Roundup: Credit card sign-up bonuses (March 2023)

Last month I did a roundup of the various credit card sign-up bonuses on the market. The response was good, so I’m going to make it a monthly thing. Hopefully this will give you a sense of what’s out there, and how to prioritise your applications and spending. 

Some questions to ask yourself before getting started:

• Should I cancel any of my existing cards so I can regain new-to-bank status?
  • The best offers are typically reserved for new-to-bank customers, defined as those who don’t hold any principal credit card, and have not cancelled one in the past 12 months (6 months for some; refer to T&Cs)
  • If you have only one card with a given bank that you don’t use, it may be worth cancelling it so you can start the clock on resetting your new-to-bank status
• When do I expect my payments to be due?
  • Credit card sign-up bonuses require you to spend a certain amount in a given time period, usually 30, 60 or 90 days
  • By lining up your applications with your payment due dates, you stand a better chance of meeting the minimum spend
• [For those with a partner] Can we leverage “two-player” mode?
  • If your spending is significant, then each of you could sign up for a principal card to enjoy the same bonus twice
  • If your spending is not so large, then one of you could sign up for a principal card and give the other as supplementary card, so as to pool your spending

At a glance: Current sign-up bonuses

There’s two ways of thinking about sign-up bonuses:

1. Payoff ratio
2. 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. 

💳 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
Citi Rewards	S$800 (FYF)	16K	20
AMEX KrisFlyer Ascend	S$2K (S$340)	37.6K	18.8
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 Credit Card	S$3K (S$324)	16.7K	5.6
AMEX Platinum Charge	S$15K (S$1,728)	59.4K	3.96
OCBC 90°N MC	S$15K (S$194)*	35.5K	2.37
^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.

💳 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 (F2YF)	11.52K	–
OCBC 90°N MC	S$15K (S$194)*	35.5K	0.55
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
AMEX KrisFlyer Ascend	S$2K (S$340)	37.6K	0.90
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 Platinum Credit Card	S$3K (S$324)	16.7K	1.94
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. 

Therefore, it’s always advisable to 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. 

Unfortunately, things will get much tighter from 4 April 2023, when many of those categories (including GrabPay top-ups) get excluded from earning miles. If you want to meet your sign-up bonus spending via GrabPay top-ups, now would be the time. 

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: 30 Mar 23)
Apply (New)
Apply (Existing)
Details
	New	Existing
Annual Fee	S$340.20 (must be paid)	S$340.20 (must be paid)
Spend	S$2,000	S$3,000
Spend Period	30 days	90 days
Base Miles	2,400	3,600
Bonus Miles	37,600	19,000
Total Miles	40,000	22,600
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 37,600 bonus miles when they pay the S$340.20 annual fee and spend S$2,000 within 30 days of approval. Assuming you clock the minimum spend on local transactions, you’ll earn a further 2,400 base miles. 

Existing AMEX customers who sign up for an AMEX KrisFlyer Ascend Card will enjoy 19,000 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 Credit Card

AMEX Platinum Credit Card (Offer Ends: 3 Apr 23)
Apply
	New	Existing
Annual Fee	S$324 (must be paid)	S$324 (must be paid)
Spend	S$3,000	S$3,000
Spend Period	90 days	90 days
Base Miles	2,083	2,083
Bonus Miles	16,667	8,889
Total Miles	18,750	10,972
New customers are defined as those who have not cancelled an AMEX Credit Card in the past 12 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 Credit Card will enjoy 30,000 bonus MR points (16,667 miles) when they pay the S$324 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 3,750 base MR points (2,083 miles). 

Existing customers who sign up for an AMEX Platinum Credit Card will enjoy 16,000 bonus MR points (8,889 miles) when they pay the S$324 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 3,750 base MR points (2,083 miles).

AMEX Platinum Credit Cardholders enjoy perks like 50% off dining at selected hotels and restaurants under Love Dining and Chillax. 

AMEX Platinum Charge

AMEX Platinum Charge (Offer Ends: 31 Mar 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. 

Remember, you can use no-fee Citi PayAll payments to meet the minimum spend requirement for sign-up bonuses. It sounds too good to be true, but that’s what Citi says!

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. 

Remember, you can use no-fee Citi PayAll payments to meet the minimum spend requirement for sign-up bonuses. It sounds too good to be true, but that’s what Citi says!

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. 

Remember, you can use no-fee Citi PayAll payments to meet the minimum spend requirement for sign-up bonuses. It sounds too good to be true, but that’s what Citi says!

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 90°N Mastercard

OCBC 90°N Mastercard (Offer Ends: 31 Mar 23)
Apply
Details
	New	Existing
Annual Fee	S$194.40	N/A
Spend	S$15,000
Spend Period	6 months
Base Miles	19,500
Bonus Miles	35,500
Total Miles	55,000
New customers are defined as those who do not currently hold a principal OCBC credit card, and have not cancelled one in the past 6 months

The OCBC 90°N Mastercard is offering a sign-up bonus for new-to-bank customers with a twist: 25,500 bonus miles will be awarded upfront, and then you need to spend S$15,000 in six months to keep them. 

Fail to do so, and the bonus miles will be clawed back (or you’ll pay a fee if there’s an insufficient balance, equivalent to 2.11 cents per mile). 

The S$194.40 annual fee can be paid for an additional 10,000 bonus miles, but a waiver is also possible on request. 

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 you’ll be able to trade them for some hotel points or “exotic” 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

Would-be cardholders in Singapore continue to be spoiled for choice, with 13 different sign-up offers on the market for March 2023. Keep in mind, however, that you won’t actually be able to take advantage of all 13 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. 

Still, there’s no reason why you can’t score a big chunk of miles from any upcoming big ticket spending. Be sure to time your applications to match the expected payment schedule!