The Best Air Miles Credit Cards in Singapore (2022)

06 Sep 2022

So, you’ve decided to join the miles game and want to know which miles credit cards are the best.

But with a gazillion miles credit cards in Singapore, it’s extremely hard to suss out which cards you should sign up for.

Luckily, we’ve done the heavy lifting and sussed out the best miles credit cards in Singapore based on your spending habits.

Ready to earn miles and redeem some flight tickets? Read on!

Disclaimer: The cards listed in this article exclude corporate, private, premier, and invite-only credit cards. The information provided by Seedly serves as an educational piece and is not intended to be personalised investment advice. Readers should always do their own due diligence and consider their financial goals before investing in any investment product.

TL;DR: Best Air Miles Credit Cards in Singapore (2022)

If you are completely new to credit cards, do read through the ultimate guide to credit cards before coming back to read this article as there are a few things that you need to take note of such as fees and the danger of credit card debt.

Jump to:

Which Card Earns the Most Miles?
How to Earn Miles?
How Much Is 1 Krisflyer Mile Worth?
Is It Worth It to Get a Miles Card?

Which Card Earns the Most Miles?

If I could recommend just one card that beats every other card, I would. Sad to say, there’s no such thing and maximising your miles earnings highly depends on how you spend.

Thus, I’ve narrowed it down to the top cards based on the earn rate for each category! You may click on the card’s name for more details on the card and read reviews left by the Seedly community.

Jump to:

Local/General Spending
Overseas Spend
Flight Tickets and Hotel Bookings
Online Shopping
Dining

Best Miles Credit Cards for Local Spend/General Spending

DBS Vantage Card: 1.5 mpd, $120k min. annual income
UOB PRVI Miles (Mastercard/Visa Signature/AMEX): 1.4 mpd, $30k min. annual income
UOB Visa Infinite Metal Card: 1.4 mpd, $150k min. annual income

Best Miles Credit Cards for Overseas Spend

Citi Rewards Card: 0.4 mpd, 4mpd with Amaze, $30k min. annual income
- Miles hack: While this card might seem to have a horrible earn rate for overseas spend at first glance, you can actually earn up to 4 mpd with no foreign currency conversion fees (but there is currency spread) if you link it with the Amaze card and spend overseas!
UOB Visa Signature Card: 4 mpd S$1k min. spend, $50k min. annual income
SCB Rewards+ Card: 2.9 mpd, $30k min. annual income

When spending overseas with credit cards, do note that there are foreign currency conversion fees (usually 3.25%).

Best Miles Credit Cards for Flight Tickets and Hotel Bookings

DBS Altitude (Visa Signature/AMEX) Card: 3 mpd on online flights & hotel transactions (capped at S$5,000 per month), 8 mpd on flight and hotel transactions at Expedia, $30k min. annual income
UOB PRVI Miles (Mastercard/Visa Signature/AMEX): 6 mpd on major airlines and hotels worldwide via Agoda, Expedia, and UOB Travel, $30k min. annual income
KrisFlyer UOB Credit Card: 3 mpd with min. S$500 annual spend on KrisShop and Singapore Airlines Group 3 mpd on Singapore Airlines, Scoot and KrisShop purchases, $30k min. annual income

Best Miles Credit Cards for Online Shopping

Citi Rewards Card: 4 mpd on online transactions, $30k min. annual income
UOB Visa Signature Card: 4 mpd on online transactions, $50k min. annual income
DBS Woman’s World Card: 4 mpd on online purchases, $80k min. annual income
Maybank World Mastercard: 4 mpd on selected merchants on TREATS SG app (food and shopping), $80k min. annual income

Best Miles Credit Cards for Dining

DBS Vantage Card: 4 mpd on Dining (capped at S$2,000 spend per calendar month and valid till 31 December 2022), $120k min. annual income
Maybank World Mastercard: 4 mpd on selected merchants on TREATS SG app (food and shopping), $80k min. annual income
Maybank Horizon Visa Signature Card: 3.2 mpd on restaurant dining, $30k min. annual income

Best Miles Credit Cards to Avoid Conversion Fees

Best Credit Cards for Complimentary Airport Lounge Access

Make Use Of SeedlyReviews To Further Narrow Down Your Choices

Alternatively, head over to SeedlyReviews and use the filters to further narrow down your card choices!

You can make use of the filters “card types” to find the best miles credit cards for your spending habits.

How to Earn Miles?

Now that you have a rough idea of the best miles cards to use, there are a few things to take note when earning miles.

Firstly, you will need to be aware of what constitutes eligible spending. These can be found under the terms and conditions of your particular card.

Secondly, most cards except for KrisFlyer cards do not earn miles directly. Instead, they earn bank points which you can then convert to miles. Depending on the card and bank, you may also encounter conversion fees which range from $20 to $30 for a one-time conversion or a $40 to $50 a year option.

How Much Is 1 Krisflyer Mile Worth?

The short answer: a mile has an average value of 1.4 cents to 1.8 cents depending on who you ask.

The long answer? It really depends on you!

The value of a mile can vary greatly based on how you acquire your miles (purchasing outright) and what you redeem your miles for. We will use the KrisFlyer programme as it is the most common among Singaporeans.

If you choose to purchase miles, you can get them for about 1 cent per mile (cpm) to 2 cpm on average.

As for redemption, the value of a mile varies greatly depending on what you redeem it for. Here’s an example:

London	Economy	Premium Economy	Business	Suites/First
Base Fare	$800.30	$2,211.30	$6,622.30	$12,046.30
Miles required to fully redeem flight	42,000	71,000	103,500	141,000
Value per mile (rounded to 3 d.p.)	1.905 cents	3.114 cents	6.398 cents	8.543 cents

Based on a one-way ticket for 18 Oct 2022 and using the cheapest fares available.

As you can see, it becomes much more worth it when you use more miles to redeem upper-class flights.

If you’re unable to accumulate as many miles, you can opt to offset your flight ticket cost with miles (1.02 cpm) or redeem them for items (1.02 cpm or worse).

Is It Worth It to Get a Miles Card?

The answer to this question depends as well.

Are you a frequent flyer or a high-spender? If so, you should seriously consider getting a miles card to maximise your spending.

But for those of us who don’t fly as much and are more value-oriented, a cashback or rewards credit card is a better way to go.

The reason is that accumulating miles is a long and tedious process and if we were to look at the opportunity cost of using a miles card instead of a cashback card, most infrequent flyers would be better off with a cashback card in terms of value and flexibility (you can use cash for anything but only miles for flights/terrible redemption rates for items).

About Justin Oh

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