UOB PRVI Miles extends 4.4 mpd on SimplyGo to 30 June 2020

Since October 2019, UOB has been running a 4.4 mpd promo on SimplyGo transactions charged to the UOB PRVI Miles Mastercard or Visa.

This promo was originally scheduled to end on 31 December 2019, but was extended to 29 February 2020. UOB has once again extended the promo, which now lasts till 30 June 2020.

Registration is required for this promotion; if you registered during the previous editions of this promotion, there’s no need to register again. The T&C make this very clear at point 1.5.

If you haven’t already registered, then you’ll need to send the following to 77862:

How does the promotion work?

Once registered, you’ll need to use your UOB PRVI Miles Visa or Mastercard to pay for public transport rides via mobile contactless (i.e Apple Pay, Fitbit Pay, Google Pay or Samsung Pay). You will not earn any bonus miles if you tap your physical card at the reader.

The 4.4 mpd is broken down as follows:

• UNI$3.5 per S$5 spent on locally (1.4 mpd- the base UNI$)
• UNI$7.5 per S$5 spent on eligible transit transactions (3 mpd- the bonus UNI$)

Bonus UNI$ earned during the 1 Mar-30 Jun 20 period will be credited by 30 September 2020. 

Any bonus UNI$ earned from the first edition of this promotion (1 Oct- 31 Dec 19) will be credited by 31 Mar 2020, and any bonus UNI$ earned from the second edition of this promotion (1 Jan- 29 Feb 20) will be credited by 31 May 2020.

What’s the cap?

The maximum bonus UNI$ you may earn each month is capped at UNI$120 (240 miles), or S$80 worth of spending. Any spending above S$80 will earn the usual 1.4 mpd.

If you hold a supplementary PRVI Miles Visa/Mastercard, your spending will also be eligible to earn 4.4 mpd, but you’ll share the S$80 cap with the principal cardholder.

UOB has clarified that the cap is per account, so even if you have both a UOB PRVI Miles Visa and Mastercard, your cap is $80.

Do remember that you also won’t earn any bonus miles (or any miles for that matter) if you use your PRVI Miles card to top up your EZ-Link at ticketing terminals, even if you use mobile contactless to pay.

Wait…don’t you need to spend at least S$5 to earn miles with the PRVI Miles cards?

Here’s where a lot of people get tripped up, no thanks to UOB’s strange points rounding policies. By right, you need to spend a minimum of S$5 to earn any miles on the UOB PRVI Miles cards- spend S$4.99 and you walk away empty handed.

Given that most people won’t be spending that amount on public transport rides per transaction (or even per day), the question then becomes how you could possibly earn anything out of this.

The answer lies in the fine print:

• For Visa cards, UNI$ are earned based on the accumulated spend on SimplyGo Transactions per calendar month, and awarded to Cardmembers on the 7th calendar day of the following month
• For Mastercard, your accumulated fares are posted to your credit card account every 5 days or 21 transactions or S$15, whichever comes first.

So except in extreme circumstances (e.g. where you take two rides a month), you’ll definitely earn some miles on your rides.

Conclusion

Although no one’s going to earn a First Class flight from public transport rides alone, every little bit helps, and there’s no reason not to register if you have a UOB PRVI Miles Visa/Mastercard anyway. Remember to use mobile contactless to pay- tapping your physical card earns no bonus!

I’ve updated the What Card to Use guide to reflect this latest promotion.