9 best air-mile credit cards in Singapore (November 2024)

Ah, the air miles credit card. Clearly the most glamorous of all credit cards. Every time you use one, you're reinforcing your image as a globetrotting, wanderlusting, jet-setter.

But more importantly, you earn frequent flyer miles at the same time. As you go about planning your next holiday, wouldn't it be nice to be able to swap your air points for a free air ticket?

Trouble is, if you just sign up for the first air miles card you see and only use it when you remember it exists, chances are you'll never collect enough points to even make it to KL. Collecting air miles needs to be done strategically with the right card.

Here are the best credit cards for air miles in Singapore, plus some useful info on how they work so you can game the system.

1. Best air miles cards in Singapore 2024

2. Citi PremierMiles Card

If the thought of spending thousands of dollars in just a couple of months makes you blanch, you need a card with miles that don't expire so you can take your time to slowly accumulate them. This is especially the case if you're a fresh grad or a generally frugal person without any big expenses coming up. Enter the Citi PremierMiles Card!

While the earn rate of such cards is typically not that great, the Citi PremierMiles offers a fairly attractive earn rate: 1.2 miles for every $1 of local spending, and 2 miles for every $1 spent on foreign currency spending.

But the best part about the Citi PremierMiles Card is that it'll get you 10 Citi Miles per S$1 on online travel bookings via Kaligo and 10 Citi Miles per S$1 spent online with Agoda. That's about as high as miles earn rates go.

What's a miles card without travel benefits? You can get two complimentary airport lounge visits every year with your Citi PremierMiles Card and complimentary travel insurance with up to S$1 million in coverage when you use the card to buy your plane tickets.

3. DBS Altitude Card

The DBS Altitude Card lets you accumulate air miles in the form of DBS Points, and these points never expire. The card is one of the highest-earning miles cards out there, rewarding you with:

• 2.2 miles for every S$1 spent overseas
• 1.3 miles for every S$1 spent locally
• Up to 4.3 miles per S$1 spend on hotel transactions at Agoda
• Up to 5 miles per S$1 on foreign spend (both in-store and online) when you register on DBS PayLah! from now till Dec 31, 2024.

There aren't many miles cards out there with higher general spending earn rates. The HSBC TravelOne earns you 2.4 miles per S$1 overseas spend, but only 1.2 miles for every S$1 spent locally.

One card that edges out the DBS Altitude Card's earn rates for both local and overseas spend is the UOB PRVI Miles Card, which earns 1.4 miles per S$1 local spend and 2.4 miles per S$1 overseas spend.

But when it comes to the DBS Altitude Card, miles are just the beginning. To sweeten the deal, the DBS Altitude Visa Signature Card also comes with 2 free lounge visits at over 1,500 airport lounges worldwide per year via its complimentary Digital Priority Pass membership.

While the DBS Altitude American Express Card used to come with complimentary Mr and Mrs Smith SilverSmith membership, but this ceased on 25 Feb 2024.

There are other travel privileges in the form of discounted flights, hotel bookings, car rentals and more. Usually these run for a limited time and may or may not be renewed, so check out the ongoing DBS Altitude Card travel offers for the latest deals.

Okay, but what's the catch? No card is perfect. After going through their T&Cs, I've found 2 things I don't like about the DBS Altitude Card. Firstly, you earn with every S$5 spent per transaction, not every $1. So a transaction that comes up to $4.99 won't earn you anything.

Secondly, you don't earn miles directly but in the form of DBS Points (1 DBS Point = 2 miles). Some of us (myself included) might be lazy to convert them, but that's just laziness.

The bigger issue is that DBS charges an administrative fee of S$27.25 for each conversion of DBS Points to miles. The saving grace here is that DBS Points don't expire, so you can accumulate a truckload of DBS Points before you convert them and make the flat admin fee worth your while.

The DBS Altitude Card's annual fee is $194.40, but can be waived. If you do pay the annual fee and renew your card, you'll receive a present of 10,000 miles from DBS.

4. OCBC 90°N Card

If you're looking for a non-expiring air miles card to use on overseas online shopping sites, the OCBC 90°N Card is a good candidate.

In general, you earn 2.1 miles for every $1 spent in foreign currency and 1.3 miles for every $1 spent locally. For bookings made on Agoda, you'll earn 7 miles per $1 spend in foreign currency, and 6 miles per $1 spend in SGD.

You earn 90˚N Miles (formerly known as Travel$) on your OCBC 90°N Card, which you can use to redeem air miles, cash rebates and more via the OCBC Rewards Portal. Alternatively, you can also convert your 90°N miles to KrisFlyer miles (1 90˚N Mile = 1 KrisFlyer Mile) under the Singapore Airlines' KrisFlyer Programme, but this comes with a $25 conversion fee.

I also don't like the fact that, similar to the DBS Altitude Card, 90°N miles are awarded in blocks of $5 spent. So even if you spent $4.99 locally, you will not earn any points until you meet the $5 minimum spend. If you spend $99, you'll only earn on the first $95.

The OCBC 90°N Card comes in 2 iterations — one is the Mastercard version, and the other Visa. Each comes with their own set of travel privileges.

For example, the OCBC 90°N Mastercard gives you access to the One Dines Free programme and VIP access to over 1,300 airport lounges worldwide under DragonPass access. The Visa version comes with deals on SHEIN, IHG Hotels & Resorts, and more.

When I first wrote about the OCBC 90°N Card, I was pleased to note that its annual fee was just $54-a lower annual fee than many other entry-level cards.

But it's since increased to $196.20 (including GST), which is pretty average for any entry-level credit card. The fee is waived for the first year, and don't forget to get it waived for any subsequent years you hold the card.

5. HSBC Revolution Credit Card

Like the DBS Altitude, the HSBC Revolution Credit Card is more like a rewards card than a miles card in that you earn points and not miles directly.

Here's how it works: You earn 10X Reward points on eligible online purchases and contactless payments, then convert these reward points to miles. 10 Reward Points is equivalent to 4 miles. So all in all, you're earning 4 miles per $1 spend, or 2.5 per cent cashback. Plus, you earn per every $1, not every $5 unlike the OCBC 90°N Card and DBS Altitude Card.

The HSBC Revolution Credit Card earns you 10X Reward points for a wide range of transactions: Travel-related (airlines, car rental, cruise lines, etc), department and retail stores, dining, and more. You can find the full list of the relevant merchant category codes on page 3 of this T&Cs document.

The 10X Reward points are broken down into 9X bonus points and 1X base point. For the former, there's a cap of 9,000 bonus Reward points per month — that's when you hit $1,000 spend. Past this amount, you'll only earn the base 1X Reward point for your spending.

However, the HSBC Revolution Card has seen its fair share of nerfs:

• From 1 Jan 2024, MCC 4722 (Travel Agencies and Tour Operators) and 7011 (Lodging – Hotels, Motels, Resorts, Central Reservation Services became ineligible for the 10x Reward Points.
• From 15 Jul 2024, contactless payment no longer earned you 10X Rewards points.
• After 31 Dec 2024, travel-related transactions will be nerfed too.

These categories will just receive the 1X base Reward point that other non-bonus categories get.

The good news? The $40 (before GST) annual fee to join their Mileage Programme to convert your points to miles has been removed as of 20 May 2024. And according to point 6 under Miles/Hotel Points Redemption in their Rewards Programme T&Cs, the redemption fee for miles/hotel points redemptions will be waived up till Jan 31, 2025.

Another plus point of the HSBC Revolution Credit Card is that there is no annual fee.

Do note that HSBC Reward points come with an expiry date (as do the miles you can redeem them for). HSBC Rewards points earned expire after 37 months, so redeem them via the HSBC Singapore app within three years.

6. Amex Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer Credit Card

The Amex Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer card is ideal if you're collecting points for Singapore Airline's KrisFlyer programme. There's no need to redeem your points or pay a fee to convert them to miles-you're already earning miles directly. All miles accumulated each month are automatically credited to your KrisFlyer account. Just be aware that KrisFlyer miles have a shelf-life of three years.

The basic earn rate is nothing to shout about. You get 2 miles for every $1 spent in foreign currency on eligible purchases during June and December every year, and 1.1 miles for every $1 spent on eligible local purchases. On the plus side, there's no cap to these earnings.

What's interesting is that they also reward you with 2 miles for every $1 spent on Grab in Singapore, valid for up to $200 per month. Admittedly, the cap is rather low, but at least you're not limited to Singapore Airlines spending to snag that 2 miles per dollar earn rate.

The annual fee is $179.85, and it can be waived for the first year.

The card's welcome bonuses are also quite attractive-you get up to 17,000 KrisFlyer miles if you spend at least $1,000 within the first month of approval. Valid from now till Dec 2, 2024.

7. KrisFlyer UOB Credit Card

Most air miles cards let you earn more on your travel spending, but the KrisFlyer UOB Credit Card is one that offers a decent rate on everyday local spending. 

This stylish-looking card offers 3 KrisFlyer miles per $1 spent on dining, online shopping, online travel and transport card transactions. Like the Amex Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer Credit Card, there's no miles conversion fees because you earn miles directly.

The catch is, to qualify for this earn rate, you must spend at least $800 per year on Singapore Airlines-related transactions (including KrisShop).

You also get 3 miles per $1 spent on Singapore Airlines, Scoot and KrisShop purchases, and 1.2 miles per $1 on other spending.

The card charges an annual fee of $196.20 which we can't guarantee you can escape. But on the plus side, from now till 30 Nov 2024, you can get the first year's annual fee waived and receive a welcome gift of up to 31,000 miles when you spend at least $2,000 within 60 days of the card approval date. Act fast-this is only for the first 100 participants.

All in all, while the UOB KrisFlyer card may not have the highest earn rates, it certainly offers lots of bonus miles as incentives.

8. Maybank Horizon Card

The Maybank Horizon Visa Signature doesn't get much attention but is actually excellent for foreign spending. You earn 2.8 air miles (7X TREATS Points) whenever you spend on air tickets and foreign currency transactions-if you spend $800 a month. There's no cap for TREATS Points earned for foreign spend.

You'll also earn 1.2 air miles (3X TREATS Points) for every dollar you spend on local shopping, groceries, dining, hotel bookings and more.

You've probably guessed the main drawback to the Maybank Horizon Card. You need to spend at least $800 in a calendar month in order to qualify for the 2.8 miles earn rate. That's a bummer considering a lot of air miles cards don't even have minimum spending requirements.

Can't meet the $800 spend requirement? You'll earn 0.4 air miles (1X TREAT Point) per dollar with no minimum spend amount. Ouch.

The card's annual fee is $180, but waived for threeyears instead of the usual one year. If you spend at least $18,000 in a year you can get subsequent annual fee payments waived. There's also no fees charged for supplementary cards.

9. UOB PRVI Miles Card

The UOB PRVI Miles Card offers the best rates for general overseas and local spending. If offers 2.4 miles per $1 spent overseas and 1.4 miles per $1 spend locally with no minimum spend and no cap on the miles you earn.

With no cap, this card is a good one to use if you're anticipating a big expense like a wedding banquet. The 1.4 mile per $1 rate is among the highest you'll be able to get on such miscellaneous local spending with no limit.

What about specific categories like dining and hotel bookings? You can get a generous 6.6 miles per $1 spend (UNI$16.5 per S$5 spend) on major airlines and hotels booked through Expedia and Agoda via the UOB PRVI Miles website. Psst, pair the UOB PRVI Miles Card with the Citi PremierMiles card to get the ultimate flight and hotel booking mile-earning combination!

The UOB PRVI Miles Card is certainly a notch above other miles cards with its fatter earn rates, but it also comes with a fatter annual fee of $261.60. Most entry-level miles cards don't even cross the $200 mark in annual fees.

From now till Nov 30, 2024, UOB is also rewarding you with up to 58,000 miles for spending at least $2,000/month for two consecutive months, paying the annual card fee, and registering with UOB via SMS.

It's a steep spending/payment requirement, but also a pretty generous bonus mile reward. If you only pay the annual credit card fee and don't meet the spending requirements, you can still get up to 20,000 miles.

10. Standard Chartered Journey Credit Card

If you spend regularly on transport and food online, the Standard Chartered Journey Credit Card might be the miles card for you.

An entry-level credit card, it offers a high earn rate of 3 miles per S$1 on online transactions for transportation, food delivery and online grocery merchants. This is capped at 3,000 miles, which means you max out the bonus rate at S$1,000.

The SC Journey Credit Card also offers decent earn rates of 2 miles per S$1 foreign spend and 1.2 miles per S$1 local spend, which is comparable to most other air miles cards on this list. All earnings come in the form of 360 Rewards Points, which never expire and can be redeemed for miles, cash rewards, or shopping vouchers.

On top of the card's promised complimentary travel insurance (up to $500,000 coverage) and 2 complimentary visits to Priority Pass lounges each year, Standard Chartered is also dangling another carrot to tempt you into getting their miles card: a welcome bonus of up to 45,000 miles!

From now till Nov 15, 2024, Standard Chartered is awarding up to 45,000 miles if you sign up for the Standard Chartered Journey Credit Card. The only downside is that the requirements to get this welcome bonus are pretty steep-you need to spend $3,000 in 2 months and pay the annual fee of $194.40.

Want an easier reward? You can get up to S$180 cash via PayNow when you apply through MoneySmart. All you need to do is spend a minimum of S$500 in eligible transactions within 30 days from your card approval date and submit your claim form.

11. Entry-level vs premium miles cards in Singapore

All of the above credit cards are entry-level ones, meaning you can sign up once your annual income hits about $30,000.

But premium air miles credit cards for those more well off tend to offer better air miles earn rates and/or sign-up bonuses.

One example of a premium air miles card is the American Express The Platinum Card®. This card is currently handing out a welcome bonus of  S$800 Statement Credits and a Samsonite Choca Spinner 68/25 (worth S$700).

With this card, you'll earn 2 Membership Rewards® points for every S$1.60 spent, or 20 Membership Rewards® points for every S$1.60 spent with 10Xcelerator by Membership Rewards®.

The catch? You must be prepared to fork out an annual fee of S$1,744 and meet the minimum spend requirement of $8,000 within the first 6 months of card approval.

While Amex hasn't disclosed the exact minimum income requirement for the American Express The Platinum Card®, the usual $30,000 sum probably won't cut it.

12. What are air miles and how do they work?

Air miles are part of frequent flyer programmes (FFP), the best-known one here being Singapore Airlines' KrisFlyer programme. KrisFlyer miles can be used on many partner airlines, including all of Star Alliance.

Technically, you can buy miles with cold hard cash. That's what some people do — buy KrisFlyer miles because they have nothing better to spend their money on.

But why do that when a credit card will help you earn them for free, right? When you spend on an air miles credit card, you can accumulate frequent flyer miles either directly or by earning points (which you then convert to miles).

Once you've got your miles, you can put them towards your next holiday's airfare. Woohoo!

Here's a look at the bigger and more well-known FFPs in Singapore:

13. What should you look out for in a miles card?

Here are some factors you need to consider when evaluating miles cards:

• Miles expiry date: Borders may largely be open now, but you never know when the next pandemic wave may hit and if travel restrictions will kick into high gear again. Or, maybe you just don’t travel frequently and need miles that don’t expire, such as those for the Citi PremierMiles Card and DBS Altitude Card. On the other hand, KrisFlyer miles expire in 3 years from the date they are credited to your account. If your card requires you to accumulate and then convert miles, you’ll also want to check the expiry date so you can convert them as late as possible.
• Flexibility to redeem miles for other rewards: For a while, Covid-19 totally wrecked our ability to travel, and many of us might have started to wonder if we could spend our miles on something else. That’s why checking what else you can redeem miles for in an important consideration. See if you can use them to redeem other rewards or convert them to cashback. If you’re under the KrisFlyer programme, you can use your mile to make purchases at the online KrisShop.
• Ease of earning miles without travelling: Many cards reward you more handsomely for spending overseas, but earning high rates for local and/or online spending will help you accumulate more miles faster while still in Singapore. The Maybank Horizon Card is a good option for high local spending earn rates.

14. MoneySmart tip: Use a rewards credit card as a miles card

Before you rush to sign up for an air miles card, you should also know that rewards credit cards are a viable alternative to air miles cards.

So what's the secret? Well, you actually earn rewards points (rather than miles) with many air miles cards. You can earn those same points with a rewards card as well, and later convert them to miles. In fact, you can think of air miles cards as simply a subset of rewards cards as the points-collecting mechanism is usually the same.

Broadly speaking, air miles cards reward travel-related spending, while rewards cards reward general local spending e.g. shopping and dining.

Good rewards credit cards offer high bonus points for the latter, making it possible to earn air miles more quickly. For example, the HSBC Revolution Credit Card we discussed above earns you the equivalent of 4 miles per $1 on online shopping and contactless payments.

However there are usually reward caps on these-for example, the HSBC Revolution card limits you to 9,000 Bonus reward points per month (about $1,000 spend), which may not be a large enough cap for heavier spenders (there's no cap for the base points though). The best card (or combo of cards) really depends on your actual spending habits.

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This article was first published in MoneySmart.