Merry Christmas from The MileLion

A very Merry Christmas to The MileLion Community!

Wherever in the world today finds you, I hope it’s in the company of friends and loved ones— even better if you’ve got a brand new Le Labo amenity kit in your possession, or several glasses of Cristal in your liver!

A few brief updates on what’s happening on my side.

It recently dawned on me that April 2025 will mark The MileLion’s 10th year anniversary (I know, right?), so I’ll be slightly delaying my annual reflections to coincide with those festivities. One decade of blogging, 5,500 articles published, 70 million pageviews, and all it cost me was my majestic mane. 

This time last year, I was getting ready to head to Bali with the family for the MileCub’s first-ever overseas trip. Since then we’ve completed trips to Perth, Kuala Lumpur (twice) and Bali (again), becoming seasoned pros in the process. Yes, so long as we travel on short-haul flights within the same time zone with abundant caregiver support and absolutely nothing goes wrong, I am completely fearless!

But 2025 is the year that the MileCub turns two, which means the end of 10% tickets, and a big decision to make: burn precious miles on a Business Class seat for a child who won’t be using it half the time, and whose alcohol tolerance is, shall we say, somewhat lacking? Or fly everyone in Economy Class and learn the true meaning of family togetherness?

Speaking of 2025, on the docket so far are Melbourne, Perth (but a different part of Perth — who says Singaporeans are unadventurous?), Iceland, and Banff National Park. There’ll be an opportunity to finally try Finnair’s AirLounge Business Class seat (I was about to call it “new”, but it’s already been in the market for three years now!), and I’m still on the lookout for an opportunity to snag awards on JAL’s new A350-1000. 

On the hotel front, I’ve already penciled in The Standard Singapore, and might spring for the Banyan Tree Mandai if the rates aren’t insane. Speaking of insane rates, the Raffles Hotel Sentosa is also meant to open in early 2025, though I suspect the price won’t be within the range of what I’m willing to pay for a review. Perhaps the new-and-improved Grand Hyatt Singapore will be more palatable, when it completes its renovation with the reopening of the Grand Wing!

I’m also going to be posting my annual Christmas wishlist for the miles and points game (which is surprisingly clairvoyant, based on how many 2023 wishes came true!), together with a recap of the biggest stories on The MileLion in 2024, and of course, my overall credit card strategy for 2025.

Finally, a reminder that there’s still time left to join The MileLion’s Christmas Fundraiser, which this year is seeking to raise S$60,000 to support the work of Dads for Life and the Centre for Fathering. As of this morning, we’re just shy of the halfway mark— a very big thank you to everyone who’s donated so generously! 

Donate Here

All donations of at least S$50 are eligible for 2.5X tax deductions, and you can refer to this post for which credit cards still earn miles on donations.

Merry Christmas to one and all!