The Milelion was started as a passion project and it’s the most amazing feeling in the world to know that people are able to use the information here to travel better for less.
As The Milelion grows and continues to (hopefully!) attract more readers, I think it’s about time to open up a one-stop ask anything service that helps people with their personalised circumstances.
So if you have questions on
- Saving the most money on your hotel stays
- Nabbing some airline redemption seats
- Getting the best deal on a rental car (or insurance for that matter)
- Which credit cards to get
- Getting sim cards for the USA or the UK
- Anything at all!
Please reach out to us- questions can be sent to [email protected], left on our facebook page or simply put in the comments section of any article.
We’d love to help you- just let us know how!
cover photo by Mathilde AUDIAU
Hi Aaron
2 questions for you
– if ordering through food panda or deliveroo apps would this be classed as online spend?
– have you used krisflyer spree much, I noticed redmart is in there which we use a bit, if you follow the link but then open the app via link at the top do you know if this will still be tracked for the points?
1. yes, for dbs woman’s card
2. i didn’t understand this qn- but in general for tracking it is always best to use the window that opens when you click through. keep a log of all your transactions so you can submit for disputes if needed
Hi Aaron, maybe you could cover a post about complimentary travel insurance from all the credit cards?
I remember a time when we travelled down under with a particular LCC, and our luggage ended up in the land of the rising sun. Not surprisingly, we got nothing out of them. But we also weren’t able to charge the trip on the right CC so we didn’t have travel insurance then.
that’s a great idea and it’s in the works. I’m tied down at my day job now but hope to have this done over the weekend!
Awesome. Thanks, Aaron! Looking forward to it 🙂
How about a summary on the various lounge access feature by the cc? Could be a topic on its own too 🙂
published something on travel insurance! was harder to put together than I thought- a lot of reading fine print. I hope I captured most of it correctly but if something strikes you as wrong be sure to let me know
Is there a way to do MS in Singapore? :/
Rule #1 of MS in Singapore: You don’t talk about MS in Singapore
I know there used to be some opportunities with qoo10 but those have gone away already.
What’s the best card for 1. getting a diamond ring 2. planning a wedding
hi- have a look at this article https://milelion.com/2016/02/03/2276/
Are Jewellery shops considered shopping for 10 time rewards? Hmmm…
haven’t tried. but if you buy jewellery through a department store you’ll get 10x
Hi Aaron, thank you for this hugely informative website! I’m wondering what you think of the HSBC Visa Infinite card? I gather it’s for the higher-end market, are there other competitors in its field?
hi cornelia! I’d put the hsbc visa infinite in the same category as the standard chartered VI, the citi prestige and perhaps the ocbc voyage (not in terms of benefits, but in terms of how the banks want to position them- the ocbc voyage is a terrible card). basically any CC with an income requirement of 120K you can read about the standard chartered VI here. I haven’t written an article on the hsbc VI per se, but the annual fee allows you to buy KF miles for less than 2 cents each which may be useful to you. but… Read more »
Hi,
Does topping up fevo card still classified as online spending for DBS Woman card?
yup
Hi Aaron
How would u advise ppl to best maximise their business class ticket? what sort of freebies can you ask the stewardesses to provide? Teddy bears? Champagne? What type of champagne do you ask for? Do you ask for it every hour? Every half hour? Anything you can think of which is not obvious? Caviar? Oysters? Hope u got some tips to share on this!
definitely go for a day flight if you want to maximise your experience. the booze is free flow, in SQ J they serve charles heidsieck. i generally ask for enough to make me sleepy. if it’s an overnight flight they set up a snack table in the galley where you can get nibbles and the teddy bears. caviar and oysters are the realm of first class, unfortunately. hope you have a great flight!
Have a comparison query.
WW>Fevo vs Altitude for general spending.
With the 1% topup fee but 4M, compared with 1.2/2M earning.
Which do you propose? Any pros and cons for this 2 other than the mentioned 1%?
Hi Aaron
DBS Altitude will provide two free passes a year to selected lounges. After applying for Priority Pass any idea how Long it will take for the two lounge vouchers to arrive?
come again? i thought PP didn’t operate on a voucher basis. am i missing something?
Oh? I m not so familiar as never apply before. So meaning after I apply I just show the lounge staff my membership pass will do?
After applying you will get a digital copy of your PP first while waiting for your pp card to be mailed to you.. You can use the digital copy to access the lounge as well.
Thanks! Does this mean I just show them my digital member card and I can access the lounge free for me and one guest if it is my first time using?
Also, after one year is up do I need to apply again or is it auto renew?
1) Yes. you don’t need to wait for the physical card if you have the app.
2) Auto renew. Just watch out for the renewal date.
If auto renew that means they will auto charge membership fees to the DBS altitude card?
Your PP membership is complementary as long as you haven’t cancelled your altitude Visa card.
Hey Aaron
Can I purchase a stay at a Starwood property via Expedia and still get it counted as one night in the spg program? If this is not possible then how do you take advantage of the 6 miles per dollar promotion by Citibank/uob?
I think I can answer this. You can’t earn 6miles booking from an OTA like Expedia and get SPG points. An SPG hotel may honor your status (if any), you just will not get points.
You can get 4miles/$ though by booking with SPG and paying with UOB Visa Signature. This assumes you hit $1K minimum FCY spend and that you are actually overseas.
Cheers,
Phil
Agree with Phil. 4 miles with DBS WWMC. Plus any offers from SPG. Triple points offer going on.
DBS WWMC might not earn 4miles/$ booked on spg.com even if its a prepaid rate. A lot of hotels process the payment offline.
Hmmm… But is it worth it? Book Expedia get 6 miles.
Book with uob visa signature at spg website directly get 4 miles. Convert the spg points earned to miles will get 2.14 miles assuming gold preferred status. 6.14 vs 6?
Hmmm… Are my calculations correct?
You get to use spg status benefits. And SPG points transferability is better (compared to DBS). More choices of airlines to transfer to.
And another thing… We need one night stay at spg to get preferred gold using the worldmastercard offer. Can this one night stay be purchased from ota like Expedia?
@A Technically no. You pay the OTA who pays SPG, so there’s no way to track that you paid with a World MasterCard.
However, you may get lucky. I had a work stay that I payed for with corporate AMEX that triggered the offer after I registered my DBS WWMC. I believe that many hotel payments systems do not tell SPG head office what card stays were paid with – which is good. It would probably be in breach of PCI DSS.
hold up. i do not believe this will work but not for the reason phil mentioned. it needs to be a qualifying stay to get your 1 stay= gold. ota stays are non qualifying.
Yep, that sounds right.
No benefits if you book through OTAs.
by right. although they can be nice to you sometimes. i got free breakfast and lounge access some time back when i booked an ota hilton stay with hilton gold. ymmmv.
I can’t find any saver award for sin-jfk… Business or first!
Aaron… How did u manage to find that award space for ur recent trip there on suites? You checked the website Everyday?
i haven’t made the journey to jfk in suites, it’s near impossible. i did suites to CDG, jeriel (my guestwriter) did to LHR.
Hi Aaron… When u redeem DBS points to kris miles, how Long does it take between deduction of points and crediting of the miles? do they deduct ur dbs points first then credit the miles a few days later?
would also like to double check with u as u mentioned before when u make purchase in Starwood website you get 4 miles per $ using uob ppv? Starwood should be categorised under MCC code for travel so shouldn’t they earn just 0.4 mile per $?
Hi Aaron
The promotion on SPG website regarding buy 2/3 nights get one night free, do you know how often do they have it?
If I have a trip next year and the current promotion is only until 31 Dec, in your experience when would the next promo be run?
eh, no idea. i’ve seen it a couple of times before though. i thought this was quite common with mastercard