AMEX HighFlyer Card offering 40,000 miles sign-up bonus

American Express has launched a set of new offers for the American Express® Singapore Airlines Business Credit Card (aka AMEX HighFlyer Card), that runs from now till 30 September 2022.

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👍 No minimum business size required

While the AMEX HighFlyer Card is meant for businesses, there’s no minimum turnover or number of employees required to apply. If you’re running a home business, giving tuition or engaged in some other side hustle, setting up a sole proprietorship or LLC would qualify you to apply. Do note that you must be earning at least S$30,000 per annum to qualify for a card, as per MAS regulations. This need not come from the business itself; for example, I could earn S$30,000 from my day job with Company A, and have a separate side hustle with my own Company B. I can then apply for a HighFlyer Card by virtue of Company B.

New cardholders who spend S$5,000 in the first 3 months of approval will receive either:

• 40,000 bonus HighFlyer points 
• 5,000 bonus HighFlyer points + S$200 statement credit

All AMEX HighFlyer Card members will continue to enjoy a first year fee waiver and a complimentary Accor Plus membership, which offers a free hotel night and up to 50% off dining.

Cardholders will earn the equivalent of 8.5 mpd on all Singapore Airlines fares (except Economy Lite), and 1.8 mpd on all other spending (including GrabPay top-ups), making this a must-have card for anyone who owns a small or medium-sized business. 

AMEX HighFlyer Card Acquisition Offer

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Terms & Conditions

There is no requirement that you be new-to-AMEX. This offer is valid even if you already hold an existing AMEX consumer card. Applicants who have cancelled the AMEX HighFlyer Card previously for the same company are not eligible.

Applicants for the AMEX HighFlyer Card will receive the following when they apply by 30 September 2022.

• 5,000 bonus HighFlyer points with their first spend of at least S$1, and 
• 35,000 bonus HighFlyer points or a S$200 statement credit when they spend at least S$5,000 within the first 3 months of approval

On top of this, they’ll receive 9,000 HighFlyer points for spending S$5,000 (based on 1.8 points per S$1), which means a total of either:

• 49,000 HighFlyer points, or
• 14,000 HighFlyer points + S$200 statement credit

Which offer should you take?

It all boils down to how much you value a mile, but if you’re like me and use a 1.5 cents per mile valuation, then 49,000 HighFlyer points (~S$735) is superior to 14,000 HighFlyer points + S$200 statement credit (~S$410). 

Do note that the website refers to the offers as being worth S$380 or S$248. That’s based on a value of 0.95 cents per HighFlyer point, which you’d get if you spent HighFlyer points on airfares.

Needless to say, you’ll want to avoid that because it’s terrible value. Converting HighFlyer points into KrisFlyer miles is a much better idea, to the extent you can find award space. 

What counts towards eligible spending?

American Express is fairly liberal with what counts towards sign-up bonus spending. With the exception of the following, everything else will count towards the minimum spend requirement:

• Charges processed and billed prior to the Enrolment Date or charges prepaid on any Card Account prior to the first billing statement for that Card Account following the Enrolment Date
• Cash Advance and other cash services
• American Express Travellers Cheque purchases
• Charges for dishonoured cheques
• Finance charges – including Line of Credit charges and Credit Card interest charges
• Late payment and collection charges
• Tax refunds from overseas purchases
• Balance Transfer
• Instalment plans, except where American Express determines otherwise
• Annual Card fees
• Amount billed for purchase of HighFlyer points to top-up your points balance
• Purchase and top-up charges for EZ-Link cards using American Express Cards

For avoidance of doubt, CardUp spend, GrabPay top-ups and insurance payments will earn points and count towards sign-up bonus spending.

When will I get the bonus?

All bonus HighFlyer points will be credited “6 weeks or more” from the date of meeting the spend threshold. 

The S$200 statement credit should be deposited into your account within five business days of meeting the offer criteria, but may take up to 90 days from the offer end date in rare cases.

Overview: AMEX HighFlyer Card

Apply Here
Income Req.	S$30,000 p.a.	Points Validity	3 years
Annual Fee	S$299 (First Year Free)	Min. Transfer	N/A
Miles with Annual Fee	None	Transfer Partners	SIA
FCY Fee	2.95%	Transfer Fee	None
Local Earn	1.8 mpd	Points Pool?	N/A
FCY Earn	1.8 mpd	Lounge Access?	Yes
Special Earn	8.5 mpd on SIA tickets	Airport Limo?	No
Cardholder Terms and Conditions

AMEX HighFlyer Card members earn 8.5 HighFlyer points per S$1 on Singapore Airlines and Scoot revenue tickets (this includes the base 5 HighFlyer points that all HighFlyer companies already earn), and 1.8 HighFlyer points per S$1 on transactions elsewhere.

This makes the AMEX HighFlyer Card the best general spending card on the market with a 1.8 mpd earn rate (versus 1.2-1.6 mpd for other cards). 

Do note the following restrictions when converting HighFlyer points to miles:

• Each HighFlyer account can only be linked to a maximum of five selected KrisFlyer accounts for the purpose of converting HighFlyer points to KrisFlyer miles
• Each HighFlyer account is only allowed to convert HighFlyer points to a maximum of 150,000 KrisFlyer miles per calendar year
• Each selected KrisFlyer account may receive a maximum of 30,000 KrisFlyer miles converted from HighFlyer points per calendar year, regardless of which HighFlyer accounts the points are converted from

Purchases of Singapore Airlines tickets will enjoy 0% interest for six months, and other purchases get 51 days of interest-free credit. Employees who purchase tickets with the card will still be entitled to accrue miles for personal use, based on the fare class purchased.

In terms of personal benefits, cardholders enjoy:

• Two complimentary visits to Priority Pass lounges per year
• A complimentary Accor Plus membership with one free stay every year and up to 50% off dining
• Hertz Gold status with 10% off best available rates and one class upgrades
• A fast track to KrisFlyer Elite Gold status with S$15,000 or more spent on Singapore Airlines group transactions in the first year of card membership
• Complimentary travel insurance when travel tickets are bought with the card

AMEX HighFlyer Card members will also enjoy the following spending bonuses: 

• First year only: 5,000 HighFlyer points for S$500 SIA Group spending
• Every year: 15,000 HighFlyer points for S$10,000 SIA Group spending

Complimentary Accor Plus Membership

One of the highlights of the AMEX HighFlyer Card is the free Accor Plus membership, which includes one complimentary hotel night each year. 

This can be redeemed at hotels in Singapore, as well as VTL countries like Australia, Thailand, India, Malaysia and South Korea. I recently used my certificate for a free stay at the Sofitel Sydney Darling Harbour. 

Accor Plus members also get access to the periodic Red Hot Rooms sale, which may be a good opportunity to book cheap staycation rates. I’ve seen the Fairmont Singapore going for as low as S$143 nett, and the Grand Mercure for as little as S$64 nett. 

The other big draw of an Accor Plus membership are the dining discounts. The discount structure works like this:

• 25% off dining: 1 member only
• 50% off dining: 1 member and 1 guest
• 33% off dining: 1 member and 2 guests
• 25% off dining: 1 member and 3 guests
• 15% off drinks in Asia

Some examples of participating Accor Plus restaurants in Singapore include Prego, Mikuni, Asian Market Cafe and Szechuan Court at the Fairmont, SKAI, Bar Rouge, Cafe Swiss and Kopi Tiam at Swissotel and The Cliff, The Garden, Kwee Zeen at the Sofitel Sentosa Resort.

In fact, should you enjoy the benefits of an Accor Plus membership, it’s still cheaper to pay the AMEX HighFlyer Card’s S$299 annual fee instead of buying an Accor Plus membership (S$408 for the version with one free hotel night).

For those who have already received their AMEX HighFlyer Card, here’s how to go about activating your Accor Plus membership.

Conclusion

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New AMEX HighFlyer Card members can now enjoy up to 40,000 bonus HighFlyer points when they spend S$5,000 in the first 3 months of approval. That’s a very decent earn rate indeed- all the more so when you can achieve it through GrabPay top-ups (which you can then use to pay income tax, corporate tax, or any other bill that can be settled through AXS).

Remember to apply by 30 September 2022 to be eligible.