The KrisFlyer UOB Credit Card has long been an underrated card in my opinion. While it might be overshadowed by 4 mpd competitors, its strength lies in the fact that its 3 mpd bonus rate is uncapped, making it ideal for big ticket spend.
Unfortunately, UOB will be making some major changes to the card from 1 June 2025, when the bonus rate for dining, online shopping, online travel and transport will be cut to 2.4 mpd.
In addition to this, the minimum SIA Group spend required to trigger the bonus earn rates will also be increased by 25% to S$1,000, for cardholders whose membership years end from November 2025 onwards.
For what it’s worth, the KrisFlyer UOB Credit Card will soon earn an uncapped 3 mpd on Pelago bookings, and there is no change to the 3 mpd for Singapore Airlines, Scoot, KrisShop and Kris+, but on the whole I’d say these changes are a significant nerf to this once-excellent card.
Changes to Accelerated Miles for KrisFlyer UOB Credit Card
Accelerated miles cut to 2.4 mpd
| 💳 Accelerated Miles for KF UOB Credit Card | ||
 |
||
| Till 31 May 25 | From 1 Jun 25 | |
| Base Miles (All SGD & FCY spend) |
1.2 mpd | 1.2 mpd |
| Accelerated Miles (Selected SGD & FCY spend) |
1.8 mpd | 1.2 mpd |
| Total | 3 mpd | 2.4 mpd |
The KrisFlyer UOB Credit Card currently offers a bonus earn rate of 1.8 mpd on so-called Accelerated Miles categories, such as dining, online shopping, online travel and transport. This bonus is in addition to the base earn rate of 1.2 mpd on all local and overseas spending, giving a total earn rate of 3 mpd for these categories
From 1 June 2025, the bonus earn rate for Accelerated Miles categories will be reduced by 33% to 1.2 mpd. The base earn rate of 1.2 mpd remains unchanged, resulting in a new total earn rate of 2.4 mpd for these categories.
As before, there is no cap on the number of Accelerated Miles that can be earned.
Minimum spend for SIA Group
| Card Membership Year End | SIA Group Min. Spend |
| April 2023 to October 2025 | S$800 |
| November 2025 onwards | S$1,000 |
To be eligible for Accelerated Miles, cardholders must currently spend at least S$800 on SIA Group transactions in a card membership year, defined as:
- KrisShop
- Scoot
- Singapore Airlines
For cardholders whose membership years end from November 2025 onwards, the minimum SIA Group spend will be hiked by 25% to S$1,000.
| ❓ When does my membership year end? |
| If you’re not sure when your membership year ends, simply look at the expiry date on your card. For example, if your expiry month is March, then your membership year runs from 1 March to 28 February each year. |
The last increase to the SIA Group minimum spend was in 2022, when it rose from S$500 to S$800. Now, it’s being raised again, and just like last time, the way it’s being implemented will likely frustrate some cardholders.
The new minimum spend applies to anyone whose membership year starts from December 2024 onwards. That means if you recently applied for or renewed the card expecting the S$800 threshold to remain in place, you’re now faced with a higher requirement mid-cycle. If you’re unhappy about the change, your only options are to spend the additional S$200, or forgo the Accelerated Miles benefit for this year.
While a S$200 increase isn’t catastrophic, a more equitable approach would have been to apply the new threshold starting from membership years ending May 2026 onwards. That way, all applicants would know upfront that the minimum spend is S$1,000, instead of having the rules shift after the fact.
What qualifies for Accelerated Miles?
There is no change to how UOB is defining Accelerated Miles categories, with the following MCCs eligible.
| Category | MCCs/ Transaction Description |
| Dining & Food Delivery | 5812, 5813, 5814 |
| Online Shopping | 4816, 5262, 5306, 5309, 5310, 5311, 5331, 5399, 5611, 5621, 5631, 5641, 5651, 5661, 5691, 5699, 5732, 5733, 5735, 5912, 5942, 5944-5949, 5999, 7278 (only for Shopee, Lazada and Qoo10) |
| Online Travel | Agoda, Airbnb, Booking.com, Expedia, Hotels.com, Kaligo, Traveloka, Trip.com, UOB Travel |
| Transport | BUS/MRT, 4121 |
| Bonuses apply to both SGD and FCY spending | |
For the avoidance of doubt, Accelerated Miles will be awarded on these transactions for the entire membership year, not just from the time the minimum SIA Group spend was met.
Pelago now earns 3 mpd
If there’s one small consolation here, it’s that Pelago transactions made from 1 June 2025 will earn 3 mpd, instead of the current 1.2 mpd.
This resolves an incongruous situation whereby cardholders would earn an uncapped 3 mpd on Pelago bookings made via Kris+, but only 1.2 mpd when booking directly, despite Pelago being a wholly-owned subsidiary of Singapore Airlines.
However, Pelago (and Kris+) still does not count towards the minimum SIA Group spend required to trigger Accelerated Miles.
No changes to 3 mpd for SIA Group and Kris+
 |
 |
For the avoidance of doubt, there is no change to the earn rate for Kris+, Singapore Airlines, Scoot and KrisShop, which remains at 3 mpd year round.
There is no minimum spend required, and no cap on the maximum miles that can be earned for these transactions.
Conclusion
KrisFlyer UOB Credit Card customers will soon be hit by a double whammy, with the bonus earn rate for dining, online shopping, online travel and transport cut to 2.4 mpd, and a higher minimum spend of S$1,000 on SIA Group merchants required to unlock this bonus.
There is no change to the earn rate for the SIA Group and Kris+, and soon Pelago will join them in earning 3 mpd year-round.
But make no mistake, the loss of an uncapped 3 mpd option is a big blow to the miles game, and there’ll be some card strategy reshuffling required for many people next month.
What do you make of the KrisFlyer UOB Credit Card changes?
Sorry as the membership year is somewhat confusing to me. If my card is 11/27, would I need to clock $800 or $1000 minimum SIA group spend for the current year membership?
Cancelling this card when the AF posts
sure, threaten to cancel with the announcement of each nerf.
I rely on this card a lot cos of the uncap. Any recommendations for a new uncapped card? The options are reducing.
So spendings within the eligible accelrated miles category until 30May still gets 1.8mpd bonus, correct?
transactions that post by 31st may still earn 3 mpd overall.
Does insurance purchased with SIA/Scoot count towards the $800/$1000 spend?
I don’t think so. SIA will issue you two invoices for the purchase of air tickets and travel insurance (underwriter Allianz) and these will post separately on your credit card statement.
Those loopholes and the extra long periods of holding me hostage before the bonus posts. Cancelled as soon as I received the bonus for year 1, even with 3mpd.
Yet another miles nerfing… glory days of cheap miles are over. Would be good to have an updated post-nerfing landscape of the miles game in SG!
From a flight redemption perspective, that is positive
Can I clarify, in order to get the accelerated miles for these categories (dining, online shopping, travel and transport), I must first hit $800/$1,000 spending on SIA Group?
If I own the card now and if I am spending on the above categories, and I only managed to reach the requirement say in November, does that mean my spendings since Jan to Oct will not be entitled the accelerated miles?
Saw this in the article – ”For the avoidance of doubt, Accelerated Miles will be awarded on these transactions for the entire membership year, not just from the time the minimum SIA Group spend was met.“
May I check, for the $1000 minimum SIA Group spend , does it mean it includes the “taxes” i paid on my redemption flight?
Can someone help please – I’d like to cancel this card before AF comes into play for me (August) but am worried about not getting the retroactive allotment of accelerated miles (if I remember correctly it’s 14 months before accelerated miles are credited). Does anyone know how this works and if you still get those accelerated miles after cancelling the card?
thanks in advance!
why do you think you’d get accelerated miles if you cancel the card?
Hi Aaron, sorry let me rephrase the question. I understand that the accelerated miles portion (1.8 mpd) will be credited two months after the end of the membership year; but let’s say I were to obtain a fee waiver, and then look to cancel the card after 14 months (i.e. after the accelerated miles are credited).
Would that be the best strategy here? That way I would technically only be giving up 2 months worth of accelerated miles, whilst still receiving all my accelerated miles from the 1st year of card holdership.
yup, correct. or basically dont spend anything on your uob kf card for the first 2 months of the new membership year.
Thanks Aaron!
this is extremely unfortunate. I just got the card like a month ago and they are doing me dirty.
So my card got approved in December 2024, and immediately after approval I already spent close to $3k on SIA flights. After this announcement, I do not need to spend an additional $200 on SIA/Scoot flights right – Since I have already surpassed the newly announced minimum spend of $1k per membership year?
or do I need to spend an additional $200 on SIA/Scoot flights as they had just announced this new limit? And everyone holding on to this card has to spend that additional $200 just to get the bonus miles?
Wondering if it would still be worthwhile for me to apply and get this card, at least for the first year. Having a group of 5-6 travelling in Oct via SIA and I will be the one paying first. My plan was to pay for 1 pax through DBS WWMC and the remaining with UOB Krisflyer. Otherwise, I will be using a general spending card like UOB PRVI for the remaining air tickets.
Any suggestions?
Does anyone know if the SIA group spend has to be done directly on their website or if bookings on third-party travel websites count?