February 2023 has seen a bumper crop of credit card sign-up bonuses; indeed, I can’t remember the last time we saw so many banks running offers concurrently. By my count there are 12 different sign-up offers to choose from, and if there was any doubt whether the stars have aligned, even UOB is running an uncapped sign-up offer!
I’ve been toying with the idea of creating a monthly summary of credit card sign-up bonuses, so I figured this would be a good opportunity to test the format before making it a regular thing. Let me know if you find this post useful, and what other information might come in handy!
| โ What is a sign-up bonus, anyway? |
| I define a sign-up bonus as “Spend S$X, Get Y miles”. While there are other cards which offer miles with the payment of the annual fee (e.g. HSBC Visa Infinite, Standard Chartered Visa Infinite), I’m only going to look at offers with a spending component. |
At a glance: Current sign-up bonuses
There’s two ways of thinking about sign-up bonuses:
- Payoff ratio
- Cost per mile
Payoff ratio refers to the bonus miles divided by total spend (excluding annual fee). Basically: what’s the bang for your buck? For every S$1 of spend, how many miles do you get?
On that basis, here are are best sign-up offers.
| ๐ณ Credit Card Sign-Up Bonuses (sorted by payoff ratio) |
|||
| Spend (AF) | Miles^ | Payoff | |
 OCBC Titanium Rewards |
S$100 (F2YF) |
11.52K | 115 |
 Citi Prestige |
S$800 (S$540) |
48K | 60 |
 Citi Premier Miles |
S$800 (S$194)* |
30K | 37.5 |
 AMEX KrisFlyer Ascend |
S$1K (S$340) |
20.3K | 20.3 |
 Citi Rewards |
S$800 (FYF) |
16K | 20 |
 DBS Altitude AMEX |
S$2K (S$194)* |
31K | 15.5 |
 DBS Vantage |
S$4K (S$594) |
60K | 15 |
 DBS Altitude Visa |
S$2K (S$194)* |
25K | 12.5 |
 KrisFlyer UOB |
S$2K (FYF) |
25K | 12.5 |
 OCBC VOYAGE |
S$2.5K (S$493) |
30K | 12 |
 AMEX HighFlyer |
S$5K (S$302) |
40K | 8 |
 AMEX Platinum Charge |
S$15K (S$1,728) |
59.4K | 3.96 |
| ^Does not include base miles *Fee waiver option available, with smaller number of bonus miles. See below for full details. |
|||
The second approach looks at the cost per mile, or bonus miles divided by annual fee. If you need to pay an annual fee as part of the sign-up bonus, you’re essentially paying for miles- the question is, how much?
On that basis, here are are best sign-up offers.
| ๐ณ Credit Card Sign-Up Bonuses (sorted by cost per mile) |
|||
| Spend (AF) | Miles^ | Cost Per Mile | |
| KrisFlyer UOB |
S$2K (FYF) |
25K | – |
| Citi Rewards |
S$800 (FYF) |
16K | – |
| OCBC Titanium Rewards |
S$100 (FYF) |
11.52K | |
| DBS Altitude AMEX |
S$2K (S$194)* |
31K | 0.63 |
| Citi Premier Miles |
S$800 (S$194)* |
30K | 0.65 |
| AMEX HighFlyer |
S$5K (S$302) |
40K | 0.75 |
| DBS Altitude Visa |
S$2K (S$194)* |
25K | 0.78 |
| DBS Vantage |
S$4K (S$594) |
60K | 0.99 |
| Citi Prestige |
S$800 (S$540) |
48K | 1.13 |
| OCBC VOYAGE |
S$2.5K (S$493) |
30K | 1.64 |
| AMEX KrisFlyer Ascend |
S$1K (S$340) |
20.3K | 1.67 |
| AMEX Platinum Charge |
S$15K (S$1,728) |
59.4K | 2.91 |
| ^Does not include base miles *Fee waiver option available, with smaller number of bonus miles. See below for full details. |
|||
Ultimately, both sets of ranking criteria have a common shortcoming: they only look at miles. Some of these cards have additional benefits like free hotel nights or airport lounge access, which you’ll also need to factor into your decision.
For instance, the AMEX Platinum Charge has the highest cost per mile at 2.91 cents apiece, and indeed, if miles were the only benefit, you’d be silly to pay that price. But you need to factor in the value of other perks like unlimited lounge visits, free hotel stays, S$1,204 of annual statement credits, dining vouchers etc.
tl;dr: don’t follow the above tables blindly. Read through each of the sign-up bonus articles and The MileLion’s Card Reviews before coming to a decision.
AMEX HighFlyer Card
| AMEX HighFlyer Card (Offer Ends: 3 Apr 23) |
|
| Apply | |
| Details | |
| New & Existing | |
| Annual Fee | S$301.79 (must be paid) |
| Spend | S$5,000 |
| Spend Period | 90 days |
| Base Miles | 9,000 |
| Bonus Miles | 40,000 |
| Total Miles | 49,000 |
| Applicants who have cancelled the AMEX HighFlyer Card previously for the same company are not eligible. | |
You can skip this section if you don’t own a small or medium-sized business, since the HighFlyer Card is only for those who can furnish an ACRA business number (if you have a side hustle, setting up a sole proprietorship or LLC would qualify you to apply).
New AMEX HighFlyer Cardholders will enjoy 40,000 bonus miles when they pay the S$301.79 annual fee and spend S$5,000 within 90 days of approval. A further 9,000 base miles will be earned from the minimum spend.
Unfortunately, there is no more fee waiver option available for the AMEX HighFlyer Card; while this was a common feature throughout 2021 and 2022, American Express is tightening the purse strings (I can’t imagine it was very profitable to offer a fee waiver on a card that comes with a free Accor Plus membership, after all).
Even so, this is the only option you have for earning miles on GrabPay top-ups, period. Even though Grab has nerfed AXS payments, you can still use your GrabPay Mastercard to pay selected insurance premiums, charitable donations, hospital bills, utilities bills and other transactions that would normally be ineligible for rewards.
You are eligible for the sign-up offer even if you already hold an existing AMEX principal consumer card; all that matters is that you have not cancelled an AMEX HighFlyer Card for the same business entity previously.
AMEX KrisFlyer Ascend
| AMEX KrisFlyer Ascend (Offer Ends: 28 Feb 23) |
||
| Apply (New) | ||
| Apply (Existing) | ||
| Details | ||
| New | Existing | |
| Annual Fee | S$340.20 (must be paid) |
S$340.20 (must be paid) |
| Spend | S$1,000 | S$3,000 |
| Spend Period | 30 days | 90 days |
| Base Miles | 1,200 | 3,600 |
| Bonus Miles | 20,300 | 17,000 |
| Total Miles | 21,500 | 20,600 |
| New customers are defined as those who do not currently hold a principal AMEX consumer card (DBS, Citi and UOB-issued AMEX cards do not count, nor does the AMEX HighFlyer Card) and have not cancelled an AMEX KrisFlyer Ascend Card in the past 12 months | ||
New-to-bank customers who sign up for an AMEX KrisFlyer Ascend Card will enjoy 20,300 bonus miles when they pay the S$340.20 annual fee and spend S$1,000 within 30 days of approval. Assuming you clock the minimum spend on local transactions, you’ll earn a further 1,200 base miles.
Existing AMEX customers who sign up for an AMEX KrisFlyer Ascend Card will enjoy 17,000 bonus miles when they pay the S$340.20 annual fee and spend S$3,000 within 90 days of approval. Assuming you clock the minimum spend on local transactions, you’ll earn a further 3,600 base miles.
Do note that both the new-to-bank and existing offers assume this is your first-ever American Express Singapore Airlines cobrand card. If you have held one in the past, you need to deduct 5,000 miles from the bonus component.
AMEX Platinum Charge
| AMEX Platinum Charge (Offer Ends: 28 Feb 23) |
||
| Apply | ||
| Details | ||
| New | Existing | |
| Annual Fee | S$1,728 (must be paid) |
S$1,728 (must be paid) |
| Spend | S$15,000 | S$10,000 |
| Spend Period | 90 days | 90 days |
| Base Miles | 11,719 | 7,813 |
| Bonus Miles | 59,375 | 37,500 |
| Total Miles | 71,094 | 45,313 |
| New customers are defined as those who have not cancelled an AMEX Platinum Charge in the past 24 months, and do not currently hold a principal AMEX consumer card (AMEX cards issued by Citi/DBS/UOB do not count, nor does the AMEX HighFlyer Card). | ||
New-to-bank customers who sign up for an AMEX Platinum Charge will enjoy 95,000 bonus MR points (59,375 miles) when they pay the S$1,728 annual fee and spend S$15,000 within 90 days of approval. Assuming you clock the minimum spend on local transactions, you’ll earn a further 18,750 base MR points (11,719 miles).
Existing customers who sign up for an AMEX Platinum Charge will enjoy 60,000 bonus MR points (37,500 miles) when they pay the S$1,728 annual fee and spend S$10,000 within 90 days of approval. Assuming you clock the minimum spend on local transactions, you’ll earn a further 12,500 base MR points (7,813 miles).
AMEX Platinum Charge cardholders will be able to enjoy two sets of the newly-launched S$1,204 statement credits in their first year, since these are awarded based on calendar year instead of membership year. These are valid for dining, lifestyle, air travel and entertainment; refer to the article below for more details.
Full details: AMEX Platinum Charge’s new S$1,204 statement credits
That, together with the sign-up bonus, significantly sweetens the deal in the first year.
Citi PremierMiles Card
| Citi PremierMiles Card (Offer Ends: 31 Mar 23) |
||
| Apply | ||
| Details | ||
| New (Offer 1) | New (Offer 2) | |
| Annual Fee | S$194.40 (must be paid) |
Waived |
| Spend | S$800 | S$800 |
| Spend Period | 2-3 months | 2-3 months |
| Base Miles | 960 | 960 |
| Bonus Miles | 30,000 | 8,000 |
| Total Miles | 30,960 | 8,960 |
| New customers are defined as those who do not currently hold a principal Citi credit card, and have not cancelled one in the past 12 months | ||
New-to-bank customers have a choice of two offers.
They can earn 30,000 bonus miles when they pay the S$194.40 annual fee and spend S$800 within 2-3 months of approval (the exact timeframe depends on when approval comes through; you have until the end of the second month after the approval month to spend). Assuming you clock the minimum spend on local transactions, you’ll earn a further 960 base miles.
Alternatively, they can earn 8,000 bonus miles when they spend S$800 within 2-3 months of approval, together with an annual fee waiver. Assuming you clock the minimum spend on local transactions, you’ll earn a further 960 base miles.
Is it worth paying S$194.40 for the opportunity to pick up 22,000 more miles? Arguably yes, since that works out to 0.88 cents per mile, and the spending requirement is the same.
Citi Prestige Card
| Citi Prestige Card (Offer Ends: 31 Mar 23) |
|
| Apply | |
| Details | |
| New & Existing | |
| Annual Fee | S$540 (must be paid) |
| Spend | S$800 |
| Spend Period | 2-3 months |
| Base Miles | 1,040 |
| Bonus Miles | 48,000 |
| Total Miles | 49,040 |
| Offer valid for anyone who has not cancelled a Citi Prestige Card in the past 12 months | |
New Citi Prestige Cardholders will enjoy 48,000 bonus miles when they pay the S$535 annual fee and spend S$800 within 2-3 months of approval (the exact timeframe depends on when approval comes through; you have until the end of the second month after the approval month to spend). Assuming you clock the minimum spend on local transactions, you’ll earn a further 1,040 base miles.
What’s noteworthy about this offer is that it’s available to existing Citi cardholders as well, so holding a Citi PremierMiles Card or Citi Rewards Card won’t disqualify you from taking part. Moreover, S$800 is a very, very low threshold to meet, making this one of the best offers in terms of spend to miles.
Citi Rewards Card
| Citi Rewards Card (Offer Ends: 31 Mar 23) |
||
| Apply | ||
| Details | ||
| New | Existing | |
| Annual Fee | Waived | N/A |
| Spend | S$800 | |
| Spend Period | 2-3 months | |
| Base Miles | 3,200 | |
| Bonus Miles | 16,000 | |
| Total Miles | 19,200 | |
| New customers are defined as those who do not currently hold a principal Citi credit card, and have not cancelled one in the past 12 months | ||
New-to-bank customers can earn 16,000 bonus miles when they spend S$800 within 2-3 months of approval (the exact timeframe depends on when approval comes through; you have until the end of the second month after the approval month to spend). The first year’s annual fee is waived.
Assuming you clock the minimum spend on online transactions (and you should), you’ll earn a further 3,200 base miles.
I consider the Citi Rewards Card to be practically essential for miles collectors, so if you inexplicably don’t have one, this is as good an opportunity as any.
DBS Altitude AMEX Card
| DBS Altitude AMEX (Offer Ends: 30 Jun 23) |
||
| Apply | ||
| Details | ||
| New | Existing | |
| Annual Fee | S$194.40 (can be waived with 10,000 fewer bonus miles) |
S$194.40 (can be waived with 10,000 fewer bonus miles) |
| Spend | S$2,000 | S$2,000 |
| Spend Period | 30 days | 30 days |
| Base Miles | 2,400 | 2,400 |
| Bonus Miles | 31,000 | 20,000 |
| Total Miles | 33,400 | 22,400 |
| New customers are defined as those who do not currently hold a principal DBS/POSB credit card, and have not cancelled one in the past 12 months | ||
New-to-bank customers who apply for a DBS Altitude AMEX with the promo code ALTMEX will enjoy 31,000 bonus miles when they pay the S$194.40 annual fee and spend S$2,000 within 30 days of approval (should you not wish to pay the annual fee, applying with the code ALTMEXW gets you a first year fee waiver, with 21,000 bonus miles).
Assuming you clock the minimum spend on local transactions, you’ll earn a further 2,400 base miles.
Existing customers who apply for a DBS Altitude AMEX with the promo code ALTMEXA will enjoy 20,000 bonus miles when they pay the S$194.40 annual fee and spend S$2,000 within 30 days of approval (should you not wish to pay the annual fee, applying with the code ALTMEXAW gets you a first year fee waiver, with 10,000 bonus miles).
This offer is significantly better than the previous one, since DBS has cut the minimum spend requirement by 50% while keeping the bonus the same. If you don’t already have a DBS credit card, this might be the offer for you (though keep in mind DBS frequently offers cashback welcome gifts as well, so that might be a better alternative depending on how much is on offer).
DBS Altitude Visa Card
| DBS Altitude Visa (Offer Ends: 30 Jun 23) |
||
| Apply | ||
| Details | ||
| New | Existing | |
| Annual Fee | S$194.40 (can be waived with 10,000 fewer bonus miles) |
N/A |
| Spend | S$2,000 | |
| Spend Period | 30 days | |
| Base Miles | 2,400 | |
| Bonus Miles | 25,000 | |
| Total Miles | 27,400 | |
| New customers are defined as those who do not currently hold a principal DBS/POSB credit card, and have not cancelled one in the past 12 months | ||
New-to-bank customers who apply for a DBS Altitude Visa with the promo code ALTVIS will enjoy 25,000 bonus miles when they pay the S$194.40 annual fee and spend S$2,000 within 30 days of approval (should you not wish to pay the annual fee, applying with the code ALTVISW gets you a first year fee waiver, with 15,000 bonus miles).
Assuming you clock the minimum spend on local transactions, you’ll earn a further 2,400 base miles.
Again, this offer is significantly better than the previous one, since DBS has cut the minimum spend requirement by 50% while adding 3,000 more bonus miles.
DBS Vantage Card
| DBS Vantage Card (Offer Ends: 30 Jun 23) |
||
| Apply | ||
| Details | ||
| New | Existing | |
| Annual Fee | S$594 (must be paid) |
N/A |
| Spend | S$4,000 | |
| Spend Period | 30 days | |
| Base Miles | 6,000 | |
| Bonus Miles | 60,000 | |
| Total Miles | 66,000 | |
| New customers are defined as those who do not currently hold a principal DBS/POSB credit card, and have not cancelled one in the past 12 months | ||
New-to-bank customers who apply with the promo code VANMILES will enjoy 60,000 bonus miles when they pay the S$594 annual fee and spend S$4,000 within 30 days of approval.
Assuming you clock the minimum spend on local transactions, you’ll earn a further 6,000 base miles.
This is the best offer we’ve seen for the DBS Vantage Card so far, even better than the 80,000 bonus miles launch offer once you adjust for spending (the launch offer had a minimum spend of S$8,000).
Of course, you have to weigh whether the S$594 annual fee is worth it, especially when the Citi Prestige is offering a superior spending-adjusted return (and arguably better benefits) at the S$540 price point…
KrisFlyer UOB Credit Card
| KrisFlyer UOB Credit Card (Offer Ends: 30 Apr 23) |
||
| Apply | ||
| Details | ||
| New | Existing | |
| Annual Fee | Waived | N/A |
| Spend | S$2,000 | |
| Spend Period | 60 days | |
| Base Miles | 2,400 | |
| Bonus Miles | 25,000 | |
| Total Miles | 27,400 | |
| New customers are defined as those who do not currently hold a principal UOB credit card, and have not cancelled one in the past 6 months | ||
What’s this? An uncapped UOB sign-up bonus? Surely this must be a glitch in the Matrix!
Apparently not. New-to-bank customers who apply for a KrisFlyer UOB Credit Card will enjoy 25,000 bonus miles when they spend at least S$2,000 in the first 60 days. The first year’s annual fee is waived.
Assuming you clock the minimum spend on local transactions, you’ll earn a further 2,400 base miles.
I’ve made no secret of my issues with the KrisFlyer UOB Credit Card, but when it’s all said and done, this is a card that offers an uncapped 3 mpd on SIA and Scoot tickets, Kris+, dining, online shopping and travel, and transport. If you’ve maxed out your 4 mpd allowances, or god forbid are part of the “one card” camp, then this would be the next best alternative.
Just watch out for those shenanigans.
OCBC Titanium Rewards
| OCBC Titanium Rewards (Offer Ends: 31 Mar 23) |
||
| Apply | ||
| Details | ||
| New | Existing | |
| Annual Fee | Waived | Waived |
| Spend | S$100 | S$100 |
| Spend Period | 30 days | 30 days |
| Base Miles | 400 | 400 |
| Bonus Miles | 11,520 | 5,760 |
| Total Miles | 11,920 | 6,160 |
| New customers are defined as those who do not hold an existing OCBC principal credit card, and have not cancelled one in the past 6 months. | ||
New-to-bank OCBC Titanium Rewards Cardholders will enjoy 11,520 bonus miles when they spend S$100 in the first 30 days of approval, while existing customers will enjoy 5,760 bonus miles with the same spend.
Assuming you clock the minimum spend on eligible 10X transactions, you’ll earn a further 400 base miles.
This is quite simply an unbeatable deal, and don’t forget that OCBC$ will soon be convertible to nine different airline and hotel programmes, so youโll be able to trade them for some hotel points or โexoticโ miles.
OCBC VOYAGE Card
| OCBC VOYAGE Card (Offer Ends: 31 Mar 23) |
|
| Apply | |
| Details | |
| New & Existing | |
| Annual Fee | S$492.50 (must be paid) |
| Spend | S$2,500 |
| Spend Period | 1-2 months |
| Base Miles | 3,250 |
| Bonus Miles | 30,000 |
| Total Miles | 33,250 |
| Offer valid for anyone who has not cancelled an OCBC VOYAGE Card in the past 3 months | |
New OCBC VOYAGE Cardholders will enjoy 30,000 bonus miles when they pay the S$492.50 annual fee and spend S$2,500 in the first 1-2 months (the exact timeframe depends on when approval comes through; you have until the end of the first month after the approval month to spend).
Assuming you clock the minimum spend on local transactions, you’ll earn a further 3,250 base miles.
This offer isn’t nearly as attractive as the one which ended on 30 November 2022, where customers received 30,000 bonus miles just by paying the S$488 annual fee (remember- GST was 7% back then). Moreover, the OCBC VOYAGE got nerfed at the start of February 2023, with free miles conversions removed and the annual limo allowance slashed from 24 to 8 per year. While additional transfer partners are coming soon, the value proposition is certainly weaker than before.
My picks
If we look at miles in isolation, then I’d sign up for the KrisFlyer UOB Credit Card, Citi Rewards Card and OCBC Titanium Rewards without hesitation. Provided you have the spend to make, then it’s basically free miles.
I’m also partial to the DBS Altitude AMEX and DBS Vantage sign-up bonus, especially since DBS has cut the minimum spend requirement in half while maintaining the same bonus miles. The Citi PremierMiles and Citi Prestige sign-up offers are tempting too because of their relatively low minimum spend of just S$800, but remember you can only take the Citi PremierMiles Card or Citi Rewards sign-up offer.
Conclusion
With 12 different sign-up offers up for grabs in February 2023, those with big ticket spending will be spoiled for choice. Keep in mind, however, that you won’t actually be able to take advantage of all 12 because of new-to-bank restrictions; e.g. once you sign-up for a Citi PremierMiles Card you won’t qualify for the Citi Rewards Card sign-up bonus.
Those with a partner can consider “two player mode” where each of you signs up for a principal card, effectively allowing you to enjoy the sign-up bonus twice. Alternatively, if your planned spending isn’t large enough, then getting a principal and supplementary card allows you to pool your spending towards the minimum spend target.
there’s ocbc titanium card signup that’s missing here
Ah yes, will need to add that in
For citi premier miles, if you are not NTB, then basically you have to pay the annual fee and only get 10k miles right?
In the tables above, UPB KF spend has been quoted as 2.5k. I thought it was 2k?
it is 2k. fixed, thanks!
Hi, arenโt you forgetting about the OCBC Titanium card?
added that, thanks!
Nitpicky but also worth mentioning it’s 2 year free, not just first year
Also separate note – while reading the T&C, the 120,000 OCBC$ are not just limited to the 3.6mpd ‘bonus categories’, but any bonus OCBC$ earned through promotional campaigns (eg the December additional 10X rewards on top of existing bonuses targeted campaign) would be part of the cap as well.
fixed that, thanks.
re: 120,000 OCBC$- that is limited to the 3.6 mpd. these sign-up bonuses are not part of the cap- checked with OCBC.
hey Aaron thanks for the clarification. Actually I was referring to targeted promos like bonus 10X spending (where OCBC offered some existing cardholders a bonus 10X on eligible spending on top of the current 10X for 8mpd). Wasn’t referring to the sign up bonus. Those types of points would be part of the 120,000 cap. Apologies – wasn’t v clear!
All that aside, it looks like a card good for the sign up bonus!