Review: UOB PRVI Miles Card

Here’s The MileLion’s review of the UOB PRVI Miles Card, which UOB often markets as “the highest limitless miles card” in Singapore.

That’s technically true, but as competitors raise their game, UOB has found itself having to add more and more caveats to that claim. The current iteration is something of a mouthful!

But fine. The earn rates are indeed as good as it gets for an entry-level general spending card, and since UNI$ pool with other high-earning options like the UOB Preferred Platinum Visa, UOB Visa Signature, and UOB Lady’s Card, the UOB PRVI Miles can help anchor a UOB-centric card strategy. And if you have the AMEX version, you might be surprised to know that the airport limo benefit is one of the best in the market, beating even more expensive premium cards!

It’s not all smooth sailing. You’ll need to get comfortable with UOB’s penchant for hijinks, whether it’s punitive rounding policies, non-miles accruing UOB$ merchants, automatic UNI$ deductions for annual fees, and “first X” sign-up bonuses.

But assuming that’s not a deal-breaker, then you’ll find this to be one of the better general spending cards out there- not essential, but certainly worth a look. 

UOB PRVI Miles Card
🦁 MileLion Verdict
☐ Take It ☑ Take It Or Leave It ☐ Leave It
What do these ratings mean?
The UOB PRVI Miles Card offers good earn rates and an excellent airport limo benefit, though UOB’s shenanigans are an ever-present annoyance.
👍 The good	👎 The bad
Highest earn rates of any entry-level general spending card AMEX version offers probably the best airport limo benefit on the market Periodic bonus miles offers	S$5 earn blocks, UOB$ merchants, automatic UNI$ deductions and all of UOB’s usual gotchas 2-year points expiry No miles with annual fee payment No airport lounge access
💳 Full List of Credit Card Reviews

Overview: UOB PRVI Miles Card

Let’s start this review by looking at the key features of the UOB PRVI Miles Card. 

Apply (AMEX)
Apply (MC)
Apply (Visa)
Income Req.	S$30,000 p.a.	Points Validity	2 years
Annual Fee	S$261.60 (FYF Option)	Min. Transfer	5,000 UNI$ (10,000 miles)
Miles with Annual Fee	N/A	Transfer Partners	3
FCY Fee	3.25%	Transfer Fee	S$25
Local Earn	1.4 mpd	Points Pool?	Yes
FCY Earn	2.4 mpd	Lounge Access?	No
Special Earn	6 mpd on Agoda, Expedia	Airport Limo?	Yes  (AMEX only)
Cardholder Terms and Conditions

The UOB PRVI Miles is issued across all three card networks: American Express, Mastercard, and Visa.

Income requirements, annual fees, earn rates and all other features are the same for all, though the American Express version has two unique features:

• 20,000 bonus miles for spending at least S$50,000 in a membership year
• Complimentary airport limo transfers

I’ll discuss these in more detail below. 

How much must I earn to qualify for a UOB PRVI Miles Card?

Once upon a time, the UOB PRVI Miles Card had an annual income requirement of S$80,000. However, the requirement was gradually lowered, and today the card has been repositioned at the S$30,000 entry-level segment.

If you don’t meet the income requirement, you can place a S$10,000 fixed deposit with UOB and get a secured version of the card. Visit any UOB branch for further information. 

How much is the UOB PRVI Miles Card’s annual fee?

While other general spending cards like the Citi PremierMiles and DBS Altitude carry S$196.20 annual fees, the UOB PRVI Miles Card is slightly more expensive. 

Principal cardholders are charged S$261.60 per year, with the first year waived. There is a perpetual fee waiver for the first supplementary card, and a S$130.80 annual fee for the second card onwards.

Most general spending cards charge you an annual fee if you don’t hit a minimum annual spend, but award you some miles in return. With UOB, it’s the opposite:

• If you spend at least S$50,000 in a membership year on the UOB PRVI Miles AMEX, your annual fee will be waived and you’ll receive 20,000 miles. This will be credited in the form of 10,000 UNI$ within two statement periods from the card’s anniversary date
• If you fall short of the threshold, or if you hold the UOB PRVI Miles Mastercard or UOB PRVI Miles Visa, you’ll be billed the annual fee at the start of the second year with no miles to show for it. 

Fee waivers are possible, but be warned that UOB’s default behaviour is to automatically deduct your UNI$ come renewal time to cover the annual fee.

How do UOB’s automatic UNI$ deductions for annual fees work?

When the time comes for renewal, you will either be charged: 

1. 6,500 UNI$ for a full waiver
2. 3,250 UNI$ + S$130.80 for a half waiver

• If you have at least 6,500 UNI$ in your account, you will be charged (i)
• If you have less than 6,500 UNI$ but more than 3,250 UNI$, you will be charged (ii)
• If you don’t have at least 3,250 UNI$, you’ll be charged the S$261.60 annual fee in cash.

It’s up to you to monitor your statement and request a waiver when this happens. Look at the expiry date on your credit card; the month corresponds to the month your annual fee will be charged. 

For what it’s worth, if UOB subsequently grants you a fee waiver, the reinstated UNI$ will have a fresh 2-year validity, so that’s something I guess!

What welcome offers are available?

T&Cs

New-to-bank customers who apply for a UOB PRVI Miles Card will enjoy up to 45,200 bonus miles, split into:

• 20,000 miles for paying the first year’s S$261.60 annual fee
• 25,200 miles for spending S$1,000 per month for two consecutive months

This works out to a cost of 0.58 cents per mile, and one of the better offers you’ll see for a UOB card.

There is no cap on the maximum customers eligible for either component. However, you must be approved by the end of the month in which you apply, so don’t leave your application till the last minute.

The S$2,000 minimum spend will earn:

• 2,800 base miles, if spent locally @ 1.4 mpd
• 4,800 base miles, if spent overseas @ 2.4 mpd

UOB assumes the latter scenario in its marketing, which is why you’ll see claims of a 50,000 miles sign-up bonus (45,200 bonus + 4,800 base) on its website.

How many miles do I earn?

SGD/FCY Spend

UOB PRVI Miles Card members earn:

• UNI$3.5 for every S$5 spent in Singapore Dollars
• UNI$6 for every S$5 spent in foreign currency (FCY)

1 UNI$ is worth 2 airline miles, so that’s an equivalent earn rate of 1.4 mpd for local spending, and 2.4 mpd for FCY spending.

This is the highest earn rate for any general spending card at the S$30,000 income level, but be warned! You might be earning less than you think on smaller transactions, due to UOB’s nasty rounding policy (more on that below).

💳 Earn Rates for General Spending Cards (income req.: S$30K)
Cards	Local Spend	FCY Spend
UOB PRVI Miles	1.4 mpd	2.4 mpd
HSBC TravelOne Card	1.2 mpd	2.4 mpd
DBS Altitude	1.3 mpd	2.2 mpd
OCBC 90°N Card	1.3 mpd	2.1 mpd
Citi PremierMiles	1.2 mpd	2 mpd
StanChart Journey	1.2 mpd	2 mpd
AMEX KrisFlyer Ascend	1.2 mpd	2 mpd*
AMEX KrisFlyer Credit Card	1.1 mpd	2 mpd*
BOC Elite Miles	1 mpd	2 mpd
KrisFlyer UOB Credit Card	1.2 mpd	1.2 mpd
*In June and Dec only, otherwise 1.1 mpd

All FCY transactions are subject to a 3.25% fee, which is par the course for the market.

With a 3.25% fee, using your UOB PRVI Miles Card overseas represents buying miles at 1.35 cents each. 

Unfortunately, there’s another UOB quirk here. While other banks define overseas transactions simply as those charged in currencies other than Singapore Dollars, UOB further requires that the payment gateway be overseas. As per the T&Cs:

For the avoidance of doubt, card transactions made overseas but effected/charged in Singapore dollars and online transactions effected in Singapore dollars or in foreign currencies at merchants with payment gateway in Singapore will not be treated as overseas transactions and will earn UNI$3.5 per S$5 spend

In other words, if you’re shopping on an online website which bills you US$100 (~S$140), but processes the payment within Singapore (Hotels.com is an example), you’ll earn miles at the local spending rate of 1.4 mpd.

How do you know where the payment processing is done? You don’t. This is something you’ll just have to learn as you go along, by tracking your points carefully.

UOB$ merchants

Another thing to be on your toes about is UOB$ merchants, because UOB PRVI Miles Cardholders will not earn any UNI$ for transactions here (with the exception of UOB PRVI Miles AMEX, which does not participate in the UOB$ scheme).

UOB$ is UOB’s card-wide cashback programme and includes Cold Storage, Crystal Jade, Giant, Guardian, Starbucks and Toast Box, among others. 

Here’s the latest list of UOB$ merchants, current as of July 2024.

Gourmet Dining

Groceries

Lux Retail

Retail and Services

Travel and Entertainment

I’ve written about some potential workarounds for UOB$ merchants in the following post.

Workarounds: How to earn miles at UOB$ merchants with UOB cards

Bonuses with OTAs

UOB PRVI Miles Cardholders can enjoy 6 mpd on hotel and flight bookings with Agoda and Expedia.

One caveat: all bookings must be made through special landing pages, which tend to charge higher prices than publicly-available rates for hotels (though not always). Be sure to compare prices before booking, and make sure you’re not overpaying for miles. 

Fortunately, the same rule doesn’t apply for airline tickets, which tend to be more or less the same price as the official website (doesn’t hurt to check though!)

6 mpd with Agoda

UOB x Agoda

T&Cs

UOB PRVI Miles Cardholders will earn 6 mpd on hotel bookings with Agoda, when they book via the special UOB x Agoda landing page.

Bookings and stays must be made and completed by 31 December 2024, and all stays must be prepaid. Bookings where payment is made at the hotel will not be eligible for bonus miles.

Bonus UNI$ will be credited within three months after the stay is completed. 

6 mpd with Expedia

UOB x Expedia

T&Cs

UOB PRVI Miles Cardholders will 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. You won’t find Singapore Airlines or Cathay Pacific here, but THAI, Turkish Airlines and Qatar Airways might be useful for someone based in Singapore.

Bookings and stays made by 31 December 2024, and all stays must be prepaid. Bookings where payment is made at the hotel will not be eligible for bonus miles.

When are UNI$ credited?

UNI$ are credited when your transaction posts, which generally takes 1-3 working days. 

How are UNI$ calculated?

Here’s how you can work out the UNI$ earned on your UOB PRVI Miles Card

Unfortunately, UOB has one of the most punitive rounding policies in the game, which can adversely affect your earn rates especially on smaller transactions.

UOB first rounds your transaction down to the nearest S$5, divides it by 5, then multiplies the amount by 3.5 UNI$ (assuming it’s a Singapore Dollar transaction). This UNI$ figure is then rounded down again to the nearest whole number. 

So imagine you spent S$9.99 on your UOB PRVI Miles Card. You might figure that’s 14 miles (S$9.99 @ 1.4 mpd), but…

• The S$9.99 is rounded down to S$5
• S$5 is awarded 3.5 UNI$
• 3.5 UNI$ is rounded down to 3 UNI$

You actually earn 3 UNI$ (6 miles), an effective rate of just 0.6 mpd!

This is an extreme example, of course, and the effect of rounding gets smaller as your transaction size increases. But it’s exactly why you should think twice about using your UOB PRVI Miles Card for small transactions that aren’t in S$5 blocks- in fact, the minimum spend required to earn miles is S$5.

This means that despite having a higher headline rate, you may earn fewer miles on the UOB PRVI Miles Card than the Citi PremierMiles Card depending on transaction size. Consider the following: 

	UOB PRVI Miles Earn rate: 1.4 mpd	Citi PremierMiles Earn rate: 1.2 mpd
S$5	6 miles	6 miles
S$9.99	6 miles	11 miles
S$15	20 miles	18 miles
S$19.99	20 miles	23 miles
S$25	34 miles	30 miles
S$29.99	34 miles	35 miles
S$35	48 miles	42 miles
S$39.99	48 miles	47 miles

If you’re an Excel geek, here’s the formulas you need to calculate points: 

For the full list of formulas that banks use to calculate credit card points, do refer to these articles:

• General Spending Cards
• Specialised Spending Cards

What transactions aren’t eligible for UNI$?

A full list of transactions that do not earn UNI$ can be found in the T&Cs at Point 1(ii).

I’ve highlighted a few noteworthy categories below:

• Charitable Donations
• Education
• Government Services 
• Insurance
• Prepaid account top-ups (e.g. GrabPay, YouTrip)
• Real Estate Agents & Managers
• Utilities

UNI$ will be awarded for CardUp transactions, but not ipaymy.

While Amaze* Transit* is on the exclusion list, this only affects transit-related transactions like EZ-Link card top-ups. UOB PRVI Miles Mastercard cardholders can pair their card with Amaze to earn rewards at the local spending rate of 1.4 mpd (since Amaze converts all transactions into SGD).

What do I need to know about UNI$?

Expiry

UNI$ expire 2 years from the last day of each periodic quarter in which the UNI$ was earned.

Each UNI$ period is calculated commencing from January to December of each calendar year. Expired UNI$ cannot be replaced or reinstated.

Pooling

UNI$ pool across cards. If you have 10,000 UNI$ on the UOB Lady’s Card, and 5,000 UNI$ on the UOB PRVI Miles Card, you can redeem 15,000 UNI$ at one shot and pay a single conversion fee.

It also means that you don’t need to transfer your UNI$ out before cancelling the UOB PRVI Miles Card, assuming it’s not your last UNI$-earning card. 

Transfer Partners & Fees

UNI$ transfer to frequent flyer programs at a 1:2 ratio, with a minimum transfer block of 5,000 UNI$ (let’s ignore AirAsia, because converting points there is like throwing them away):

Frequent Flyer Programme	Conversion Ratio (UNI$: Partner)
	5,000 : 10,000
	5,000 : 10,000
	2,500 : 4,500

Transfers cost S$25 per programme, regardless of how many points are transferred.

UOB also has an auto-conversion option for KrisFlyer, which costs S$50 per year. UNI$ will be automatically converted on the last day of the calendar month, in blocks of UNI$2,500 (half the regular conversion block).

FAQs

T&Cs

Read Point 53-55

However, you’ll need to keep a minimum balance of UNI$15,000 (30,000 miles) in your account at all times. This is a hefty working capital balance! Make what you will of UOB’s reason for this policy…

Cardmembers who wish to make ad-hoc conversions can still do so, subject to the payment of the usual S$25 fee per conversion, in standard blocks of 5,000 UNI$ (10,000 miles).

Here’s the pros and cons of the automatic transfer scheme:

Pros

• Pay a single fee for 12 automatic conversions a year
• Reduces the minimum conversion block from 5,000 UNI$ (10,000 KrisFlyer miles) to 2,500 UNI$ (5,000 KrisFlyer miles)

Cons

• The 3-year expiry on your KrisFlyer miles starts as soon as they are converted. Had you kept your UNI$ on the UOB side, you’d enjoy two extra years of validity
• Ad-hoc conversions still cost you S$25
• Only balances in excess of 15,000 UNI$ are converted
• Effectively locks you into KrisFlyer, as opposed to UOB’s other transfer partners (you can still make ad-hoc conversions to Asia Miles between quarters, but it’s likely you’ll need to end participation in the Automatic Conversion Programme to acquire a critical mass)

Transfer Times

UOB transfers to KrisFlyer are typically completed within 48 hours.

If you need your points credited instantly, you can do so via Kris+. 1,000 UNI$ can be transferred to 1,700 KrisPay miles, which can then be transferred to KrisFlyer miles at a 1:1 ratio. 

S$5 for new Kris+ Users

Get S$5 (in the form of 750 KrisPay miles) when you sign-up with code W644363 and make your first transaction

However, those 1,000 UNI$ would normally have earned you 2,000 KrisFlyer miles, so you effectively take a 15% haircut. Therefore I wouldn’t recommend taking this option, unless you need a small top-up to redeem a flight, or have an orphan UNI$ balance (<5,000 points). 

If you choose to do so nonetheless, do remember that it’s a two-step process:

1. Transfer UNI$ to KrisPay miles
2. Transfer KrisPay miles to KrisFlyer miles

Do not forget the second step! If you wait more than seven days, or spend any of the converted KrisPay miles via Kris+, the entire balance will be stuck in the Kris+ app. KrisPay miles expire after six months, and can only be spent at a poor ratio of 150 miles = S$1. 

Other card perks

Buy miles with UOB Payment Facility

UOB Payment Facility

UOB PRVI Miles Cardholders have access to a “no questions asked” Payment Facility that lets them buy unlimited miles at 2.3 cents each, subject to their credit limit.

How it works is that cardholders fill out an online form and specify how much they’d like to charge to the facility, e.g. S$5,000. UOB will then:

• Deposit S$5,000 into their designated bank account
• Charge S$5,115 to their card (S$5,000 + 2.3% fee)
• Award UNI$ at a rate of UNI$2.5 per S$5, or 2,500 UNI$ in total (5,000 miles; the payment facility fee doesn’t earn miles)

Cardholders are then out of pocket S$115, for which they purchased 5,000 miles. This works out to 2.3 cents per mile.

Frankly speaking, 2.3 cents per mile is way above what you should be paying, when you can find cheaper alternatives with services like CardUp and Citi PayAll. 

The only situation where the UOB Payment Facility would make sense is to top off your UNI$ balance to the next 5,000 UNI$ block needed for a transfer.

UOB runs periodic promotions for the UOB Payment Facility which reduce the fee for UOB PRVI Miles Cardholders to 2.1% (there’s one going on right now which ends on 31 December 2024), but even at that price it’s not really worth considering.

Complimentary airport limo (AMEX only)

Not only is the UOB PRVI Miles AMEX the only S$30,000 credit card to feature a limo benefit, it also has the lowest spending requirement on the market.

By spending S$1,000 in foreign currency (excluding phone, mail or online transactions) in a calendar quarter, cardholders receive two complimentary airport limo transfers to Changi Airport.

This is the lowest spending requirement of any card in Singapore, and even more generous than cards in the $120K segment.

Card	Qualifying Spend	Cap
Income Req. ≥S$30K
UOB PRVI Miles AMEX (T&C)	S$1K (FCY) per quarter for 2 rides	2 per quarter
Income Req. ≥S$120K
UOB Lady’s Solitaire Metal Card (T&C)	None	1 per year (can be used worldwide)
HSBC Visa Infinite (T&C)	S$2K per month for 1 ride (First 2 [Regular] or 4 [Premier] per year are free)	24 per year (includes free rides)
Maybank Visa Infinite (T&C)	S$3K per month for 1 ride	8 per year
Citi Prestige (T&C)	S$12K per quarter for 2 rides	2 per quarter
OCBC VOYAGE (T&C)	S$12K per quarter for 2 rides	2 per quarter

Limo services need to be booked at least 2 days in advance of travel. Your card will initially be charged S$45, which will be automatically reimbursed within two months after quarter ends, if the spending criteria is met. In other words, you can ride first, spend later– provided both riding and spending take place in the same quarter.

A maximum of two free rides can be booked per quarter. 

Discounted Grab rides to the airport

While the UOB PRVI Miles Mastercard and Visa don’t have the complimentary limo rides of the AMEX, they do offer S$20 off a Grab ride to/from Changi Airport each month. 

Cardholders first need to register by sending the following SMS to 77862.

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:

UOB does not provide explicit MCC ranges, but based on my reading, this would include:

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). 

Grab vouchers will be sent out to eligible cardholders in the following month via SMS to the registered mobile number with the bank. 

Complimentary travel insurance

UOB PRVI Miles Cardholders who charge their air tickets to their credit card will be eligible for complimentary travel insurance. However, coverage does not kick in automatically; they must register via this link at least five working days before departure. 

S$500,000 coverage for accidental death is included, as is S$50,000 coverage for emergency medical assistance, evacuation and repatriation (including due to COVID-19). However, there is no coverage for travel inconvenience like delayed, lost or damaged baggage, missed connections or flight delays.

Therefore, I’d highly recommend getting a comprehensive travel insurance policy instead. 

Bonus miles offers

UOB PRVI Miles Cardholders can look forward to periodic bonus miles offers, which can boost the earn rates significantly. While a minimum spend is usually required, the resulting earn rate can outperform even specialised spending cards.

Here’s a snapshot of what we’ve seen recently:

• May 2024: 5 mpd on overseas dining and shopping
• September 2023: 8 mpd on airline, hotel and travel agent bookings
• May 2023: 5 mpd on overseas dining and shopping
• May 2023: 8 mpd on Expedia airline and hotel bookings
• November 2022: 5 mpd on overseas dining and shopping
• February 2022: 4.4 mpd on online dining, food delivery, groceries, pharmacies

Terms and Conditions

• UOB PRVI Miles Terms and Conditions
• UOB Rewards Programme Terms and Conditions

Summary Review: UOB PRVI Miles Card

Apply (AMEX)

Apply (MC)

Apply (Visa)

🦁 MileLion Verdict

☐ Take It ☑ Take It Or Leave It ☐ Leave It

As far as general spending cards come, the UOB PRVI Miles Card is a solid option: an uncapped sign-up bonus that lets you buy miles at 0.58 cents per mile, the highest earn rates of any entry-level general spending card, periodic bonus miles offers, and a very generous airport limo benefit (at least for the AMEX version).

At the same time, there are some very annoying gotchas, like S$5 earning blocks, automatic UNI$ deductions for annual fees, non-miles earning UOB$ merchants…I could go on. For some people, that’s the kind of turn-off that makes you look elsewhere (these issues exist with the UOB Lady’s Card, UOB Preferred Platinum Visa and UOB Visa Signature too, but I’m more willing to overlook them because of their 4 mpd earn rates). 

While I don’t believe that you should be putting a lot of spend on a general spending card in the first place, if you need to pick one, you could do far worse. 

So that’s my review of the UOB PRVI Miles Card. What do you think?