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The 'Best credit cards for KF miles accrual' master thread

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

Old Sep 9, 2017, 8:38 pm
  #7246  
 
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Virginia City Highlands
Programs: Nothing anymore after 20 years
Posts: 6,892
Originally Posted by spk307
Finance charges are charged if you withdraw cash etc. Are you sure they were related to Cardup?
I was told that transactions made with cardup are coded as cash advance.

If anyone made transaction with cardup in aug/sep on Citi PM please check statement. If I am not alone, you should be seeing it too, and if I am alone, then they are pulling my leg.

Repeat - this is specifically for Citi PM. Other cards from citi might now apply.
invisible is offline  
Old Sep 9, 2017, 8:40 pm
  #7247  
 
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Virginia City Highlands
Programs: Nothing anymore after 20 years
Posts: 6,892
Originally Posted by MilesBuzz
Is there still a card that you can use to pay for SP bllls as well as insurance and earn points?

I used DBS Altitude Visa card to pay for SP bills in the past few years (auto-charged in fact). However, it stopped rewarding points on bill payments wef July 2017.

I also used the same card to pay for my HKG insurance bills regularly and earned quite a decent 2x miles/S$1 everytime. But again, I think this is no longer the case wef July 2017.
Citi PM, but only for local insurance bills.

Last edited by invisible; Sep 10, 2017 at 7:28 am
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Old Sep 9, 2017, 8:48 pm
  #7248  
 
Join Date: Dec 2013
Posts: 239
Originally Posted by invisible
I was told that transactions made with cardup are coded as cash advance.

If anyone made transaction with cardup in aug/sep on Citi PM please check statement. If I am not alone, you should be seeing it too, and if I am alone, then they are pulling my leg.

Repeat - this is specifically for Citi PM. Other cards from citi might now apply.
Made 4 transactions in July and August using Cardup, no finance charge, and miles credited.
behyx is offline  
Old Sep 10, 2017, 2:20 am
  #7249  
 
Join Date: Jan 2016
Location: Singapore
Programs: KF, Marriott Gold, Hilton Gold
Posts: 182
Originally Posted by behyx
Made 4 transactions in July and August using Cardup, no finance charge, and miles credited.
same here. No finance charges.
spk307 is offline  
Old Sep 10, 2017, 7:28 am
  #7250  
 
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Virginia City Highlands
Programs: Nothing anymore after 20 years
Posts: 6,892
Originally Posted by spk307
same here. No finance charges.
Could you guys post here how the charge appeared in your statement?
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Old Sep 10, 2017, 10:14 am
  #7251  
Moderator, El Al and Marriott Bonvoy, FlyerTalk Evangelist
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Join Date: Feb 2005
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Originally Posted by invisible
Citi PM, but only for local insurance bills.
Insurance as in health/travel or retirement/investment?
yosithezet is offline  
Old Sep 10, 2017, 10:17 pm
  #7252  
 
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Virginia City Highlands
Programs: Nothing anymore after 20 years
Posts: 6,892
Originally Posted by yosithezet
Insurance as in health/travel or retirement/investment?
Former. Called Citi One Bill
https://www.citibank.com.sg/gcb/cred...GCCUAIENPMCB06

But it has only two companies in the list of insurance.

For other companies, well, if they accept credit cards for payment (NTUC does not after year), you might have a chance to pay with credit card if they take it, Citi PM will earn points.
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Old Sep 10, 2017, 11:12 pm
  #7253  
 
Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: Singapore
Posts: 43
Anyone with HSBC and saw your points transferred? Mine dropped to 0 and 37 on my Revolution card
chewiegranolabar is offline  
Old Sep 10, 2017, 11:22 pm
  #7254  
 
Join Date: May 2006
Location: SIN
Programs: KF, MPC, BAEC // Bonvoy, WoH, Honors
Posts: 1,461
Anyone know if the current 30% bonus on Avios transfers from Citi that is going on in some other markets is valid in Singapore as well? It has been the case in the past -- just haven't been advertised by Citi SG.
Kilian Zoll is offline  
Old Sep 11, 2017, 6:12 am
  #7255  
 
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Anywhere
Posts: 6,533
Originally Posted by staff
Anyone know if the current 30% bonus on Avios transfers from Citi that is going on in some other markets is valid in Singapore as well? It has been the case in the past -- just haven't been advertised by Citi SG.
Last year was 50% and it wasn't advertised as well - where did you find out about this year's promo?
carrotjuice is offline  
Old Sep 11, 2017, 6:26 am
  #7256  
 
Join Date: May 2006
Location: SIN
Programs: KF, MPC, BAEC // Bonvoy, WoH, Honors
Posts: 1,461
Originally Posted by carrotjuice
Last year was 50% and it wasn't advertised as well - where did you find out about this year's promo?
It is active in HK: https://www.citibank.com.hk/english/...onusavios.html

Ends Sept 15. But since Citi changed the minimum transfer amount to 25k Thank You Points I'd rather transfer without knowing I'll get the bonus...
Kilian Zoll is offline  
Old Sep 12, 2017, 1:12 am
  #7257  
 
Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: Asia
Programs: KF Gold | IHG Amb | SPG LTG | HH Gold
Posts: 548
There seems to be limited discussion about OCBC Voyage. Any thoughts from existing users?

While it helps to PPS qualification but I heard the redemption value is very bad (1.5c or less per mile)
LuisHK is offline  
Old Sep 12, 2017, 2:47 am
  #7258  
 
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Anywhere
Posts: 6,533
Originally Posted by Kilian Zoll
It is active in HK: https://www.citibank.com.hk/english/...onusavios.html

Ends Sept 15. But since Citi changed the minimum transfer amount to 25k Thank You Points I'd rather transfer without knowing I'll get the bonus...
To my knowledge Citi has standardised their points platform to one common platform. FWIW I did get the 50% bonus last year for all my Citibank UK, HK and Singapore cards even though it wasn't advertised in any of these countries.
carrotjuice is offline  
Old Sep 12, 2017, 3:34 am
  #7259  
 
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: Singapore
Programs: SQ KF Gold, HHonors Gold, SPG Plat
Posts: 300
Originally Posted by LuisHK
There seems to be limited discussion about OCBC Voyage. Any thoughts from existing users?

While it helps to PPS qualification but I heard the redemption value is very bad (1.5c or less per mile)
That's what I heard as well.. Currently sitting on ~90K voyage miles so can't quite redeem anything worth it yet anyhow.
elleana is offline  
Old Sep 12, 2017, 7:26 am
  #7260  
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Originally Posted by elleana
That's what I heard as well.. Currently sitting on ~90K voyage miles so can't quite redeem anything worth it yet anyhow.
I tried to do a redemption for my June Bali trip a couple of months ago and the quotes i had were horrendously bad. Since I did not want to renew, I cashed it in and converted my 78k VM to KF miles.

No more OCBC Credit Cards. Good riddance.
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