How to Turn Your Savings into Free Flights and Travel Perks

So, I caught the Oscars on Monday. One of the coolest things? Half of the Best Picture nominees were led by powerhouse female protagonists. And the big winner? Anora—an indie film that took Hollywood by storm.

Mikey Madison won Best Actress, and director Sean Baker basically swept the night with wins for Best Director, Best Film Editing, and Best Original Screenplay. But beyond the awards, Anora’s win marks something bigger—a shift that’s happening everywhere, not just in Hollywood.

A 2024 study by Singapore’s Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) found that more women are stepping into leadership roles and leveling up financially.

If you’re already making power moves in your career and finances, why let your savings just sit there? With the right strategy, you can turn them into free flights, hotel stays, and travel upgrades—no extra spending required.

Here’s how to maximise your savings and start earning miles for your next big adventure.

 

A smarter way to maximise your savings

Here’s a clever strategy to make your savings work harder without dipping into your rainy-day fund. Meet UOB Lady’s Unstoppable Pairing: a power combo of the UOB Lady’s Savings Account and UOB Lady’s Credit Card. Together, they’re designed to help you rack up UNI$ rewards effortlessly—perfect for anyone looking to level up their savings game with minimal effort.

UNI$ rewards are what you earn with every swipe of a UOB rewards card. And when it comes to one of the highest rewards earn rates in the market, the UOB Lady’s Credit Card stands out—you’ll get 10X UNI$ for every S$5 spent (equivalent to 4 miles per S$1) in your preferred rewards category(ies). Rack up enough, and you’ll be converting them into air miles faster than you can say “vacation.”

The thing is, we know that earning miles the “normal” way—just by spending—can feel like a slow climb, especially when you’re eyeing that business class seat. But with the UOB Lady’s Credit Card and Lady’s Savings Account together, you can take your earnings up a notch—enjoying 25X UNI$ per S$5 spent (that’s 10 miles per S$1) in your chosen category, all with no minimum spend required.

UOB Lady’s Credit Card	UOB Lady’s Savings Account
Earn 10X UNI$ for every S$5 spent (equivalent to 4 miles per S$1) on your preferred rewards category(ies)	Earn up to additional 15X Lady’s Savings Bonus UNI$ for every S$5 spent (equivalent to 6 miles per S$1) on your preferred rewards category(ies)

You can earn rewards across a total of 7 categories: 

• Dining
• Fashion
• Beauty & Wellness
• Family (groceries and kids’ stores)
• Travel
• Transport
• Entertainment

With the UOB Lady’s Credit Card, you can choose 1 category, and with the UOB Lady’s Solitaire Card, you get to pick 2—these can be changed every quarter, but more on that later.

The total UNI$ you can earn is based on the Monthly Average Balance (MAB) in your UOB Lady’s Savings Account each month. Basically, the more you save, the more UNI$ you’ll earn. 

Here’s a more detailed look at the mechanics: 

So, if you keep at least $10,000 in your UOB Lady’s Savings Account each month, you can earn a cool 15X UNI$ on your preferred rewards category(ies) spend.

Let’s break it down with a real-life example: Jane spends $800 on her UOB Lady’s Credit Card in her preferred rewards category over a month. Here’s what she stands to earn:

Lady’s Card Base 1X UNI$ on all purchases (Base UNI$: S$800 / every S$5 spent X 1X UNI$)	160 UNI$
Lady’s Card Bonus 9X UNI$ on preferred rewards category (Bonus UNI$: S$800 / every S$5 spent X 9X UNI$)	1,440 UNI$
Lady’s Savings Bonus 5X UNI$ on preferred rewards category (S$800 / every S$5 spent X 5X UNI$)	800 UNI$
Total UNI$ earned monthly	2,400

If Jane keeps up her spending for a year, she’ll rack up 28,800 UNI$* over 12 months. That translates to a staggering 57,600 KrisFlyer miles. 

With those miles, she can redeem a return economy ticket to Tokyo or Seoul, which only requires 54,000 miles**. Or, if she’s feeling a bit fancy, she can trade in those miles for a return business class ticket to Bangkok, which typically costs around 48,000 miles**.

 

Shouldn’t I park aside my savings to earn interest instead of generating miles?

We get it—keeping a monthly average balance of S$10,000 might feel like a big commitment. You might even wonder if it’s better to park that $10K in a fixed deposit, earning around 2.5% p.a. these days.

But if you love travelling and you do it often enough, you might find that the extra miles from the Unstoppable Pairing offer more bang for your buck. Those miles could be your ticket to new adventures, making the Unstoppable Pairing not just a savvy financial move but a passport to experiences.

Here’s how.

Balance	Opportunity cost (Interest earned in a year if placed on FD at 2.5% p.a.)	Additional miles earned in a year if placed in Lady’s Savings Account	What you can redeem with the additional miles (excluding miles that you can already earn with your Lady’s Credit Card)
S$10,000	S$250	24,000 (based on S$1k spent/ month)	This can be redeemed for a one-way business class ticket to Bangkok (worth ~S$900).

As you can see, the additional miles earned by depositing S$10,000 in a UOB Lady’s Savings Account and spending just S$1,000 a month on your UOB Lady’s Credit Card is worth more than the S$250 in interest that you can otherwise earn in a year from fixed deposits.

We can even run this scenario again where you keep an MAB of S$100K and spend S$2K per month on the UOB Lady’s Solitaire Card: 

Balance	Opportunity cost (Interest earned in a year if placed on FD at 2.5% p.a.)	Additional miles earned in a year if placed in Lady’s Savings Account	What you can redeem with the additional miles (excluding miles that you can already earn with your Lady’s Solitaire Card)
S$100,000	S$2,500	144,000 (based on S$2k spent/month)	This can be redeemed for a one-way suites/first class ticket to Paris (~S$11,200)

This shows you how the pairing can offer incredible practical benefits especially for a person of your lifestyle. By keeping your funds in the Lady’s Savings Account, you can earn additional miles that might be more valuable for your travel plans.

 

The benefits don’t stop there

Aside from boosting your miles from regular monthly purchases, this pairing offers practical benefits for women, like the freedom to choose and switch up your preferred rewards categories every quarter.

Dining out a lot? Set your rewards to the Dining category. Eyeing some new threads next? Shift to Fashion. Heading on a road trip? Switch it up to Travel. It’s all about making sure you get the most out of every dollar spent.

And for those luxury buys (hello, shoes and bags!), the UOB Lady’s LuxePay Plan lets you spread the cost with 0% p.a. instalments over 6 or 12 months at no cost. Yep, those mary-janes don’t have to stay on your wishlist forever.

With the UOB Lady’s Card and UOB Lady’s Savings Account, you can combine smart spending with saving, unlocking perks and rewards that go beyond typical interest—perfect for your next big adventure.

Get more with your UOB Lady’s Unstoppable Pairing this International Women’s Day Empowering women goes beyond just one day—it’s a commitment every day. UOB is offering all customers who hold both the UOB Lady’s Credit Card and UOB Lady’s Savings Account a lucky draw chance to win an Éclat KNOT Alone® Double Pave Bangle worth S$520 or a pair of Gentle Monster sunglasses worth S$490. Not a UOB Lady’s Savings Accountholder yet?  Receive a Bespoke Puffy Bag with Rose Leather Charm worth S$98 by reBynd, an eco-conscious brand by Bynd Artisan, when you are the first 150 to apply for the account online and deposit S$5,000 in new funds in each qualifying round. That’s not all. Receive a S$250 Sephora Gift Card when you spend a min. of S$6,000 on your UOB Lady’s Credit Card. Limited to the first 280 eligible cardmembers. Find out more here. Promotions end 30 April 2025. T&Cs apply.

*UNI$ can be converted into air miles at the conversion rate of UNI$1 = 2 miles.

** Based on Singapore Airline’s Saver Awards Chart as at October 2023, excluding taxes, charges and fees.

 

---

This post was written in collaboration with UOB. While we are financially compensated by them, we nonetheless strive to maintain our editorial integrity and review products with the same objective lens. We are committed to providing the best information in order for you to make personal financial decisions with confidence.