Deal: 15% bonus for credit card points/miles transferred into Krisflyer by 27 Dec

UPDATE: Deal extended till 16 Jan 2021.

From now till 27 December 2020, Singapore Airlines is offering 15% bonus miles for credit card points/miles transfers from banks in Singapore. While Cathay Pacific’s Asia Miles offers something similar every year or so, this is the first time that I can remember Singapore Airlines offering such a transfer bonus.

Key points to note

1. Transfer has to be completed by 27 Dec 2020. Initiate your transfer by 20 Dec 2020 to be extra safe.

2. Co-branded cards (like Krisflyer UOB and AMEX ones) are excluded from this offer.

Why you SHOULD do it

1. You have miles/points with OCBC and/or Standard Chartered.

2. You have plans to travel to one of Krisflyer’s Sweet Spots in the next 2-3 years.

OCBC only has one transfer partner. Standard Chartered, on the other hand, has more transfer partners but most are of poor value. Both banks also do not have any credit cards that are worth keeping. Perhaps just an honourable mention for the OCBC Titanium Rewards.

The only potential disadvantage of not clearing out all your OCBC and Standard Chartered points/miles now is if the banks decide to add more transfer partners in the near future.

Why you SHOULD NOT do it

1. I value Asia Miles more than Krisflyer miles. Besides the two banks mentioned above, all other Singapore banks have Asia Miles as a transfer partner.

2. Unlike Asia Miles, Krisflyer miles have a fixed 3-years expiry date. Unless if there are rule changes in the program, you will have to use up your Krisflyer miles by the end of 2023 or all of them will be gone.

3. Asia Miles’ sweet spots are more attractive than Krisflyer’s.

4. HOPE: Asia Miles may run another transfer bonus?

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What if I have expiring points/miles?

If I have expiring points/miles with other banks like DBS, UOB or Citibank, I would transfer them to Asia Miles and skip this 15% bonus with Krisflyer for one simple reason: Expiry on Asia Miles is so easily extendable. Back in March, a lot of “experts” assumed that travel could resume by the end of 2020 but look at the situation right now. I do not find the 15% bonus attractive enough to gamble my credit card points with Krisflyer, but that’s just me.

Bottom line

I am not covering potential award chart devaluation as we really do not know how things will turn out in the next couple of years. Not just for Krisflyer and Asia Miles but all other frequent flyer programs. The pros and cons shared above assume that there will be no devaluations in the near future.

This is the perfect opportunity for me to transfer out my OCBC Travel$ on my 90°N Mastercard. This is the last OCBC credit card that I am holding and I will be cancelling it once the points transfer is complete.

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