Extended: StanChart Journey Card 45,000 miles welcome offer

Since the start of 2024, the StanChart Journey Card has been running a welcome offer of 45,000 bonus miles to customers who paid the first year’s annual fee and spent at least S$3,000, with a smaller offer of 25,000 bonus miles for customers who wanted a first year fee waiver.

This offer was originally set to lapse on 31 July 2024, but has now been extended till 31 October 2024.

As I wrote about earlier this month, there’s a great opportunity to stack this offer with SingSaver’s ongoing welcome gifts, including S$280 eCapitaVouchers or 15,000 Max Miles, making the first year of membership highly lucrative indeed.

StanChart Journey Card 45,000 miles welcome offer

Apply (Fee Waiver)

Apply (Fee Paying)

The StanChart Journey Card’s welcome offer is valid for applications submitted from 1 April to 31 October 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

Cardholders have a choice of two options: pay the first year’s annual fee, or get a first year fee waiver.

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.

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:

Stack SingSaver welcome 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:

• Apple AirPods Pro
• 15,000 Max Miles
• S$280 eCapitaVoucher
• S$250 cash

These gifts are currently valid for applications submitted by 31 July 2024, and may or may not rotate after that. 

A minimum spend of S$500 within the first 30 days of approval is required. These offers are available regardless of whether you apply for the fee paying or fee waiver option.

My pick here would be the S$280 eCapitaVouchers, because they’re so widely accepted they’re as good as cash in my mind (or you could pick actual cash, albeit S$30 less of it). 

If you’re still set on the miles option, Max Miles can be converted to 25 airline and hotel partners at a 1:1 ratio with no fees, including Aeroplan, Alaska Mileage Plan, Flying Blue, Qatar Privilege Club and World of Hyatt. Refer to my full guide below.

What’s the best use of Max Miles?

What counts as qualifying spend?

Cardholders must spend at least S$500 within 30 days of approval for the SingSaver gifts, and S$3,000 within 60 days of approval for the StanChart gifts. The amount spent for the SingSaver gifts will also count towards the amount spent for the StanChart gifts.

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.

Term and Conditions

• StanChart welcome bonus
• SingSaver rewards

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
	25,000 : 10,000	34,500 : 10,000
	25,000 : 10,000	34,500 : 10,000

Transfers cost S$27.25 each, regardless of the number of points transferred. 

Overview: StanChart Journey Card

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$27.25
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

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:

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 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. 

Review: Standard Chartered Journey Card

Conclusion

Apply (Fee Waiver)

Apply (Fee Paying)

StanChart has extended its 45,000 miles welcome offer till 31 October 2024, which is further stackable with SingSaver gifts including S$280 eCapitaVouchers or 15,000 Max Miles. 

Regardless of how you feel about the Journey Card’s value proposition from the second year onwards, the first year is highly lucrative because of this stacking opportunity, and if you’re new-to-bank, it’s definitely worth taking.

That’s especially the case since StanChart is one of the rare few banks which still rewards hospitals and utilities spend, so those can count towards your qualifying spend as well.