Which credit cards have the smallest miles conversion blocks?

Unless you’re spending on an airline cobrand card like the AMEX KrisFlyer Ascend or KrisFlyer UOB Credit Card, you’re technically earning bank points, not airline miles. 

When the time comes to redeem a flight, those points must first be converted into miles. That raises a key question: how many points must you convert in a single transaction? This requirement is known as the minimum conversion block.

How does the minimum conversion block vary by bank?

For credit cards in Singapore, the minimum conversion block starts from as little as 1 mile and goes as high as 10,000 miles.

For some banks, things are very straightforward. For others, it’s a little more complicated.

American Express

AMEX Platinum Charge and Centurion Cardholders can transfer Membership Rewards Points in minimum blocks of 400 points (250 miles). All other AMEX cardholders transfer Membership Rewards Points in minimum blocks of 450 points (250 miles).

Do note that this will increase to 500 points (250 miles) and 550 points (250 miles) respectively from 23 February 2026, when the Membership Rewards devaluation takes effect.

HSBC

While HSBC requires a minimum conversion of 30,000 points (10,000 miles), the subsequent conversion block after that is just 2 miles (e.g. you could convert 10,496 miles, or 303,338 miles).

This means that so long as you have at least 10,000 miles in your account, you can cash out your entire balance with almost nothing leftover. 

OCBC

OCBC has three different points currencies, each with its own minimum conversion block:

• For the OCBC Rewards & Premier Visa Infinite, transfers are in minimum blocks of 25,000 OCBC$ (10,000 miles)
• For the OCBC 90°N Card, transfers are in minimum blocks of 1,000 90°N Miles (1,000 miles)
• For the OCBC VOYAGE Card, transfers are in minimum blocks of 1 VOYAGE Mile (1 mile)

Standard Chartered

Standard Chartered has two tiers of cards.

For Tier 1 cards (Beyond, Journey, Visa Infinite, Priority Banking Visa Infinite), the minimum conversion block is 25,000 points (10,000 miles).

For Tier 2 cards (All other SC cards), the minimum conversion block is 34,500 points (10,000 miles).

How pooling helps

In the table, I’ve added a label indicating whether points are pooled. Points pooling means the points earned on different cards can be combined and redeemed in a single transaction, which mitigates the effect of a larger conversion block.

For example, DBS has a minimum conversion block of 10,000 miles, and pools points. If I have 5,000 miles on my DBS Altitude AMEX and 5,000 miles on my DBS Vantage, I can redeem one block of 10,000 miles.

In contrast, Citibank has a minimum conversion block of 10,000 miles, but does not pool points. If I have 5,000 miles on the Citi Rewards Mastercard and 5,000 miles on the Citi Rewards Visa, I cannot redeem anything until I earn at least 10,000 miles on one card.

Why do smaller conversion blocks matter?

Smaller conversion blocks are much more customer-friendly.

First, they help maintain flexibility. Most banks offer conversions to multiple frequent flyer programmes, and a small conversion block enables you to transfer just the number of miles you need, keeping the rest of your points for transfers to other programmes as needed.

Second, they help maximise validity. Your points have “two validities”: one on the bank side, and one on the airline side. For example, AMEX Membership Rewards points never expire. Once they’re converted into KrisFlyer miles, however, they expire in three years.

A smaller conversion block prevents you from having to transfer more points than necessary, making better use of the bank’s validity period.

Third, in the event you need to cash out your points and close your card account, smaller minimum conversion blocks help reduce orphan points. 

For example, suppose John spends S$10,000 each on the DBS Altitude Card and OCBC 90°N Mastercard. At an earn rate of 1.3 mpd, he will have:

• 6,500 DBS Points (13,000 KrisFlyer miles)
• 13,000 90°N miles (13,000 KrisFlyer miles)

Now suppose he wants to close both cards. Since the minimum conversion block for DBS is 5,000 DBS Points, he’ll have 1,500 DBS Points remaining (known as orphan points) which can only be spent for vouchers or cash rebates at a rather poor rate. But since the minimum conversion block for OCBC is 1,000 90°N miles, he can cash out his entire balance with nothing remaining.

Is there any way to reduce the size of conversion blocks?

Auto-conversion programmes

DBS and UOB offer auto-conversion programmes that automatically convert points to miles, with a smaller minimum conversion block.

• DBS’s programme costs S$43.60 per year and is available to DBS Insignia, Treasures Black Elite and Altitude cardholders. Points will be converted once per quarter in blocks of 500 DBS Points (1,000 miles)
• UOB’s programme costs S$50 per year and is available to all UNI$-earning cards. Points will be converted each month in blocks of 2,500 UNI$ (5,000 miles), though you must maintain at least 15,000 UNI$ in your account

Kris+

S$5 for new Kris+ users

Get S$5 when you sign-up with code W644363 and make your first transaction

Kris+ supports instant transfers from Citi Miles & ThankYou points, DBS Points and UOB UNI$ to KrisPay miles, which can then be instantly converted into KrisFlyer miles at a 1:1 ratio. 

With Kris+, the minimum transfer block is reduced to as low as 200 miles, as shown below.

Bank	Transfer Ratio	Min. Transfer
Read More	1 Citi Mile: 0.85 miles	4,000 Citi Miles (4,000 miles)
	1 TYP: 0.34 miles	10,000 TYP (4,000 miles)
Read More	1 DBS Point: 1.7 miles	100 DBS Points (200 miles)
Read More	1 UNI$: 1.7 miles	1,000 UNI$ (2,000 miles)

Here’s the catch: there’s a 15% haircut compared to the number of miles you’d receive via the bank’s transfer portal (e.g. 100 DBS Points is normally worth 200 miles via the DBS Rewards portal, but only 170 miles via Kris+).

On the plus side, you get to avoid the bank’s usual transfer fee. Assuming you value a mile at 1.5 cents, UOB’s usual S$27 transfer fee would be equivalent to 1,800 miles, which given a 15% haircut means your indifference point is roughly around the 12,000 miles mark. If your miles account just needs a small top-up, it might make sense to take this route instead.

Other ways of doing small top-ups

If you just need a small top-up of your KrisFlyer account, there are other alternatives besides transferring credit card points, such as spending with a Kris+ merchant or transferring CapitaStars, GrabRewards points or LinkPoints.

For the full details, refer to this post.

Instant and quick ways to top-up a KrisFlyer miles balance

Conclusion

In an ideal world, conversion blocks would be no more than 1,000 miles, if not less. But unfortunately, 10,000 miles is where most of the market has settled, with notable exceptions for American Express, OCBC and HSBC (where the conversion block is just 2 miles after the first 10,000 miles block).

All things equal, I’d try to earn points with banks that have smaller conversion blocks, just to minimise the issue of orphan miles and keep my flexibility.