For those of us with wanderlust, it always seems like the price of flights out of Singapore are–pun totally intended–soaring upwards. It’s 1 big reason why so many people like to accumulate air miles as rewards for their credit card spend.
The default airline for those of us living here tends to be the gold standard that is Singapore Airlines, otherwise known as simply “SQ”. Their form of air miles are called “KrisFlyer miles”, named after its frequent flyer programme (FFP).
As seems to be the case in Singapore right now, every company is starting up a mobile wallet. Believe it or not, that also includes Singapore Airlines! Yes, it has released its own payments app and its e-payments system is known as Kris+. You can learn everything you need to know about it here.
One of the great things about the app is that you can “double dip” on KrisFlyer miles, by earning miles within the app but also earning miles (via your credit card spend) through your in-app wallet, either via Apple Pay or Google Pay.
So, given all the KrisFlyer miles you earn within Kris+ are fixed, you may wonder how you can boost your miles accumulation rate through which cards to use when paying with the app. Lucky for you, I’m here to tell you! So, here are the top 3 credit cards you should be using in-app when using Kris+.
1. DBS Woman’s World Mastercard
First up is the DBS Woman’s World Mastercard. Now, you might be wondering—“doesn’t the name automatically exclude a large part of Singapore’s population?”
Not at all! Despite its name, the card is open to everyone. In fact, anyone can take advantage of its excellent miles accrual rates for online spending.
That’s right, for Kris+ spend, it’s considered online given you’re spending “in-app”. As a result, one of the best cards to utilise for online spending is none other than the DBS Woman’s World’s Mastercard. This gives you 10X DBS points (4 miles per dollar) on all online spending up to S$1,500 per calendar month.
So, whether you’re spending on Kris+ at a restaurant to pay for a meal or purchasing the latest handbag at a merchant in Marina Bay Sands, you’ll be able to earn 4 miles per dollar on top of the KrisFlyer miles earned within the Kris+ app.
Remember that with the DBS Woman’s World Mastercard, the initial 1X points posts immediately after your Kris+ spend while the 9X online bonus will only be credited to you by the 16th of the following calendar month.
Alright, admittedly this hypothetical isn’t likely BUT you can technically earn a total of 3,000 DBS Points (6,000 miles) in one month if you maxed out your S$1,500 online spending cap through Kris+. With merchants on Kris+ offering miles rewards anywhere from 2 miles per dollar to 9 miles per dollar of spend using the app, that could add up to a lot of KrisFlyer miles!
- on Online Purchases
- S$5 = 10 DBS Points (equivalent to 4 Miles per S$1)
- on Overseas Purchases
- S$5 = 3 DBS Points (equivalent to 1.2 Miles per S$1)
- on All Other Spend
- S$5 = 1 DBS Point (equivalent to 0.4 Miles per S$1)
2. Citi Rewards Mastercard + Instarem Amaze Mastercard
Up next we have the Citi Rewards Mastercard + Instarem Amaze Mastercard. Remember, this is a combo that must be utilised in order for you to earn the best amount of air miles (more on that later).
First off, we can establish what the Citi Rewards Mastercard actually offers you—4 miles per dollar of spend for online transactions except for travel-related transactions like hotels, airlines, OTA sites etc.
With the Citi Rewards Mastercard, you get 1X Citi Thank You points on all your spend. But for online spending you get a bonus 9X Citi Thank You Points (giving you a total of 10X Thank You points) using the Citi Rewards Mastercard, up to S$1,000 per statement month.
But a weird exception to this rule is that you DO NOT get the bonus Thank You points for spending in-app on Apple Pay or Google Pay. So, typically that would mean you’re not getting that juicy 4 miles per dollar when you spend with the Citi Rewards Mastercard via Kris+’s in-app payment method.
There’s a twist though! If you have the Instarem Amaze card you can actually circumvent this in-app exception by linking your Citi Rewards Mastercard to it. That’s because the Instarem Amaze Mastercard can be linked to up to five Mastercard credit cards.
And remember, any transaction using the Instarem Amaze Mastercard automatically turns whatever transaction you’ve made into an online one. More importantly, how an Amaze card transaction codes is that it shows up as “*AMAZE” on your Citi Rewards card, meaning it’s not recognised as an in-app transaction. Ta-da! You’ve just earned yourself 4 miles per dollar via the Kris+ in-app wallet (in addition to those other juicy miles rates you’ve earned from the merchant via Kris+).
- on Online & Shopping Purchases
- S$1= 10X Points
- for all other purchases
- S$1= 1X Points
- Rewards Conversion
- 10X Points = 4 Miles
Get S$370 Cash or 5,040 SmartPoints in as fast as 5 weeks when you spend S$500 within 30 days. T&Cs apply.
Additionally, enrol in our Rollin' Rewards campaign for FREE, and stand a chance to win 6,140 SmartPoints. That’s a total of 11,180 SmartPoints, which you can use to redeem an Apple iPad Air Wi-Fi (11-inch, 128GB) (worth S$899) from our Rewards Store today!
3. UOB KrisFlyer Mastercard
Finally, there’s the UOB KrisFlyer Mastercard. Now this is one of those rare credit cards in Singapore that has actually partnered up directly with Singapore Airlines. The result? You actually get your KrisFlyer miles—earned from credit card spend—deposited directly into your KrisFlyer account each month.
The beauty of this card, with regards to Kris+, is that you can earn 3 miles per dollar on all Kris+ spend – with no cap on that rate. This is thanks to the card’s policy of awarding 3 miles per dollar on all Singapore Airlines-related expenses.
This includes bookings with Singapore Airlines or Scoot, in addition to any transactions on Kris+ (given it’s a Singapore Airlines-backed payment app). So, whenever you make purchases in these categories, you’re guaranteed 3 miles per dollar.
Planning a big purchase on Kris+? With the UOB KrisFlyer Mastercard, you don’t have to worry about spending limits. You can rest assured that whatever you spend, you’ll earn roughly 3 times that amount in KrisFlyer miles.
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- on Singapore Airlines, Scoot, KrisShop, Kris+ purchases
- S$1 = 3 Miles
- on dining, food delivery, online shopping, online travel, and transport spend
- S$1 = 3 Miles
- on all other spend
- S$1 = 1.2 Miles
MoneySmart Exclusive: Get S$88 Cash via PayNow when you apply, spend a min. of S$1,000 within the first month! T&Cs apply.
Additionally, enrol in our Rollin' Rewards campaign for FREE, and stand a chance to win 6,140 SmartPoints, which you can use to redeem an Apple 10.9-inch iPad 10th Gen Wi-Fi (64GB) (worth S$499) from our Rewards Store today!
UOB Online Promotion: Get up to 31,000 Miles plus first year annual fee of S$196.20 (inc GST) waived when you successfully apply for a UOB personal KrisFlyer UOB Credit Card and spend a min. of S$2,000 within 60 days from card approval date on their new KrisFlyer UOB Credit Card. Limited to the first 100 eligible participants. T&Cs apply.
Looking for the best KrisFlyer miles stacks and hacks
When we use the Kris+ app, it’s important to optimise your spending by aligning it with the correct credit card that you pay with in-app. By doing this, you’re getting the best bang for your Kris+ buck, so to speak.
Any opportunity to earn more KrisFlyer miles—on top of the miles earned through the Kris+ app—means you’re effectively “double-dipping” on your miles accumulation! That’s definitely something to be celebrated. So, by focusing on using the DBS Woman’s World Mastercard, Citi Rewards + Instarem Amaze Mastercard combo, and UOB KrisFlyer Mastercard, you can make better use of your Kris+ spending.
Found this article useful? Then you’d probably want to know the Best Credit Card Promotions in Singapore right now.