Linkpoints restores transfers to Asia Miles

Back in September, I wrote about how Link Rewards had removed Asia Miles as a transfer option, eliminating a quick and easy way to keep an Asia Miles balance active. 

Fortunately, the partnership has since been restored, and while you won’t want to be making regular transfers between the two programmes, it can have its uses.

Link Rewards restores Asia Miles transfers

Linkpoints to Asia Miles

Asia Miles to Linkpoints

Link Rewards has now restored two-way conversions between Linkpoints and Asia Miles at the same ratios as before. 

Converting Linkpoints to Asia Miles

Linkpoints	Asia Miles
290	110

290 Linkpoints can be converted into 110 Asia Miles, with a processing time of 10 working days. If you wish to transfer more than one block, you’ll need to do it in separate requests (e.g. transferring 870 Linkpoints requires 3x requests, which can be made concurrently). 

For context, 100 Linkpoints is equal to a S$1 rebate, so transferring Linkpoints to Asia Miles is equivalent to buying Asia Miles for 2.6 cents each. That’s way too expensive for most people, especially since you can buy them for 1.1 cents now through Citi PayAll, assuming you have a bill payment to make. 

However, there’s still a use case for this. Linkpoints transfers to Asia Miles are free of charge, and count as qualifying activity that extends the life of your entire Asia Miles balance by a further 18 months. If the clock is running out, all you need to do is transfer the minimum amount, and poof, fresh 18 month validity!

In addition to Linkpoints transfers, there are a few cheap ways of extending the life of your Asia Miles account for someone based in Singapore:

• Transfer American Express Membership Rewards points (450 points = 250 Asia Miles/ 400 points= 250 Asia Miles for Platinum Charge and Centurion cardholders)
• Convert Esso Smiles points (150 Smiles = 100 Asia Miles)
• Contributing a minimum of 100 miles to Cathay’s Fly Greener carbon offset programme
• Buy a small item (like an iTunes song) or gift card on Cathay’s online store

Converting Asia Miles to Linkpoints

Asia Miles	Linkpoints
800	400

800 Asia Miles can be converted into 400 Linkpoints, with a processing time of 10 working days. There is a daily maximum conversion cap of 120,000 Asia Miles, but anyone who converts that many should really question what they’re doing in life. There is simply no reason to accept S$4 for 800 Asia Miles- that values them at 0.5 cents each!

The only reason I could think of doing this is in an emergency situation where you need to extend the life of your Asia Miles balance, and don’t want to risk your partner conversion not crediting in time. Remember: a deduction of 800 Asia Miles will count as qualifying activity that instantly refreshes the validity by a further 18 months. 

Of course, you could argue that it’d be better to  donate a token 100 Asia Miles to Cathay’s Fly Greener programme (as mentioned above), but at least this way you get S$4 to spend at NTUC. 

Keep Linkpoints for NTUC

If you’re in the habit of earning Linkpoints, the best thing you can do is spend them at NTUC FairPrice or its partner outlets. You’ll get 1 cent per Linkpoint, which in my opinion is far superior to any other transfer partner. 

You could convert Linkpoints to KrisFlyer miles, but again the value is very poor. You’re looking at paying 1.87-2 cents per mile, when you could acquire miles for much less through Citi PayAll or CardUp.

Linkpoints	KrisFlyer Miles
100	50
200	100
1,000	500
2,000	1,070
5,000	2,680

Other Linkpoints transfer partners include airasia rewards and Park Rewards, but these are even worse ideas than KrisFlyer. 

If you’re interested in a credit card that earns Linkpoints, be sure to check out my review of the Trust Link Credit Card below.

Trust Link Credit Card Review: Too many emoji, not enough free rice

Conclusion

Link Rewards has restored its transfer partnership with Cathay Pacific’s Asia Miles, and while transferring points in either direction is usually a bad idea, it does offer a simple way of extending your Asia Miles by a further 18 months. 

If you don’t have any expiring Asia Miles, however, you’re better off using Linkpoints at NTUC.