The UOB PRVI Miles Card comes in three different flavours: AMEX, Mastercard, and Visa.
However, only the AMEX version offers an airport limo benefit, and surprisingly for an entry-level card, it’s one of the best in the market. Spending just S$1,000 on in-person foreign currency transactions per quarter earns you two free rides. For context, the Citi Prestige and OCBC VOYAGE require you to spend S$12,000!
While the UOB PRVI Miles Mastercard and Visa lack this feature, they do have a consolation prize of sorts: S$20 off a Grab ride to or from Changi Airport each month.
UOB PRVI Miles Mastercard & Visa S$20 Grab promo
UOB PRVI Miles Mastercard and Visa Cardholders can enjoy a monthly S$20 Grab promo code, valid for rides to or from Changi Airport.
The current iteration of this promotion runs from 1 March to 30 April 2024, though it’s been periodically renewed every few months.
Cardholders first need to register by sending the following SMS to 77862.
๐ฑ SMS to 77862 |
PMPT<space>Last 4 alphanumeric digits of NRIC/Passport (Example: If your NRIC is S1234567A send โPMPT 567A”) |
Registered cardholders must then spend at least S$1,200 on eligible airline, hotel or travel agent transactions during a calendar month to qualify for the promo code.
Eligible transactions are defined as the following:
โEligible Transactionsโ refers to local and foreign credit card retail transaction(s) made at major airlines, lodging (including hotels), online travel agencies (including online travel aggregators) and/or regular travel agencies with their main business activity classified as airlines, lodging or travel services only (including card-not-present transactions like ecommerce/mail/phone order transactions) and successfully charged to your Card and posted on UOBโs system but shall exclude the Excluded Transactions. |
UOB does not provide explicit MCC ranges, but based on my reading, this would include:
Category | Examples |
Airlines (MCC 3000-3299, 4511) |
Singapore Airlines, Scoot, British Airways, Japan Airlines, Qatar Airways, Turkish Airlines |
Hotels (MCC 3500-3999, 7011) |
Airbnb, Hilton, Marriott, Accor, IHG |
Travel Agencies (MCC 4722) |
Klook, Pelago, Chan Brothers, EU Holidays |
There is no cap on the overall number of redemptions, but each cardholder can only redeem a maximum of one code per month (even if you hold both the PRVI Miles Mastercard and Visa). So if you meet the S$1,200 minimum spend in both March and April, you’ll receive 2x S$20 Grab promo codes in total.
Fulfilment
Grab vouchers will be sent out to eligible cardholders in the following month via SMS to the registered mobile number with the bank.
Terms & Conditions
The T&Cs of this offer can be found here.
What about the opportunity cost?
I can already hear the gears turning in your head.
The UOB PRVI Miles Card earns 1.4 mpd on local transactions, and 2.4 mpd on FCY transactions. Assuming your spend was in SGD, the opportunity cost (compared to spending on a 4mpd card) would be 3,120 miles (S$1,200 @ 2.6 mpd).
Based on my value of 1.5 cents per mile, those forgone miles would be worth about S$47, more than the value of the Grab voucher. Therefore, under normal circumstances it wouldn’t be worth diverting airline, hotel and travel agent spend to the UOB PRVI Miles Card.
However, the UOB PRVI Miles Card earns an upsized 6 mpd on Agoda and Expedia transactions (which code as MCC 4722 Travel Agency spend) made through special landing pages.
Agoda 6 mpd promo
Agoda
UOB x Agoda |
T&Cs |
UOB PRVI Miles Cardholders earn 6 mpd on hotel bookings with Agoda, when they book via the special UOB x Agoda landing page and make full payment at the time of booking.
This promotion is valid for bookings made and completed by 31 December 2024.
Expedia 6 mpd promo
Expedia
UOB x Expedia |
T&Cs |
UOB PRVI Miles Cardholders earn 6 mpd on bookings with selected airlines and hotels, when they book via the special UOB x Expedia landing page.
The following airlines are participating:
|
|
This promotion is valid for bookings made and completed by 30 April 2024.
The hotel rates on these special landing pages can sometimes be inflated, but the airfare prices should be closer to reality. In any case, the extra miles and S$20 Grab voucher can help offset the price differential.
Always make a point of comparison shopping!
UOB PRVI Miles welcome offer
Apply (AMEX) | |
Apply (MC) | |
Apply (Visa) |
New-to-bank customers who apply and are approved for a UOB PRVI Miles AMEX, Mastercard or Visa from 1-31 March 2024 will enjoy up to 45,200 bonus miles, split into:
- 20,000 miles for paying the S$261.60 annual fee
- 25,200 miles for spending S$1,000 per month for two consecutive months
โ New-to-bank |
New-to-bank customers are defined as those who:
|
There is no cap on the maximum customers eligible for either component.
For the full details of this offer, refer to the post below.
Extended: UOB PRVI Miles Card uncapped 45,200 miles sign-up bonus
Conclusion
Even though UOB only offers an airport limo benefit to holders of the PRVI Miles AMEX, those with a Mastercard or Visa can still enjoy S$20 off a Grab ride to or from the airport. This requires that they register via SMS and spend at least S$1,200 on airline, hotel or travel agent expenses within a calendar month.
Based on the UOB PRVI Miles Card’s regular earn rates, the forgone miles would outweigh the value of the voucher. However, if you can tap the upsized 6 mpd for Agoda and Expedia transactions, you might find the math more favourable.
UOB airport transfer is pretty coarse. You never know when they will send the confirmation. Some cars are worse than grab. But itโs free so canโt complain too much. They say they will start surcharges for PH soon, in addition to wee hour transfers.
UOB Krisflyer card has a $15 off grab promo code for Airport transfers. But it is valid only once a year. SCB Journey card has similar $10 off for Grab airport transfers, but it is valid for 2 uses per year.
other than the perks (limo for amex), are there any other differences among the amex, visa, mc version? are the charge rate for foreign currency the same?