The best air miles credit cards are highly sought after by frequent wanderlusters, and are often considered an essential part of one’s travel arsenal. After all, who doesn’t want cheaper flights (money is definitely better spent on other parts of your trip), AND the ability to earn those benefits through the convenience of a credit card used in daily spending?
Problem is, there is filled with a variety of miles cards that offer a varying degree of benefits, so things can get pretty confusing. But don’t worry, we’re here to simplify things for you and list out the best air miles credit cards you should consider, and the reasons why.
1. American Express Singapore Airlines Krisflyer Credit Card
Best entry level card
The American Express Singapore Airlines Krisflyer Credit Card is an excellent air miles card to kickstart your miles collection. New card members can get up to 8,000 miles for free upon getting the card – 5,000 when you charge to your card for the first time, and another 3,000 when you spend S$700 within 6 months of activating the card – something that’s easily achievable – and a first year annual fee waiver.
Day-to-day spending on this card will earn you 1.1 Krisflyer miles for every $1 spent. Earn 2 Krisflyer miles if you spend overseas during the months of June and December.
There is also the added convenience of having your earned miles credited directly into your Krisflyer account, thus avoiding pesky conversion fees and waiting times. The downside to this would be that miles in your Krisflyer account would expire after three years at the end of the equivalent month in which they were earned.
Eligibility
Being an entry level card, the minimum annual income requirement is S$30,000.
What we like
- Low barrier to entry
- Hassle-free use of miles, no conversion inconveniences
- Free travel insurance coverage of up to S$350,000 when you purchase your travel tickets with this card
What we dislike
- No airport lounge access
- Annual fee for supplementary card
Who should get it?
This card would be perfect for entry level cardholders, with its low barrier to entry in annual income requirements and bonus miles for new members.
Find out more about the American Express Singapore Airlines Krisflyer Credit Card
2. Citi PremierMiles Visa Card
Best all-round card
The Citi PremierMiles Visa Card is a solid offering from Citibank that puts it up there as one of the best air miles credit cards in Singapore.
For a start, it’s possible to earn a whopping 42,000 bonus miles as a new cardholder – get 15,000 miles when you spend any amount within the first three months, and get an additional 15,000 miles if you spend S$10,000 within that same period. Add in another 12,000 miles for that S$10,000 spent as this card allows you to earn 1.2 miles for every $1 spent locally. Pretty neat, huh?
In addition to the 1.2 miles earned locally for every $1 spent, the PremierMiles Visa Card would also allow you to earn 2 miles for every $1 spent overseas. From now until 26 December 2016, earn 3 miles per $1 spent if spending over $1,000 over a long weekend in an overseas currency.
Other benefits worth mentioning are two complimentary Priority Pass lounge access each year, travel insurance and Citi Miles that can be converted into other rewards programmes other than KrisFlyer.
Oh, and did we mention your Citi Miles never ever expire?
A major downside, though, would be that it would cost you a $25 admin fee and five working days to convert your Citi Miles into real air miles.
Eligibility
The minimum annual income requirement is S$50,000.
What we like
- Decent miles earned per dollar spent
- Monstrous bonus miles offering for new cardholders
- Citi Miles never expire
- Able to convert Citi Miles into air miles through various rewards programmes, and not just KrisFlyer
- Complimentary lounge access
- Complimentary travel insurance when buying travel tickets with this card
- Ties in nicely with attractive Citi benefits like dining and the Citi Rebate programme
- Option to earn 10,000 miles by paying the annual fee
What we dislike
- Comparatively high annual income requirement
- Slight hassle in converting Citi Miles into air miles
Who should get it?
Everyone who can get their hands on this should get it. The annual income requirement is pegged at S$50,000, so it’s definitely not aimed at entry level cardholders, unfortunately.
That said, the 42,000 miles bonus would be especially tasty for those with big ticket items to purchase within the first three months of getting the card.
Find out more about the Citi PremierMiles Visa Card
3. DBS Altitude Card
Best for flights and accommodation
The items we almost definitely would spend on when going on a trip are air tickets and accommodation – and that’s where this card really shines. Cardholders get 3 miles for every $1 spent on all flight and accommodation transactions – yes, ALL – including bookings on Airbnb, Singapore Airlines and Agoda. This perk is capped at S$10,000 a month, but we don’t think that would be particularly limiting to most.
Daily local usage will yield 1.2 miles per $1 spent, and overseas usage gets you 2 miles for every $1 spent, which is not too shabby, and the same as using the Citi PremierMiles Visa Card.
The Altitude Card offers new cardholders 8,000 bonus miles when a minimum of S$1,000 is spent each month for the first two months. We feel that this is pretty mediocre, considering that this card is targeted at people with a minimum annual income of S$50,000.
Another downer would be fact that you would have to pay $42.80 per year to be enrolled into the DBS frequent flyer programme in order to transfer your DBS Points into air miles.
Eligibility
The minimum annual income requirement is S$50,000.
What we like
- 3 miles per $1 spent on all flights and accommodation transactions
- Decent miles earned per dollar spent
- Miles never expire
- Able to convert DBS Points into air miles through various rewards programmes, and not just KrisFlyer
- Complimentary lounge access
- Complimentary travel insurance when buying travel tickets with this card
- Ties in nicely with attractive Citi benefits like dining and the Citi Rebate programme
- Option to earn 10,000 miles by paying the annual fee
What we dislike
- Comparatively high annual income requirement
- Disappointing miles bonus
- The need to enrol into the DBS frequent flyer programme in order to convert DBS Points into air miles
Who should get it?
Again, this isn’t a card for entry-level people. However, the prospect of earning 3 miles per $1 spent on all flights and accommodation transactions is enough to push us to get this card. Its daily spending benefits are very similar to that of the Citi PremierMiles Visa Card, but the Altitude Card is let down by disappointing bonus miles offer.
Find out more about the DBS Altitude Visa Signature Card
Still not sure which one to go for? Compare these cards with others that earn air miles and rewards points on Finty.
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