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The Best Air Miles Credit Cards in Singapore for Frequent Flyers

Mark Cheng


Ask any Singaporean what their dreams are, and travelling the world is bound to come up at least 80% of the time in one form or another. We’re not sure why exactly, but this reason has driven the proliferation of air miles credit cards in Singapore, and it’s certainly a great way to get rewarded for spending with your credit card. If you haven’t got any, and you’re a frequent flyer, you’ll want to check out these top credit cards:

 

 

1. Best for Local Spend – UOB PRVI Miles Card

UOB PRVI Miles Card

Card Benefits

  • Get up to 12,000 Welcome Miles

  • UOB PRVI Miles American Express: 10% off at Shinsegae Duty Free + S$10 off at Uber and UberEats

  • UOB PRVI Miles Mastercard: Exclusive offers at Resorts World Sentosa + Discounts at Cathay Cineplexes

  • UOB PRVI Miles Visa: Upgrades at Visa Luxury Hotels + 28% off GV Gold Class

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  • S$1 = 1.4 miles (Local spend); S$1 = 2.4 miles (Overseas spend)

  • S$1 = 6 miles for spends on major airlines and hotels booked through Expedia, UOB Travel, and Agoda

  • Participating airlines on Expedia include SIlkAir, Qatar Airways, Cathay Pacific, and Korean Air among others

  • Participating airlines on UOB Travel include Air France, Jet Airways, and KLM Royal Dutch Airlines among others

  • PRVI Miles American Express: 20,000 miles yearly with S$50,000 annual spend; Up to 8 complimentary one-way Changi airport transfer (2 per quarter, capped at S$45 each), with min. spend of S$1,000 overseas spend per quarter

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Long held as one of the best air miles cards in the market, the UOB PRVI Miles Card boasts a strong miles accrual rate for both local and overseas spend. Coupled with UOB’s other strong lifestyle benefits, you can see why this is still a popular card. Some key features of the card are:

  • 6 miles per dollar for selected airline & hotel bookings at UOB Travel, Expedia & Agoda

  • 2.4 miles per dollar for your overseas spend

  • 1.4 miles per dollar for your local spend

  • 20,000 bonus miles per year with a min. annual spend of $50,000 (only for the American Express version of the card)

  • Free travel accident insurance of up to $1,000,000 when you book your flights with the card

  • Sign up bonus: 12,000 miles with a minimum spend of $4,000 within the first 60 days from the card approval date.

The UOB PRVI miles card is offered either as a Visa, MasterCard or Amex credit card. The MasterCard and Amex version both have lower annual income requirements at $50,000 per annum, while the Visa card requires an $80,000 per annum income. If you had to choose a card to lump all your expenses into in order to gain air miles, this would be a great card to do just that. And it’s great for accruing miles on overseas spend too.

 

2. Best Sign-Up Bonus – Citi PremierMiles Visa Card

Citi PremierMiles Visa Card

Card Benefits

  • Earn up to 42,000 Citi Miles when you apply and spend, T&Cs apply

  • S$1 = 1.2 Citi Miles (Local spend)

  • S$1 = 2 Citi Miles (Overseas spend)

  • Earn up to 10 Citi Miles for every S$1 spent on online travel bookings

  • Citi Miles never expire

  • Priority Pass™ membership gives you access to more than 600 airport lounges

  • Complimentary Travel Accident Insurance up to S$1,000,000 coverage, Medical Assistance Programme and Travel Inconvenience Coverage

  • Receive 10,000 Citi Miles upon membership renewal and payment of annual fee

  • 1 Citi Mile = 1 Mile with over 60 popular airlines like KrisFlyer, Asia Miles, Enrich, Qantas, Qatar

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At 1.2 miles per $1 spent locally, this card may not have the best dollar to mile earn rates in Singapore. But the Citi PremierMiles Visa Card has an unbeatable sign-up bonus that can help you earn up to 42,000 miles.

However, you must be new to Citibank to qualify. That means you can’t have had an active Citibank credit card for at least 12 months before applying. You must also have paid the first year annual fee of $192.60.

Here’s how to earn the 42,000 air miles:

  • When you apply and spend on the card within the first 3 months, you immediately earn 15,000 bonus miles.

  • If you spend a total of $10,000 within the first 3 months, you earn another 15,000 bonus miles.

  • And don’t forget the 1.2 miles per $1 spent locally! Because you’ve spent $10,000, that means you’ve also earned 12,000 air miles.

But don’t just get this card for the sign-up bonus! You’re also eligible for complimentary travel accident coverage of up to $1,000,000, as well as a complimentary Priority Pass membership to get you into hundreds of airport lounges.

 

3. Best Card for Online Travel Booking – DBS Altitude Visa Signature Card

DBS Altitude Visa Signature Card

Card Benefits

  • Get a return trip to Krabi with your new DBS Card

  • Enjoy double miles for all online flight & hotel transactions, local and overseas spend when you spend S$2,500 - S$5,000 per calendar month from now to 31 Jul 2017

  • (Local spend) S$1 = 1.2 miles

  • (Overseas spend) S$1 = 2 miles

  • (Online flight & Hotel transactions) S$1 = 3 miles

  • Up to 9 miles/S$1 spend at Expedia; Up to 13 miles/S$1 spend at Kaligo

  • Enjoy 2 Complimentary Global Airport Lounge Access visits and get up to S$1 million travel accident insurance coverage for you and your family members

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The DBS Altitude Visa Signature Card might have been forgotten for awhile, but it has definitely come back with a huge push to take its place amongst the competition.

While most other travel cards boast some kind of tie-up with a travel booking site, the DBS Altitude Visa Signature card is the only one that generously rewards you regardless of which website you book from. You can earn 3 air miles per $1 spent online, which means that you can earn with your Airbnb, Kayak or Skyscanner booking and are not limited to the deals on Agoda and Expedia.

The card boasts DBS Points that never expire, with an additional 10,000 bonus miles when you renew your card and pay your annual fee. And with its current double miles promotion, this card provides one of the fastest ways to accrue miles. Especially if you’ve no problem hitting a $2,500 spending mark already.

This is especially so if you travel a lot for work and you’re required to book your flights and accommodation first before being reimbursed by your company. You could easily rack up enough miles for a short trip at the end of the year with their accelerated miles accrual for online bookings.

 

Honourable Mention – American Express KrisFlyer Ascend

American Express Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer Ascend Credit Card

Card Benefits

  • MoneySmart National Day Promotion! – Bonus S$100 worth of CapitaVouchers

  • Win 2 Business Class Tickets to Cape Town

  • Enjoy 1,500 KrisFlyer miles

  • Get up to 20,000 Bonus KrisFlyer Miles AND a Samsonite Sigma Spinner

  • 1.2 KrisFlyer Miles = S$1

  • 2 KrisFlyer Miles = S$1 in foreign currency spent overseas on eligible purchases in June & Dec

  • Spend above S$15,000 on eligible purchases on singaporeair.com within first 12 months of Card approval and get upgraded to KrisFlyer Elite Gold Membership

  • Four complimentary lounge access to participating SATS Premier and Plaza Premium Lounge each year

  • Complimentary night's stay each year at one of over 90 participating Millennium Hotels and Resorts properties worldwide

  • Up to $1 million travel insurance coverage

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The only reason the American Express KrisFlyer Ascend Credit Card doesn’t make the above list is because it might fall a little short across each category. However, it’s definitely one of the best all-rounded cards, with a decent earn rate of 1.2 air miles per $1 spent.

The main advantage of the American Express KrisFlyer Ascend card is the ability to earn KrisFlyer miles without additional conversion fees, unlike the other credit cards in this list. This convenience cannot be understated, since converting rewards points to air miles usually takes at least a week or more, and involves a conversion cost which people tend to ignore.

Also, even though it might not top the first 3 categories, American Express has definitely gone guns blazing with the variety of bonus miles being offered. Here’s just a quick list of what’s being offered:

  • 5,000 Welcome bonus miles

  • 15,000 bonus miles with $6,000 spend within first 3 months

  • 1,500 miles for every supplementary card applied for

  • 2,000 miles if you refer a friend, under their Member Get Member (MGM) program

On top of that, if you spend an additional $4,000 within the first 3 months, you can get a Samsonite Luggage case as well. And to top that all off, every $50 you spend in a month earns you a chance to win a Business Class ticket as part of their monthly giveaway. So, utilised the right way, you could actually accrue a significant amount of miles without having to spend as much as some of the other cards.

 

 

The post The Best Air Miles Credit Cards in Singapore for Frequent Flyers appeared first on the MoneySmart blog.