OCBC experimented with various welcome offers for the OCBC VOYAGE Card in 2023, ranging from bonus miles to MBS Destination Dollars to Apple HomePod Minis.
Now they’ve launched their first welcome offer for 2024, which runs till 14 April 2024.
OCBC VOYAGE Card applicants can earn up to 90,000 bonus miles, broken down as follows:
- 40,000 bonus miles for applicants who spend at least S$3,500 within the first month of approval
- Up to 50,000 bonus miles for applicants who execute trades of S$600,000 (12,500 miles per S$150,000 block)
Even if we ignore the trading component, a 40,000 miles welcome offer would be larger than anything we saw in 2023- although it’s worth noting that the minimum spend requirement has been increased by a further S$1,000 compared to last year.
OCBC VOYAGE Card 90,000 miles welcome bonus
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| Apply Here |
Here’s how the OCBC VOYAGE Card’s 90,000 miles welcome offer is structured.
OCBC VOYAGE: 40,000 bonus miles
This offer is available for new customers who apply for an OCBC VOYAGE Card between 15 January to 14 April 2024.
Cardholders will earn up to 40,000 bonus miles for completing the following:
| Action | Bonus Miles |
| Pay the first year’s $498 annual fee | 15,000 |
| Spend at least S$3,500 during the qualifying period | 25,000 |
The qualifying period refers to “one full calendar month from card account opening month”. For example, if the card opening date is 15 January 2024, then the minimum spend must be met by 29 February 2024.
Given the annual fee of S$498, this represents a cost per mile of 1.25 cents, before taking into account the value of any other card benefits like lounge access and airport limo transfers.
Do note that OCBC has tightened the eligibility criteria. Previous VOYAGE welcome offers were open to both new and existing OCBC cardholders. This offer is only for new OCBC cardholders, defined as those who:
- Do not hold any principal OCBC credit cards at the time of application, and
- Have not cancelled any principal OCBC credit cards in the 12 months prior to application
OEA/OSPL: Up to 50,000 bonus miles
This offer is available to OCBC VOYAGE Cardholders who:
- Already have an OEA or OSPL Basic Trading Account, but have not traded from 14 January 2023 to 14 January 2024
- Do not have an OEA or OSPL Basic Trading Account, and successfully apply to open one between 15 January to 14 April 2024
Cardholders will be eligible to earn 12,500 bonus miles for every S$150,000 in successful trades made by 14 April 2024. Each cardholder is capped at 50,000 bonus miles (S$600,000 in trades).
An overall cap of 3,125,000 bonus miles will be awarded, which works out to 250 blocks of S$150,000 trades.
When will bonus miles be credited?
All bonus miles will be credited within three months from the end of the promotion period, i.e. by 14 July 2024.
What counts as qualifying spend?
A minimum spend of S$3,500 must be clocked during the qualifying period, which excludes transactions specified in section 1.4 of the VOYAGE Card’s T&Cs.
The key exclusions to highlight are:
- Charitable donations
- Educational institutions
- Government transactions
- GrabPay top-ups
- Insurance premiums
- Public hospitals
- Utilities bills
Terms and Conditions
You can find the full T&Cs of this offer here.
What can you do with VOYAGE Miles?
VOYAGE Miles can be converted to nine different airline and hotel partners at the following ratios:
| Frequent Flyer Programme | Conversion Ratio (VOYAGE Miles: Partner) |
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1:1 |
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1,000 : 1,000 |
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1,000 : 1,000 |
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1,000 : 1,000 |
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1,000 : 900 |
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1,000 : 900 |
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1,000 : 750 |
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1,000 : 700 |
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1,000 : 500 |
Transfers to KrisFlyer can be done via the OCBC Rewards portal, while the other eight programmes can be found on the STACK Rewards portal. A transfer fee of S$25 applies.
Alternatively, VOYAGE Cardholders can also use VOYAGE Miles to offset the cost of any seat, on any flight, to any destination. The value per mile depends on the cabin and routing you choose, but OCBC recently devalued this by around 25%.
| Redeem VOYAGE Miles | Redeem KrisFlyer miles | |
| Airline | Any airline | Any KrisFlyer partner |
| Seat Availability | Any seat available for sale | Award inventory only |
| Miles Required | Depends on cost of ticket |
Fixed based on award chart |
| Taxes & Surcharges | Can be covered by miles | Paid in cash |
| Earn Miles & Status Credits | Yes | No |
VOYAGE Miles earned on the OCBC VOYAGE do not expire, so long as the card remains active.
Overview: OCBC VOYAGE Card
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| Apply Here | |||
| Income Req. | S$120,000 p.a. | Points Validity | No expiry |
| Annual Fee | S$498 |
Min. Transfer |
1 VOYAGE Mile (1 mile) |
| FCY Fee | 3.25% | Transfer Fee | S$25 |
| Local Earn | 1.3 mpd | Points Pool? | No |
| FCY Earn | 2.2 mpd |
Lounge Access? | Yes |
| Special Earn | N/A | Airport Limo? | Yes |
| Cardholder Terms and Conditions | |||
OCBC VOYAGE Cardholders earn 1.3 mpd on all Singapore dollar spending, and 2.2 mpd on foreign currency spending.
Card benefits include unlimited access to Dragon Pass Lounges (though access for supplementary cardholders is being removed, sadly), complimentary airport limo transfers, as well as periodic invitations to 1-for-1 dining events.
For a full review of the OCBC VOYAGE Card, refer to this post.
Conclusion
OCBC is now running a welcome offer of up to 90,000 miles for new VOYAGE cardmembers, though if you have no interest in trading then it’s a much more modest 40,000 miles.
Do remember that the 40,000 miles figure only applies if you choose to transfer VOYAGE Miles to KrisFlyer or another partner with a 1:1 ratio. Sadly, most other airlines involve a haircut of up to 30%, which makes them relatively poor choices.
