which credit card best choice for miles?

[pumi23]

i have a business and use credit cards frequently to pay lots of different bills. we accumulate ten thousands worth of credit card bills every month.

now, i would like to get a credit card that is very good for earning miles or other very attractive rewards.

any recommendations?

[PDLM]

On an ongoing unlimited basis the two best are the Citibank Premier Miles and the Amex Cathay co-brand.

The Citibank has the advantage of being able to credit miles to different schemes (AsiaMiles, Thai, NW WorldPerks, SQ KrisFlyer), and that the miles don't expire as long as you just hold them on the card. There's a fee waiver for the next couple of years, and past experience says Citi will continue to waive if you threaten to leave. This card also gets you access to the Premier Plaza lounges at HK airport.

The Amex has the advantages that it has no fee provided that you are CX MPC Silver or above (or spend HK$150,000 per year on it), that it comes with good insurance schemes (travel and purchase protection) for things bought with it, and it has some bonuses for purchasing CX flights online. The downside is that it's only AsiaMiles and they are transferred immediately, meanin that they enter the AsiaMiles 3 year expiry cycle. The Amex also comes with a free Priority Pass card for the Primary card holder which is nominally worth a couple of hundred US$ per year if you fly a lot in ways that don't otherwise give you access to airport lounges.

Both cards have base earning rates of HK$8 per AM for local spending and HK$4 per AM for overseas, and both currently have promos going on which give you up to double that rate, plus sign-up bonuses.

There are some other cards which give HK$6/AM up to certain limits - DBS is one I think - but I prefer not to have to worry about managing the limits and juggling too many cards, so I just have the two I have mentioned above (plus my HSBC Premier Mastercard, which I very rarely use since it is only HK$12/AM).

[pumi23]

thanks PDLM for this detailed information.
i will look into them. thanks.

[Joelle Lit]

DBS Black card. I'm pretty sure!

[PDLM]

Yes, reviewing the DBS Black (Amex) T&Cs now it does seem that the HK$6/AM is without limit (is that a recent change?), so that would be the best I know on an ongoing basis.

While we're on the subject, does anyone know of a HK-based Visa or Mastercard with earning power of at least $8/mile where I can transfer to American Airlines AAdvantage?

[pin]

SCB Amex is probably the best at HK$3/AM but only up to HK$120k a year.

[vvs08hk]

yeah i agree. stanchart amex is the best one ($3 to the mile up to $120,000 annually). CX Elite Amex and some others have good initial promotion periods (CX Elite is great in the first four months for int'l spending, $2 per mile, and there are no annual or conversion fees) but in general StanChart Amex offers the best rate.

really what is best is to spend $120,000 on StanChart Amex to max that out, and then switch to another card. CX Elite is quite good for overseas spending, $4 to the mile at all times.

also for what it's worth StanChart has pretty subpar customer service, whereas so far I've found the folks at CX Elite Amex to be exceedingly helpful.

as for AAdvantage, I can't think of anything -- unfortunate part of being in Asia is that you're usually forced to use the Asian FF programs which are generally not as good. although Dah Sing Bank has a UA Mileage Plus program, i haven't come across one for AA yet...but if you're a OneWorld flyer then i guess it's ok to earn Asia Miles, right? because credit card miles aren't for status qualifying anyway...actually Asia Miles are easy to redeem on any airline other than CX, so not bad to have some of those.

good luck!