The Beginner’s Guide To Earning Air Miles

This is your shortcut to going the distance with your hard-earned money

Gone are the days when the only possible way to earn air miles is by getting on a plane and literally chalking air miles. Today, jetsetters can earn miles — which, in case you are wondering why, can be accumulated to redeem for stuff like an air ticket, a hotel stay or your shopping — in a myriad of ways. Sure, most of them involves spending money, but if you’re smart — and diligent (genius is 90% sweat) — about it, you will be turning money you need to spend into money you want to spend. There’s a win-win. If you’re new to this, here’s a quick guide to helping you decide on the right credit card to apply, and how to maximise earning and getting freebies with your air miles.

The Right Credit Card

If there’s such a thing as Mr/Ms Right or the right job for you, we’d like to think that in theory, it’s not so different with credit cards. The idea, after all, is for this Right Thing to be the best match for you, no? So, the first step to embarking on your new mission to earn maximum miles in minimum time is to identify the one air mile credit card that will fit right into your lifestyle, and work hard for you. Are you a frequent shopper, flyer, foodie? Where does the bulk of your monthly expenses go to and can these be charged to the same card that offers you the most points or miles? To find a match, we have a comparison tool that will help.

Convert Grab Points to KrisFlyer miles

Guilty of Grab-ing everywhere? Well, alleviate some of that guilt by turning your daily Grab rides into rewards and savings. How? Convert your GrabRewards points to KrisFlyer miles. You should really consider using a KrisFlyer SIA Amex card, too, because that earns you 3.2 miles for every S$1 spent on Grab rides, for up to S$200 each month.

Use a PAssion Card For Groceries

Make money while you buy your daily essentials. Doesn’t that sound good? Imagine: You go to the supermarket every week to stock up on groceries and household items. You pay with your trusty PAssion Card. It automatically converts every dollar you have just spent at partner supermarkets like Cold Storage, Market Place, Jasons or Giant into your next holiday via TapForMore points to KrisFlyer miles. A tip: Look out for promotions they have from time to time which gives you earn up to 30X points on bonus items. Grocery shopping just became a whole lot cooler.  

Rope in Your Family

As the saying goes, “many hands make light work”. So rope in your brothers, sisters, aunties to help rack up those miles. If an annual family vacation is on the horizon, then team effort is necessary to mitigate the expenditure on this trip. One way of doing this is to apply for a supplementary card for one or two of them. This way, what they spend and the miles earned can be consolidated with yours in a single account. Look out for cards that waive membership fees for supplementary cards.

Shop Via an Airline’s Shopping Site

It has never been easier to get everything you need, thanks to online shopping. But wise is the person who makes her dollar work harder while shopping. It’s common sense. If shopping at KrisFlyer Spree and Asia Miles iShop, for instance, saves you a few dollars here and there, why wouldn’t you?

Let us paint you an example. For every US$10 spent when you shop at one of KrisFlyer’s partner merchants (which includes Lazada, iHerb, Redmart, ASOS and Net-A-Porter), you will get up to 30 KrisFlyer miles. Depending on which partner merchant you choose, the number of miles you receive on each dollar differs. And that’s on top of the miles you will accumulate on your credit card. Yes, it’s all very exciting. But we must remind you to shop responsibly and within your means.

What Else?

If you’re shopping around for a credit card, keep a lookout for sign-up bonuses – it is one of the fastest and best ways to get miles and other perks — just for signing up. For instance, some promotions offer up to 35,000 welcome miles, S$150 NTUC FairPrice vouchers and even cashback. Terms and conditions apply.

Apply from now till 18 June 2018 and you stand a chance to win 10,000 miles of your preferred airline loyalty programme (on top of the other benefits as stated).

By Alexa Fang

Alexa is a pop-culture vulture. She lives to read, write and travel, and decided long ago that life is stranger than fiction. When she's having croissant, she thinks in French. "31 Rue Cambon" is her favourite address, and she believes that money one enjoyed spending is never money wasted.