All posts tagged: Singapore

Amex offers 4 bonus KrisFlyer miles for every dollar spent on mobile wallets

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American Express is the latest card to jump on the mobile payment promotion bandwagon, with an offer launched on 15 August 2018 for Singapore Airlines co-branded credit card holders. For every S$1 spent, Amex will give you 4 bonus miles, on top of the usual mileage. That means PPS Club branded cards can earn up 5.3 miles per dollar, Ascend can earn up to 5.2 miles per dollar and the blue Krisflyer card earns 5.1 miles per dollar. There’s a very big BUT However, the promotion is capped at a grand total of… 1,200 bonus miles. That’s right, that’s a pathetic S$300 spend. Also, foreign spend will not count towards the promotion too. This offer is obviously not as generous as what Citibank did with their insane up to 8 miles per dollar spend, but still a relatively easy way to scoop up some miles if you are already holding the card. How to sign up? Because this promotion is not available on their website, I assume that only those targeted for this promotion (i.e. …

Singapore Airlines introduces KrisPay

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tl;dr: don’t ever, ever convert your Krisflyer miles to KrisPay miles. EVER. Singapore Airlines introduced KrisPay yesterday, where Krisflyer members can use their miles to offset cash payments at a range of merchants in Singapore (lucky you, rest of the world). This is how the marketing email sells it: KrisPay is the new digital wallet that turns your KrisFlyer miles into instant purchases – right from your mobile phone, starting from as little as 15 miles. You can now use KrisPay for everyday spend such as your petrol purchases at selected Esso service stations^, M1, Challenger and many more participating merchants. How bad is it? It is… really bad. From the mechanism, to the conversion rate, to the redemption levels. Let’s look at them one by one. The mechanism First you will have to download the KrisPay app (I’ve downloaded it, so you don’t). The first bugger that annoyed the hell out of me was that the app can only be installed on iOS 11.0 or later. So if you are like me and detest updating …

Bank of China introduces Elite Miles card, possibly the best miles card ever

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Banks are probably one of the last few advertisers who still believe and benefit from print ads in newspapers, because this caught my eye today: Bank of China is relatively new foreign retail bank operating in Singapore. They offer a very decent banking account offer for customers but in terms of credit cards, they have predominantly been offering in cash back cards. Exceptionally high earning rates So what is BOC Elite Miles card offering? Local spend: promotional rate of 2 miles per dollar spent (usually 1.5 mpd) Overseas spend: promotional rate of 5 miles per dollar spent (usually 3 mpd) 4 complimentary entry to Plaza Premium lounge per year And a chance to win Singapore Airlines return economy ticket to Bangkok The promotional earn rates are valid for spend till 31 December 2018, but in any case these trump any promotions made by banks locally so far. Miles credit card punters will be incredibly familiar that the market norm for Singapore is anything between 1 to 4 miles per dollar spent, or maybe up to …

UOB relaunches the Visa Infinite Card, slashes income requirement to S$150,000

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So this caught my attention today in the Straits Times: It seems like UOB has relaunched the Visa Infinite Card as a metal card (this seems to be the new defining characteristic of a high net-worth card), with the income requirement being slashed to S$150,000 p.a. from the previously published S$350,000. Even the card face looks strikingly similar, with the sole difference being the font for “Infinite”. So what has changed? Of course, UOB has up its ante, with this being made a metal card now, the new standard for high income cards. 1. Improved miles earning rate Let’s get to the main reason why you got this card (apart from showing it off): the miles. Under the old card, local spend was rated at 1.2 miles per dollar spent, which was not that great. For foreign spend, you would earn 2 miles per dollar spent on overseas shopping and dining, as well as on local spend at luxury boutiques. This was highly restrictive, given that many other cards, such as UOB PRVI is offering …

PROMO: Cathay Pacific is giving away a million miles to Singapore Asia Miles members

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Singapore-based Asia Miles members stand to win up to 300,000 miles if they purchase a Cathay Pacific or Cathay Dragon ticket from now until 26 August 2018. Cathay Pacific will give out a total of one million miles to a total of 11 members. The lucky draw is only open to Singapore-based customers, and travel must originate from Singapore One key thing to note is that you will have to manually enter the contest using the online form here. The good news is that the lucky draw is open to customers who booked through any booking channel, whether they do on Cathay Pacific’s website, mobile app or through a travel agent. And also, looking at the T&Cs there doesn’t seem to be a restriction on the travel dates. The top prize of 300,000 miles is good for a round trip first class ticket to US or Canada, or six round trip tickets in business class to Hong Kong. That’s enough Hong Kong trips to get you sick and tired of wanton noodles and dim sum. …