Credit Cards That Every Mile-Chaser Should Have, and Then Some in 2019

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2018 has been a fairly unexciting year where new hotels and credit cards are concerned (perhaps with the exception of the American Express Platinum Card) and even though the global market is in bear market territory right now, it is important to be forward-looking in the year ahead. For all of us mile-chasers, these are the credit cards that you should be holding for 2019. There are of course some crazy credit cards out there in Singapore (that require an extremely high annual income or AUM) but for the sake of sanity and relevance, I am just limiting this article to credit cards that require up to S$200,000 annual income - all credit cards with a comparatively higher annual income requirement are placed in a separate section.

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Earn Additional Cashback at Physical Stores/Restaurants on Top of Your Credit Card Miles/Points with ShopBack Go

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Getting cashback for online purchases is not rocket science and ShopBack has truly made it extremely easy for users to get a proportion of their money back - I have been using this platform conscientiously over the years and have gotten cashback over S$3,000 (most of which are from travel bookings). ShopBack now allows you to earn cashback on physical (offline) transactions made at restaurants - this cashback (current sits at 5% for most stores) will then sit in your ShopBack account and you can then transfer it out to a bank account with no administrative charges once a minimum balance of S$10 is attained.

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World of Hyatt to Introduce Milestone Rewards from March 2019 - Unlock Benefits Every 10 Nights

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Hyatt has been making a number of loyalty program enhancements ever since the official relaunch (as World of Hyatt) in early 2017. Members are now able to use their points for free nights in premium suites and there is no longer a minimum length of stay for free nights in suites. With that being said, Points + Cash rates have also been devalued since members are now required to pay 50% of the BAR (instead of a fixed rate). In a bid to improve the loyalty program, World of Hyatt will be introducing Milestone Rewards to all members from 01 March 2019 - members will soon be able to unlock more perks and benefits with every 10 nights that they stay with the brand (up to 100 nights per year).

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4 Bonus KrisFlyer Miles per S$1 Spent on RedMart with American Express Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer Credit Card - AmEx Offer

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It is no secret that I love my American Express Platinum Card- the S$1,712 annual fee may put most people off but the perks are amazing and if you do enjoy traveling in style, these benefits will essentially offset the annual fee very easily (especially in the first year). One thing that American Express does very well is the American Express Offers that cardholders can sign-up for - this morning, I noticed that American Express Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer Credit Card members can now earn 4 bonus KrisFlyer Miles for every S$1 spent on RedMart (registration is necessary) - the bonus miles are capped at 1,600 KrisFlyer miles per Card and the offer is limited to the first 15,000 eligible Cards which are successfully registered for the offer.

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InterContinental Ambassadors to get Platinum Elite (IHG Rewards Club) Status and Complimentary Breakfast

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I have heard through the grapevine this morning that InterContinental Ambassadors (as well as Royal Ambassadors) will be getting some enhanced benefits in the year ahead. Unfortunately for RA members, they will be seeing some significant changes to minibar inclusions - RA members used to be able to enjoy everything in the minibar for free. If you are a regular InterContinental Ambassador member like me, you should relatively happy with all the upcoming changes. Remember, you can pay to become an InterContinental Ambassador for just USD 200 or 40,000 IHG Rewards Club Points - the membership will last for 12 months.

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The Shutterwhale's 2019 Complete List of New Hotel Openings in Singapore

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With only less than three weeks left in 2018, it is important to look ahead to the new year and start planning for all those new hotel openings in Singapore. While 2017 was a great year for travellers since there were a number of iconic hotel openings that year, 2018 was a fairly unexciting one. There will be an increase in supply of hotel rooms in the Luxury and Mid-tier segments in 2019 and there will also be a couple of new brand introductions into the Singapore market.

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Check Your Bonus Points on DBS Altitude Card - Online Hotel & Travel Spend NOT Getting 3 Miles per Dollar!

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I personally recommend the DBS Woman's World Mastercard (WMC) and DBS Altitude Card combo if you typically charge a lot of online travel expenses to your card - I personally max out the S$2,000 bonus each month on the WMC and charge the remaining online hotel and travel expenses to my DBS Altitude Card (up to S$5,000) for the rest of the statement period. Now, DBS advertises 3 miles per dollar on the DBS Altitude Card and if it is charged in SGD, you will earn 1,2 miles (in equivalent DBS Points) at the time of posting and the rest in the following month (usually on the 16th unless it is not a business day). However, I realised that over S$4,000 of my expenses in the previous month did not earn any bonus DBS Points (even though they are all online hotel expenses!).

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The CBD Warrior's Guide to Affordable Healthy Lunches - Stacking Waitrr, Credit Cards and Promo Codes

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Last month, I wrote about how using Waitrr has helped me beat the queues at popular lunch spots in the CBD and more importantly, to help me save money in the long run. As I have mentioned previously, there is no price mark-up when you make an order via Waitrr and you will probably enjoy greater discounts since there are promotions that run from time to time and also a loyalty programme that you can take advantage of. If you are a new user, using my referral code 'MAR94817' will give you S$3 off your first order.

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