Best Credit Card for Air Miles In Singapore

Banks are trying all out to woo the savvy travellers who normally charge a lot to their credit card. To entice them, banks have created a credit cards segment that earns accelerated air miles when you charge to these cards. This post attempts to look at some of these cards and stack them against each other to see which offer the best benefits for converting your spending to air miles.

UOB Priv Miles Amex

This is an American Express card launch by UOB with the following benefits

• 1.6 miles for every $1 spend locally(4 UNI points per $5)
• 2.5 miles for every $1 spend overseas (6.25 UNI points per $5)
• 20,000 bonus miles if you charge more than $50,000 in a card member year
• Free airport transfer if you charge travel related spending of more than $500 to the card. This must be charged within 3 months of your travel date.
• Miles are credited at UNI points, so you can use the UNI points to exchange for other rewards in place of air miles. 
• UNI points will expire 2 years after issue.
• Conversion to air miles at a feed of $25 for each transfer.
• Conversion must be done in blocks of 5,000 UNI points ( = 10,000 air miles)

DBS Altitude Visa Signature or Amex

DBS offer this series of credit card in 2 favours, a Visa Signature or an American Express. Both have similar benefits when accumulating air miles.

• First $2000 spending for the month, 1.2 air miles for every $1 spend. (3 DBS points per $5)
• Beyond $2000 spending for the month, 1.6 air miles for every $1 spend (4 DBS points per $5)
• Miles are credited as DBS points, so you can use the DBS points to exchange for other rewards in place of Air Miles.
• DBS points issued have no expiry
• Conversion to Air miles for annual fee of $42.80. This allows for multiple conversion within that year without paying additional fees
• Conversion must be done in blocks of 5,000 DBS points ( = 10,000 air miles)

OCBC Titanium MasterCard

This card has been in OCBC range of offering for a long time. However, it recently revamp its benefits to include accelerated air miles. Below are some of the card's benefits

• 0.4 air miles for every $1 spend locally ( 1 OCBC$ per $1)
• 1.2 air miles for every $1 spend overseas (3 OCBC$ per $1)
• 0.8 bonus air miles for every $1 local spending if monthly spending exceeds $1,500
• 2.1 bonus air miles for every $1 local spending at top clubs if monthly spending exceeds $1,500
• 1.3 bonus air miles for every $1 overseas spending if monthly spending exceeds $1,500
• Miles are credited as OCBC$, so you can use the OCBC$ to exchange for other rewards in place of air miles.
• Bonus air miles are NOT credited as OCBC$ and they can only be exchange for air miles.
• OCBC$ and bonus air miles will expire in 5 years
• Conversion to Air miles for 2,300 OCBC$ per transaction.
• Conversion must be done in blocks of 2,500 OCBC$ (= 1,000 miles)

American Express Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer Ascend

This is a rebranded card of the old KrisFlyer American Express credit card. The refresh is a timing welcome as it aims to compete with the top travel cards in this segment. It has the following benefits

• 0.83 krisflyer miles for every $1 spent
• Double the miles earned for purchases from singaporeair.com, Tradewind Tours and Travel or KrisShop.
• Spend minimum of $1,000 in a month and earn 300 extra miles for every $500 spending
• No conversion fees, as the miles are credited directly to KrisFlyer account
• Miles expiry will follow that of KrisFlyer T&C.

ANZ Travel Visa Signature

ANZ launched this card at the end of 2012 and below are some of its benefits

• 1.4 Travel$ for every $1 spend
• 2.8 Travel$ for every $1 spend at selected travel partners or for retail spending charged in AUD or NZD
• Conversion of $25 for each transfer of Travel$ to air miles (1 Travel$ = 1 air miles)
• Able to exchange 10,500 Travel$ for $50 rebate
• Can convert 7 Travel$ to 1 ANZ reward point, but you must exchange a minimum of 28,000 Travel$ and there will be a conversion fee of $25
• Travel$ will expire in 5 years

Citibank PremierMiles Visa Signature

This is one of the longest travel segment credit card. It has the following benefits

• 1.2 Citi Miles for every $1 spend locally
• 2 Citi Miles for every $1 spend overseas
• Conversion fee of $25 for each transfer to air miles.
• Citi Miles can be used for travel related rebates ( 2000 Citi Miles = $20 travel related rebates) but it cannot be use to exchange for other rewards 
• Citi Miles never expires

HSBC Visa Infinite

This card aims to serve the affluent travel segment. It has the following benefits

• In the first year
• 1 air miles for every $1 spend locally
• 2 air miles for every $1 spend overseas
• In the second year onwards, if you spend more than $50,000 in the previous year
• 1.25 air miles for every $1 spend locally
• 2.25 air miles for every $1 spend overseas
• In the second year onwards, if you spend more than $75,000 in the previous year
• 1.5 air miles for every $1 spend locally
• 2.5 air miles for every $1 spend overseas
• Annual fee of $40 to convert from HSBC Rewards points to air miles