Singapore Expats

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

Discuss the different banking options, rates, offers and perks.
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Mad Scientist
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Post by Mad Scientist » Wed, 21 Apr 2010 5:29 pm

aster wrote:MC, if you have a card with Citi and then get another one with them, what happens to your previous limit? Do all cards share a single limit or are they separate for each card?

If the latter is true then I assume applying for more cards means that the previous limit will be lowered to allow for a separate one to be assigned to the new card?
Yes the limit is shared
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Post by aster » Wed, 21 Apr 2010 6:50 pm

Many thanks guys!

With regards to annual fee waivers, do you need to call in about that before the renewal fee is billed or can this be waived after they charge you?

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Post by Mad Scientist » Thu, 22 Apr 2010 5:32 am

aster wrote:Many thanks guys!

With regards to annual fee waivers, do you need to call in about that before the renewal fee is billed or can this be waived after they charge you?
Either way you can do it. Unlike in some countries, SG CC annual fee is very much given free to customer.IF you call after the bill has arrrived usually they waived it for you.
If you have been banking with that particular bank and use their CC, talk to the manager to have it free annually instead of you calling every so often annually.
Citibank Gold Visa , MC or its platinum is free for life in my case. Check it out if you can get one for yourself :)
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Post by ScoobyDoes » Thu, 22 Apr 2010 9:43 am

aster wrote:Many thanks guys!

With regards to annual fee waivers, do you need to call in about that before the renewal fee is billed or can this be waived after they charge you?

With UOB it is now a function in their automated phone system.

"Press 1 for English"
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"If you would like your annual fee or charges reviewed, Please Press 1"



I get an SMS after a couple of days saying the fee is waived, and normally after i get the credit card statement with the fee on it. I never look at the card or paperwork to note expiry date so the first i know about it is when it appears on the statement, it is usually then just a return in your next month.

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Post by jpatokal » Thu, 22 Apr 2010 4:51 pm

My main mileage earning card for a long time was DBS Black Amex. Standard rate is one KrisFlyer mile per S$0.80, but some shops -- mostly boutiquey kinda places only though -- give double miles and, more usefully, they have "double points on overseas spending" promos every now and then. They can afford this because Amex shafts you pretty hard on the exchange rate, but if you're using it for business expenses that you can claim back, it's a free lunch!

Fallback for Amex-less shops was the RBS Platinum Mastercard. I'm not sure what the exact earning rate is because their new website is a disaster, but while it's not great, they give nice travel freebies like free airport limo transfers and free lounge entry if you use the card for large travel-related purchases ($2500-3500 a pop). When it first came out as the ABN Amro Platinum, you could use it for lounge access all the time even without purchases, but that's limited to two visits/year now.

Now I'm in Australia, where all FFP cards suck: my shiny new ANZ Frequent Flyer card grants me one Qantas point for every A$2 on Visa, and 1:1 on Amex (which nearly always incurs surcharges Down Under). And you can forget about getting your yearly fees waived too.
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Post by Splatted » Thu, 22 Apr 2010 9:35 pm

jpatokal wrote: Now I'm in Australia, where all FFP cards suck: my shiny new ANZ Frequent Flyer card grants me one Qantas point for every A$2 on Visa, and 1:1 on Amex (which nearly always incurs surcharges Down Under). And you can forget about getting your yearly fees waived too.
Money Magazine always does a good comparison of CC cards in Australia, ie which are cheapest, which have lowest interest, which have best rewards.

Westpac Altitude program came 2nd last year.. (they issue both AMEx and Mastercard to accrue points)

I forget which card came first...

BTW, you can find fee free amex cards but they are usually offered if you have membership to certain professional organisations. (actually, I didn't join this particular professional group and did the online application for the card anyway... it was still approved)

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Post by jpatokal » Fri, 23 Apr 2010 8:57 pm

Splatted wrote:Money Magazine always does a good comparison of CC cards in Australia, ie which are cheapest, which have lowest interest, which have best rewards.
Yup, there's an entire forum devoted to Aussie pointsluts: http://www.frequentflyer.com.au/community/

Unfortunately it's all a bit academic, since unless you're Oz PR/citizen, you're in practice ineligible for most credit cards. Gold/Plat cards, in particular, are not worth the extra, since the "complimentary" insurance policies specifically exclude temporary visitors. NAB rejected my initial application, and ANZ mailed me once to say that my application had been rejected... and then changed their minds next week and granted it, before I even had a chance to complain. :shock:
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Post by aster » Sat, 24 Apr 2010 1:25 pm

Update:
- Official Singapore Airlines KF Gold card added
- Updated all cards to include any miles conversion costs associated

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Post by james_conway » Sat, 24 Apr 2010 2:07 pm

The citi card offers good bonus points

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Post by aster » Mon, 26 Apr 2010 2:47 pm

Yes, we know. :)

About cards from various banks, do you need to have accounts with them to apply for their CCs?

I could do with 1-2 more cards, just for restaurant or air miles offers, but am hesitant to open up more bank accounts...

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Post by Splatted » Wed, 28 Apr 2010 10:39 pm

Saw this commercial tonight.. and had a bit of a chuckle

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iw2wajmMBrk

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Post by aster » Thu, 29 Apr 2010 2:22 am

Funny one, but what was even funnier (or not!) was the fine print on the bottom: Spend $6055 to get that $50 voucher. ;)

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Post by Mad Scientist » Thu, 29 Apr 2010 4:02 am

aster wrote:Funny one, but what was even funnier (or not!) was the fine print on the bottom: Spend $6055 to get that $50 voucher. ;)
Yeah, saw that small print. Damn !!!

Well I can add to this phrase that I have been using for awhile

Lawyers are Liars !!

Doctors are Killers !!

Bankers are Suckers !!
The positive thinker sees the invisible, feels the intangible, and achieves the impossible.Yahoo !!!

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More to add!

Post by Milesnmore » Tue, 20 Jul 2010 3:50 am

CitiPremier Miles has a new promotion:
01 Jul - 31 Dec 2010, 2 miles for every $1.00 Spent above $4,000/month

6. UOB Infinite Visa
- 1 mile earned for every $1 spent (UNI$5 with every $10 spent)
- Min income $350k annually, but you can get it with a min fixed deposit of $150k with UOB
- $1500 annual fee, applicable for waiver (not sure conditions, i managed to get it waived on application)
- Pros: 1-1 Hyatt restaurant offer (only lunch on weekdays + Sat)
- Other benefits like access to the Fairmount Spa are similar to the Platinum/Solitare UOB cards, but these have much lower mileage accural rates
- UOB like Citi has many good general restaurant discounts island wide

Possible for you to do one on the Amex Platinum Rewards System? They have a great concierge for travel / other errands and discounts with Cathay Pacific is substantial (friend has 6.5k biz class ticket round trip to Montreal via HK on CX), Feed at Raffles benefits
- Amex Platinum Charge Card (class below the black card) Annual fees 1-1.5k which are not waivable under any circumstances

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Additional note

Post by Milesnmore » Tue, 20 Jul 2010 4:00 am

Hello just left out something on CitiPremier:

On the 2 miles/ dollar above $4k spent monthly:
The additional 0.8 miles/dollar (1.2 miles is normal rate), will be credited only in Nov 2010 (for miles accrued 01Jul-30Sep 2010) and in Feb 2011 (for 01Oct-31Dec 2010).

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