Brand New KrisFlyer UOB Credit Card Offers 3 Miles per Dollar (No Cap!) on Dining, Transport, Online Shopping and Singapore Airlines
Back in June 2018, I noticed that there was a tender exercise for Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer Co-brand & Corporate Co-brand Credit Cards. Today, Singapore Airlines and UOB have announced a brand new credit card which offers an attractive earn rate of 3 KrisFlyer miles per dollar on Singapore Airlines (including SilkAir and Scoot) expenses, online shopping, transport and most importantly, dining. The brand new KrisFlyer UOB Credit Card is now available for application online and you can do it very quickly (takes just a minute!) if you have internet banking set up with UOB.
Click HERE to find out more about the KrisFlyer UOB Credit Card!
At the time of writing, there is no landing page for the KrisFlyer UOB Credit Card but according to Aaron from The Milelion (who has managed to attend the event as a plus one), the KrisFlyer UOB Credit Card will provide the opportunity to earn 3 KrisFlyer miles per dollar on the following categories:
Eligible spend on Singapore Airlines, SilkAir, Scoot and KrisShop
Eligible spend on transport, dining and online shopping (S$500 minimum annual spend on Singapore Airlines Group required)
All other eligible spend on the card will earn 1.2 KrisFlyer Miles per dollar and apparently there is no cap on the bonus earn rates on the aforementioned categories. Additionally, the new KrisFlyer UOB Credit Card will also come with the following benefits:
10,000 KrisFlyer miles renewal fee bonus (S$192.60 annual fee)
Fast track to KrisFlyer Elite Silver status (S$5,000 minimum spend on Singapore Airlines Group)
S$20 KrisShop rebate
No conversion fee (not sure whether the miles earned on this card will be automatically converted like the American Express Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer Ascend Credit Card)
Complimentary JetQuay access
S$15 off ChangiWiFi
S$15 off Grab rides (twice per member)
Scoot privileges - Priority check-in and boarding, additional baggage allowance, standard seat selection, S$10 fee waiver for tickets and Booking Flexibility waiver for name or flight changes.
All KrisFlyer Miles Calculated per S$5 Spent
Consistent to other UOB credit cards in the market, the calculation of KrisFlyer miles accrued on the brand new KrisFlyer UOB Credit Card is based on every S$5 spent - this means to say that spending S$4.99 will give you absolutely nothing.
Base Miles and Bonus Miles from Singapore Airlines Group Post in a Calendar Month
Eligible spend on the KrisFlyer UOB Credit Card will earn 6 KrisFlyer miles per S$5 (1.2 miles per dollar) and eligible spend on Singapore Airlines Group-related card transactions will earn 15 KrisFlyer miles for every S$5 spent. These miles will be automatically deposited into the member’s KrisFlyer account within a calendar month.
‘Accelerated Miles’ from Dining, Online Shopping, Online Travel and Transport Will Post Within 2 Months AFTER Card Membership Year
Now we all know that 3 miles per dollar on bonus categories with no cap is too good to be true and this is the caveat - all ‘accelerated miles’ earned on the card will only post within two months AFTER the card membership year - this means to say that the total eligible spend will be calculated at the end of your card’s membership year before a lump sum is deposited at the end.
To illustrate this simply, say your KrisFlyer UOB Credit Card gets approved and sent to you on 01 May 2019 and you spend S$2,000 each calendar month on (eligible) dining. You will earn 2,400 KrisFlyer miles each month (which will be automatically deposited into your KrisFlyer account) but at the end of your card’s membership year (which is 30 April 2020), a lump sum of 43,200 KrisFlyer miles (assuming that S$24,000 worth of eligible dining spend has been accumulated in your card’s membership year) will be deposited. UOB has explicitly stated in the card’s terms and conditions that the ‘expediton of Accelerated Miles is not allowed’.
Fast Track to KrisFlyer Elite Silver
KrisFlyer members who have the new KrisFlyer UOB Credit Card will be able to fast track to [KrisFlyer Elite Silver status](https://www.singaporeair.com/en_UK/sg/ppsclub-krisflyer/krisflyer/krisflyer-elite-silver/ ) by spending a minimum of S$5,000 on the Singapore Airlines group of airlines (e.g. Singapore Airlines, SilkAir and Scoot). The most significant benefit for holding KrisFlyer Elite Silver status is the ability to earn a 25% tier bonus on actual miles flown in eligible booking classes.
Welcome Bonus - 12,000 KrisFlyer Miles OR 5,000 KrisFlyer Miles + Free SQ/MI Return Ticket
As part of launch celebrations, customers will be given 12,000 KrisFlyer miles as a welcome bonus or 5,000 KrisFlyer miles with a complimentary return ticket on either Singapore Airlines or SilkAir to Bangkok, Lombok or Penang. Existing UOB customers will get 5,000 KrisFlyer miles deposited into their KrisFlyer accounts after making an eligible first transaction (minimum S$5) within the first 60 calendar days from the card open date.
Discounted Grab Rides - Capped at S$15 per Trip, Twice per Customer
Cardholders of the new KrisFlyer UOB Credit Card will be able to enjoy discounted Grab rides to and from the airport. You may remember that Singapore Airlines and Grab have launched a partnership sometime back in 2017, and you will now benefit from a maximum of S$15 discount per trip (limited to two trips per customer).
Discounted Airfares to Seven Destinations
Book an eligible flight using ‘UOBKRISFLYER’ as the promo code to enjoy exclusive fares on your KrisFlyer UOB Credit Card - simply book between 23 April 2019 and 15 May 2019 for travel between 01 July 2019 and 15 November 2019 (blackout dates may apply).
Click HERE for more information on the discounted routes.
Partnership Extension Planned between UOB and KrisFlyer
UOB and KrisFlyer plan to extend their partnership to their customers beyond Singapore, with a regional marketing campaign set to launch in May 2019 in Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand. The campaign will see an additional four million KrisFlyer miles made available for UOB cardmembers in the region.
You might remember the unattractive KrisFlyer UOB Savings account that was launched two years ago (has it been that long already?!) and even though I personally loved the design of the card, there was simply no reason to sign-up for it. With that being said, this new KrisFlyer UOB Credit Card is a shocker and to be very honest, I am just waiting to see what the catch is. We all know what happened to the HSBC Advance Credit Card when they offered no cap on the spectacular earn rates (4 miles per dollar) years ago and I cannot help but to worry about history repeating itself if the new KrisFlyer UOB Credit Card is indeed launched without an annual or monthly cap on the bonus miles.
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