HeyMax First will offer free membership tier, extend reclaim eligibility indefinitely

Back in April, HeyMax teased a new feature called HeyMax First, which is basically a “Fly now, earn later” facility. Members receive Max Miles upfront, redeem them however they like, then earn back the deficit at their own pace.

HeyMax First remains on track for a Q2 2026 launch, but the team has made some tweaks to address concerns raised during the initial announcement. The main takeaway is that HeyMax First will offer a perpetually free Silver tier, which members can downgrade to if they want to avoid annual membership fees.

There have also been a couple more developments that could affect how you view the HeyMax First value proposition, including the addition of yuu Points to Max Miles conversions, and the removal of the Cash For Miles programme.

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Recap: How HeyMax First works

HeyMax First is about borrowing miles, not buying miles.

There is no lump-sum deposit to your HeyMax account when you sign up. Instead, think of HeyMax First as a credit line for Max Miles. 

You can draw it down whenever you need, and pay it back later as you earn Max Miles through shopping at partner merchants, buying vouchers, using linked cards, referring friends etc.

The HeyMax First fee structure has two components:

• An annual membership fee 
• An access fee ranging from 2.3 to 3 cents per mile, paid whenever Max Miles are withdrawn, and refunded whenever Max Miles are returned

For example, a Gold member pays a S$299 annual membership fee, which gives him access to a pool of 100,000 Max Miles. He can withdraw 50,000 Max Miles by paying an access fee of S$1,350 (50,000 x 2.7 cents each).

As he earns Max Miles through his day-to-day activities, he can subsequently reclaim the access fee in blocks of 10,000 Max Miles (S$270), until his entire drawdown has been repaid. 

So in theory, the membership fee is the only unavoidable component. But you won’t even have to worry about that following HeyMax’s latest change…

How has HeyMax First changed?

HeyMax has made two major changes to the HeyMax First programme:

• The Silver tier’s membership fee has been removed, making it free for life
• Members can downgrade to a lower tier even if its miles pool is smaller than their current outstanding drawdown

Silver is the default tier that all members start at, though as previously announced, the first 10,000 sign-ups will be able to upgrade to a paid tier (Gold, Platinum or Reserve) with a one-year waiver of the membership fee.

What these changes effectively do is remove the time pressure to earn back the access fee.

To understand the difference, consider the following scenario:

• Platinum member who signed up with first year fee waiver
• Has an outstanding drawdown of 200,000 Max Miles
• Membership year ending soon

Under the HeyMax First programme as originally announced, his options would be:

• Renew his membership for another year, and pay a S$699 membership fee
• Cancel his membership, in which case any outstanding access fee is forfeited, and he would not be able to rejoin HeyMax First in the future

He would not be able to downgrade his membership to the Silver/Gold tier, because his outstanding drawdown (200,000 Max Miles) is larger than the Silver (30,000 Max Miles) or Gold (100,000 Max Miles) miles pool.

Under the revised HeyMax First programme, he can choose to downgrade to the free Silver tier, and continue to earn back the outstanding access fee at his own pace (which will be refunded at the original Platinum rate of 2.5 cents per mile).

There’s no deadline. Reclaim eligibility persists indefinitely — even if you don’t renew a paid tier or pause your HeyMax activity. Your outstanding access fees remain reclaimable for as long as you’re a HeyMax user.

-HeyMax

Of course, he won’t be able to withdraw any further miles from the Silver tier’s 30,000 Max Miles pool until his outstanding balance is less than 30,000. But compared to before, at least he doesn’t have to worry about paying an additional year’s membership fee. 

Now, it should be emphasised that by paying the access fee, you’re basically making an interest-free, unsecured loan to HeyMax, in return for upfront miles. So before taking the plunge, you’ll need to decide whether you’re comfortable with that “credit risk”. The access fee isn’t custodised, and should HeyMax go under, you may not be able to recover any outstanding amounts (though obviously in that case you won’t have to repay the Max Miles either).

You can refer to the full list of HeyMax First FAQs here.

Revised payment methods

When HeyMax First was initially announced, both the membership fee and access fee were supposed to be paid via PayNow.

However, the arrangement has now changed such that membership fees are paid via card, and access fees via PayNow.

This creates an opportunity to earn miles on the membership fee, though the MCC has yet to be confirmed — and in any case, most early birds will enjoy a waiver of the first year’s membership fee anyway.

yuu Points to Max Miles conversions coming soon

From early June (the exact date is yet to be announced), yuu Rewards Club members will be able to convert yuu Points into Max Miles at a ratio of 3.6 points = 1 mile.

This is a very exciting development, not least because it turns the DBS yuu Card into a Max Miles credit card. And not just any credit card, but one that earns 10 Max Miles per S$1 at yuu merchants and SimplyGo!

Apply (AMEX)
Apply (Visa)
Reward	Min. Spend	Cap
Base Reward 1x point per S$1* 0.5% rebate 0.28 mpd	N/A	N/A
Bonus Reward 1 9x points per S$1* 4.5% rebate 2.5 mpd	N/A	28,800 points (S$822.86)
Bonus Reward 2 26x points per S$1 13% rebate 7.22 mpd	S$800 Spend at 4x merchants
Note: For SimplyGo, Base Reward = 0.5x points per S$1, Bonus Reward 1= 9.5x points per S$1

In the context of HeyMax First, this partnership provides a steady path to earning back your outstanding drawdown, with a “monthly earning potential” of 8,230 Max Miles (S$823 cap @ 10 mpd).

Cash for Miles has been sunset

While the introduction of a free tier for HeyMax First is a good thing for the programme, what takes the shine off slightly is the recent discontinuation of the Cash for Miles programme and its 17 airline and hotel partners. 

From 1 June 2026, the following partners are no longer available through HeyMax. 

I really don’t care much about the loss of programmes like Emirates Skywards, Frontier Miles, Hainan Fortune Wings Club, though I am mourning the loss of Air Canada Aeroplan, American Airlines AAdvantage, and World of Hyatt (despite the massacre to top-tier aspirational awards, the redemption rates for lower and mid-tier properties have been surprisingly stable).

Now, it’s always possible that HeyMax restores these programmes as direct transfer partners, but the timeline is uncertain. Until then, the HeyMax roster includes 14 airlines and six hotel programmes:

All conversions are free of charge and processed instantly (except Asia Miles, which requires three business days).

Conclusion

HeyMax First will now offer a free Silver membership tier, and allow members to downgrade to tiers with smaller miles pools than their outstanding drawdown. This will reduce the pressure to earn back the outstanding drawdown before the end of the current membership year.

That said, you’ll obviously want to recover those funds sooner rather than later, so as to minimise your opportunity cost and credit risk. The imminent addition of yuu Points conversions should provide a recurring channel for earning Max Miles every month, though the removal of 17 Cash For Miles partners also dampens the value proposition somewhat.

I’ll be publishing a full guide to HeyMax First once it launches in the wild, so stay tuned.