A warrior is not complete without his weapon, just as a traveller should not be without his travel essentials. Travel credit cards are like the vital weapon to frequent travellers, picking the right one for oneself can give you huge savings and attractive travel benefits. And just like a warrior, one should always pick a weapon to complement his strengths and personality, so as to maximise the benefits and advantages.
If you’re a frequent traveller, whether for work or play, you should already own a travel focused credit card. But if you don’t, fret not! Cardable has compiled a list of travel credit cards in Singapore to help you in your selection process, identifying the key features and perks you should watch out for. Think about your spending habits, travel patterns and personality while you cruise through this discussion. Do you prefer using your card on overseas transactions? Are miles or cash back your preferred perk? Do other travel-related benefits like insurance and priority pass to airport lounges appeal to you?
Let us get down to the details with a summary of the travel credit cards we will cover.
| CREDIT CARD | KEY FEATURE | BEST FOR |
| Citi PremierMiles Master Credit Card
|
| Points with no expiration date |
| AMEX Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer Card
|
| No conversion of miles required |
| HSBC VISA Infinite Credit Card
|
| Travel insurance & unlimited VIP airport lounge access |
| Standard Chartered Visa Infinite Credit Card
|
| Priority passes |
| DBS Altitude AMEX Card
|
| Bonus air miles (yearly bonus) |
| OCBC Titanium Credit Card
|
| Easily convertible reward points |
| UOB PRVI Miles Visa Card
|
| High air mile earn rate |
| Maybank Horizon Visa Signature Card
|
| 3 years annual fee wavier |
1. Citi PremierMiles Visa Credit Card
Best for: Points with no expiration date travel credit card
Once your application for the Citi PremierMiles Master Credit Card is approved, you can start earning as much as 42,000 Citi Miles – in just a few months’ time.
You can earn up to 10 Citi Miles for every S$1 spend on specific online travel websites. For every S$1 you spend, you’ll also get Citi Miles. That’s 1.2 Citi Miles (for local spend) and 2 Citi Miles (for overseas spend). You will also get 4 Citi Miles now for every S$1 spend on food delivery and home entertainment, earning Citi Miles even when you are staying home!
The most attractive factor with the Citi PremierMiles Visa credit card is that these miles come with no expiration date. If you make most of your travel bookings online and do not want to keep up with the expiration dates for your miles, this card may be a good fit.
What’s more, in a new feature rolled out by Citibank in April 2019, you can also earn miles/reward points when you pay your tax, rent, condominium management fee, school fee or electricity bill with Citi PayAll on the Citi Mobile® App.
Start earning miles without worrying about expiration with Citi PremierMiles Visa Credit Card now!
2. AMEX Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer Card
Best for: No conversion travel credit card
If you often fly Singapore Airlines and they are always your preferred choices when it comes to flights, the AMEX Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer Card is probably the best choice for you! For every SGD $1 of in-flight (or online) spending – at Singapore Airlines and KrisShop, you’ll receive 2 KrisFlyer Miles. What’s more, these KrisFlyer Miles will also be auto-credited to your KrisFlyer account, no extra work for you!
Another attractive factor about this card is the additional travel perks, such as discounted car rental rates at Hertz and travel insurance coverage. Besides travelling privileges, you’ll also get 2 KrisFlyer Miles for every S$1 equivalent overseas spend and 1.1 KrisFlyer Miles for S$1 local spend, with no cap. While flights are currently stopped due to the pandemic, you can continue to earn 3.1 KrisFlyer Miles for every S$1 spend while you travel locally with Grab!
 | AMEX Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer Credit Card |
Earn KrisFlyer miles without the hassle of conversion with the AMEX Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer Card today.
3. HSBC Visa Infinite Credit Card
Best for: Travel insurance and access to airport lounges worldwide
The appeal factor of the HSBC Visa Infinite Card is the automatic travel insurance it offers when you charge your full travel expense to the card. The travel insurance covers over 20 benefits, and insures the cardholder as well as his/her family member. It offers worldwide travel insurance that can go up as much as US $2 million!
The air miles earn rate is at 2 miles per S$1 on overseas spend, and 1 mile per S$1 on local spend for the first year of card membership. From the 2nd year onwards, it can be boosted up to 2.25 air miles for every S$1 on overseas spend, and 1.25 air miles for every S$1 on local spend!
In addition, the HSBC Visa Infinite Card allows cardholders to have unlimited access to over 1,100 VIP airport lounges worldwide, just by presenting the credit card, boarding pass & quoting “Loungekey”. You may also bring a guest along with you at just US$32 per guest per visit.
The HSBC Visa Infinite Card is undoubtedly the most premium card out of all the other travel credit cards we’re looking at. With a minimum annual income of S$120,000 and an annual fee of S$650, it’s no wonder the perks and benefits are also at a premium level.
 | HSBC HSBC Visa Infinite Credit Card |
Travel at ease and in style with the HSBC Visa Infinite card today!
4. Standard Chartered Visa Infinite Credit Card
Best for: Priority Pass travel credit card
Travelling in comfort can be a very crucial factor to some frequent flyers, due to the amount of time they have to spend travelling to, from and at airports, and in flights. If you identify with this need, perhaps the Standard Chartered Visa Infinite Card is what you’re looking for.
As a Standard Chartered Visa Infinite Card holder, you’ll get to enjoy up to six complimentary visits to Priority Pass airport lounges annually! What’s more, you also get to enjoy complimentary travel insurance coverage up to S$1M when you charge your full travel to the card.
The air miles earn rate is at 1.4 air miles for every S$1 local spend and 3 air miles for every S$1 overseas spend.
 | Standard Chartered Visa Infinite |
Get your 6 complimentary visits to Priority Pass airport lounges worldwide annually with the Standard Chartered Visa Infinite Credit Card.
5. DBS Altitude American Express Card
Best for: Bonus air miles travel card (yearly bonus)
A traveller could really use bonus miles, right? With the DBS Altitude AMEX Card, you’ll receive 10,000 air miles as annual bonus if you choose to pay the annual membership fee.
The DBS Altitude AMEX Card also has exclusive partnerships with Agoda, Expedia and Kaligo. If you frequently book through these sites, you’ll be glad to know that every S$1 spend lets you earn 10 miles at Expedia and Kaligo lets you earn 6 miles Expedia!
Otherwise, you may still earn 3 air miles for online flight and hotel transactions with every S$1 spent, capped at S$5,000 monthly. You’ll also receive 2 air miles for every S$1 of overseas spend, and 1.2 air miles for every S$1 local spend. With all these travel perks, no wonder the card is voted the best travel credit card by Tripzilla!
 | DBS Altitude American Express Card |
Earn bonus air miles every year with the DBS Altitude American Express Card!
ALSO READ: Expedia Credit Card Promotions in Singapore
6. OCBC Titanium Credit Card
Best for: Easily convertible reward points travel credit card
Did you know that you can easily convert your OCBC rewards points into air miles? Signing up for the OCBC Titanium Credit Card is the first step. With this card, 25,000 OCBC$ is equal to 10,000 KrisFlyer Miles! You’ll also earn 50 OCBC$ for every S$5 spend on eligible online and retail transactions.
3Simplify your rewards points conversion to air miles with OCBC Titanium Credit Card.
7. UOB PRVI Miles Visa Card
Best for: High air mile earn rate travel credit card
Of course, if your main focus is still to earn as many miles as possible, this last card we want to talk about may just be The One. The UOB PRVI Miles Visa Card is amazing in this aspect, with the simple, key feature that allows you to earn 6 miles with every S$1 spent!
By using the UOB PRVI Miles Visa card, you get to earn 6 air miles with every S$1 spent when you book hotels and major airlines through selected partner travel sites such as Agoda and Expedia. You’ll also receive 1.4 miles (for local) and 2.4 miles (for overseas) with every S$1 spend. You can also earn 1.4 miles now for every S$1 spend on train and bus rides. Sounds like a pretty awesome deal to us!
 | UOB UOB PRVI Miles World MasterCard |
UOB PRVI Miles Card has one of the highest air miles earn rates among other travel credit cards!
8. Maybank Horizon Visa Signature Card
Best for: 3 year waived annual fee
Many credit card gives waiver of annual fee to attract sign-ups, but none does it better than Maybank Horizon Visa Signature Card. It boast a guaranteed 3 years annual fee waiver, which saves you tons of money, while allowing you to keep your miles on the card
You will also earn 3.2 Air Miles with every S$1 spend on any restaurant dining and at all petrol stations. You will also earn the same when you charge your Grab and taxi rides to your Maybank Horizon Visa Signature Card and use it to book hotels at Agoda.
>> Sign up for the Maybank Horizon Visa Signature Card here.
Enjoy guaranteed 3 years annual fee waiver with Maybank Horizon Visa Signature Card.
Your choice of travel credit card
We hope this has helped you to decide, or at least narrow down your choices on an appropriate travel credit card. The card features and perks can a lot of information to take in, so take your time to digest the information before you apply for the card that suit your needs best.
Another tip to share, several travel credit cards offer miles in their own “currency” and will require a conversion to air miles for a particular Frequent Flyer programme (eg. KrisFlyer miles). These miles may or may not equate to the same number of miles in the Frequent Flyer programme of your choice, so do keep a lookout for that!
Let us know your choice of weapon if you do decide on one! If you feel like you need more help in visualising your spend and reward, take a look at our article on Comparison of Air Miles Credit Cards in Singapore as well.
Feel free to comment below to share your experiences with any of these travel credit cards.
Advertisement
