What is the best credit card for Krisflyer miles?

Nice. Have you had success with Citigroup backed cards in the past? They always decline me and I was eyeing up this Suncorp one.

I applied for the Suncorp one during the 130k bonus period, which ended Aug 31st. I applied mid August and it took nearly 3wks for them to approve it, after many phone calls they had my wrong birthday and needed so much financial documentation that i was hesitant to provide out of principal, next they would want to know if im circumcised.

Finally was approved and card arrived 3 days ago, but boy do i hate the Citibank system, so dated, lacking of features etc. Luckily all Citi related products (Suncorp, Virgin Money etc) are all churn cards so i dont have to endure their coughpy system for too long.
 
I applied for the Suncorp one during the 130k bonus period, which ended Aug 31st.
Slightly off topic but... I've never had a close look at the Suncorp cards, but it appears their is no 12 month exclusionary period. The current offer is 100,000 points for a $64 annual fee, which is incredibly tempting for 40,000 KF points.
 
I applied for the Suncorp one during the 130k bonus period, which ended Aug 31st. I applied mid August and it took nearly 3wks for them to approve it, after many phone calls they had my wrong birthday and needed so much financial documentation that i was hesitant to provide out of principal, next they would want to know if im circumcised.

Finally was approved and card arrived 3 days ago, but boy do i hate the Citibank system, so dated, lacking of features etc. Luckily all Citi related products (Suncorp, Virgin Money etc) are all churn cards so i dont have to endure their coughpy system for too long.
I was lucky by the sound of it - all went smoothly and they awarded the bonus points imeadiately and im ready to cancel after 5 weeks... I am short of KF points for the itinerary I want, and I need to make a booking by April when they expire so it looks like I will be forced to book J :(
 
Had decent success with the suncorp card application. Really didn’t think I’d get it as that’s 5 in a month… but applied, called the next day to ask for a payslip (which I’d already sent them). She checked while I was on the phone, found the email and forwarded it to whoever needed it. Said I’d get a result that afternoon, however it took about 3 days to get the approval email.

Interestingly, that’s three Citi cards in the space of a month and their own systems clearly can’t pickup if you’ve got another product with them (I didn’t declare the limits as they’re not on my credit file yet).
 
Just want to update this thread, as I now have booked a RTW (SYD-HND/NRT-MEX-PTY-CNF/GRU-IST-xJED-BKK-MEL) using my 280k KF miles and have 1 point left in my account :)

I actually didn't have enough KF miles until I transferred a chunk of spare Velocity miles @ 1.55:1 so for something like AMEX Explorer instead of 70,000 MR points (=35,000 KF), you can get AMEX Velocity Platinum which will give you 45,000 KF.

Lenders are tightening sign-up offers with reduced bonuses and bait and switch headlines which actually split the bonus over two years.

Lenders are also rejecting applications more, for no reason that can be determined (good income, good credit score).

I was rejected twice, six months ago, by Citi for the Prestige card and by Westpac for a card I had in the past (Altitude Black). I'm now going to start applying again (fingers crossed). My first rule is avoid NAB/Citi cards unless I have already hit three other card promos and want to test my luck.

Co-branded and white label products from NAB/Citibank include Coles, BOQ, Virgin Money, Suncorp, Kogan, Qantas, Paypal.

AMEX, HSBC and St George are the only ones that have 2:1 conversion rate to KF.

Please note HSBC is a targeted link, you need an account. I've had the email before with the offer but link has expired. There is an active link from Ozbargain but can't confirm it works: HSBC Platinum Credit Card: $0 Fees for First Year, 120,000 Rewards Plus Pts After $3000 Spent in 90 Days, 0% Balance Transfer

This is not an exhaustive list (I don't have ABN) but it's pretty good:



Institution
Product
Annual Fee
Bonus
Minimum Credit Limit
Conversion to Velocity
Conversion to Krisflyer
Bonus
Bank Group
White-Labelled
AMEX
Platinum
$1,450
225,000 MR
$15,000
112,500
112,500
See Below table for perks
AMEX
Explorer
$395
70,000 MR
$6,000
35,000
35,000
$400 travel credit
Centurion lounge x2 Melb/Syd
AMEX
Velocity Platinum
$375
70,000 Velocity
$6,000
N/A
45,161
Return domestic flight
2x Virgin Lounge passes
HSBC
$0 (targeted link)
120,000 Rewards Plus
$6,000
60,000
60,000
Amplify Platinum
$49
90,000 Amplify
$6,000
45,000
45,000
Westpac, BOM
St George
Amplify Signature
$199
150,000 amplify
$15,000
75,000
75,000
Westpac, BOM
ANZ
Platinum​
$45 (+$50 rebate)
80,000 ANZ Points
$6,000
40,000
26,500
ANZ
Black​
$225 (+$150 rebate)
180,000 ANZ Points
$15,000
90,000
60,000
NAB
Platinum
$95
60,000 Rewards Points
$6,000
30,000
20,000
NAB
Signature
$195
100,000 (first year)
$15,000
50,000
33,000
Westpac
Altitude Platinum
$0
100,000 Altitude Points
$6,000
50,000
33,000
St George, BOM
Westpac
Altitude Velocity Platinum
$49 +$75 Velocity Program Fee
70,000 Velocity
$6,000
70,000
45,000
St George, BOM
Westpac
Altitude Velocity Black
$150 +$75 Velocity Program Fee
90,000 Velocity
(1st Year)
$15,000
90,000
58,000
Some economy upgrades and domestic lounge passes
St George, BOM
Rewards Mastercard
$99 + $99 (2nd year)
100,000 Flybuys
50,000
32,500
No conversion fees for overseas purchases

AMEX Platinum Perks (thanks to Ozbargainer, I stole this list)
Fine hotels and resorts, not applicable to me as only 5* hotels: An introduction to American Express Fine Hotels + Resorts
$200 Local Dining credit (worth $200)
* $200 Global Dining credit (worth $200)
* Accor plus membership with 1 free hotel night (worth $399)
* $450 travel credit (worth $450)
* Up to $84 amazon prime membership cashback (worth $79 for annual membership)
* 2 x Unlimited Priority Pass card (exclude restaurants credit) (worth $400)
* Unlimited access to AMEX centurion lounges
* Unlimited access to Virgin Domestic lounges
* Unlimited access to Plaza Premium lounges
Plus the below nice to have offer (which I don't use much):
* The Australian Premium subscription ($7/week = $364)
* $75 x 2 NET-A-PORTER and MR PORTER credit (worth $150)
* Hotel Elite Status: Hilton Honors Gold status, Marriott BonvoyTM Gold status, Radisson Rewards Premium status
All of these are on top of the new card holder bonus
So if you travel quite often, just the lounges access, hotel statuses and dining credit already well worth the $1450

So which is best?
1) AMEX Platinum for sure with the perks
2) St George Signature however 12k spend is a killer for some
3) HSBC Platinum slots in here for $0 fee and higher conversion rate, it's a no brainer. Followed closely by St George Platinum.
4) ANZ Black and Westpac Altitude Velocity Black are on par, Westpac is slightly ahead if you want Velocity not KF, plus some economy upgrades.
5) Citi, Virgin, Suncorp cards not listed in table fit in here. Of course they would be higher for some people, I've had Virgin, Suncorp card before the crunch but you've been warned.

So with zero cards in my wallet, I can hit the AMEX, HSBC + St George Platinums for $1528 in fees, and when I hit the bonuses, I will have about 230k in Krisflyer miles, nearly enough for my next RTW :)

Final notes, I'm going through my old Onenote pages and found that there is a hack where you can apply for AMEX platinum edge card and get the operator to merge your accounts because "it's too difficult to manage both sets of points and rather have them all in one spot". Apparently Edge card allowed 1:1 transfers to KF, but I'm not 100% if this is still true or how it works.
 
Last edited:
Just want to update this thread, as I now have booked a RTW (SYD-HND/NRT-MEX-PTY-CNF/GRU-IST-xJED-BKK-MEL) using my 280k KF miles and have 1 point left in my account :)

I actually didn't have enough KF miles until I transferred a chunk of spare Velocity miles @ 1.55:1 so for something like AMEX Explorer instead of 70,000 MR points (=35,000 KF), you can get AMEX Velocity Platinum which will give you 45,000 KF.

Lenders are tightening sign-up offers with reduced bonuses and bait and switch headlines which actually split the bonus over two years.

Lenders are also rejecting applications more, for no reason that can be determined (good income, good credit score).

I was rejected twice, six months ago, by Citi for the Prestige card and by Westpac for a card I had in the past (Altitude Black). I'm now going to start applying again (fingers crossed). My first rule is avoid NAB/Citi cards unless I have already hit three other card promos and want to test my luck.

Co-branded and white label products from NAB/Citibank include Coles, BOQ, Virgin Money, Suncorp, Kogan, Qantas, Paypal.

AMEX, HSBC and St George are the only ones that have 2:1 conversion rate to KF.

Please note HSBC is a targeted link, you need an account. I've had the email before with the offer but link has expired. There is an active link from Ozbargain but can't confirm it works: HSBC Platinum Credit Card: $0 Fees for First Year, 120,000 Rewards Plus Pts After $3000 Spent in 90 Days, 0% Balance Transfer

This is not an exhaustive list (I don't have ABN) but it's pretty good:



Institution
Product
Annual Fee
Bonus
Minimum Credit Limit
Conversion to Velocity
Conversion to Krisflyer
Bonus
Bank Group
White-Labelled
AMEX
Platinum
$1,450
225,000 MR
$15,000
112,500
112,500
See Below table for perks
AMEX
Explorer
$395
70,000 MR
$6,000
35,000
35,000
$400 travel credit
Centurion lounge x2 Melb/Syd
AMEX
Velocity Platinum
$375
70,000 Velocity
$6,000
N/A
45,161
Return domestic flight
2x Virgin Lounge passes
HSBC
$0 (targeted link)
120,000 Rewards Plus
$6,000
60,000
60,000
Amplify Platinum
$49
90,000 Amplify
$6,000
45,000
45,000
Westpac, BOM
St George
Amplify Signature
$199
150,000 amplify
$15,000
75,000
75,000
Westpac, BOM
ANZ
Platinum​
$45 (+$50 rebate)
80,000 ANZ Points
$6,000
40,000
26,500
ANZ
Black​
$225 (+$150 rebate)
180,000 ANZ Points
$15,000
90,000
60,000
NAB
Platinum
$95
60,000 Rewards Points
$6,000
30,000
20,000
NAB
Signature
$195
100,000 (first year)
$15,000
50,000
33,000
Westpac
Altitude Platinum
$0
100,000 Altitude Points
$6,000
50,000
33,000
St George, BOM
Westpac
Altitude Velocity Platinum
$49 +$75 Velocity Program Fee
70,000 Velocity
$6,000
70,000
45,000
St George, BOM
Westpac
Altitude Velocity Black
$150 +$75 Velocity Program Fee
90,000 Velocity
(1st Year)
$15,000
90,000
58,000
Some economy upgrades and domestic lounge passes
St George, BOM
Rewards Mastercard
$99 + $99 (2nd year)
100,000 Flybuys
50,000
32,500
No conversion fees for overseas purchases

AMEX Platinum Perks (thanks to Ozbargainer, I stole this list)
Fine hotels and resorts, not applicable to me as only 5* hotels: An introduction to American Express Fine Hotels + Resorts
$200 Local Dining credit (worth $200)
* $200 Global Dining credit (worth $200)
* Accor plus membership with 1 free hotel night (worth $399)
* $450 travel credit (worth $450)
* Up to $84 amazon prime membership cashback (worth $79 for annual membership)
* 2 x Unlimited Priority Pass card (exclude restaurants credit) (worth $400)
* Unlimited access to AMEX centurion lounges
* Unlimited access to Virgin Domestic lounges
* Unlimited access to Plaza Premium lounges
Plus the below nice to have offer (which I don't use much):
* The Australian Premium subscription ($7/week = $364)
* $75 x 2 NET-A-PORTER and MR PORTER credit (worth $150)
* Hotel Elite Status: Hilton Honors Gold status, Marriott BonvoyTM Gold status, Radisson Rewards Premium status
All of these are on top of the new card holder bonus
So if you travel quite often, just the lounges access, hotel statuses and dining credit already well worth the $1450

So which is best?
1) AMEX Platinum for sure with the perks
2) St George Signature however 12k spend is a killer for some
3) HSBC Platinum slots in here for $0 fee and higher conversion rate, it's a no brainer. Followed closely by St George Platinum.
4) ANZ Black and Westpac Altitude Velocity Black are on par, Westpac is slightly ahead if you want Velocity not KF, plus some economy upgrades.
5) Citi, Virgin, Suncorp cards not listed in table fit in here. Of course they would be higher for some people, I've had Virgin, Suncorp card before the crunch but you've been warned.

So with zero cards in my wallet, I can hit the AMEX, HSBC + St George Platinums for $1528 in fees, and when I hit the bonuses, I will have about 230k in Krisflyer miles, nearly enough for my next RTW :)

Final notes, I'm going through my old Onenote pages and found that there is a hack where you can apply for AMEX platinum edge card and get the operator to merge your accounts because "it's too difficult to manage both sets of points and rather have them all in one spot". Apparently Edge card allowed 1:1 transfers to KF, but I'm not 100% if this is still true or how it works.
amazing post mate, thank you
 
I have been a HSBC Star Alliance card holder since December 2023. I have been extremely pleased with it and the benefits. I have it linked ot my SQ KrisFlyer account. I achieved SQ Gold Status after spending the required AUD$3,000 within 90 days of card activation.
A fantastic further benefit of Gold Status this year is my being able in October to extend all my expiring SQ miles for a full further twelve months, instead of six months -- for me a huge plus as my miles will now extend through to October 2024 and allow me to redeem them for a Spring 2025 trip to Germany, as well as a trip in 2024. Heretofore, I could not see any way to book a 2025 trip before they expired.
I am 90% on the way to re-qualifying for Gold Status for 2024 and should hit the mark in August. Next month I fly Changi-Bangkok-Changi on an Economy class paid ticket, but will be able to access the airport lounges with Gold Status, and also earn bonus miles on both flights.

cheers
William
 
Just want to update this thread, as I now have booked a RTW (SYD-HND/NRT-MEX-PTY-CNF/GRU-IST-xJED-BKK-MEL) using my 280k KF miles and have 1 point left in my account :)

I actually didn't have enough KF miles until I transferred a chunk of spare Velocity miles @ 1.55:1 so for something like AMEX Explorer instead of 70,000 MR points (=35,000 KF), you can get AMEX Velocity Platinum which will give you 45,000 KF.

Lenders are tightening sign-up offers with reduced bonuses and bait and switch headlines which actually split the bonus over two years.

Lenders are also rejecting applications more, for no reason that can be determined (good income, good credit score).

I was rejected twice, six months ago, by Citi for the Prestige card and by Westpac for a card I had in the past (Altitude Black). I'm now going to start applying again (fingers crossed). My first rule is avoid NAB/Citi cards unless I have already hit three other card promos and want to test my luck.

Co-branded and white label products from NAB/Citibank include Coles, BOQ, Virgin Money, Suncorp, Kogan, Qantas, Paypal.

AMEX, HSBC and St George are the only ones that have 2:1 conversion rate to KF.

Please note HSBC is a targeted link, you need an account. I've had the email before with the offer but link has expired. There is an active link from Ozbargain but can't confirm it works: HSBC Platinum Credit Card: $0 Fees for First Year, 120,000 Rewards Plus Pts After $3000 Spent in 90 Days, 0% Balance Transfer

This is not an exhaustive list (I don't have ABN) but it's pretty good:



Institution
Product
Annual Fee
Bonus
Minimum Credit Limit
Conversion to Velocity
Conversion to Krisflyer
Bonus
Bank Group
White-Labelled
AMEX
Platinum
$1,450
225,000 MR
$15,000
112,500
112,500
See Below table for perks
AMEX
Explorer
$395
70,000 MR
$6,000
35,000
35,000
$400 travel credit
Centurion lounge x2 Melb/Syd
AMEX
Velocity Platinum
$375
70,000 Velocity
$6,000
N/A
45,161
Return domestic flight
2x Virgin Lounge passes
HSBC
$0 (targeted link)
120,000 Rewards Plus
$6,000
60,000
60,000
Amplify Platinum
$49
90,000 Amplify
$6,000
45,000
45,000
Westpac, BOM
St George
Amplify Signature
$199
150,000 amplify
$15,000
75,000
75,000
Westpac, BOM
ANZ
Platinum​
$45 (+$50 rebate)
80,000 ANZ Points
$6,000
40,000
26,500
ANZ
Black​
$225 (+$150 rebate)
180,000 ANZ Points
$15,000
90,000
60,000
NAB
Platinum
$95
60,000 Rewards Points
$6,000
30,000
20,000
NAB
Signature
$195
100,000 (first year)
$15,000
50,000
33,000
Westpac
Altitude Platinum
$0
100,000 Altitude Points
$6,000
50,000
33,000
St George, BOM
Westpac
Altitude Velocity Platinum
$49 +$75 Velocity Program Fee
70,000 Velocity
$6,000
70,000
45,000
St George, BOM
Westpac
Altitude Velocity Black
$150 +$75 Velocity Program Fee
90,000 Velocity
(1st Year)
$15,000
90,000
58,000
Some economy upgrades and domestic lounge passes
St George, BOM
Rewards Mastercard
$99 + $99 (2nd year)
100,000 Flybuys
50,000
32,500
No conversion fees for overseas purchases

AMEX Platinum Perks (thanks to Ozbargainer, I stole this list)
Fine hotels and resorts, not applicable to me as only 5* hotels: An introduction to American Express Fine Hotels + Resorts
$200 Local Dining credit (worth $200)
* $200 Global Dining credit (worth $200)
* Accor plus membership with 1 free hotel night (worth $399)
* $450 travel credit (worth $450)
* Up to $84 amazon prime membership cashback (worth $79 for annual membership)
* 2 x Unlimited Priority Pass card (exclude restaurants credit) (worth $400)
* Unlimited access to AMEX centurion lounges
* Unlimited access to Virgin Domestic lounges
* Unlimited access to Plaza Premium lounges
Plus the below nice to have offer (which I don't use much):
* The Australian Premium subscription ($7/week = $364)
* $75 x 2 NET-A-PORTER and MR PORTER credit (worth $150)
* Hotel Elite Status: Hilton Honors Gold status, Marriott BonvoyTM Gold status, Radisson Rewards Premium status
All of these are on top of the new card holder bonus
So if you travel quite often, just the lounges access, hotel statuses and dining credit already well worth the $1450

So which is best?
1) AMEX Platinum for sure with the perks
2) St George Signature however 12k spend is a killer for some
3) HSBC Platinum slots in here for $0 fee and higher conversion rate, it's a no brainer. Followed closely by St George Platinum.
4) ANZ Black and Westpac Altitude Velocity Black are on par, Westpac is slightly ahead if you want Velocity not KF, plus some economy upgrades.
5) Citi, Virgin, Suncorp cards not listed in table fit in here. Of course they would be higher for some people, I've had Virgin, Suncorp card before the crunch but you've been warned.

So with zero cards in my wallet, I can hit the AMEX, HSBC + St George Platinums for $1528 in fees, and when I hit the bonuses, I will have about 230k in Krisflyer miles, nearly enough for my next RTW :)

Final notes, I'm going through my old Onenote pages and found that there is a hack where you can apply for AMEX platinum edge card and get the operator to merge your accounts because "it's too difficult to manage both sets of points and rather have them all in one spot". Apparently Edge card allowed 1:1 transfers to KF, but I'm not 100% if this is still true or how it works.
Great post. Out of interest what is availability like on krisflyer / was it hard to find the routes you wanted for your RTW trip?

I have been checking for flights from Sydney to Dublin and cant find any business class reward flights.

Also please can you confirm if you can, am I able I sign up and receive bonus from that HSBS Platinum card if I did not receive the targeted email? I do have a HSBC premier account opened 1 month ago.
 
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It was extremely hard to find availability although I was able to change my route to when I liked better but at all times it is an incredible amount of hard work.

You have to be very dedicated, have a lot of time put aside and be very flexible because the rules are very inflexible. Leaving from Australia you are at risk of hitting the 35,000 mile limit. At the moment I couldn't find any availability on any flights at all using United Airlines or air Canada. Same with Lufthansa and Swiss air. My ticket is purely with ANA then copa, then Turkish Airlines then Bangkok Airlines. Luckily I wanted to go to South America so I focused on that however another rule was that you can't go backwards such as using the copa Airlines hub in Panama twice. But the only way I could get to South America was to first fly to Japan which is kind of ridiculous but hey Japan is an awesome country and I have plenty of things on my lists with three days in Tokyo.

You can't fly backwards so after I fly from Sao Paulo to Istanbul I can't then visit anywhere in Europe. There will also no flights from Colombia to Brazil. So I purchased external economy flights from Panama to Columbia and from Istanbul to Athens.

Something I found since I posted is that the HSBC points can only be used to redeem for gift cards and not for transfer to airline reward programs so it should be removed from the table.

This week I've been approved for St George platinum and Amex platinum and they're both in the mail. The good thing about the Annex platinum is that it's a charge card so it should come up as $0 if I apply for another card and it asks me what my credit limits are I think I can still just say $6,000 for the St George platinum and that's it.
 
Something I found since I posted is that the HSBC points can only be used to redeem for gift cards and not for transfer to airline reward programs so it should be removed from the table.

That is disappointing, where did you find that information? Seems like a strange restriction.
Post automatically merged:

It was extremely hard to find availability although I was able to change my route to when I liked better but at all times it is an incredible amount of hard work.
It never is easy
 
Something I found since I posted is that the HSBC points can only be used to redeem for gift cards and not for transfer to airline reward programs so it should be removed from the table.

oh you got to be kidding me...not even to velocity???

edit: I can see that Platinum can reedem velocity though?
 
oh you got to be kidding me...not even to velocity???

edit: I can see that Platinum can reedem velocity though?
Yeah I think they can tbh, unless we can see evidence to the contrary?
Post automatically merged:

oh you got to be kidding me...not even to velocity???

edit: I can see that Platinum can reedem velocity though?
My question still remains, is it targeted, or can anyone with a HSBC account get the bonus?
 
Yeah time to find an alternative
Yes, but what is the alternative? I have the Amex Explorer, but lots of places don't accept Amex. The Amplify was my go to in those situations. Now it is very slim pickings indeed going by the table previously posted.
 
From the post above, there doesnt seem to be a VISA/MC card that is on par with the ST George card.

The HSBC looks to be the best alternative, but you can only earn a maximum of 10,000 points per month/statement period which is 5000 VFF or KRIS equivalent?

This card convert to 2:1 into VFF & KRIS?
 
Now the Amplify Rewards St George has dropped the conversion rate from 2:1 to 3:1
so that we now get 2/3rds of the Krisflyer miles - does anybody have any tips ?
especially for uncapped points?
 

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