It has just come to come to my attention that from 15 December 2015, the conversion of Travel$ to Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer Programme must be done in blocks of 5,000 Miles (5,000 Travel$) instead of the previous 2,000. Suppose you have 99,000 Travel$ in your account right now, you will now be able to transfer only 95,000 Travel$ (instead of 98,000 Travel$ under the old system).
Read MoreWhat is the best credit card in Singapore to get? I get asked this question a lot lately and the answer, like every other great question in life is simply a resounding 'depends'. While I do recommend the following five cards to carry in your wallet, I will also make a bold answer in answering the commonly asked question of the one credit card to carry (or a must-have).
Read MoreI have previously reviewed the ANZ Travel Visa Signature Credit Card some time in June 2014 and it has come to my attention that with effect from 10 July 2014, certain changes will be put in place. This post serves as an update to the previous entry to provide supplement to the existing review as well as to reflect the new changes that will take place.
Please click HERE to access the previous review.
EARNING TRAVEL$ (AND MILES)
Card members will continue to earn 1.4 Travel$ for every S$1 spend. However, this is only applicable for the first S$10,000 of total retail spend in the month's billing cycle. Subsequent expenditure above S$10,000 for that month will earn 0.5 Travel$.
Participating merchants where you could earn 2.8 Travel$ per S$1 spend have been greatly reduced. Merchants where you can earn 2.8 Travel$ for every S$1 spend only includes the following now:
REDEMPTION OPTIONS
The same conversion applies: 1 Travel$ to 1 Mile on KrisFlyer or Asia Miles. Miles need to be redeemed in blocks of 2,000 and there's a administrative charge of S$25 for each conversion (so it's always wise to convert all at one go when you need it). If you do not wish to pay for the administrative charge, you have the option to offset that amount with 3,000 Travel$ which is an extremely bad idea.
Cash credits can be redeemed at a 55 Travel$ to S$1 ratio (2.55% cash rebate on every dollar spent). If you were to redeem 3,000 Travel$ for a conversion fee of S$25, you are practically using 120 Travel$ for S$1 which is effectively only 1.17% cash rebate.
Conversion rates for redeeming Travel$ against cash credits remain the same. However, you now have the flexibility to redeem against S$8, S$20 and S$50.
DISCONTINUATION OF TRANSPORT/LIFESTYLE REBATES
You used to be able to get 5% rebates for MotorPay, EZ-Reload as well as some participating merchants (e.g. Cold Storage, Golden Village, Giant, Jasons, Marketplace and Guardian). These will be discontinued after 31 August 2014.
ANNUAL FEE
The card member used to be awarded 12,000 Travel$ upon renewal of the annual membership from the second year (S$200 for main card holder). Since it only requires 11,000 Travel$ to redeem for S$200 cash credit, paying the annual fee allowed cardholders to earn a minimal profit (S$15) alongside some extra Travel$.
However, the bonus Travel$ issued for card renewals will fall from 12,000 Travel$ to 10,000 Travel$, discontinuing the "profit" that cardholders were able to take advantage of previously. 10,000 Travel$ is enough for S$180 cash credit so you're essentially paying only $20 for the card - which isn't a bad deal considering the free lounge access that you get with holding the card.
CONCLUSION
With all the impending changes to the ANZ Travel Visa Signature Credit Card, is it still worthwhile to keep this card? The answer for me is yes. Since I do not fly internationally often enough on non-budget airlines, spending only S$20 a year for free lounge access is a no-brainer for me. The card also offers a flat 2.55% cash rebate for the first S$10,000 spend each month with no minimum spending required. Do keep in mind that you still have to deal with paper statements and the internet banking for ANZ Singapore right now is almost non-existent especially if you do not have a savings account with them.
Cards Required:
Applicants who apply for the ANZ Travel Visa Signature Card under the promotion from 01 February 2014 to 31 April 2014 can qualify for 2,750 Travel$ (which can be redeemed for $50) and an additional bonus 2,000 Travel$ after $700 of eligible spend within 30 days from the date of approval. For the full terms and conditions of this offer, please click here. Redeeming the bonus Travel$ for cash rebate will give me $100 back for $700 spend with 230 Travel$ remaining (approximately 14.9% rebate).
However, since I do not have any planned expenses of $700 or more coming up, I decided to top up $700 to my Imagine Prepaid AMEX Card to hopefully qualify for this promotion. The second promotion is offered by the Imagine Card. A pair of Shaw Movie Vouchers will be issued to registered customers upon a minimum of SGD $100 spend in a non-SGD currency. The accumulated spend needs to fall between 11 to 20 March 2014 (settled by 25 March 2014) - full details here.
Once again, I have no immediate plans to spend more than SGD $100 in foreign currency and therefore I decided to send myself a gift card on Amazon in order to qualify for this promotion. I have chosen a slightly higher value - USD $83 (approximately SGD $105) to make sure that the order exceeds SGD $100. It is worth noting that these gift cards have no expiry dates.
Additionally, spending on the AMEX purse of the Imagine Card grants me 5% rebate (for up to $5 each month). Essentially, this gives me $5 back for the $105 spent on redeeming the USD $83 Gift Card on Amazon.
In conclusion, charging my Imagine Card with SGD $700 and then spending SGD $105 on the gift card will potentially give me SGD $105 (from ANZ and Imagine Card) in cash back and two Shaw Movie Vouchers.