvoy LT Gold, IHG Gold, BAEC Silver, TP Silver
Posts: 1,495
Originally Posted by cmdsea
For those of us with both a locally issued Amex credit card (ie, Krisflyer) + a DBS credit card (ie, Altitude) by charging to the Amex and then using the Altitude to pay the Amex (online at DBS.com) it seems we can get a double dip in the points bin..
Well unfortunately, I tried... paid my DBS Visa Altitude balance with my UOB PRVI card... and guess what, it's considered as a cash advance so I had to pay a S$120 service fee...
enelym1978 is offline  
Old Dec 10, 2012, 12:20 am
  #956  
 
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: HAK / HFE / NYC / SIN / SZX
Programs: UA 1K 1MM, Honors Diamond, IHG Diamond Amb, Marriott Platinum,SQ, DL, AA, Hyatt
Posts: 688
Originally Posted by enelym1978
Well unfortunately, I tried... paid my DBS Visa Altitude balance with my UOB PRVI card... and guess what, it's considered as a cash advance so I had to pay a S$120 service fee...
Didn't you see my comments (post #952) immediately after that??
chrisksc is offline  
Old Dec 10, 2012, 8:30 am
  #957  
 
Join Date: Jan 2012
Posts: 26
i just paid the annual fee for my DBS Altitude Amex Card.. hope that was the right move..
Linkster is offline  
Old Dec 10, 2012, 7:03 pm
  #958  
Marriott 10+ BadgeHilton Contributor Badge
 
Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: Switzerland
Programs: Bonvoy LT Gold, IHG Gold, BAEC Silver, TP Silver
Posts: 1,495
Originally Posted by chrisksc
Didn't you see my comments (post #952) immediately after that??
Nah it was too late haha. Oh wells....
Learn by mistake I guess
enelym1978 is offline  
Old Dec 14, 2012, 5:04 am
  #959  
 
Join Date: Feb 2010
Posts: 819
Just saw the rewards catalogue for Maybank Singapore treats points 2013 with my statement. The good news is the 10x rewards infinite merchants are the same but the number of points required for treats vouchers has increased and you can qualify for rewards infinite membership only if you spent $24000 in the preceding year. No more paying $10.70 to join. Terrible.
vsepr is offline  
Old Dec 15, 2012, 5:25 pm
  #960  
 
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: HAK / HFE / NYC / SIN / SZX
Programs: UA 1K 1MM, Honors Diamond, IHG Diamond Amb, Marriott Platinum,SQ, DL, AA, Hyatt
Posts: 688
Originally Posted by vsepr
Just saw the rewards catalogue for Maybank Singapore treats points 2013 with my statement. The good news is the 10x rewards infinite merchants are the same but the number of points required for treats vouchers has increased and you can qualify for rewards infinite membership only if you spent $24000 in the preceding year. No more paying $10.70 to join. Terrible.
I have never pay anything for RI but I always thought once you have their Horizon Visa Platinum card, RI is free?
chrisksc is offline  


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