Beginner’s Guide: How much do you need to SPEND to EARN enough Miles to fly in Business Class?

Common beginner mistake

Before we begin, let me start by addressing a common beginner mistake: using Miles-branded cards for EVERYTHING.

Typical “Miles” cards:

• DBS Altitude ❌
• Citi PremierMiles ❌
• UOB PRVI Miles ❌
• AMEX Krisflyer ❌

The irony is that credit cards marketed as “Miles” cards mostly get you a mere 1.1 to 1.4 miles per dollar (MPD). You don’t want that!

What you want are cards that give you 4 MPD. With these specialized cards, you will be earning miles almost 3 times faster!

What cards should I use to earn miles FAST?

As of now, the best card that you should be using is a combination of the Amaze Card, DBS Woman’s World (also available to men) and Citi Rewards. This combination will give you 4 MPD + 1% cashback on Contactless, Online, Foreign Currency and in-person spending in any retail store! No minimum spend, up to S$3,000 every month.

Find out more in these related articles:

• Amazing: Get 4 MPD and 1% cashback without FX fees with the Amaze card
• Using only 1 credit card for all your spending
• Best Miles and Cashback credit cards in Singapore

How much do you need to SPEND to fly Business Class?

Now that you know the correct cards to use, let’s see how much spending you’ll need to accumulate, with an earn rate of 4 MPD, to redeem for a one-way Business Class ticket.

Destination	Spending required	Miles required	Airline	Flying time	Taxes & fees
Bali	S$4,750	19,000	Singapore Airlines	2.5 hrs	S$52
Europe	S$11,250	45,000	Turkish, SWISS	12 to 14 hrs	S$320
Tokyo	S$11,750	47,000	Singapore Airlines	6 hrs	S$52
Istanbul	S$12,250	49,000	Singapore Airlines	11 hrs	S$50
Sydney	S$15,500	62,000	Singapore Airlines	7.5 hrs	S$107
Auckland	S$15,500	62,000	Singapore Airlines	9.5 hrs	S$80
Europe	S$17,500	70,000	Finnair	13 to 14 hrs	S$77
Europe	S$18,750	75,000	Qatar Airways	12 to 14 hrs	S$70
Los Angeles	S$23,750	95,000	Singapore Airlines	17.5 hrs	S$76
New York	S$24,750	99,000	Singapore Airlines	17.5 hrs	S$110

Which routes are the most worth it?

Personally, these are the factors that make a Business Class flight “worth it”:

• At least 4 hours long (enough time for proper meal service)
• Daytime flight (enjoy the experience instead of sleeping)
• Meal quality
• Airport lounge quality
• Require as little Miles as possible

In the table above, it is clear to see that the easiest way to fly Business Class is by redeeming 19,000 miles after spending about S$4,750.

However, looking further down the table, you will find that you only need 45,000 miles to fly to Europe! That’s over 5 times more flying time with just a little over twice the amount of miles required to fly to Bali.

The caveat? There will be S$320 of taxes and fees (which you can also pay with the right card to receive 1,280 miles 😉).

Keep an open mind

Another newbie mistake is assuming that credit card miles and points can/should only be transferred to Krisflyer. If I had a mile for each time that I’ve heard this, I’ll probably have enough to fly Business Class!

While I agree that Singapore Airlines is “A Great Way to Fly“, it is not the only great way to fly. I’ve had fantastic experiences with Japan Airlines, Qatar Airways, Emirates and Cathay Pacific.

Example: Unless if I absolutely need to fly direct, it makes little sense to redeem 92,000 miles to fly Business Class in Singapore Airlines to Europe, when I can get a better experience with just 75,000 Qatar miles.

Or I can even redeem 90,000 miles + S$640 cash to fly ROUNDTRIP with Turkish Airlines, SWISS or Lufthansa! 🤯

Having said that, there are a few destinations where you can redeem Krisflyer miles at good value.

If your goal is to #supportlocal, that is entirely your decision. Just know that there are other options!

Not all banks have flexible transfer partners

Some cards, like those from OCBC and Standard Chartered have very limited transfer partners. However, it’s easy to avoid these banks as they don’t have great cards to begin with. 🤭

I favour Citibank cards, wherever possible, for these reasons:

• Miles/points expire 5 years from card opening date (vs 1, 2 and 3 years for DBS, UOB and HSBC respectively)
• Miles/points can be transferred to Qatar Airways Privilege Club to redeem for world’s best Business Class flights to Europe for 75,000 miles (vs 92,000 miles with Krisflyer)
• Miles/points can be transferred to Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles to redeem for Business Class flights to Europe for 45,000 miles (vs 92,000 miles with Krisflyer)
• I will still have the option to transfer to Krisflyer if I want to

How does this compare to Cashback cards?

To me, the best Cashback card in Singapore right now is UOB One. This card offers 3.33% cashback on almost everything, if you spend $500 to $2,000 monthly.

Using the above as a benchmark, you will find that spending S$12,250 with the right cards can get you one of the following:

• One-way Business Class ticket to Istanbul (+S$75 taxes/fees) or
• S$404 worth of cashback

Bottom line

It is good to have a rough idea of how much you need to spend for your premium cabin goals! If you are still confused about how miles and points work, visit suitesmile.com/learn or ask friendly members in Suitesmile’s Telegram chat group.