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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 Feb 17, 2013, 8:25 pm
  #1096  
 
Join Date: May 2012
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Originally Posted by percysmith
In Hong Kong that will cause damage to your TransUnion credit score. Dunno if credit score exists in Singapore.
I don't think credit scores exist here. They probably just look at your salary scale, loans, and credit payment habits I think.
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Old Feb 17, 2013, 10:16 pm
  #1097  
 
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Originally Posted by lcpteck
I don't think credit scores exist here. They probably just look at your salary scale, loans, and credit payment habits I think.
There is a central credit bureau that banks will refer to when you first apply for a new credit card or loan but as far as Im aware they only track bankruptcy data and payment arrears. Never heard of a limit increase counting against you.

http://www.creditbureau.com.sg/
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Old Feb 18, 2013, 5:30 am
  #1098  
 
Join Date: May 2012
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Originally Posted by cmdsea
There is a central credit bureau that banks will refer to when you first apply for a new credit card or loan but as far as Im aware they only track bankruptcy data and payment arrears. Never heard of a limit increase counting against you.

http://www.creditbureau.com.sg/
That's right, no scores apparently.
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Old Feb 18, 2013, 6:58 am
  #1099  
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Well if the increased limit will show up in ibanking when you make the additional prepayment then I don't see why they would hold that against you?
aster is online now  
Old Feb 18, 2013, 10:42 am
  #1100  
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I take it no more bonus for DBS Altitide cardmembers at the moment for overseas spend?
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Old Feb 18, 2013, 10:56 am
  #1101  
 
Join Date: Apr 2007
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Originally Posted by aster
I take it no more bonus for DBS Altitide cardmembers at the moment for overseas spend?
Not at the moment. Except for dining where I'd use UOB Preferred Amex and shopping where I'd dish out the Citibank MasterCard, I tend to use my UOB PRVI Amex for overseas spends or (if Amex isn't accepted, then) Citibank Premier Miles.
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Old Feb 19, 2013, 5:06 am
  #1102  
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Originally Posted by carrotjuice
Not at the moment. Except for dining where I'd use UOB Preferred Amex and shopping where I'd dish out the Citibank MasterCard, I tend to use my UOB PRVI Amex for overseas spends or (if Amex isn't accepted, then) Citibank Premier Miles.
4/$1 for dining seems very nice indeed for the UOB Preferred Amex. My only worry is that hotel restaurants might not come under the F&B establishments code for card transactions. They also mention something about Crystal Jade, though I hope they mean just the bakery itself. How much do you need to spend to get an annual fee waiver?

On a side note I just noticed that the Citi PremierMiles card now includes the Paywave function. I take it they're not replacing all cards just because of this so if someone wants this functionality then they need to *lose* their card or have it end up in the washing machine?
aster is online now  
Old Feb 19, 2013, 6:39 am
  #1103  
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Join Date: May 2009
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Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_1_1 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9B206 Safari/7534.48.3)

Citibank Premiermiles - I lost my card in the office in order to get the Visa Signature version early. I asked them to replace (upgrade) once they confirmed it will be done fee-free (otherwise I'll miraculously find it)

I have to say I've not seen any promo for paywave in HK that are better than those for Octopus (EZ-Link). Never use Paywave here, except at merchants with certain cards who I could have also processed chip and sign transaction with.
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Old Feb 21, 2013, 6:31 pm
  #1104  
 
Join Date: May 2012
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Originally Posted by percysmith
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_1_1 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9B206 Safari/7534.48.3)

Citibank Premiermiles - I lost my card in the office in order to get the Visa Signature version early. I asked them to replace (upgrade) once they confirmed it will be done fee-free (otherwise I'll miraculously find it)
I did this. My card actually broke; I've never had this problem anywhere else, but the cards I have received in Singapore have a tendency to separate. The front layer will peel away from the back. Anyway, the new one I received was the payWave version, and no fees.
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Old Feb 21, 2013, 7:47 pm
  #1105  
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Posts: 5,174
Wish DBS would have the Paywave function on its Altitude Amex. Probably just a question of time I guess - and then just like you guys I will have a hard time finding my card or the layers will come undone.

On a side note is the UOB Privi Miles card the best thing out there for overseas spend only? Is there something that matches it but has a MC/Visa logo?
aster is online now  
Old Feb 22, 2013, 8:03 pm
  #1106  
 
Join Date: Oct 2011
Posts: 143
Originally Posted by aster
On a side note is the UOB Privi Miles card the best thing out there for overseas spend only? Is there something that matches it but has a MC/Visa logo?
OCBC just relaunched their Titanium Mastercard. It offers 2.5 miles/$ as well for overseas spend. However, you need to charge $1.5k on the card to qualify. Otherwise, you only get 1.2 miles/$.

In the short term, there is ANZ Travel Visa, which is offering 2.8 miles/$ for overseas spend (1.4 for local) until end of March.
Archieflyer is offline  
Old Feb 22, 2013, 9:10 pm
  #1107  
 
Join Date: Jun 2009
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Originally Posted by Archieflyer
OCBC just relaunched their Titanium Mastercard. It offers 2.5 miles/$ as well for overseas spend. However, you need to charge $1.5k on the card to qualify. Otherwise, you only get 1.2 miles/$.

In the short term, there is ANZ Travel Visa, which is offering 2.8 miles/$ for overseas spend (1.4 for local) until end of March.
Anz still offering double for overseas until ,March?
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Old Feb 22, 2013, 11:19 pm
  #1108  
 
Join Date: Oct 2011
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Originally Posted by lingua101
Anz still offering double for overseas until ,March?
Yes, 31st march 2013
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Old Feb 23, 2013, 11:02 pm
  #1109  
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Posts: 5,174
Whereas DBS posts the min. spend threshold for automatic waiver of annual card fees, how do things look with UOB? Their JCB card looks interesting with 5% off at Meidi-Ya (+ Uniqlo) and 3% at department stores, but for niche cards not whipped out of the wallet as often I wouldn't want to be burdened with annual fees.

Same with the UOB Preferred Platinum duo (Amex/MC), does anyone know the spend required for fee waiver there as well?
aster is online now  
Old Feb 24, 2013, 5:39 am
  #1110  
 
Join Date: Oct 2011
Posts: 143
Originally Posted by aster
Whereas DBS posts the min. spend threshold for automatic waiver of annual card fees, how do things look with UOB? Their JCB card looks interesting with 5% off at Meidi-Ya (+ Uniqlo) and 3% at department stores, but for niche cards not whipped out of the wallet as often I wouldn't want to be burdened with annual fees.

Same with the UOB Preferred Platinum duo (Amex/MC), does anyone know the spend required for fee waiver there as well?
No idea for the JCB card but I have never had a problem calling in and getting a waiver for any of my UOB cards, including the Preferred Platinum cards.
Archieflyer is offline  


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