The Milelion is featured in Zaobao!

The Milelion is delighted to be featured in today’s Zaboao Finance section.

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Here’s a translated version for those of us who are bilingual in other ways (and thank you very much to Ms Milelion for the translation)-

Besides being convenient to carry around, credit cards can also be used to collect air travel miles which makes travel in so much more affordable – so how should consumers efficient allocate their spending to get the most miles and points within the shortest period? 

信用卡除了方便携带,还可以积分换取便宜机票,消费者该如何配置,才能在最短的时间内赚取最多的分数呢?

The travel season is here! For those avid travelers out there – perhaps you might consider using your credit card to accumulate miles to lower your traveling expenses.

对有些人而言,收集分数换取奖品就好比一场游戏,在游戏规则的限定范围内,看自己是否能以最有效的方式换取最物有所值的礼物。

For some, accumulating points in exchange for rewards is like a game – the objective being to get the most value out of the points one has.

身为精明的消费者,我们又该如何玩飞行里数的积分游戏呢?

As savvy consumers, how do we game the system when it comes to accumulating points?

虽然多数银行都发行以累积飞行里数为主的信用卡,而且表面上看起来大同小异,但实际上,它们给予的奖励仍有细微而重要的差别。

Although most banks issue air miles credit cards which appear to provide similar returns on the surface, the devil lies in the details.

飞行里数卡的一大特征,是让消费者刷卡时,顺便累积可换取飞行里数的分数。因此,消费金额对飞行里数的比率可显示一张飞行里数卡是否具有足够的吸引力。

The biggest characteristic of air miles credit cards is that they allow consumers to accumulate air miles when they charge their expenditure. Hence the miles per $ expenditure ratio is the most important feature which determines the “attractiveness” of the air miles credit card

《联合早报》整理了市面上六张常见飞行里数卡的好处后,发现大华银行PRVI Miles威士卡一般消费可赚取的分数比其他卡要高(见表)。

<lian he zaobao> has compared the most common air miles credit card on the market, and found that the UOB PRVI MILES Visa card can earn you more points per $ spent than the other cards (see table)

不同消费用不同卡 巧妙配置回报大

Use different cards for different types of expenditure for greater returns 

值得一提的是,不同银行会与不同商家合作,就特种消费给予持卡人更多飞行里数,因此依情况使用适当的卡,可以更有效地赚取分数。

It is worth mentioning that banks will collaborate with different merchants and hence the certain types of expenditure will give you more miles than others on the same card. Hence, using different cards for different types of spending can help you collect miles and points faster.

例如,就新航(SIA)、盛安航空(SilkAir)或KrisShop的交易使用大华银行的PRVI Miles付款,每花一元可赚取三里。

For example, you can obtain 3 miles for every dollar spent on SIA/Silkair or KrisShop transactions with your UOB PRVI Miles card.

澳新银行顾名思义与澳大利亚和新西兰有密切关联,因此任何昆达士航空(Qantas)或捷星航空(Jetstar)的交易,以及在澳洲或新西兰的消费,每花一元可赚取2.8里。

As expected, ANZ has close links to all things Australian and Kiwi, and hence every dollar spent on Qantas, JetStar or any overseas spending in Australia or NZ can earn you 2.8 miles per dollar.

花旗银行则与各种商家合作,其中通过住宿预订网站Kaligo预订住宿,并使用花旗银行的PremierMiles威士卡付款,每花一元可赚取10里之多(促销截至今年底)。

Citibank has linked up with a number of different merchants, including the accommodation booking website kaligo.com. Using Citi’s premier miles Visa card, you can obtain 10 miles per dollar spent on kaligo.com (promotion valid till the end of this year)

飞行里数资讯网站MileLion的创办人黄宣明接受本报访问时说,要有效地累积飞行里数,只用一张信用卡其实不划算,应该就不同特种消费结合不同卡,以获取较高回报。

Aaron Wong, the founder of The Milelion, thinks that in order to most efficiently accumulate air miles, one needs to have more than one credit card and use each card depending on the type of expenditure.

他说,假设一个人一年内的花费是1万5000元,使用五张信用卡赚取的分数,比使用一张信用卡赚取的分数多出约一倍(见表)。

According to him, if a person spends $15000 per year on his card, he may earn more that twice the amount of miles by allocating the spending among 5 different cards (depending on the type of expenditure) than using a single card.

他说:“你一定要在这上面花点心思。你可以申请GIRO付款以免迟付卡账。不过,如果你觉得难以控制花费,这个方案就不适合你。我每月都会付清账款,使用信用卡纯粹是为了积分,我从来不用信用卡借钱。”

Aaron said, “you have to spend time and effort to get this right. To make things simpler, you can apply to pay you credit card bills via GIRO. However, if you find it difficult to control your spending, then this hobby may not be for you. I clear all my credit card debts at the end of the month and I purely use credit cards for earning points and never for borrowing money.

个人理财网站GET.com的创办人兼主编辑郑美琪受访时说:“虽然新加坡有不少信用卡可以让你在消费后用分数换取飞行里数,但我们应该分析我们的钱到底花在哪里,好让我们在最短时间内赚取最多里数。”

The founder of GET.com, Ms 郑美琪 said during our interview: “Although Singapore has quite a wide range of air miles credit card, consumers should analyze their spending patterns so that they can allocate their expenditure accordingly to earn miles more efficiently.”

她说,经常出国的人可考虑使用在海外消费可赚取较高分数的信用卡。根据其网站的筛选,PRVI Miles与星展银行Altitude威士御玺卡在这方面是最好用的。就外币消费而言,前者可赚取2.4里,后者可赚取2里,而且用Altitude支付网上订购的机票或酒店还可赚取3里。

She added that for those who travel on a frequent basis, it would be wise to make use of an air miles card that gets you more miles per dollar of overseas expenditure. Based on the websites’ information, PRVI Miles and DBS Altitude are the better cards on the market for this purpose. The former earns you 2.4 miles per dollar spent overseas, while the latter earns you 2 miles per dollar spent overseas. Furthermore, the Altitude card also earns you 3 miles for each dollar spent on online air travel and accommodation bookings.

郑美琪说:“如果你不常旅行,你应该使用一张在本地消费可赚取较高里数的信用卡,而这张卡也应该具有灵活性,让你可以换取其他奖励,比如现金回扣。我们建议消费者不要只看一般的好处,而是申请最符合自身需求的信用卡。”

郑美琪 said “if you don’t travel much, you should use a card which gets you more miles per dollar spent locally. However this card should also give you the flexibility to exchange points for other rewards such as cashback options. Consumers should not only analyze the perks each card gives, but should choose one which fits his or her own personal needs”

非飞行里数卡也有分数拿

Air miles credit card also gives you points 

银行在推销信用卡时,通常会围绕某个主题,比如飞行里数卡的对象是喜欢旅行的人,女性卡通常会有购物方面的奖励,日常所需卡则会有超市或打油方面的折扣等。

When promoting credit cards, banks usually will structure the perks of each card depending on their target audience a for example, air miles card are targeted at those who love air travel, while women’s’ cards usually provide shopping perks and rewards. General spending cards on the other hand, will provide discounts on groceries shopping and petrol.

其实,即便某张卡不是以飞行里数卡的名义推销,也可用来换取里数。这是因为,多数信用卡的积分机制,是让你先累积银行自己设定的分数,如星展银行的星展点数(DBS Point)或大华银行的UNI$,然后才让你用这些分数来换取不同奖励,而飞行里数就是奖励的其中一种。

Actually, even though some cards are not marketed as air miles cards, they can also be used to accumulate points. In facts, most credit cards operate on a points accumulation system – such as DBS points or UOB’s UNI$ – these points can then be converted into different rewards, and air miles is one such reward.

值得注意的是,每次换取飞行里数时,银行会收取一笔转换费,多数银行的收费为每次25元,有些银行则为一年42元8角。

However, it is worth it to note that every points to miles conversion comes with a conversion charge. Most banks charge $25 for each conversion, while others charge $42.80 on an annual basis for the conversion.

黄宣明指出,星展银行的女士世界万事达卡(DBS Woman’s World MasterCard)在网上购物每花1元可赚取4里,有些人或许不知道,男士其实也可以申请这张卡。他本身就使用这张卡来网购,并且说服了不少男同事申请这张卡。

Aaron mentioned that the DBS Woman’s World MasterCard lets you earn 4 miles per dollar spent for online shopping. While some may not be aware, men can also apply for this card. Aaron himself uses this card for his online shopping and managed to convince his male colleagues to do the same.

以累积飞行里数为爱好的黄宣明,曾经利用所累积的里数换来头等舱位的体验,并相信只要肯花时间做足功课,就可从中获得回报。

Aaron, who treats air miles accumulation as a hobby, has already managed to travel on first class and Suites using the miles he has collected over the years. He believes that as long as one is willing to spend time and effort, he will be able to reap a handsome return.

他说:“我觉得(这个爱好)非常引人入胜,就像在玩游戏一样,想办法利用漏洞或找出胜出的方法。我发现只要使用正确的信用卡,就可以累积到很多里数,请家人去很棒的旅行。”

Aaron says “I find this hobby very fun and addictive, it’s just like a game of discovering loopholes in the system. I’ve discovered that as long as I use the right credit card, I can accumulate so many more miles and I hope accumulate enough so I can take my family on amazing holidays abroad”

Please have a read of the full Q&A because there are some good tips in there for first-timers to the miles and points game!

Aaron Wong
Aaron Wong
Aaron founded The Milelion to help people travel better for less and impress chiobu. He was 50% successful.

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Nanami

Congratulations Aaron!

Boon Phua

Congrats and btw I’ll be taking QR business class to LHR soon and it’d be interesting to do a review of the on-board experience and also on the Al Mourjan Business Lounge in Doha.

Let me know if you’d keen on it?

Cheers,

Boon

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