What’s the best use of Max Miles?

I’ve previously written about HeyMax, a fintech startup with ambitious plans to reshape the rewards ecosystem in Singapore.

HeyMax already provides a very useful MCC lookup tool, which though not 100% reliable is much faster to use than the alternatives. It also wants to launch a Max Card that automatically routes each purchase to the highest-earning option.

👍 1,000 Max Miles joining bonus

Sign up for a HeyMax account and get up to 1,000 Max Miles as a welcome bonus

1,000 bonus Max Miles

While I highly doubt the Max Card will ever see the light of day (at least not in its original form, since Visa is never going to let you route transactions via Mastercard and vice versa), a much more viable product is the Max Shopping Portal, which is basically ShopBack but with miles and points instead of cashback (think of it as the spiritual successor to the now-defunct Rebate Mango).

Whenever you buy vouchers, shop online or purchase insurance policies via the Max Shopping Portal, you earn Max Miles, HeyMax’s own non-expiring rewards currency. In this post, we’ll look at the various redemption options available for Max Miles, and which ones I’d choose.

Airline and hotel points conversions

Max Miles can be transferred to two dozen airline and hotel loyalty programmes at a 1:1 ratio, without any fees.

Airline and hotel partners can be grouped into two categories: direct points transfer partners, and cash-for-miles.

Direct Points Transfer Partners

Direct Points Transfer Partners are the simplest to understand, because these work just like regular credit card points transfers.

Simply login to your HeyMax account, visit the points transfer portal, choose the programme, and enter the number of Max Miles you wish to transfer in increments of 100 (with a minimum redemption of 1,000 Max Miles).

Points will then be deposited directly into your loyalty account, which can take anywhere from 1-21 business days depending on partner.

HeyMax partners with Ascenda Loyalty to power most of its points transfers, and so I’m fairly confident that all the partners quoted as “up to 1 business day” are actually processed instantly, since there’s a direct API connection.

Cash-for-miles

Cash-for-miles is slightly more complicated. If you choose this option, you’ll fill out a manual form and HeyMax customer service will get in touch with you via email to process the transaction.

This involves them issuing a single-use virtual Visa debit card, which you’ll use to purchase the miles or points yourself via the programme’s official portal. 

Now, I know what you’re thinking: what’s stopping me from taking that card and spending the money on booze and drugs, or cashing it out via GrabPay? Well, HeyMax has set controls on the backend so that the card will only work at the merchant’s points purchase portal. Using it anywhere else will result in a failed transaction.

Do note that all purchases are subject to the individual programme’s rules and regulations, including annual purchase caps (for example, World of Hyatt only allows members to buy a maximum of 55,000 points pre-bonus each calendar year). HeyMax does not track this from their side, so it’s possible that your requested cash-for-miles transfer can’t be processed properly. In that case you’ll need to get in touch with HeyMax customer service to sort things out.

Points purchased via the programmes’ official portals should be credited instantly to your account, but there can be situations where it takes up to 72-96 hours because of the need to verify transactions.

Which programme should you choose?

Not all points currencies are made equal, and the fact that all HeyMax partners share the same conversion ratio means there’ll be some which are great options, and others which are terrible ones.

I personally see Max Miles as a way of accessing “exotic” loyalty programmes that don’t partner with any credit card in Singapore (e.g. Alaska Mileage Plan, Avianca LifeMiles, World of Hyatt), or which do, but with conversion ratios that leave a lot to be desired (e.g. Air Canada Aeroplan, JAL Mileage Bank).

Put it another way, it feels a bit wasteful to convert Max Miles to programmes that I could already access at reasonable conversion ratios via credit cards. 

But this assumes you can accumulate a critical mass of miles or points to make the whole exercise worthwhile; there’s no point in having 5,000 orphan Aeroplan points, for instance. So unless you’re willing to buy miles, or credit revenue flights to these programmes, it might not be the best option for you.

In that case, there’s no shame in sticking to programmes like:

• Qatar Privilege Club (Singapore to Europe in Business from 70,000-75,000 miles, to USA for 95,000 miles, to Koh Samui in Economy from 6,000 miles)
• Flying Blue (Singapore to Europe in Business from 70,000 miles)

Either way, I would strongly advise you against converting Max Miles to the following programmes:

• Airasia Rewards
• Club Vistara
• Hainan Airlines Fortune Wings
• Frontier Miles
• THAI Royal Orchid Plus
• Velocity Frequent Flyer

These represent poor value for various reasons, such as affiliation with a budget carrier, lack of alliance partners, or dynamic award pricing.

I would also advise against converting Max Miles to hotel programmes like Marriott Bonvoy or IHG One Rewards, because these points often go on sale where you can buy them cheaper. For instance, Marriott Bonvoy points can be bought at 0.9 US cents and IHG One Rewards points at 0.5 US cents each during sales, so you’re receiving relatively low value compared to airline miles. 

There’s one exception: World of Hyatt, where the per point value is significantly higher. I personally decided to exchange my Max Miles for World of Hyatt points, since I’d normally be paying 1.8+ US cents to buy these during points sales otherwise.

Other transfer options

For the sake of completeness, I should mention the other redemptions that HeyMax offers- with the caveat that they’re all poor value and better off ignored. 

Gift cards

Max Miles can be exchanged for gift cards with Amazon, Deliveroo, Grab, Lazada, TANGS and many more merchants at a fixed rate of 100 Max Miles= S$1 (with a minimum redemption of 1,000 Max Miles).

Unless you value your miles at less than 1 cent apiece (in which case, why are you even playing the miles game?), this is an option to avoid. There isn’t even an argument to be made for clearing out orphan miles, since the minimum redemption of 1,000 Max Miles is the same as that for Direct Points Transfer Partners.

Book flights and hotels

Max Miles can be used to pay for flight or hotel bookings made via the HeyMax rewards portal. This works just like a regular OTA, where you enter your route/city and dates, then hit search.

From what I can see, the value of Max Miles when used to book flights or hotels is roughly 0.90 cents apiece, which again isn’t great. Use your miles instead for airline miles or hotel points. 

Carbon offset

You can exchange 1,000 Max Miles for a 250kg carbon offset via Patch, which is the equivalent of holding your breath for 250 days. 

The less I say about this option the better. 

Conclusion

👍 1,000 Max Miles joining bonus

Sign up for a HeyMax account and get up to 1,000 Max Miles as a welcome bonus

1,000 bonus Max Miles

Making purchases via the Max Shopping Portal earns you Max Miles, which can be redeemed for miles or points with two dozen airline and hotel partners. All share the same 1:1 ratio, which means there’s great value to be found (and terrible value to be avoided!). 

I’ve been cashing out my Max Miles for World of Hyatt points so far, and am quite pleased with the process. Maybe we’ll never get the Max Card, but a reincarnation of Rebate Mango is a good consolation prize. 

What are you cashing out your Max Miles for?