Fun with DBS points

[jpatokal]

Time to firmly enshrine my reputation as a geek here -- and remember kids, I'm not spending two hours with a calculator because I really care about saving 50 cents, I'm doing this because I'm an engineer

So I have precisely 4484 DBS points expiring next week and I wanted to figure out the optimal way of using them. I can use 4250 for SQ's KrisFlyer miles, but that leaves a terribly awkward 234 points going to waste -- surely I can do something with them?

As it turns out, yes, I can invest 180 pts in a S$5 KFC voucher (whee). But other than that there's nothing more useful, and here's why.

As the baseline, we'll consider a return award trip to Denpasar (Bali) on SQ requires 15000 miles, which at the new 2:1 ratio needs 7500 DBS points. (It's actually even more cost-effective to buy upgrades to Raffles Class, but let's keep things simple.) In comparison, buying this on SQ costs around S$300 if you travel at the right time with the right number of people. We can thus calculate that 1250 DBS points are worth (1250/7500) * 300 = S$50... plus S$5 for the KFC voucher, for a total of S$55.

Now, 4 Cathay tickets (normal price $7.50 each) and a $10 HMV voucher would use up 1480 points, leaving only 4 left over... but providing a value of only $40, leaving me $10 poorer than simply wasting the 230 points! A quick browse through the reward catalogue shows that, in fact, there are as far as I can see no awards that provide over $40 per 1000 points of value -- and hence it always makes sense to invest in frequent flyer miles.

Is there a catch? But of course: merely linking your card to KrisFlyer will set you back S$40 a year. Next time I get bored I'll try to factor this in too, but suffice it to say, if you do pay it makes sense to use it to the fullest, and if you don't get lots of points it makes no sense to join.

Class dismissed

[amanda]

LOL, food for thought, that's good information, thankss.. Anything on singtel red reward points? ..

[jpatokal]

Addendum: turns out that if you have multiple DBS cards, you can combine points to buy something -- so I borrowed the missing few dozen points from another card to get the full complement of 250. Whee!

[Bafana]

jp, nice - Brudder Engineer huh???

(We'll do the secret handshakes later)

BTW I have two years worth of Starhub and M1 reward points I need to kill soon - Anybody got any tips on how best to get rid of them???

[onekell]

Try this site http://sunperks.m1.com.sg/SunPerks_Start.html to see what you can redeem your SunPerks points for.
Personally, I like the dining vouchers.

[PhantomX]

Try I cheques available From an events management outfit called INDIGOZ which has tied up a deal with HSBC Cards and selected dining outlets where 30% discounts of the food bill is available . All you need is a HSBC card, head off to INDIGOZ located at ! Shenton Way(former Robina House and Citibank HQ) U can purchase I chqs in denominations of $10,$20,$50> These cheques are bought at a 30% discount ir if you want $500 worth of cheques you pay $350. Present these cheques as payment for the food bill and you effecitvely get a 30% discount off it. Selected dining outlets that accept these I chqs are Crystal jade Chain inclusive of high end Hu Qiu,Suntory Japanese Restaurant at the Intercontinental, Peach Graden Chinese Restaurant and many more. Its got my vote for good value for money. Only catch, you must be a HSBC cardholder. Or get hold of someone with a HSBC card to buy it for you. Also you'll have to front up at the INDIGOZ itself to get the Chqs