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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aster
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Post by aster » Wed, 02 May 2012 1:26 am

Do you have a Citi Platinum credit card? If so you really want to hang onto that one as they don't issue them any more.

Singapore-based cards are extremely simple to understand, it's stuff like special bonuses, etc. that throw the whole picture into disarray, something that you see Amex cards promotions based on (like extra miles for the first 90 days, etc.).

To keep things simple, the two cards that are the absolute best out there for general spend are the DBS Altitude Visa and the Citi PremierMiles. Nothing gets close to these cards for overall spend, where you get roughly 1.2 miles per $ spent. The DBS card has the advantage of going into "overdrive," so once you pass the $2,000 mark of your monthly spend it boosts the ratio to 1.6 miles/$.

The Citi Platinum card is good in that it gives extra miles for supermarket and department store spend - something that can be quite a chunk of your overall expenses. In those places you get 2 miles per $, so quite a jump. But as mentioned, they've stopped giving them out...

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Post by JR8 » Wed, 02 May 2012 1:29 am

It does make me laugh, I don't have a credit card at all. I have one Visa debit card.

For someone who hates bankers with such a vengeance Aster, I think you must have more bank accounts than anyone I have ever met!

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Post by Splatted » Wed, 02 May 2012 1:57 am

aster wrote:Do you have a Citi Platinum credit card? If so you really want to hang onto that one as they don't issue them any more.
Three of them say 'platinum', though I doubt it means much.

First is a debit card used for ready credit account
Second is the SMRT visa card
Third is the Citibank Clear Platinum card - visa

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Post by JR8 » Wed, 02 May 2012 2:09 am

Splatted wrote: Three of them say 'platinum', though I doubt it means much.

First is a debit card used for ready credit account
Second is the SMRT visa card
Third is the Citibank Clear Platinum card - visa

Sorry to ask, but are you very poor and living beyond your means to have to borrow so much money?

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Post by Splatted » Wed, 02 May 2012 2:28 am

JR8 wrote:
Splatted wrote: Three of them say 'platinum', though I doubt it means much.

First is a debit card used for ready credit account
Second is the SMRT visa card
Third is the Citibank Clear Platinum card - visa

Sorry to ask, but are you very poor and living beyond your means to have to borrow so much money?
having cards doesn't mean you've actually borrowed money

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Post by JR8 » Wed, 02 May 2012 2:41 am

Splatted wrote: having cards doesn't mean you've actually borrowed money
That is a good point (though I think technically even if you pay it off in full each month you are still borrowing it in the interim weeks). But why so many?

Banks don't do Airmiles and all that stuff for the customers sake, they do it for their own bottom line...

Are you churning money through cards to try and garner benefits?

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Post by Splatted » Wed, 02 May 2012 2:46 am

JR8 wrote:
Splatted wrote: having cards doesn't mean you've actually borrowed money
That is a good point (though I think technically even if you pay it off in full each month you are still borrowing it in the interim weeks). But why so many?

Banks don't do Airmiles and all that stuff for the customers sake, they do it for their own bottom line...

Are you churning money through cards to try and garner benefits?
Credit limit reviews

Every time you ask for a credit limit review, they sign you up for a new card on the spot and raise your credit limit for existing cards (as a pool). Most of my cards are unused...

I have been 'trying out' one or two to see how quickly they really do accumulate points.. so far I'm confused and dissapointed at how slow it really takes to earn enough points to redeem for a single $10 cold storage voucher.

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Post by JR8 » Wed, 02 May 2012 2:49 am

Which is why I can't be bothered with these schemes.

Net net you're working for them, at sweatshop rates.

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Post by Splatted » Wed, 02 May 2012 2:58 am

JR8 wrote:Which is why I can't be bothered with these schemes.

Net net you're working for them, at sweatshop rates.
Not really.

I don't buy what I don't actually need.

If I can earn some kind of reward points for money I'm going to spend anyway, thats to my advantage.

Just the Singaporean cards are not as transparent about what you've actually earned. I do like Amex (australia) a lot better as they break it down purchase by purchase where your points came from.

Some things I'm finding out the hard way, which isn't written down anywhere too. Like if I spend $23.95.. I only earn 20 points... apparently it's rounded down to the nearest $5 for one of my cards

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Post by zzm9980 » Wed, 02 May 2012 9:25 am

Splatted wrote: In Singapore, I'm still confused. Is my 10X rewards giving me a better deal than my 5% rebate... who knows? And one shop even advised me that I get zero, unless I'm spending over $20 on a single receipt. great
I can agree with this. I have the Citi SMRT Platinum card. It allegedly gives all of these benefits, but they all have catches and other things I honestly can't be bothered to understand.

I'm supposed to get 10% off at Starbucks. I see that I actually accumulate 10% of every "spend" (as they call it here) into a rebate pool. Not quite the same. But then, this is only at Starbucks. The website and statement I get talks about all these other places I get benefits. But I don't see them, just these SMRT Points accumulating which I can't quite figure out what to do with.

In the US, most cards are much simpler. I love my Chase Sapphire card. Spend $1, get 1 point. Spend $1 on airfare, get 2 points. Points are cashed in roughly 1 pt per $0.01 towards credit at tons of major retailers, or towards airfare and hotels. The nice part about this scheme that while cashing in points if you don't meet enough for your ticket, you get the percentage you DO have as a direct discount on the fare. $2000 fare but only enough points to cover 75% of it? No problem, just pay the $500 difference. Most mileage programs would make you spend $1500 to buy enough miles to cover that last $500.

I usually just dump all my points directly into Amazon credit though, since you can buy almost anything you want from them for free shipping, no tax, and usually one of the lowest available prices. At least in the US.

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Post by aster » Wed, 02 May 2012 11:40 am

Splatted wrote:
JR8 wrote: Sorry to ask, but are you very poor and living beyond your means to have to borrow so much money?
having cards doesn't mean you've actually borrowed money
Same here. I pay off my CC balance each and every time. Couldn't care less whether they bill me at the end of the month or subtract each transaction as it happens, absolutely no difference to me.

Bottom line is that CCs have some good rewards schemes whereas debit cards don't have them. It is the SOLE REASON I have a CC.

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Post by x9200 » Wed, 02 May 2012 11:52 am

zzm9980 wrote: In the US, most cards are much simpler. I love my Chase Sapphire card. Spend $1, get 1 point. Spend $1 on airfare, get 2 points. Points are cashed in roughly 1 pt per $0.01 towards credit at tons of major retailers, or towards airfare and hotels.
This is roughly how it works with the amex rewards card.
http://www.americanexpress.com/sg/the-rewards-card#sub3

Despite Aster's reservations I am pretty happy with the above.

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Post by aster » Wed, 02 May 2012 12:07 pm

Splatted wrote:
aster wrote:Do you have a Citi Platinum credit card? If so you really want to hang onto that one as they don't issue them any more.
Three of them say 'platinum', though I doubt it means much.

First is a debit card used for ready credit account
Second is the SMRT visa card
Third is the Citibank Clear Platinum card - visa
No, the one in question is just called the "Citi Platinum Card" and is no longer issued to new clients. You can still see it on their site, though you can no longer apply for one: http://www.citibank.com.sg/gcb/credit_c ... atinum.htm

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Post by aster » Wed, 02 May 2012 12:47 pm

x9200 wrote:This is roughly how it works with the amex rewards card.
http://www.americanexpress.com/sg/the-rewards-card#sub3

Despite Aster's reservations I am pretty happy with the above.
I keep giving this one a look every several months but am still not tempted.

1 point per $, and apparently 1.5 points/$ if you spend over S$5k per year - so we might as well start with the 1.5 ratio. On a site note do they give these extra points each month (with a retrospective lump sum) once you cross the 5k mark?

So $1000 spent gives me 1500 points which is still not enough for 1000 miles (as you need 1600 points for that).

Spent $1000 with the DBS Altitude Visa/Amex and you get 1200 miles, and if you've already spent 2k then they will up that to 1600 miles.

Even if we look at the 5 merchants you can choose with Amex Rewards and add yet another bonus, it still gives a general rate of 1.25 miles per $ compared to DBS' offer that is 1.2 (rising to 1.6) for all merchants.

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Post by JR8 » Wed, 02 May 2012 1:22 pm

aster wrote:
Splatted wrote: having cards doesn't mean you've actually borrowed money
Same here. I pay off my CC balance each and every time. Couldn't care less whether they bill me at the end of the month or subtract each transaction as it happens, absolutely no difference to me.

Bottom line is that CCs have some good rewards schemes whereas debit cards don't have them. It is the SOLE REASON I have a CC.
Fair enough to both of you, that was how I ran my last credit card when I had one. I recently changed banks and have been waiting 6 months so far for them to issue me with one, in the meantime I have a debit card and am actually wondering why I need a credit card at all. There was a time you needed a credit card for certain things (hiring a car), but I'm really not sure if that applies any more.

Funny the issuers don't give you freebies on debit cards, because the retailers pay commission for processing the transaction just like they do on credit cards...

I like ZZMs idea of converting any freebies into Amazon credits. Most of the points schemes are intentionally complex and in my experience life is too short to be that concerned about figuring them out...

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