Back in June 2023, the UOB Visa Infinite Metal Card received a significant enhancement, which buffed the overseas earn rate to 2.4 mpd and added an unlimited-visit DragonPass lounge membership for the cardholder and one guest.
On top of this, a welcome offer of up to 80,000 miles & S$200 Grab vouchers was run till 31 December 2023, after which the 80,000 miles were retained but the S$200 Grab vouchers were dropped.
This welcome offer was originally set to lapse on 30 September 2024, but has now been renewed till 31 December 2024.
UOB Visa Infinite Metal Card 80,000 miles welcome offer
From now till 31 December 2024, new UOB Visa Infinite Metal Cardholders who pay the S$654 annual fee and spend at least S$4,000 within 30 days of approval will receive:
| New customers | Existing customers | |
| Pay S$654 annual fee | 25,000 miles | 25,000 miles |
| Spend S$4,000 within 30 days of approval | 55,000 miles | 15,000 miles |
| Total | 80,000 miles | 40,000 miles |
Unlike most UOB sign-up offers, there is no cap on the number of eligible applicants.
New customers are defined as those who:
- do not currently hold any principal UOB credit cards, and
- have not cancelled a principal UOB credit card in the past six months prior to the commencement of the promotion period
Given the S$654 annual fee, you’re basically paying 0.82 cents (new) or 1.64 cents (existing) per mile. Back when S$200 Grab vouchers were thrown into the mix, the value was even better, but now I’d only consider it if I met the new customer criteria.
Bonus miles are awarded on top of the regular base miles, so if you spent the entire S$4,000 on local spend at 1.4 mpd, you’ll have a total of 85,600 miles (new-to-bank) or 45,600 miles (existing).
What counts as qualifying spend?
A minimum qualifying spend of S$4,000 must be clocked within 30 days of approval.
Eligible transactions include all retail transactions in local or foreign currency, and a full list of exclusions can be found at point 1.5 of the T&Cs.
The key exclusions to highlight are:
- Charitable donations
- Government payments
- Hospitals
- Insurance
- ipaymy
- Prepaid account top-ups (e.g. GrabPay or YouTrip)
- Utilities
- UOB Payment Facility
For avoidance of doubt, CardUp and education transactions are eligible to earn miles, and will count towards minimum spend. However, hospitals will be removed from the list of eligible spending, effective 1 October 2024.
Supplementary cardholder spending will be pooled with the principal cardholder’s in determining if the minimum spend has been met. And before you say “isn’t that obvious?”, remember that UOB is not above such shenanigans.
When will the bonus be credited?
The 25,000 miles for paying the annual fee will be credited (in the form of 12,500 UNI$) two months after the annual fee is posted.
The additional 55,000/15,000 miles for new/existing customers will be credited (in the form of 27,500/7,500 UNI$) two months after the annual fee is posted.
Terms and Conditions
The full T&Cs for this offer can be found here.
What can you do with UNI$?
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 |
UOB Visa Infinite Metal Cardholders enjoy a waiver of the usual S$25 conversion fee, and since UNI$ pool, you can use the Visa Infinite Metal Card as a conduit to convert UNI$ earned on other UOB cards for free too.
No more monthly Grab vouchers
Earlier in 2024, we learned that UOB Visa Infinite Metal Cardholders would be losing their monthly allotment of 2x S$5 GrabGift vouchers, which can be redeemed for Transport, Food, Mart or Express services.
The final set of codes was sent to cardholders on 20 June 2024, and from July onwards, this perk is no more. S$5 may not sound like a lot, but over the course of a membership year thatโd be S$120 in value, or nearly 20% of your annual fee.
Do keep this in mind if you’re planning to apply for a card, because in the absence of other perks, it makes it harder to recover your annual fee.
Overview: UOB Visa Infinite Metal Card
 |
|||
| Apply | |||
| Income Req. |
S$120,000 p.a. |
Points Validity |
2 years |
| Annual Fee |
$654 | Min. Transfer |
5,000 UNI$ (10,000 miles) |
| Miles with Annual Fee |
25,000 | Transfer Partners |
3 |
| FCY Fee | 3.25% | Transfer Fee | Waived |
| Local Earn | 1.4 mpd | Points Pool? | Yes |
| FCY Earn | 2.4 mpd | Lounge Access? | Yes |
| Special Earn | N/A | Airport Limo? | No |
| Cardholder Terms and Conditions | |||
The UOB Visa Infinite Metal Card has a minimum income requirement of S$120,000 and a non-waivable annual fee of S$654.
Cardholders receive 25,000 miles each year the annual fee is paid, and enjoy perks such as:
- Unlimited DragonPass lounge visits for cardholder + 1 guest
- Up to US$1 million travel accident insurance
- Complimentary Pan Pacific DISCOVERY Titanium status
- Complimentary golf games at Sentosa Golf Club, and 50% off green fees at clubs across SEA
- A waiver of the usual S$25 admin fee for miles conversions
Key drawbacks to note include S$5 earning blocks and the lack of an airport limo benefit.
For the full analysis of the card’s perks and drawbacks, refer to the post below.
Conclusion
The UOB Visa Infinite Metal Card has extended its 80,000 miles sign-up offer till 31 December 2024, though it’s less lucrative than in 2023 due to the removal of the S$200 Grab vouchers.
That said, you could hit the minimum spend for the welcome offer with commonly-excluded transactions like education expenses, so it could still be worth considering for new-to-bank customers- at least for the first year.
From the second year onwards, you’ll have to decide whether the ongoing perks make renewal worthwhile, and with the loss of the monthly Grab vouchers, the case becomes more marginal.
Quiet relaxation of their NTB policy? Perhaps they badly need new applicants.
debit card does not count as existing customer right?
Can I confirm this is promo is new to card and not new to bank?
new to card. meaning you must not hold any of the UOB cards now.
The mileage game is becoming more tricky. Terms and Conditions are always changing and offers conditional and miss out on one thing and you will not gain the bonuses. In some situations you really do not gain that much. Airlines do change revise upwards their redemption every two to three year. Best is to know your threshold and I do not want to pay the 3.25 percent forex fee unless the ticket cost is lower to worth the while.
The T&Cs have changed. As from 1 Oct, hospitals are excluded.
While majority of CardUp transactions would count as eligible spend, it’s important to note that Rent doesn’t as it codes as 6513 which is excluded in T&C. Not sure if there are any other CardUp transactions that are excluded too
It appears that rent payments via CardUp were only coded as MCC 6513 for one specific promo. Normally it’s under MCC 7399.