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American Express KrisFlyer Ascend; Citi PremierMiles; UOB PRVI; Standard Chartered Visa Infinite – Which Is The Best AirMiles Card For You?

If you could only choose one air miles card to hold on to for the rest of your life, which would it be?


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Earning miles on your credit card spent is something that many Singaporeans do. Besides Cashback cards, earning miles is the other main benefits that many cardholders would opt for.

However, with every bank offering its own version of a miles card, one common question that you may ask is which miles card(s) make the most sense for you, based on your spending habits and travel patterns. What’s better for someone else need not be the best card for you.

  • American Express KrisFlyer Ascend Card
  • Citi PremierMiles Visa Card
  • UOB PRVI Miles Visa Card
  • Standard Chartered Visa Infinite Card

American Express KrisFlyer Ascend

The American Express KrisFlyer Ascend is also the only card on our list that gives you miles which are directly credited to your KrisFlyer account. This means that you do not need to pay a conversion fee to convert the miles that you earn into actual KrisFlyer miles.

Benefits Analysis
Miles Per $1 spend 1.2 miles per $1 spent (local), 2 miles per $1 spent (overseas), 3.2 miles for every $1 spent on Grab Average
Welcome & Spend Bonus – 5,000 KrisFlyer Miles the first time you charge to your card
– Total of 59,000 miles if you spend $20,000 in your first 6 months ($10,000 in your first 3 months, $10,000 in your next 3 months)
Good
Lounge Access 4 complimentary access each year to participating SATS lounge in Singapore and Plaza Premium lounge around the world Good
Minimum Income Requirement $50,000 p.a. Moderate
Annual Fee $337.05 Moderate
Others Complimentary night stay at one of over 110 Hilton properties in Asia Pacific Average

 

Who Should Apply For American Express KrisFlyer Ascend?

Big-Ticket Items: If you have big-ticket items that you need to pay for over the next 6 months, the American Express KrisFlyer Ascend is the perfect card to apply for. By spending $10,000 in the first three months, and another $10,000 in the next four to six months, you can earn for yourself a total of 59,000 KrisFlyer Miles.

Travel once every three years: Since KrisFlyer miles have a 3-year expiry, you want to make sure that you are likely to redeem your miles within this period of time.

Sign up for the American Express KrisFlyer Ascend here.

Citi PremierMiles Visa Card

If you don’t intend to travel once every three years or prefer not to be in a position where your miles may expire before you can plan for your trip and redeem your miles, the  is a good alternative card to opt for.

Many people who are new to the miles game should consider the  as their first miles card.

Benefits Analysis
Miles Per $1 spend 1.2 miles per $1 spent (local), 2 miles per $1 spent (overseas) Average
Welcome & Spend Bonus Earn 30,000 miles when you spend $7,500 within 3 months from date of card approval Good
Lounge Access 2 complimentary access each year for lounges world-wide via priority pass membership Average
Minimum Income Requirement $30,000 p.a. Good
Annual Fee $192.60 Average
Others Citi Miles do not expiry. You can convert the miles ($25 conversion fee) each time you want to convert your Citi miles to airline miles Excellent

 

Who Should Apply For

Your Miles Never Expire: Since your Citi miles will never expire, this card makes perfect sense for individuals who wants to start accumulating miles but isn’t sure when he/she is likely to redeem these miles for their travel. With the , you will be able to keep your miles for as long as you wish.

Big-Ticket Items: If you are intending to make a big-ticket item spend in the next three months, the  makes sense if you are going to spend more than $7,500, but less than $20,000. Doing so earns you 30,000 miles.

Do note that from our understanding, you will need to pay $192.60 for the annual fee in order to qualify for this promotion.

Sign up for the .

 

UOB PRVI Miles Visa Card

There are some really good reasons to be getting the . For a start, it gives 1.4 miles per $1 spent (local) and 2.4 miles per $1 spent (overseas) which is higher than both the American Express KrisFlyer Ascend and the Citi Premier Miles Visa Card.

Minimum income requirement is $30,000 per annum so anyone who qualifies for a credit card will also be able to get this card if they want to.

This disadvantage with this card is that the UOB miles, also known as UNI$, will expire after two years. This means that you need to do a conversion at least once every two years in order to ensure that your miles do not expire before you use them.

Benefits Analysis
Miles Per $1 spend 1.4 miles per $1 spent (local), 2.4 miles per $1 spent (overseas) Excellent
Welcome & Spend Bonus Earn 12,000 miles if you spend $4,000 within first 2 months of card approval (new UOB cardholder) or earn 2,000 miles (existing UOB cardholder) Average
Lounge Access N.A N.A
Minimum Income Requirement $30,000 p.a. Good
Annual Fee $256.80 Average
Others UNI$ expire after two years Average

 

Who Should Apply For ?

You want a higher miles earn rate: At 1.4 miles per $1 spent (local) and 2.4 miles per $1 spent (overseas), this is one of the best miles earn rate you can get, especially from a card that only requires a minimum of $30,000 as your income requirement. Just note that your UNI$ will expire after two years so you need to convert them to KrisFlyer miles before that.

Sign up for the .

 

 

Standard Chartered Visa Infinite Card

If you want to earn 1.4 miles per $1 spent (local), but you do not want to worry about your miles expiring, then the  might just be the card that you are looking for. This card also gives you 3 miles per $1 spent (overseas).

The  also provides for six complimentary visits each year through the priority pass lounge programme.

There is a catch however.

The first is that in order to qualify for this card, you will need a minimum income requirement of $150,000 per annum – which means most of us mere mortals would be unable to qualify for it. Also, in order to qualify for the 1.4 miles earn rate, you will need to accumulate a minimum spent of $2,000 per month. Otherwise, you end up only earning 1 mile per $1 spent.

Benefits Analysis
Miles Per $1 spend 1.4 miles per $1 spent (local), 3 miles per $1 spent (overseas), minimum requirement of $2,000 per month Excellent
Welcome & Spend Bonus Receive 35,000 miles if you apply for the card and pay an annual fee of $588.50 Average
Lounge Access 6 complimentary access each year for lounges world-wide via priority pass membership Excellent
Minimum Income Requirement $150,000 p.a. High
Annual Fee $588.50 High
Others Miles do not expire Excellent

 

Who Should Apply For The ?

You want a higher miles earn rate: At 1.4 miles per $1 spent (local) and 3 miles per $1 spent (overseas), this is one of the best miles earn rates you can get. The catch here is that you will need to clock in a minimum spending of $2,000 per month. Also, the miles don’t expire.

Lounge Access: With 6 complimentary access each year for lounges world-wide via priority pass membership, this card allows you to start your overseas trips in style.

Apply for the .

 

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