In January 2024, the StanChart Journey Card modified its popular welcome offer to nudge more customers towards paying the first year’s annual fee. Applicants who did so could enjoy up to 45,000 bonus miles; those who wanted a fee waiver would only get 25,000 bonus miles.
This offer was originally set to lapse on 31 March 2024, but has now been extended till 30 June 2024. For what it’s worth, SingSaver is still running an extra welcome offer of S$120 cash (or other gifts), which helps lower the outlay on the annual fee to S$76.20.
StanChart Journey Card 45,000 miles welcome offer
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| Apply (Fee Waiver) | |||
| Apply (Fee Paying) |
The StanChart Journey Card’s welcome offer is valid for applications submitted from 1 April to 30 June 2024 by new-to-bank cardholders, defined as those who:
- Do not currently hold a principal StanChart credit card, and
- Have not cancelled a principal StanChart credit card in the past 12 months
The size of the bonus depends on whether you pay the first year’s annual fee.
| Pay Annual Fee | Annual Fee Waiver | |
| Miles from S$196.20 annual fee |
10,000 miles | – |
| Spend S$3,000 in first 60 days of approval | 35,000 miles | 25,000 miles |
| Total | 45,000 miles | 25,000 miles |
Cardholders who pay the first year’s S$196.20 annual fee will receive 10,000 bonus miles, and a further 35,000 bonus miles when they spend S$3,000 in the first 60 days of approval.
Cardholders who want a first year fee waiver will receive 25,000 bonus miles when they spend S$3,000 in the first 60 days of approval.
Bonus miles are on top of the StanChart Journey Card’s regular earn rates of 1.2-3 mpd, so assuming you spend the full S$3,000 on local, non-bonused transactions, you’re looking at an additional 3,600 miles (S$3,000 @ 1.2 mpd), for an overall haul of up to 48,600 miles.
What counts as qualifying spend?
Cardholders must incur at least S$3,000 in qualifying spend within 60 days of approval.
Qualifying spend excludes:
- Charitable donations
- Education expenses
- Government transactions
- Insurance premiums
- Prepaid account top-ups (e.g. GrabPay and YouTrip)
The full list of qualifying spend exclusions can be found in the T&Cs, under Point 10.
CardUp, hospital and utilities transactions are all counted towards qualifying spend. If you’re being told by StanChart CSOs that your CardUp transactions do not count, refer to this link for steps to take.
When will the bonus miles be credited?
The 10,000 miles for paying the first year’s annual fee of S$196.20 will be credited within 60 working days of your card activation date, in the form of 25,000 Rewards Points.
The 25,000/35,000 miles for spending S$3,000 in the first 60 days of approval will be credited according to the following table, in the form of 62,500/87,500 Rewards Points:
| Card Approval Month | Bonus Points Credited By |
| April 2024 | 31 July 2024 |
| May 2024 | 31 August 2024 |
| June 2024 | 30 September 2024 |
Extra SingSaver gifts
New-to-bank customers who apply for a StanChart Journey Card via the SingSaver links in this post can choose from one of the following gifts:
- Dyson AM07
- +Plus Chelsea 19.5″ Luggage
- S$120 cash
These offers are available regardless of whether you apply for the fee paying or fee waiver option. No minimum spend is required for these gifts.
However, StanChart Journey Cardholders who spend at least S$1,000 from days 31-60 after card approval will receive a S$20 eCapitaVoucher. To the extent that you can structure your S$3,000 minimum spend to include S$1,000 in this period, it’s basically the icing on the cake.
For example, you could spend:
- S$2,000 in the first 30 days
- S$1,000 in the next 30 days
Assuming you take the S$120 cash, that reduces the S$196.20 annual fee to S$76.20, for which you get 45,000 bonus miles. The cost per mile is 0.17 cents (or even less if you factor in the eCapitaVoucher)- I can’t think of many opportunities to buy them for lower than that!
Term and Conditions
What can you do with SC Rewards Points?
Standard Chartered used to have 10 different airline and hotel transfer partners, one of the widest ranges in Singapore.
Unfortunately, that all changed in March 2024, when nine of them were unceremoniously dumped. Cathay Pacific Asia Miles was added, but the overall lineup is certainly a lot thinner than before.
| Frequent Flyer Programme |
Conversion Ratio (SC Points: Partner) |
|
| Visa Infinite & Journey | All others | |
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25,000 : 10,000 | 34,500 : 10,000 |
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25,000 : 10,000 | 34,500 : 10,000 |
Transfers cost S$27 each, regardless of the number of points transferred.
Overview: StanChart Journey Card
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| Apply (Fee Waiver) | |||
| Apply (Fee Paying) | |||
| Income Req. | S$30,000 p.a. | Points Validity | No expiry |
| Annual Fee (Including GST) |
S$196.20 (FYF) |
Min. Transfer |
25,000 points (10,000 miles)* |
| FCY Fee | 3.5% | Transfer Fee | S$27 |
| Local Earn | 1.2 mpd | Points Pool? | Yes |
| FCY Earn | 2 mpd | Lounge Access? | Yes: 2x Priority Pass |
| Special Earn | 3 mpd on online groceries, food delivery, transport (SGD) | Airport Limo? | No |
| Cardholder Terms and Conditions | |||
| *For KrisFlyer; for other programmes 1,000 miles/points | |||
StanChart Journey Cardholders earn 1.2 mpd on SGD spend, and 2 mpd on FCY spend, with no minimum spend or caps.
A bonus rate of 3 mpd will be awarded for online transactions in SGD with the following MCCs:
| Category | Examples (non-exhaustive) |
| Groceries (MCC 5411) |
NTUC FairPrice Online, Lazada Redmart |
| Bakeries (MCC 5462) |
Bengawan Solo, Polar Puffs & Cakes, Chateraise |
| Misc. Food Stores (MCC 5499) |
Bottles and Bottles, Famous Amos, Irvins Salted Egg |
| Liquor, Wine or Beer Stores (MCC 5921) |
1855 The Bottle Shop, The Oaks Cellars, Grand Cru |
| Food Delivery* (MCC 5811, 5812, 5814) |
GrabFood, Deliveroo, Foodpanda |
| Transport^ (MCC 4111, 4121, 4789) |
Grab rides, Comfort taxi, gojek |
| Cruise Liners (MCC 4411) |
Royal Caribbean, Princess Cruises, Norwegian Cruise |
| *Despite the name, the bonus would be equally applicable in situations where a restaurant has online ordering for dine-in (e.g. scan a QR code menu and pay online before receiving your food) ^Not for Bus/MRT, as this is a contactless spend and not online |
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Do note that the examples are not exhaustive; all that matters is:
- the MCC falls within the approved range
- the transaction is online
- the transaction is in SGD
This 3 mpd rate is capped at S$1,000 per statement month. You could, of course, do better with 4-6 mpd on other cards, but if you’ve maxed out those caps then this would be a potential fall-back option.
For a full review of the Journey card, refer to the article below.
Conclusion
New-to-bank customers who apply for a StanChart Journey Card now have an opportunity to buy 45,000 miles for just 0.17 cents each, thanks to SingSaver’s upsized cash gift of S$120. Alternatively, they can choose from Apple AirTags or a hairdryer instead, though my personal recommendation is to focus on the cash.
No minimum spend is necessary for the SingSaver gift, but you will need to clock S$3,000 within the first 60 days of approval in order to get the 45,000 bonus miles. Try and save S$1,000 for the second 30 day period in order to get an extra S$20 eCapitaVoucher.
Are there other cards provide welcome offers compatible with SingSaver offers?
Strictly speaking it’s not 0.17 cent per mile. the $120 Singsaver sign up gift is something that’s given out anyway, whether annual fee is paid or not, same for the 25k bonus miles provided the $3000 spending within first 60 days criterion is met. The marginal difference in miles between paying annual fee or not is that 20k miles. So the marginal decision is actually whether one wants to buy that additional 20k miles by paying the $196 annual fee, which translates to about 1 cent per mile.
Is the forex fee waive for SC Journey? Or is that over?
Cause the sign up T&C still listed zero forex fees as a selling pt. But the dates are May, Jun, Nov and Dec 23, which are long over…
Just tried applying using the link on this page today. But error msg comes up “referral id is invalid” I’ve written to singsaver. Hope they reply soon.