Westpac Singapore KrisFlyer Credit Card

[penegal]

Seems like a great deal of confusion and misinformation as to whether one gets the bonus miles if switching or not - potentially a botched promo mk 2 AMEX stylie? :shock:

Indeed. I'll let you know how I go.

I just applied for, and was approved, the Platinum card, over the phone. I also get the 10,000 points on first use of the card.

So I would suggest you apply by phone rather than use the switch form if you want the extra points.

Agreed. Given the confusion and misinformation I would suggest a direct application rather than switching, as this negates this issue in one easy step, and it only takes a few minutes longer.

 

[vaidy]

It probably helped that I had a premier advantage pack with westpac. I applied online and at the end of the application, I was given the cards! Even the credit limit was better than what I had on the altitude gold amex and visa I got free with the homeloan package. Far from the usual conservative westpac approach!!

Now, on to canceling the amex platinum! I will have to decide what to do at the end of 1 year!

BTW, the amex platinum credit card fee is pro-rated and I will get a refund!

 

[WA flyer]

I collected mine from the local branch today, just in time for some big end of month bills.

Now to fill my boots before November

 

[Foreigner]

I collected mine from the local branch today, just in time for some big end of month bills.

Now to fill my boots before November

Well done! Hoping to hear from my bank.

 

[aasz1978]

Does anyone realize the following?

1. The card is only 45 days interest free, and I am afraid that's where the direction is going as an industry. In other words, if you already have the credit card you like and it has 55 days, stay with it.

2. The accrual rate for AMEX/VISA is different. AMEX is temporarily at 3 points per $1 before downgrading to 1.5 points per $1 whereas VISA is at all time $1 per $1. Compare this with Emirates Citibank Visa credit card.

3. BPAY is not counted for points.

However, the pros are

1. Generous extended warranty (2 yrs vs 1 yr on most platinum cards)
2. Generous purchase security (4 mths vs 30 days)

 

[pomjim]

Does anyone realize the following?

1. The card is only 45 days interest free, and I am afraid that's where the direction is going as an industry. In other words, if you already have the credit card you like and it has 55 days, stay with it.

2. The accrual rate for AMEX/VISA is different. AMEX is temporarily at 3 points per $1 before downgrading to 1.5 points per $1 whereas VISA is at all time $1 per $1. Compare this with Emirates Citibank Visa credit card.

3. BPAY is not counted for points.

However, the pros are

1. Generous extended warranty (2 yrs vs 1 yr on most platinum cards)
2. Generous purchase security (4 mths vs 30 days)

True, but also, accrual for overseas spending on both cards is 1.5 points per $ spent.

 

[aasz1978]

Okay. Let's do some serious comparision for this card vs Emirates Citibank.

I don't know whereelse to put this thread so pardon me if this may not be an appropriate thread for this.


Interest Free days - Citibank Emirates winner (55 days vs 45 days Westpac)
Interest Rate - Westpac Krisflyer winner (17.99% vs 19.99% Citibank)
Points Accrual - Short term: Westpac Krisflyer (up to 3 per $1 vs 1.5 for Citibank)
Points Accrual - Medium term: Citibank Emirates (1.5 all the time)
Perks - Arguably Citibank Emirates (free access to lounge and chaffeur Guaranteed vs Westpac's 10,000 krisflyer point once off & double accrual for buying ticket at SingAir website)
Xtended Warranty - Westpac Krisflyer (2 years vs 1 at Citibank plus it's Zurich too )
Purchase security - Westpac Krisflyer (4 mths vs 30 days at Citibank)
Fee - Citibank Emirates ($200 vs $250 at Westpac although it's $125 at the moment)

Also, Krisflyer Westpac gives 2 cards for $125 ($250 next year).

In my opinion, a constant accrual of 1.5 points per dollar and 55 days are enough to buy my vote but I am still thinking....

 

[lovetravellingoz]

BPay is mentioned earlier.

Does anyone realize the following?

2. The accrual rate for AMEX/VISA is different. AMEX is temporarily at 3 points per $1 before downgrading to 1.5 points per $1 whereas VISA is at all time $1 per $1. Compare this with Emirates Citibank Visa credit card.

How is this a negative?

Also with Emirates...what is the burn rate like?

With SQ the Saver Awards (some of which I have already reddemed for) give very good value.

 

[lovetravellingoz]

Okay. Let's do some serious comparision for this card vs Emirates Citibank.

In my opinion, a constant accrual of 1.5 points per dollar and 55 days are enough to buy my vote but I am still thinking....

Fora serious comparison you need to look at Earn to Burn.

What do you get for your points with Emirates?


A factor for me too is that I can put points into SQ from a number of sources includingabank of Amex points I have.

Personally I am not wedded to any one prgram or card....but just always look for out-perfrmance.

What is best after Oct 31 I will conisder then.

Over the last year I have Points Run on various Cards to take advantage of what is best at that time..

• Amex Max at 1.5
• Amex on the Everday "once ina lifetime" promo
• Earth Everday 3 points per $ promo (with 20K bonus for $125 fee)
• Amex 1.25 + 0.5 = 1.75

I expect this to continue...

Programs linking to SQ and QF have some advantage to me as I have points there.

 

[Foreigner]

Okay. Let's do some serious comparision for this card vs Emirates Citibank.


Perks - Arguably Citibank Emirates (free access to lounge and chaffeur Guaranteed vs Westpac's 10,000 krisflyer point once off & double accrual for buying ticket at SingAir website)

* One complimentary chauffer driven ride per year to and from the airport when flying Emirates. Trans-tasman excluded.

* One complementary lounge pass (for two) per year to any Emirates Lounge in Australia when flying Emirates

* Complimentary access to the Marhaba Airport Lounge in Dubai

 

[oz_mark]

Does anyone realize the following?

1. The card is only 45 days interest free, and I am afraid that's where the direction is going as an industry. In other words, if you already have the credit card you like and it has 55 days, stay with it.

True of all rewards based Westpac cards. Citibank used to (may still do), have a clause that allowed them to drop you down to 44 if you always paid your account off each month!

2. The accrual rate for AMEX/VISA is different. AMEX is temporarily at 3 points per $1 before downgrading to 1.5 points per $1 whereas VISA is at all time $1 per $1. Compare this with Emirates Citibank Visa credit card.

This is the whole point of having an additional AMEX card attached to the account.

3. BPAY is not counted for points.

Again true of all the Westpac reward accounts.

 

[lovetravellingoz]

I am always on the lookout for improving my earn to burn ratio.

So looking at Skywards and the Emirates Citibank Card after the suggestion above I have done a little bit of investigation:

• One limitation for some (including me)

T&C: The maximum number of Citi Miles that you may be
awarded in any period of 12 months beginning from
the day your Account is approved and ending on the
anniversary of that date will be capped at 150,000.

So that is $100K of spend and after that no more points. With my wife and I pooling we would go over that each year. Westapc KF Card is not capped.

• Like any program one needs to look at where you want to fly and in what class/
  • With Skywards J is double economy.
  • Mileage Calculator for Skywards:

http://www.skywards.com/Mileage_Calculator.aspx

• • 10% off for online redemptions.

From Melbourne to (before 10%):

Europe, 95 K in Y, 190K in J, 285 K in First.

to NZ 25K in Y, 50K in J , 75K in First.
to SE Asia 45 K in Y
to Hong Kong, 100, 200, 300
to Bangkok, 100, 200, 300
to Singapore, 45, 90, 125
to Dubai, 70, 140, 210
to Rome 95,190, 285

So with Skywards value is up and down somewhat. Europe is ok, but some Asian Cities are oddly high (connections?)

With SQ for example I have recently redeemed 4 J Tickets to Vietnam return for 306K after 15% online discount.

• For me:
  • The Cap is a problem
  • Can’t use other cards to put points to Skywards (ie this may hurt in a year or two). I tend to take advantage of CC bonus and promo deals and so programs that I can pool points (from various cards) to is a plus.
  • I am looking to mainly redeem in J and.so that offsets any higher earn on VISA points that the Emerates card can offer. Plus most of my spend, say two thirds, is on Amex these days..
  • I mainly redeem for family holidays, 4 to 5 people. So with Emirates that would take me many years to earn a decent award as I cannot pool points.
  • So the Krisflyer Card is the way to go. Naturally I will keep an eye out for new delas that I can points run on too. But in the mean time many points can be gained by Oct31 and I can pool with other points.
  • However the Krisflyer Card as it stands will be the card that I spend on for Amex and VISA unless someone else has a promo.

 

[cove]

I had a couple of calls regarding the large existing credit card limits before getting to YES...congratulations....WESTPAC retail are quite a different part of the bank and yes questions do get asked.
They wanted to switch part of another card limit to create the new KRIS card limit.
I passed on that and still got what I wanted through my WESTPAC manager.
In this post GFC world expect questions.
The 3 points on Amex KRIS runs 30,000 points for $10,000 telephone account payments which make the Amex processing fee look really paltry at $69 including GST.
I am still keeping the AMEX QANTAS Ultimate card running hard.

 

[pomjim]

I switched from Altitude to Krisflyer by phone, to make sure I got the 10000 sign-up bonus points. Today I recieved my first statement, and did indeed get the extra sign-up points.

 

[uio]

OK so I've been offered the first year free on a Westpac Krisflyer gold.

Can't seem to get the same offer on the platinum.

My question is, is it worth paying the extra $125 to get the platinum card and the extra 5,000 points + 4 months of 3 for $1 earn?

Not being an existing KF member I'm not sure what dollars 5,000 points is "worth"...

Thanks!

 

[lovestotravel]

I'm in a similar situation. I had an existing Wespac CC which I was about to cancel, but when this product came along I decided to move across.

I hope WBC customers transferring across to the KF Plat cards do recieve the bonus miles, otherwise I'll be kicking myself for not cancelling and then cold applying.

I applied for the card and was rejected, so then applied to transfer my old Virgin Credit Card with no annual fee across to the SQ card and was approved.

There were no T&C's which stated that the boni upon signup would not apply. The letter that came with the cards said I would get 10,000 points when I first use the card.

$3000 on the card in the first day

Aiming for 150000 points from this card before November :mrgreen:

 

[lovetravellingoz]

OK so I've been offered the first year free on a Westpac Krisflyer gold.

Can't seem to get the same offer on the platinum.

My question is, is it worth paying the extra $125 to get the platinum card and the extra 5,000 points + 4 months of 3 for $1 earn?

Not being an existing KF member I'm not sure what dollars 5,000 points is "worth"...

Thanks!

Only you can really answer that question as there are many variables and so we are all different:

* Your yearly spend on Amex and VISA Cards
* what class and where you want to fly..


For me it is an easy YES due to the greater point eran per $.

The extra 5000 points at the start is nice...but it is the extra earn per $ which swings it.

My last redemption on SQ was worth 6 cents per point if I had to buy the ticket (after allowing for fuel fines). J to Vetnam return.

Redeeming for economy at present is much pooer value as there are so many cheap economy flights at present.

I expect to put through about $100k or more per year on the Crads.

Ignoring the start up bonus in Year 1....that is at least an extra 50K per year on the plat compared to the Gold.

So you need to run your own numbers.

 

[uio]

I'd anticipate that we would put around $40-$50k through the two cards, but not all through the Amex.

We generally fly economy, so that might be a consideration.

Does anyone know where I might be able to obtain information around how many (roughly) KF points is required for say, a flight from Perth to various cities in South East Asia such as Singapore, KL, Bangkok, HK etc?

 

[uio]

Also, I know that the Westpac KF card has only just come out this month. How long do they typically offer these bonus points offers for? A couple of months?

 

[futaris]

Does anyone know where I might be able to obtain information around how many (roughly) KF points is required for say, a flight from Perth to various cities in South East Asia such as Singapore, KL, Bangkok, HK etc?

Singapore Airlines
One-way saver rewards

Zone 8 (WA) - Zone 1,2,3,4 = 20k (oneway before discounts)

Zone 1: Singapore
Zone 2: Malaysia, Indonesia, Brunei
Zone 3: Phillipines, Thailand, Vietnam, Myanmar & Cambodia
Zone 4: South China, Hong Kong & Taiwan