The Milelion Directory has been Updated for May

Hello everyone

The Milelion directory has been updated for May.

Highlights for the previous month include the launch of the new Krisflyer UOB account, which I declared to be dead on arrival. That led to a response from the bank that kind of missed the point, and eventually we all agreed we dislike influencers and everyone was happy (that is, unless you prefer cashback cards to miles)

Have fun wading through the cybercarnage of this month

Aaron

Airline Programs

• What is the value of a mile? (Read Jeriel’s updated take here)
• Should I buy miles through a mileage broker? And how hard is it to get an airline to shut down your account?
• Get cheap(er) first and business class flights on Star Alliance with Lifemiles. Lifemiles holds discounted miles sales from time to time, you can read an example of one here
• Or if you fancy flying Cathay, get cheaper flights through Alaska Mileageplan
• Learn about the SQ waitlist here and here
• How bad is the SQ waitlist, really?
• Please, don’t waste your Krisflyer miles on Scoot/Tiger vouchers
• Krisflyer spree is a waste of your time
• Also, don’t pay more to earn Krisflyer miles on Scoot/Tiger
• Things to watch out for when booking with Tigerair
• Should you redeem your Krisflyer miles for Star Alliance partner awards? There are some sweet spots!
• Planning to fly with a particular airline only once and don’t want those miles to go to waste? Pool them in Etihad and cash out
• Get discounted upgrades using the Etihad upgrade bidding system
• Is Krisflyer overdue for a devaluation? (edit: the devaluation is here!- 2016. More coverage on the 2017 devaluation here, here and here)
• Booking an RTW trip? Start from Japan and save big
• Could Asiamiles be better than Krisflyer?
• Learn how to pool your family’s miles with Japan Airlines
• Singapore Airlines intends to launch a bidding system for paid upgrades to premium economy. Watch this space.
• Is it worth it to redeem First Class over Business Class?
• Could Singapore Airlines be lining up some major improvements to its ground experience in Singapore?
• Here are some lesser known ways of earning Krisflyer miles
• More thoughts about the Krisflyer partner award chart- when does it make more sense to redeem with partners than on SQ?
• SQ has a new Teochew menu, but how do those options look like in real life?
• Based in Singapore? Great value premium fares are hard to come by but don’t lose heart…
• Explaining how you can score a business class trip to Bangkok for $100
• If you’re an NUSS member, you can get free lounge access the next time you’re in Changi Airport
• Garuda held an amazing 90% off award ticket sale for a few days in December and pulled the sale early. What was my experience like?
• Delta Airlines is offering a status match with status upfront, and will match Krisflyer status too
• Thai Airways offers walk up upgrades. How much do they cost and should you buy one?
• SQ has a CNY fare deal sale, here are all the codes you need
• SQ’s new A380 cabin products should launch late this year. Here’s my gameplan to try them
• Plaza Premium now has a lounge loyalty program that can benefit those with unlimited Priority Pass visits
• With the Krisflyer devaluation, is it time to start looking at Asia Miles? Read Louis’ take here and The Milelion’s full featured guide here
• SQ’s new A380 suites should be all on the upper deck, as you’ll see in this seatmap leak
• Apparently, Krisflyer does status match. Who knew?
• Also, Krisflyer does “give chance” with status requalification too
• In April 2017, UOB launched their new Krisflyer UOB account, which I declared to be dead on arrival. That led to a response from the bank which kind of missed the point, and eventually we all agreed we dislike influencers
• Here are some alternative ways of investing money that might be better than putting it in a 0 interest UOB Krisflyer account
• Norwegian Air is launching direct Singapore to London flights
• People are reporting some issues with getting TK to honor status match T&Cs

Credit Cards

• A primer on lounge access through credit cards
• The Milelion pocket credit card guide
• Should I use my credit card overseas?
• Is the DBS Multi-currency account a good way of avoiding overseas transaction fees? 
• 2016 credit card strategy and what card to use when
• Why cashback cards suck
• Best cards for general spending
• Best cards for specialised spending
• Are you a student? Can you earn miles?
• What are the best entry-level credit cards for earning miles? (the DBS Altitude card is now available for 30K income bracket!)
• How to earn miles for bill payments 
• Dining cards in Singapore (and your last chance to get the UOB Preferred Platinum AMEX for dining)
• Is that complimentary travel insurance that comes with your credit card any good?
• Is that flashy new OCBC Voyage card any good? No, no and no. But maybe if you’re a John…
• I’ve got a lot of credit cards. Does this damage my credit score?
• Ultra exclusive credit cards- ultra pointless (but if you want to learn about the $500,000 income requirement DBS Insignia card, read about it here)
• Is there any point converting PAssion points to Krisflyer miles?
• The Krisflyer Ascend has been rebranded. What has changed? Also read The Milelion’s take on the new Krisflyer cobranded AMEXes here
• 4 miles on “everything” through FEVO (you used to be able to do this with the AMEX Imagine but sadly that card is bye bye)
• UOB’s YOLO card is a reminder that life is too short for cashback
• Want to get a no-fee Visa Infinite card? Now you can with CIMB
• Standard Chartered Visa Infinite presents an opportunity to buy miles for less than 2 cents each
• The Milelion Credit Card Omnibus
• Does it make sense to use your credit card to pay taxes?
• Can you earn miles on Ezlink topups?
• The HSBC Advance card has some interesting perks you might want to consider
• This link will eventually get outdated, but if you’re reading this now, fancy metal cards do not count as a benefit
• Which credit card has the best airport transfer perk?
• Heading to Japan? You should see if the JCB card has benefits you might be interested in 
• Is the Maybank Horizon worth getting for transport and petrol spending?
  
• ANZ is leaving the retail banking business. What does this mean for your ANZ cards?
• ANZ gutted the benefits on its Visa Signature travel card, but is it trying to progressively bring back some?
• Nah. The ANZ card is dying a slow and undignified death
• Say hello to the new and improved OCBC Titanium card, with 4 miles per $1 on shopping
• Standard Chartered cardholder? Remember to get your free Crystal Jade membership
• What are the best credit cards to use for Black Friday shopping? Or for all online shopping, for that matter?
• Citibank no longer offers 10X points when you use your Rewards card to pay your bills
• DBS has changed how its miles conversion fee works from per year to per transfer
• Can you use DASH to earn more miles?
• UOB loves running promotions that test the limits of your mathematical abilities. Here’s an example of one. They also have subpar sign up bonuses
• The HSBC Advance is one of the best cards for online spending and dining, but its 4 mpd promotion is limited time only. Fortunately, it’s been extended again to end of March 17
• Citibank and CitiPay offer more opportunities for 4mpd with your Citibank Rewards card
• Potential MS opportunity for new Citibank cardholders
• Citibank ThankYou points are one of the more flexible points currencies we have here in Singapore. Here’s what you should and should not do with them
• Some credit cards come with concierge services. Are they any good?
• Priority banking travel privileges part 1: DBS
• DBS Altitude double miles promotion
• DBS and POSB credit cards can now be used to pay ERP charges
• OCBC wants to make their marketing more transparent. That’s good, but the medium is the message
• UOB and DBS round your transactions down to the nearest $5 before awarding points. How much do you lose out this way?
• A reminder that if you’re on the old DBS frequent flyer scheme, you won’t get an automated notification that your membership is expiring
• Revisiting the old cashback vs miles debate…this time in the ST

Hotels

• Get quick elite status through status challenges
• Hilton is matching rival hotel program status till 30 June, get your status matched here
• Or get quick SPG gold status if you have a World Mastercard
• Learn how to score 5* hotel stays at 1* prices through Hotwire and Priceline
• Learn how to use Best Rate Guarantees to lower the cost of your hotel stay
• How do I find BRG opportunities? (Edit: Justbrg is dead, why not try BookBRG?)
• Got a Visa Signature card? Some special hotel deals for you
• Need to stay at a hotel outside your regular chain? Get additional miles when you book
• Want an alternative to the traditional OTAs? Try these
• Like boutique hotels? Check out Small Luxury Hotels
• How do you get cheaper staycations in Singapore?
• Krisflyer and Shangri-la have a tie up to offer reciprocal benefits. Learn more here
• Club1 Hotels wants to offer you wholesale prices on hotels
• Is Hilton HHonors Gold the only status you’ll ever need?
• Starwood Q1 2017 promotion has been announced
• UOB Expedia “promotion” for 10% off stays, if you can call it that. Try and find an Expedia Rate, I dare ya!
• Hilton status matches are available now for an unspecified period of time
• Dining in hotels with kids? Make sure you know about these programs
• If you got free LHW status it may have been revoked. Check here.

Rental Cars

• Save money on your rental car insurance
• Pick your own rental car with National
• Free one way car rentals. Really 
• Upgrade your trip to a convertible for cheap

SIM Cards

• Free US Sim Cards
• Free France Sim Cards
• Free UK Sim Cards
• What is your best option for data roaming overseas?

Reviews of Flights and Hotels (Trip Reports)

• Sheraton Samui
• Singapore Airlines Suites SIN-CDG
• Singapore Airlines Business Class SIN-SFO
• Singapore Airlines Premium Economy SIN-HKG
• Singapore Airlines Suites SIN-LHR
• More reflections on SQ Premium Economy
• ANA First Class SEA-SIN
• Qatar Airways Business Class SIN-DOH
• Finnair Business Class BKK-HEL
• St Regis Beijing
• Conrad Koh Samui (and can you hack the Conrad Koh Samui?)
• Vana Belle Koh Samui
• The Milelion’s RTW Trip, which has many reviews of hotels and airlines inside
• Crowne Plaza Singapore Changi Airport
• Hilton Tokyo Odabia
• Intercontinental Danang
• The Long Way to New York  (TG F, NH F, SQ Suites reviews + tips on New York and DC)
• Hotel Vagabond Singapore
• A short trip with SQ’s oldest aircraft (or at least, oldest cabin product)
• Conrad Bangkok Review
• Aloft Bangkok Review
• A review of Thai’s A350 business class
• On the road again to Rio (LH PY and J, SQ new and old J)
• ANA First Class review
• Want to fly your own plane? It’s not that hard…
• Via Istanbul (TK J and Trains)
• Miami, no vice. Still a work in progress…but 80% done!

Other useful stuff

• Use cashback sites, save money, earn points as per normal
• More on cashback sites
• Remember to pair your Uber and SPG accounts, but beware of Uber’s new untransparent pricing model
• See The Milelion’s powerpoint presentation on travel hacking
• Dynamic currency conversion is a scam. Just say no, kids
• Get your APEC business travel card to skip queues at the airport
• Save on Wifi costs by turning your laptop into a router
• Is The Entertainer good value for money?
• Can you turn your rental payments into miles with ipaymy?
• What are the different promotions for Android/Apple/Samsung pay?
• Earn miles with your ERP and parking payments
• Global Entry is now available for Singaporeans, but how long do you have to wait?
• Travelling in the States and want to save some money on transport? Leverage these sign up bonuses and save
• Standard Chartered has a 20% rebate on Uber. What’s the catch?
• How does that newfangled Google Trips work?
• An AirBnB user? Remember to get your $68 of free credit
• AirBnB gift cards sometimes go on sale, we’ll keep you posted when they do
• Read about the Racquet Club experience at the WTA Finals!
• If you want to visit USS Halloween Horror Nights you should be prepared...
• New to the miles game? Have a read of the presentation our guestwriter Louis did at The Substation as part of the School of Uncommon Knowledge
• Do you make payments with Paypal? Beware, there’s something fishy going on with foreign currency transactions
• All I want for Christmas in 2016 is…
• Check out the primer on travel hacking The Milelion ran with iPayMy- part 1 and part 2 materials here.
• How to plan a trip to Miami
• Cardup is another way you can earn 4mpd on your rental and other payments (there is a member-get-member promo going on for a limited time)
• You can now find The Milelion on the Instantgram
• What is ABT and who is giving away what?
• US Travel Association runs an annual daily getaway sale with the opportunity to buy hotel points and rental car certificates at a discounted rate. The promotion is done for the year, but check out 2017’s offers here

[Last updated: [28 May17]