Here’s The MileLion’s review of the KrisFlyer UOB Credit Card, for those who want a Singapore Airlines cobrand card, but need something with wider acceptance than American Express.
While I don’t have many nice things to say about its debit card brethren, I am a much bigger fan of this card, given its uncapped bonuses on Singapore Airlines tickets, Kris+, dining, food delivery, online shopping, travel and transport. It might not be the absolute best card to use for each category, but even the most committed of miles optimisers will find it has something to offer.
 KrisFlyer UOB Credit Card |
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| ๐ฆ MileLion Verdict | |
| โ Take It โ Take It Or Leave It โ Leave It |
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| What do these ratings mean? |
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| The KrisFlyer UOB Credit Card’s uncapped bonuses make it very handy for miles collectors, even if it isn’t the highest-earning card in each category. | |
| ๐ The good | ๐ The bad |
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| ๐ณ Full List of Credit Card Reviews | |
Overview: KrisFlyer UOB Credit Card
Let’s start this review by looking at the key features of the KrisFlyer UOB Credit Card.
| KrisFlyer UOB Credit Card |
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| Apply | |||
| Income Req. | S$30,000 p.a. | Points Validity | 3 years |
| Annual Fee | S$196.20 (FYF) |
Min. Transfer |
N/A |
| Miles with Annual Fee |
10,000 | Transfer Partners |
|
| FCY Fee | 3.25% | Transfer Fee | N/A |
| Local Earn | 1.2 mpd | Points Pool? | N/A |
| FCY Earn | 1.2 mpd | Lounge Access? | No |
| Special Earn | 3 mpd on SIA Group, dining, online shopping & travel, transport | Airport Limo? | No |
| Cardholder Terms and Conditions | |||
Be careful not to confuse the KrisFlyer UOB Credit Card with the KrisFlyer UOB Debit Card. The two sport similar designs and names, but the value proposition is altogether different.
| Credit Card |
 Debit Card |
|
| Min Income Req. | S$30,000 | N/A |
| Annual Fee | $196.20 | S$54.50 |
| Base Earn Rate | 1.2 mpd | 0.4 mpd |
| Requires KrisFlyer UOB Savings Account? | No | Yes |
Simply put: if you earn enough to qualify for a credit card, there’s very little reason to consider the debit card option.
How much must I earn to qualify for a KrisFlyer UOB Credit Card?
The KrisFlyer UOB Credit Card has a minimum income requirement of S$30,000 per year, the MAS-mandated minimum.
If you do not meet the minimum income requirement, it may be possible to place a S$10,000 fixed deposit with UOB to get a secured version. Contact your nearest UOB branch for more details.
Welcome offer
From 1 January to 31 March 2024, new-to-UOB customers who apply and are approved for a KrisFlyer UOB Credit Card will enjoy up to 25,000 bonus miles when they spend at least S$2,000 in the first 60 days of approval.
| โ New-to-UOB definition |
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New-to-UOB is defined as customers as those who:
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This is broken down into:
| Bonus | Min. Spend | Cap |
| 5,000 miles | S$5 on first trxn. | No cap |
| 20,000 miles | S$2,000 in 60 days | No cap |
5,000 miles will be awarded to cardholders who make their first spend of at least S$5.
20,000 miles will be awarded to applicants who spend at least S$2,000 within the first 60 days of approval.
| โ Existing UOB customer? |
| Existing UOB customers who apply for a KrisFlyer UOB Credit Card are eligible for the 5,000 bonus miles on first spend. However, this is a once-per-lifetime offer; if you previously held this card, you cannot receive the bonus a second time even if you sign-up again. |
The first year’s annual fee of S$196.20 is automatically waived, so assuming you have spend coming up, these bonus miles are essentially “free”.
How much is the KrisFlyer UOB Credit Card’s annual fee?
| Principal Card | Supp. Card | |
| First Year | Free | 1st free, S$98.10 for 2nd onwards |
| Subsequent | S$196.20 | 1st free, S$98.10 for 2nd onwards |
The KrisFlyer UOB Credit Card has an annual fee of S$196.20 for the principal cardholder, which is waived for the first year. The first supplementary card is free, but the second onwards will cost S$98.10 each.
Paying the principal card’s annual fee nets you 10,000 miles, which means buying miles at ~1.96 cents each. In my experience, it’s not too difficult to get an annual fee waiver either- refer to the article below for more details.
How many miles do I earn?
| ๐ธ๐ฌ SGD Spend | ๐ FCY Spend | โ Bonus Spend |
| 1.2 mpd | 1.2 mpd | 3 mpd on SIA Group, Kris+, dining, food delivery, online shopping, online travel, transport |
SGD/FCY Spend
KrisFlyer UOB Credit Card members earn:
- 6 KrisFlyer miles for every S$5 spent in Singapore Dollars
- 6 KrisFlyer miles for every S$5 spent in foreign currency (FCY)
That’s an equivalent earn rate of 1.2 mpd for both.
It’s a bit unusual to see a general spending card without an FCY spending bonus (although to be fair, the AMEX KrisFlyer cobrand cards don’t offer it for 10 out of 12 months a year!), and that puts it at the bottom of the pack. But, as we’ll see in a bit, this isn’t a card you get for general spending.
| ๐ณ Earn Rates for General Spending Cards (income req.: S$30K) |
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| Cards | Local Spend | FCY Spend |
 UOB PRVI Miles |
1.4 mpd | 2.4 mpd |
 HSBC TravelOne Card |
1.2 mpd | 2.4 mpd |
 DBS Altitude |
1.3 mpd | 2.2 mpd |
 OCBC 90ยฐN Card |
1.3 mpd | 2.1 mpd |
 Citi PremierMiles |
1.2 mpd | 2 mpd |
 StanChart Journey |
1.2 mpd | 2 mpd |
 AMEX KrisFlyer Ascend |
1.2 mpd | 2 mpd* |
 AMEX KrisFlyer Credit Card |
1.1 mpd | 2 mpd* |
 BOC Elite Miles |
1 mpd | 2 mpd |
| KrisFlyer UOB Credit Card |
1.2 mpd | 1.2 mpd |
| *In June and Dec only, otherwise 1.1 mpd | ||
All overseas transactions are subject to a 3.25% fee, so using your KrisFlyer UOB Credit Card overseas represents buying miles at an unattractive 2.71 cents apiece- unless of course you tap into its bonus categories.
| ๐ณ FCY Fees by Issuer and Card Network |
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| Issuer | โ MC & Visa | AMEX |
| Standard Chartered | 3.5% | N/A |
| American Express | N/A | 3.25% |
| Citibank | 3.25% | N/A |
| DBS | 3.25% | 3% |
| HSBC | 3.25% | N/A |
| Maybank | 3.25% | N/A |
| OCBC | 3.25% | N/A |
| UOB | 3.25% | 3.25% |
| BOC | 3% | N/A |
| CIMB | 3% | N/A |
Kris+ & SIA Group
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KrisFlyer UOB Credit Cardholders will earn 15 KrisFlyer miles for every S$5 spent (3 mpd) on:
- Kris+
- SIA Group transactions, defined as:
- Singapore Airlines
- Scoot
- KrisShop
This includes using your KrisFlyer UOB Credit Card to pay for taxes and surcharges on a KrisFlyer award redemption, or paying for add-on services with Scoot like luggage, seat selection and meals.
The bonus rate applies to both online and offline transactions, whether in SGD or FCY. No minimum spend is required, and there is no cap on the maximum bonus miles that can be earned.
Accelerated miles bonus
KrisFlyer UOB Credit Cardholders who spend at least S$800 on SIA Group transactions in a membership year will earn 15 KrisFlyer miles for every S$5 spent (3 mpd) on the following transactions:
- Dining and food delivery
- Online shopping
- Online travel
- Transport
This is referred to as the “Accelerated Miles bonus”, and applies to both SGD and FCY spending. Accelerated Miles will be awarded on these transactions from the start of the membership year, not just from the time the minimum spend was met.
| โ ๏ธ Reminder |
| SIA Group transactions do not include spending on Pelago and Kris+. |
While you could earn 4-6 mpd on most of these categories with other cards, the key advantage of the KrisFlyer UOB Credit Card is the absence of a cap. This makes it ideal for big ticket purchases that would bust the cap of other cards like the DBS Woman’s World Card or UOB Lady’s Card.
| โ ๏ธ Evolution of minimum SIA Group spend |
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The minimum SIA Group spend required to trigger the bonus earn rate has changed several times in the past.
At this point, every cardholder should be on the S$800 scheme already. |
For more on how the Accelerated Miles feature works, refer to the post below.
How does the KrisFlyer UOB Credit Card’s Accelerated Miles feature work?
Dining & Food Delivery
| MCC | Examples |
| 5812 Eating Places and Restaurants |
Crystal Jade, Imperial Treasure, Paradise Dynasty, Deliveroo*, Food Panda*, GrabFood* |
| 5813 Bars, Cocktail Lounges, Discotheques, Nightclubs and Taverns |
Brewerkz, Harry’s, Jigger & Pony |
| 5814 Fast Food Restaurants |
Burger King, KFC, McDonald’s, Subway, |
| *Deliveroo, Food Panda and GrabFood may also code as MCC 5814 | |
Dining is defined as restaurants, bars, and fast food outlets. The bonus also applies to food delivery platforms such as Deliveroo, Food Panda and GrabFood.
However, the KrisFlyer UOB Credit Card’s definition of dining is more narrow compared to other cards on the market, and does not include MCC 5811 (Caterers), MCC 5441 (Candy, Nut, Confectionary Stores), MCC 5462 (Bakeries), or MCC 5499 (Misc. Food Stores). Restaurants within hotels may also not qualify for this bonus, to the extent they code as hotel spend.
| ๐ฝ๏ธ Dining Card MCC Coverage | |||
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| HSBC Revo |
UOB Lady’s |
KF UOB |
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| 5811 Caterers |
โ | โ | |
| 5812 Restaurants |
โ | โ | โ |
| 5813 Bars & Nightclubs |
โ | โ | |
| 5814 Fast Food |
โ | โ | โ |
| 5441 Candy, Nut, Confectionary Stores |
โ | ||
| 5462 Bakeries |
โ | ||
| 5499 Misc. Food Stores |
โ | โ | |
| Earn Rate | 4 mpd | 6 mpd | 3 mpd |
| Monthly Cap | S$1K | S$1K/3K | No cap |
Online Shopping
| MCC | Examples |
| 4816 Computer Network/ Info Services |
Godaddy, Twitch, Peatix |
| 5309 Duty Free Stores |
DFS, KrisShop, The Shilla |
| 5310 Discount Stores |
N/A |
| 5311 Department Stores |
Taobao, Isetan, Marks & Spencer |
| 5331 Variety Stores |
Muji, Mustafa, Miniso |
| 5399 Misc General Merchandise |
Iuiga, Japan Home, Comgateway |
| 5611 Men’s Clothing |
Benjamin Barker, Dockers, Superdry |
| 5621 Women’s Ready to Wear |
bYSI, Coast, Forever21 |
| 5631 Women’s Accessories |
Bimba Y Lola, Chomel, Coach |
| 5641 Children’s and Infants’ Wear |
Abercrombie Kids, Cotton On Kids, Kidstyle |
| 5651 Family Clothing |
ASOS, Bossini, Desigual |
| 5661 Shoe Stores |
ALDO, Bata, Birkenstock |
| 5691 Men’s and Women’s Clothing |
Prada, G2000, Ezbuy |
| 5699 Accessory and Apparel |
LeSportsac, Crumpler, Esprit |
| 5732-5735 Electronics, Music Stores, Computer Software |
Apple, Audio House, MealPal |
| 5912 Drug Stores and Pharmacies |
Guardian, NTUC Unity, Watsons |
| 5942 Book Stores |
Book Depository, Kinokuniya, Books Actually |
| 5944-5949 Jewelry, Watches, Toys, Camera, Gift Cards, Leather Goods, Sewing |
Cartier, Action City, Canon |
| 5999 Misc. and Specialty Retail |
Atome, Amazon, eBay |
Online shopping covers a wide range of MCCs, including Amazon, Ezbuy, Lazada, Qoo10, Shopee, and Taobao for instance. You can also expect most major fashion retailers to be on this list, along with some unexpected ones like MealPal and hosting providers.
Remember, these transactions must be carried out online. In-store spending will not count, but fortunately there’s an easy workaround- see below!
Online Travel
| MCC | Examples |
| Online Travel | Agoda, Airbnb, Booking.com, Expedia, Hotels.com, Kaligo, Traveloka, Trip.com, UOB Travel |
Unlike the other categories, online travel is not defined by specific MCCs, but rather a specific list of merchants.
The whitelist includes all the usual suspects like Agoda, Airbnb, Hotels.com and Trip.com. For obvious reasons, the KrisFlyer UOB Credit Card can’t explicitly let you earn bonus miles with any airline outside the SIA Group, but you can still book them via Expedia or UOB Travel instead.
Transport
| MCC | Examples |
| 4111 Local Commuter Transport |
BUS/MRT only |
| 4121 Taxi and Limo |
Grab, Gojek, Comfort |
Transport refers to Grab, gojek, Comfort and other taxi operators. It also includes SimplyGo transactions made on buses and the MRT.
Do note that you won’t earn any bonus miles (or base miles for that matter) if you use your card to top-up your EZ-Link balance, or pay at the General Ticketing Machines. You must tap your card (or phone, if you’ve added your card to your mobile wallet) at the gantry in order to qualify for the bonus.
UOB$ merchants
KrisFlyer UOB Credit Cardholders will not earn any KrisFlyer miles at UOB$ merchants.
UOB$ is UOB’s card-wide cashback programme and includes Cold Storage, Crystal Jade, Giant, Guardian, Starbucks and Toast Box, among others. For the full list, refer to this link.
However, by pairing the KrisFlyer UOB Credit Card with Amaze, you can circumvent this restriction. I’ve written about this and other potential workarounds in the following post.
Workarounds: How to earn miles at UOB$ merchants with UOB cards
Tip: Pair with Amaze
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| Apply here |
| Review |
| Use code 7HK2A2 for 225 bonus InstaPoints |
| ๐ณ tl;dr: Amaze Card |
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The KrisFlyer UOB Credit Card is an excellent candidate for pairing with Amaze, because Amaze turns offline transactions into online ones.
This allows you to enjoy all the online shopping bonuses at brick-and-mortar stores. A good example would be someone buying an expensive handbag (e.g. Louis Vuitton, MCC 5948). The transaction amount would likely bust the cap on other 4-6 mpd cards, but the Amaze x KrisFlyer UOB Credit Card will give you an uncapped 3 mpd even in-store.
Just be sure to meet the minimum SIA Group spend of S$800 per membership year!
When are KrisFlyer miles credited?
Base miles, and bonus miles from Kris+ and SIA Group transactions will be directly credited to your KrisFlyer account once per month.
It’s a different story for the bonus miles from dining, food delivery, online shopping, online travel and transport transactions. Of the 15 KrisFlyer miles per S$5 spent:
- 6 KrisFlyer miles per S$5 (1.2 mpd) will be credited at the end of each calendar month (just like all other regular transactions)
- 9 KrisFlyer miles per S$5 (1.8 mpd) will be credited two months after the end of the membership year, assuming the minimum spend on SIA Group transactions has been met
This means you could be waiting up to 14 months to receive your bonus! The delayed crediting arrangement gives rise to four problems. I’ve expounded on them in this post, but to summarise:
- You’re locked into the card, because all pending bonus miles are forfeited if you cancel.
- Reconciling bonus points will be a nightmare. It’s already hard enough to check transactions on a month to month basis. Imagine doing it for an entire year’s worth.
- Because your pending bonus miles take anywhere from 2-14 months to reach you, you’re especially exposed to devaluation risk. If Singapore Airlines announces an award chart devaluation, other cardholders can rush out to burn their miles before it happens. You can’t, because they’re in limbo.
- Your miles will age at different rates. Some will be credited each month and start their 3-year expiry countdown immediately, the rest will follow in 2-14 months
UOB will argue that this is necessary because there’s no way of knowing, at the point of transaction, whether the cardholder will go on to hit the specified minimum spend required for the bonus. But there surely has to be a better way of doing this, because the current mechanism holds you hostage- if you cancel your card early, you lose your pending bonuses.
How are KrisFlyer miles calculated?
Here’s how you can work out the KrisFlyer miles earned on your KrisFlyer UOB Credit Card.
| Local & FCY Spend | Round down transaction to nearest S$5, then divide by 5 and multiply by 6 |
| Bonus Component | Round down transaction to nearest S$5, then divide by 5 and multiply by 9 |
Since all transactions are rounded down to the nearest S$5, the minimum spend required to earn miles is S$5. Anything less than that earns nothing!
A simple illustration: Suppose you spent S$9 on your KrisFlyer UOB Credit Card. You might figure that’s 10.8 miles (@ 1.2 mpd), but in reality:
- The S$9 is rounded down to S$5
- S$5 is divided by 5 and multiplied by 6 to yield 6 miles
You actually earn 6 miles, yielding a mere 0.67 mpd.
This is an extreme example, of course, and the effect of rounding gets smaller as your transaction size increases. But itโs exactly why you should think twice about using your KrisFlyer UOB Credit Card for small transactions that arenโt in S$5 blocks.
To show how rounding affects you, let’s compare the KrisFlyer UOB Credit Card to the Citi PremierMiles Card. On paper, both of them earn the same 1.2 mpd on all local spending. In reality, however, the Citi PremierMiles performs much better because of its favourable rounding policy.
| KrisFlyer UOB Earn rate: 1.2 mpd |
Citi PremierMiles Earn rate: 1.2 mpd |
|
| S$5 | 6 miles | 6 miles |
| S$9.99 | 6 miles | 11 miles |
| S$15 | 18 miles | 18 miles |
| S$19.99 | 18 miles | 23 miles |
| S$25 | 30 miles | 30 miles |
| S$29.99 | 30 miles | 35 miles |
| S$35 | 42 miles | 42 miles |
| S$39.99 | 42 miles | 47 miles |
If you’re an Excel geek, here’s the formulas you need to calculate points:
| Local & FCY Spend | =ROUNDDOWN (X/5,0) *6 |
| Bonus Component | =ROUNDDOWN (X/5,0) *9 |
| Where X= Amount Spent |
|
For the full list of formulas that banks use to calculate credit card points, do refer to these articles:
What transactions aren’t eligible for KrisFlyer miles?
A full list of transactions that do not earn KrisFlyer Miles can be found in the T&Cs. Iโve highlighted a few noteworthy categories below:
- Charitable Donations
- Education
- Government Services
- GrabPay top-ups
- Insurance
- Real Estate Agents & Managers
- SPC Service Stations
- Utilities
The KrisFlyer UOB Credit Card will earn miles for CardUp transactions, but not ipaymy.
While Amaze*Transit is mentioned in the exclusions list, this is not a blanket exclusion on Amaze transactions! This clause only affects public transport rides, and shouldn’t be a concern for the vast majority of people.
What do I need to know about KrisFlyer miles?
| โ Expiry | โ๏ธ Pooling | โ๏ธ Transfer Fee |
| 3 years | N/A | None |
| โฌ๏ธ Min. Transfer | โ๏ธ No. of Partners | โฑ๏ธ Transfer Time |
| N/A | 1 | Automatically transferred each month |
The KrisFlyer UOB Credit Card credits KrisFlyer miles directly to your account on a monthly basis, with no conversion fees.
This is a mixed blessing. On the one hand, you save on the usual S$25 conversion fee that most banks charge. On the other, direct crediting means the three year KrisFlyer expiry countdown starts immediately (contrast this to non-cobrand cards where you enjoy โtwo validitiesโ: one on the bank side, and one on the airline side).
In case you were worried, cancelling your KrisFlyer UOB Credit Card has no impact on KrisFlyer miles already in your account.
Other card perks
Instant KrisShopper Insider status
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| KrisShopper Insider status |
KrisShopper is KrisShop’s free-to-join loyalty programme, and awards a bonus of 2-4 mpd on KrisShop purchases depending on membership tier.
From now till 30 June 2024, KrisFlyer UOB Credit Cardholders can enjoy instant KrisShopper Insider status, which awards a bonus 2.5 mpd on all KrisShop purchases. Be advised, however, that this upgrade only applies if you have not already signed up for KrisShopper.
| KrisShopper Tier | Qualifying Spend | Earn Rate |
 Non-KrisShopper |
N/A | 1.5 mpd |
 Member |
N/A | 2 mpd |
 Insider |
S$5,000 | 2.5 mpd |
 Icon |
S$10,000 | 3 mpd |
 Ambassador |
S$15,000 | 4 mpd |
| *Qualifying spend includes purchases on KrisShop.com, KrisShop on Kris+, KrisShop on KrisWorld, Inflight purchases on Singapore Airlines. Excludes GST, duties and delivery charges | ||
Registration is required, and can be done via this link. Status will be upgraded within three months of registration, and valid for a 12-month period following that. You will subsequently need to requalify through regular means, i.e. spending S$5,000 on KrisShop within a membership year.
The T&Cs of the status match can be viewed here.
Discounts for KrisFlyer Experiences
KrisFlyer Experiences is a platform that allows members to redeem their KrisFlyer miles for money-can’t-buy-experiences. We’ve seen F1 Sky Suites, a KrisFlyer cruise-to-nowhere and a specially-chartered points plane to Langkawi.
KrisFlyer UOB Credit Card members occasionally enjoy a 10% rebate on the number of miles required, which can be substantial depending on the experience. This is normally offered in limited quantity, so subscribe to The MileLion’s Telegram Channel and get alerted when new deals go live.
Miles extension perk
If you ever wanted an example of UOB’s fetish for complicated T&Cs, look no further than the miles extension perk.
Simply put, KrisFlyer UOB Credit Cardholders can enjoy a one-time 12-month extension for KrisFlyer miles earned between 1 January to 31 December 2021.
Not so simply put, they’ll have to jump through a whole lot of hoops. This involves sending a registration SMS from August 2023 to December 2024 (yes, 2023 and 2024!), and calculating how many of expiring miles came from the KrisFlyer UOB Credit Card specifically.
| Earn Month | Expiry Month | SMS submission period |
| Jan 2021 | Jan 2024 | Aug 2023 to Jan 2024 |
| Feb 2021 | Feb 2024 | Sep 2023 to Feb 2024 |
| Mar 2021 | Mar 2024 | Oct 2023 to Mar 2024 |
| Apr 2021 | Apr 2024 | Nov 2023 to Apr 2024 |
| May 2021 | May 2024 | Dec 2023 to May 2024 |
| Jun 2021 | Jun 2024 | Jan 2024 to Jun 2024 |
| Jul 2021 | Jul 2024 | Feb 2024 to Jul 2024 |
| Aug 2021 | Aug 2024 | Mar 2024 to Aug 2024 |
| Sep 2021 | Sep 2024 | Apr 2024 to Sep 2024 |
| Oct 2021 | Oct 2024 | May 2024 to Oct 2024 |
| Nov 2021 | Nov 2024 | Jun 2024 to Nov 2024 |
| Dec 2021 | Dec 2024 | Jul 2024 to Dec 2024 |
Keep in mind, this benefit is only available for up to 60,000 miles!
I’ll spare you the details, but if you want to understand just how convoluted this is, refer to the article below.
KrisFlyer UOB Account
The supposed “killer feature” of the KrisFlyer UOB Credit Card is its ability to earn a bonus 5-6 mpd when paired with the KrisFlyer UOB account. This sounds phenomenal, but I’d strongly advise you against it.
First of all, this account pays a measly 0.05% interest. With interest rates on the rise, that’s an almost derisory rate.
If you think you’ll make up the difference with miles, you should know that the KrisFlyer UOB account caps the bonus miles you can earn at a mere 5% of your monthly average balance.
For example, if you put S$50,000 inside the account, the maximum bonus miles you could earn each month is just 2,500 (5% of 50,000), which you’d hit after spending just S$500 on your KrisFlyer UOB Credit Card.
This means that unless you have a ridiculously high miles valuation figure, the opportunity cost is simply too high to be worth considering.
Fast track to KrisFlyer Elite Silver
The AMEX KrisFlyer Ascend has a fast track to KrisFlyer Elite Gold, but KrisFlyer UOB Credit Card members will have to settle for KrisFlyer Elite Silver.
Cardmembers who open their cards from 1 May 2022 and spend a minimum of S$5,000 on SIA Group transactions (excluding Kris+) within the first card membership year will receive an upgrade to KrisFlyer Elite Silver.
This is referred to as a “fast track”, but in reality is anything but. Qualifying cardholders will receive their status upgrade within 6 weeks from the last month of the first membership year. You could hit the qualifying spend on your first day, and still have to wait 13+ months to get your status!
Status earned through this “fast track” scheme is only valid for the first year; subsequently, you’ll have to requalify by flying at least 25,000 elite miles in a 12-month membership period.
All in all, it’s much ado about nothing because KrisFlyer Elite Silver has extremely weak benefits. Members receive:
- A 25% bonus on KrisFlyer miles
- Complimentary Standard Seat selection on Singapore Airlines and SilkAir
- Priority reservation waitlist
- Priority airport standby
- Discounted service fees
Forget about lounge access, priority boarding, priority check-in or additional luggage allowances. This is as basic as it gets.
Scoot Privileges
KrisFlyer UOB Credit Cardholders enjoy the following benefits when booking Scoot tickets with their card.
| โ๏ธ Scoot Privileges for KrisFlyer UOB Cards (till 18 March 2024) |
||
| For Principal Cardholder | For Companions (on same booking) |
|
| Complimentary Priority Check-in and Boarding | โ | โ |
| Extra 5kg Luggage Allowance (with purchase of min. 20kg allowance) |
โ | โ |
| Complimentary Standard Seat selection | โ | โ |
| One-time Booking Flexibility Waiver | โ | โ |
Unfortunately, these benefits will be changing from 19 March 2024.
| โ๏ธ Scoot Privileges for KrisFlyer UOB Cards (from 19 March 2024) |
||
| For Principal Cardholder | For Companions (on same booking) |
|
| Complimentary Priority Check-in and Boarding | โ | โ |
| Extra 5kg Luggage Allowance (with purchase of min. 20 kg allowance) |
โ | โ |
| Complimentary Standard Seat selection | โ | โ |
| One-time Booking Flexibility Waiver | โ | โ |
These aren’t great perks, to be honest. There’s no free checked bag, the booking flexibility waiver will soon be removed, and the extra 5kg baggage allowance requires you to buy at least 20kg.
To enjoy these benefits, be sure to book your Scoot tickets via this dedicated portal.
KrisShop Privileges
KrisFlyer UOB Credit Cardholders enjoy a single-use promo code KFUOBKS2024 that gives S$20 off a minimum spend of S$120 (before GST).
Unfortunately, there is an extensive brand exclusions list.
2x S$15 Grab voucher to/from Changi Airport
KrisFlyer UOB Credit Cardholders will receive a biannual S$15 Grab voucher valid for rides to/from Changi Airport.
This can be redeemed once per half yearly (i.e Jan to Jun/ Jul to Dec), with the promo code KFUOBCC. Redemptions are capped at the first 1,000 uses per month.
2x S$15 off Changi WiFi
KrisFlyer UOB Credit Cardholders will receive a biannual S$15 ChangiWiFi voucher.
This can be redeemed once per half yearly (i.e Jan to Jun/ Jul to Dec). Cardholders can generate a e-redemption code by SMSing KFUOBCC<space>16-digit card number to 77862.
Redemptions are capped at the first 1,000 uses per month.
Complimentary travel insurance
| Accidental Death | Medical Benefits | Travel Inconvenience |
| S$500,000 | S$50,000 for medical evacuation | None |
Many cards offer complimentary travel insurance, but not all policies are made equal. I’ve done the analysis previously, and UOB’s policy is as bare bones as they come.
You have S$500,000 coverage for accidental death or disablement, and S$50,000 for medical evacuation. There’s no coverage for medical expenses, or even travel inconvenience. Lost your luggage? Flight delayed? This policy won’t pay anything.
Since it’s woefully inadequate as your primary cover, you’ll almost certainly need to get separate travel insurance.
Summary Review: KrisFlyer UOB Credit Card
| KrisFlyer UOB Credit Card |
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| Apply |
If you’re the type who regularly busts the bonus caps on specialised spending cards, the KrisFlyer UOB Credit Card might be the answer. The main catch is that 60% of your miles (1.8 mpd) will only arrive 2-14 months later, but those who are willing to wait will be richly rewarded- I can’t think of any other card on the market that will pay out its full bonus rate on a S$30,000 handbag or watch.
Alternatively, if you’re someone who insists on using one card for everything, then this would be the best form of damage minimisation. I can’t think of any other general spending card with so many different bonus categories: dining, food delivery, online shopping & travel and transport will cover the bases for a lot of people.
Add in the other perks like the ability to save on KrisFlyer Experiences and the occasional discount on Grab airport rides, and I’d reckon this is a solid “Take it” from me.
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Interesting point about the Krisflyer UOB account. It does link with the UOB PRVI too if you use that as your general spend card. I did some calculations and assuming a valuation of 1.8 cpm, your breakeven point for the Krisflyer UOB account is actually just over 1% interest p.a. (meaning to say, if your interest in your bank account is less than 1%, you could potentially earn enough miles with the Krisflyer UOB account to make up for it). At this falling interest rate environment, this could look more and more enticing. Calculations (I’m assuming you hit the 5%… Read more »
Isn’t the most important value of the UOB Deposit account that you get 5mpd on total annual card spend, if you maintain a balance of S$1000 per month? Yes the interest is tiny but the 5mpd on total annual card spend is >> than anything else I’ve seen period for losing interest on $1000 only — seem like the best miles deal. But I may be missing something?? https://www.uob.com.sg/personal/krisflyer-uob/credit/account.html?i_cid=pfs:sg:owned:int:site:na:li:na:na:na-evergreen:direct:na&vid=none
Hi Aaron,
If I link this Krisflyer Card to Amaze Card, would I still get the 3mpd if I use it for dining overseas (FCY)? This is because the dining spent would have been converted to “Online Spending”.
And I assume paying for hotels & car rental overseas (FCY) would also not get us the accelerated bonus miles of 3mpd?
Thanks
No need to convert dining to online as it would get 3mpd(provided min 800 spend on SIA group). Not sure about hotel and car rental. Have to check the exclusion terms.
Ok, just read “No foreign currency spending bonus”. Now I’m confused. I say no.
Regarding rounding, in my experience with the card, it’s at the calendar month level and not at the transaction level, regardless of what the T&Cs say. This applies at least for base miles – my accelerated miles are not in yet.
Miles are awarded based on the sum of all transactions posted in a calendar month, rounded down to the nearest $5, then divided by 5 and multiplied by 6.
Thanks for the data point! That would indeed be better. I do find it curious that uob says to receive the 3k first spend miles, you need to spend at least $5. That would suggest their system is set up in a way that it won’t recognise a transaction of less than $5 as a trigger for miles.
That said I don’t actually have the card so you probably know better than me… I suppose the ultimate test would be to make all your transactions for a given month less than $5!
That actually did happen, thanks in part to CB since I mainly use this card for SimplyGo. I had a few SimplyGo transactions last month, each individually less than $5, but in total more than $5. Miles still awarded.
KF UOB Credit Card: Terrible proposition made worse by UOB’s poor customer support. My wife has been struggling to get her bonus miles. After 3 calls and paying the annual renewal fee, 2 months later they “manually adjusted” 3000 bonus miles against what CS confirmed was a 18,000+ eligible spend. Here’s the problem with deferred bonuses when the system doesn’t work and CS is rubbish! 3 calls x 20 mins each, frustration of having to walk a different through the problem each time and despite promises to get back, no one does. Not worth the effort. Any suggestions on what… Read more »
Regarding the $20 rebate for Krisshop, I had to endure a horrific month to chase for it. At the time when I got my card and made the Krisshop spend, the terms were exactly as you quoted: โCardholders enjoy an annual S$20 rebate on KrisShop purchases with a minimum spend of S$100 nett in a single transaction.โ (I fortunately had kept a copy of the actual terms as proof). My spend fully met this condition. After making the purchase but before my rebate was credited, UOB (presumably at the behest of KF) unilaterally changed the qualifying spend to โS$100 nett… Read more »
Hi Aaron – on the “online shopping” qualifying spend, am I right in thinking that this must relate to “fashion” websites only falling within the merchant codes, rather than just general shops within the merchant codes (although hard to see how fashion falls into some of the merchant codes), so might exclude things like Amazon and Lazada? Reason being that the T&Cs define “Online Shopping Card Transactions” as those “Card Transaction(s) made at fashion websites that sells clothes, shoes, jewellery, accessories and bags as its main business activity including card-not-present transactions like ecommerce/mail/phone order transactions in local and foreign currencies,… Read more »
as long as it’s within the MCC it’s fine.
ok cheers!
Wondering if the amaze card does โconvertโ the spending at offline retail shops to online for UOB KF card?
Iโm interested to know too about pairing Amaze and UOB KF. This is in the T&C: W.e.f. 1 March 2022, please be informed that transactions with transaction description โAMAZE* TRANSIT*โ will be excluded from the awarding of KrisFlyer miles on the KrisFlyer UOB Credit Card.
Clearly *TRANSIT* is there, don’t you see ? Only exclude MRT transaction through Amaze.
Isnโt the most important value of the UOB Deposit account that you get 5mpd on total annual card spend, if you maintain a balance of S$1000 per month? Seems like the best miles deal (if you can spend $800 on SIA stuff + maintain $1000 balance on trivial interest). But I may be missing something?? https://www.uob.com.sg/personal/krisflyer-uob/credit/account.html?i_cid=pfs:sg:owned:int:site:na:li:na:na:na-evergreen:direct:na&vid=none
there’s a cap on the bonus miles of 5% of monthly balance in the account. so if you have 1000$ balance, you can only get bonus 50 miles lol.
it’s mentioned in the article itself above, did you even read it?
Is the UOB application process so pathetically slow? I applied more than 3 weeks ago and have heard nothing since.
I thought i was the only one… sigh.. I applied on 01 March and no card yet. 3 weeks later I received an SMS saying due to high volume of application, the review is delayed. hopefully i receive the card before 30APR so I can join the current pormo..
I applied for one last week, on Tuesday this week I got an SMS to say my application is successful. But nothing has happened since. I’m still waiting for an email or a physical letter with the credit card.
Can we earn 3mpd on hotels like marriott and hilton?
I would like to know as well, especially if I link this card with Amaze. Thanks
Also interested to know. Anyone can answer regarding use for hotels using Amaze?
I did this recently (charged via Amaze at a Singapore hotel) and called up UOB. only earned 1.2 mpd for that transaction.
ofcourse it will not. no need to think so much.
which part of the article did it mention it will?
I think Aaron English is pretty straight forward
Hi for hotel wedding banquet, will it be considered as part of the spend or excluded? Thank you
For the UOB Travel part, does it have to be with UOB Travel online booking only OR can it be via Phone/email booking as well?
Hi,
For the minimum SIA group spend, in 2023 does everyone has the same to fulfill the min $800 regardless of your card membership year ending??
Thanks to confirm
So if i use the Amaze card (linked to kf uob credit card) on Kris+ at Harvey Norman does that mean i get for each dollar spent:
1.2 mpd for local spend
3 mpd for kris+ spend
1 mpd for Harvey Norman earn partner
3 mpd for online mcc 5732
For a total of 8.2mpd?
Does anyone know if bonus categories earn the 3mpd rate if the transaction is in foreign currency, or is it just local spend? For instance if I book SQ flights in USD or if I order online fashion in GBP will that earn the base 1.2mpd for FCY spend, or the 3mpd for bonus categories? Thanks
Not sure whats so complicated or you making it unnecessarily complicated.
TLDR; is the merchant you are purchasing from have the MCC listed above?
YES=bonus
NO=no bonus
re “5309: Duty Free StoresDFS, KrisShop, The Shilla” , apparently when making payment online (so via ichangi) the mcc is “MCC 4582 – Airports, Airport Terminals, Flying Fields” which is not covered. It is only 5309 when making payment offline physically at the store, but then it’s not considered online transaction. Does that mean actually there is no way to get the 3 MPD at duty free stores using this card?
You can use Amaze card to convert physical payments to an online transaction. It is mentioned in the article.
Is this sign up offer for new to UOB cards or for those who are new to UOB Krisflyer card?
Hi, do we earn 3mpd if we pair it with Amaze and spend on dining, be it in Singapore or overseas? Or does the 3mpd on dining can only be using the actual card itself?
Yes it does.
amaze only change offline to online, does not change MCC
UOB look at MCC and dont care where you spend it on (well unless its under the Online Travel section that is clearly stated by Aaron)
Hi Aaron, I’ve been going through your reviews on various cards such as this one, AMEX Plat, UOB VS, UOB Ladys, AMEX PPS, with the goal of identifying a card which can maximise earn rate on multiple sizeable single charges on SQ. For instance, if one had to purchase return SQ J fares SIN-LHR or SIN-EWR multiple times a year at S$8-10k per txn. Most of the 4-6mpd have caps which max out at 2-3k per month (with measly 0.4mpd thereafter), and out of the general spend cards it seems like the AMEX Plat Charge offers the best at 1.95… Read more »
That’s my understanding too.
Image of Krisflyer credit card was disappointed . I was impressed the look of the card online and thinking to start my journey with this card and apply for it.
After I receive the Krisflyer card the first look was terrible…it look exactly like all my debit because of the printing details on the card it wasn’t embossed.
Credit card should have it own prestige image like emblem detail on name, card number and expiry dates instead of painting.
I better use my prvimiles oub card instead of Krisflyer card.
Vast majority of CCs aren’t embossed now. Even the premium ones like DBS Vantage, Citi Prestige all use painting
bruh we apply cards for their benefits and perks for miles here. If your after looks just apply the 120k income celling cards to hao lian ah.
For the Instant KrisShopper Insider status, am I right to say that the insider provides a bonus of 2.5 on top of the base 1.2 giving a total of 3.7mpd?
Just saw on their official website that it is 3 + 2.5 = 5.5
The article says that Cardup transaction counts but assuming only at base rate of 1.2mpd?
FEB 25, 2024
Mind letting us know what updated?
Are the base miles credited on a delayed basis? I had around 300 miles credited & posted on the same statement that has a single $700+ retail transaction (along with other smaller ones). Just basing on $700, that’s 140 blocks of $5, which should work out to be 800+ miles…. I am missing a minimum of 500 miles..
Base miles come at the end of each month, credited in a lump sum to kf account
Thanks for replying. That’s quite odd then. The $700+ is from a fashion boutique, it can’t be that it’s not awarded miles. My other random smaller retail purchases add up to another ~500 miles (calculated transaction by transaction of rounddown $5 blocks). I’m short 1K miles. Leaving this info here for others who may have had a similar issue.
Do you get 3 mpd for Kris+ regardless of the MCC?
For example, if a merchant has MCC 5499 and I pay via Kris+ would I still get the 3 mpd?
Hi Aaron, you may wish to highlight that the UOB bonus mile sign-up promo is one of their usual ‘capped at first 100 pax’ gotchas (clause 2.1 on the T&C). Nothing worse than signing up and charging a large expense only to not get the promo. Feels scammy and dishonest. But that’s UOB
this first 100 cap was only added on 1 april 2024, and applies to 1-30 april 2024. anything before that is unaffected and uncapped
I tried to pair my UOB KF card to amaze and have been declined a few times. Anyone face this problem and how to resolve?
yeah it’s a known issue that’s been going on for a few days. have to wait till someone fixes it.
Ohh itโs only recently? So I have hope?
If I pair the UOB KF card with Amaze and charge my overseas hotel stay directly at the hotel, eg Waldorf Bangkok. Is that considered as Online Travel to earn the 3mpd?
Is the Online Travel only for those mentioned above of Agoda, Airbnb, Booking.com, Expedia, Hotels.com, Kaligo, Traveloka, Trip.com, UOB Travel?
Read the article or the card T&Cs
If you just applied for the Amex Platinum Charge promotion, you need to spend $1,200 on Singapore Airlines to get the first year airline credits. If you are not buying tickets for multiple people, have people postponed applying for UOB Krisflyer because they cannot meet the minimum airline spend for both cards? Or is the UOB Krisflyer that useful that you should find a way to meet its minimum spend?
If you apply for UOB Krisflyer, you need to shift $800 of Singapore Airlines spend from UOB Lady Solitaire (if set to travel) or DBS Woman’s World, which loses 800 miles (from 4 to 3 mpd). Assuming your general spend card is UOB PRVI Miles (1.4 mpd), you gain 1.6 mpd (1.4 to 3.0 mpd) by having UOB Krisflyer. This makes it worth having if you can meet the $800 minimum spend, then you spend at least $500 on UOB Krisflyer after maxing out your 4 mpd cards (800 miles = $500 / 1.6 mpd). This probably happens to every… Read more »
https://www.uob.com.sg/assets/pdfs/kf_credit_card_full_tnc.pdf
Note: WEF 1 July 2020, please be informed that any online payment made to Computer Software Stores (5734) , Direct Marketing Merchants (5964 โ 5969), Artist Supply Stores, Craft Shops (5970) and Florists (5992) will be excluded from the awarding of Accelerated Miles.
Can the UOB Krisflyer card be paired with Amaze and used overseas at hotels in person? From the article it seems only whitelisted vendors allowed for hotels?
PSA: I would advise being careful with big ticket purchases as they may not code with the MCC youโd expect. I just learned the hard way that Cartier in Paris codes as 5094 (ineligible), not 5944 (eligible). Would have probably used Revolut had I known. Slightly more painful but the Amaze-block method is worth the extra hassle to find the MCC for big purchases.
Hi Aaron, regarding the minimum SIA Group spend of S$800 per membership year, can we spend the S$800 in SIA Group via Amaze? The flight tickets that I plan to purchase are in foreign currency (one way ticket depart from overseas and arrive in Singapore), if I am to use the UOB KF card to pay directly I will suffer the FCY fee.
Quote MT from telegram group:
Amaze + Uob kf for Singapore airlines booking.
Confirm can clock $800 spend. I did it and live chat with Uob.
Is MCC applicable for foreign spend too? For example, do I get 3 mpd for dining at an overseas restaurant?
How do we find out what dates lie within our membership year?
look at the expiry month of your card. that’s the start of your membership year
Thank you!
Hi Aaron, may I know if the $5 rounding policy is still applicable now? I saw from the uob website now it says ‘Krisflyer miles earned per S$1 spend on…’.
So is it true although it states the miles earned is based on ‘per S$1 spend’, the actual underlying calculation is still rounding with $5?
Hi, Just sharing this in case anyone ever falls in the same situation. Travelling for a meeting hence I needed a quote from the travel agent (Plover) for company reimbursement. The cost was $600 cheaper via the agent hence I had to buy from them (rather than buy the tickets online myself) otherwise I would have to fork out the difference. I checked with Plover cos the tix were $4000, to max the most miles I had wanted to use the UOB Krisflyer card (vs the Lady’s card), but they said for Singapore airlines group, best to buy from SQ… Read more »
Hi
With the amaze nerf can use the krisflyer uob for transaction in physical store (via Samsung pay) would that be considered as online shopping? Which other card would be best if it’s not.
This article needs to be updated. MCC 5734 (online) was excluded in 2020.
Does the $800 spend on SIA Group includes anything paid through Krispay? Also with pairing of this card to Krispay, does it earn additional miles via the app on top of what’s awarded? Thanks.
Would an online club med booking count under the online travel category?
No longer able to pair with amaze ๐