PSA: No more bonus 2 mpd on “Daily Essentials” with AMEX KrisFlyer Cards

In April last year, AMEX started offering a bonus 2 mpd on so-called “Daily Essentials” charged to the KrisFlyer co-brand cards, capped at S$200 per calendar month.

The bonus 2 mpd was on top of the base miles earned, so AMEX KrisFlyer cardholders would earn between 3.1-3.3 mpd in total.

The following merchants were classified as Daily Essentials:

• Deliveroo
• foodpanda
• McDonald’s
• SISTIC
• Starbucks
• Subway
• The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf
• Unity
• Watsons

My guess is this promotion was AMEX’s attempt at preempting the launch of UOB’s own co-brand KrisFlyer Credit Card (which happened a few weeks later). In reality though, it wasn’t much of a competitive response. AMEX’s promotion was capped at a mere S$200 per month, while the KrisFlyer UOB Card offered 3 mpd on dining, food delivery, transport, and online shopping, without cap.

The Daily Essentials promotion has not been renewed

Unfortunately, the Daily Essentials promotion came to an end on 31 March 2020, and has not been renewed. All mentions of the offer have been removed from the AMEX website, but it’s still possible to view a cached version through Google.

What cards should I use on these purchases?

If you’ve saved your AMEX KrisFlyer card on the Deliveroo/foodpanda app, or in your SISTIC/McDonald’s online account, be sure to switch it out.

Here’s what cards you can use for the erstwhile Daily Essentials merchants.

Deliveroo and foodpanda transactions

	Annual Fee^	Earn Rate	Conditions*
DBS Woman’s World Card	S$192.60 (FYF)	4 mpd	S$2K per c. month
Citi Rewards	S$192.60 (FYF)	4 mpd	S$1K per s. month
UOB Pref. Plat Visa	S$192.60 (FYF)	4 mpd	S$1.1K per c. month
UOB Lady’s Card	S$192.60 (FYF)	4 mpd	S$1K per c. month#
UOB Lady’s Solitaire	S$406.60 (FYF)	4 mpd	S$3K per c. month#
KrisFlyer UOB	S$192.60 (FYF)	3 mpd	≥S$500 on SIA-group trxns in a m. year
UOB PRVI AMEX	S$256.80 (FYF)	3 mpd	≥ S$2.5K on eligible trxns from 1/4-30/6, capped at S$5K
^FYF= First Year Free *C. Month= Calendar Month | S. Month= Statement Month # Must select dining as your quarterly 10X category

McDonald’s/Starbucks/Subway/Coffee Bean

	Annual Fee^	Earn Rate	Conditions*
UOB Pref. Plat Visa	S$192.60 (FYF)	4 mpd	S$1.1K per c. month. Must use Paywave
KrisFlyer UOB	S$192.60 (FYF)	3 mpd	≥S$500 on SIA-group trxns in a m. year
UOB Lady’s Card	S$192.60 (FYF)	4 mpd	S$1K per c. month#
UOB Lady’s Solitaire	S$406.60 (FYF)	4 mpd	S$3K per c. month#
HSBC Revolution	S$160.50 (F2YF)	2 mpd
^FYF= First Year Free | F2YF= First 2 Years Free *C. Month= Calendar Month | S. Month= Statement Month # Must select dining as your quarterly 10X category

The above table assumes you’re ordering at the physical outlet. If you’re paying online, you can use cards like the DBS Woman’s World Card or Citi Rewards to earn 4 mpd.

Unity/Watsons

	Annual Fee^	Earn Rate	Conditions*
UOB Pref. Plat Visa	S$192.60 (FYF)	4 mpd	S$1.1K per c. month. Must use Paywave
^FYF= First Year Free *C. Month= Calendar Month | S. Month= Statement Month

SISTIC

	Annual Fee^	Earn Rate	Conditions*
UOB Pref. Plat Visa	S$192.60 (FYF)	4 mpd	S$1.1K per c. month.
DBS Woman’s World Card	S$192.60 (FYF)	4 mpd	≤S$2K per c. month
Citi Rewards	S$192.60 (FYF)	4 mpd	≤S$1K per s. month
UOB Lady’s Card	S$192.60 (FYF)	4 mpd	S$1K per c. month#
UOB Lady’s Solitaire	S$406.60 (FYF)	4 mpd	S$3K per c. month#
HSBC Revolution	S$160.50 (F2YF)	2 mpd
^FYF= First Year Free | F2YF= First 2 Years Free *C. Month= Calendar Month | S. Month= Statement Month # Must select entertainment as your quarterly 10X category

Conclusion

With a small cap of just S$200 per month (which applied to Daily Essentials merchants as a whole), this was never going to be a big miles generator. That said, if you were participating, do take five minutes to do the necessary housekeeping and swap out saved cards as needed.