Connect with us

Money

Beginners Guide To Credit Card Air Miles In Singapore

Do free airline tickets sound good to you? Here’s a beginners’ introduction to what airline miles are and how they work.


SingSaver is an affiliate partner of DollarsAndSense.sg. We receive a share of revenue from your sign-ups.

Travel is an important part of many Singaporeans’ lifestyle. In fact, Singaporeans take  more than 5 overseas vacations a year on average. It is no wonder that an increasingly popular perk among credit cards is the opportunity to earn “miles” that you can use to redeem free air tickets.

Here’s a beginners’ introduction to what airline miles are and how they work, so you can decide whether a credit card that offers miles as a perk is valuable to you.

Read Also: Miles Or CashBack? Which Type Of Credit Cards Should You Go For In Singapore?

What Are Airline Miles?

Airline miles are basically a loyalty programme run by airlines to reward travellers who commute using their airline (or partner airlines under the same loyalty programme).

After signing up to an airline miles programme, you can start to accumulate miles whenever you buy a ticket.

As a perk, credit card companies also allow you to earn miles when you sign up or make purchases using your credit card. Some credit cards let you earn points, which you can then choose to convert to the specific airline miles of your choice. We’ll touch more on that in the next section.

Once you’ve accumulated enough airline miles, you can use these miles on plane tickets.

Contrary to their name, you do not actually earn 1 airline mile for each mile you fly. The amount of miles you earn depend on the class of your ticket (economy class earns you significantly lesser miles) and other factors. You can refer to your selected miles programme website for more details.

Read Also: Miles Aren’t Free For Credit Card Companies. Here’s How Much They’re Paying Airlines For It

Different Types Of Air Miles In Singapore

As mentioned earlier, different airlines run their own airline miles programme. In Singapore, two of the largest airline miles programmes are KrisFlyer and Asia Miles.

KrisFlyer: Anchored by Singapore’s flag carrier Singapore Airlines, KrisFlyer is by far the most popular frequent flyer programme in Singapore. Other airlines under the KrisFlyer programme include SilkAir, Scoot and airlines under Star Alliance, such as ANA, United Airlines, Lufthansa and Thai Airways.

Asia Miles:  Cathay Pacific, Asia Miles is the next more popular airline miles programme, which has partner airlines under the OneWorld alliance including British Airways, Japan Airlines, Qantas, Qatar Airways, American Airlines, and Malaysia Airlines.

November 2018 Promotion: Receive Exclusive Cash And Vouchers For Signing Up For Credit Cards

How Do You Accumulate And Earn Airline Miles?

After setting up an account with an airlines miles programme of your choice, you should always remember to enter your account number when purchasing airline tickets. Since you can’t transfer your miles to someone else, you might want to consolidate all your airline miles if possible.

Contrary to their name, you do not actually earn 1 airline mile for each mile you fly. The amount of miles you earn depend on the class of your ticket (economy class earns you significantly lesser miles) and other factors. You can refer to your selected miles programme website for more details.

You’ll also earn points or miles from your credit card company on selected spending categories.

Once you’ve accumulated enough miles, you login to your miles programme and search for a flights that you’re eligible to spend your miles on and book your ‘free’ ticket!

You should also know that miles may have an expiry, especially bonus miles you receive when you first apply for a credit card.

Read Also: Already A Frequent Forex Or CFD Trader? You Can Now Earn KrisFlyer Miles When You Start Trading

Welcome To The World Of Airline Miles Hacking

The world of hacking credit card miles is deep and fascinating, with many individuals and communities dedicated to sharing tips, techniques and deals to earn the most amount of miles and spend them in the best possible way. Website like MileLion is dedicated to that mission and is a great place to start your mile-hacking journey.

Listen to our podcast, where we have in-depth discussions on finance topics that matter to you.

Advertiser Message

How Many Money Habits Do You Practise?

Whatever financial goals you’ve set for yourself, take small, consistent steps towards them by adopting good Money Habits. Tap in and learn how to make money decisions that are right for you, at every stage of life here.