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Rewards & Credit Cards!!!???

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  1. #1

    Join Date
    Feb 2013
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    Rewards & Credit Cards!!!???

    Right I'm either going to open a can of worms here or if someone could point me to a previous post great. (Searched can't find one)

    been living in HK for 4 years, spend 20-25k a month on credit card. Currently using HSBC Premier credit card.....

    today I've found out that 3-4 years worth of spending accumulated just over 10,000 points (which could be spent at Boardway, Fortress etc)

    This seems like a terrible return!? Say nearly a million dollars spent to get 10,000 in rewards?

    Can anyone recommend top earning credit cards? What is best in HK, air miles or points?

    p.s. Appreciate I could spend more selectively on HSBC to earn 2x and 4x on certain days and shops but I'm looking for a no fuss credit card with best returns.


  2. #2

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    We use the Amex Cathay Pacific Card (Standard Chartered has one too) for Asia Miles.

    Both of them have bonuses for overseas spend.

    Between that and an old Citi card, I've easily accumulated about 1M miles over the years, and travelled a fair bit too.

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  3. #3

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    I'll piggy back on this one. We recently moved here from US.

    I have been reading up on Citi Prestige here, haven't yet applied for the card though. Trying to evaluate if the travel insurance benefit that the card offers is good enough, or will I have to buy travel insurance separately. Card comes with a HKD$2500 annual fee. If I can avoid buying annual travel insurance (self+spouse) and rely on what Citi Prestige provides, then that card might be worth it.


  4. #4

    Join Date
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    Moneyhero has a pretty good overview - probably the reason why there aren't that many more threads on Geo on CCs these days. In a nutshell - BEA World Flyer if the bulk of your expenses is in HK incl AAVS. StC AsiaMiles if its mostly dining (apply for this one anyways if only for the welcome bonus). Citi Premier if its mostly overseas business expenses.
    All of these have their annual fee easily waived or dont even charge one
    For example - putting all this onto the BEA would have gotten you ~200k Asia Miles.


  5. #5

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    Quote Originally Posted by shri:
    We use the Amex Cathay Pacific Card (Standard Chartered has one too) for Asia Miles.

    Both of them have bonuses for overseas spend.

    Between that and an old Citi card, I've easily accumulated about 1M miles over the years, and travelled a fair bit too.

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Views: 1444
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    Asia Miles are crap. They are not worthwhile on redeeming short-haul economy flights. They are worthwhile only on long-haul or premium cabin.

    Moreover, they expire after 3 years even with account activity.

    Better accumulate Avios instead if you are flying oneworld.

  6. #6

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    Quote Originally Posted by Michael Tsang:
    Asia Miles are crap. They are not worthwhile on redeeming short-haul economy flights.
    And who would ever possible want to do that?? Yes, Avios are awesome when flying to Taiwan. But that's cheap as is.
    shri likes this.

  7. #7

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    Quote Originally Posted by er2:
    And who would ever possible want to do that?? Yes, Avios are awesome when flying to Taiwan. But that's cheap as is.
    For low income families this might be the only chance they are ever affordable to have some travel by accumulating Avios over decades using credit cards, simply because Asia Miles expire.

  8. #8

    Join Date
    Oct 2016
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    10,000 points from 1 million spend is 1% return (assuming the points are valued at $1) - that's a pretty standard return rate when compared to a typical "cashback" credit card (well, in the UK anyway...)

    We had (2) BA Amex Premium cards in the UK which earned 3avios/£2 on normal spend and 3 avios/£1 on spending with BA. Plus, when you spent £10,000 you got a 241 voucher for use on BA redemptions, which was pretty nifty (if you could find availability).

    Since we've moved I have the Dah Sing BA Visa which earns at 1 avios / $6, which at current exchange rates is slightly better than the BA Amex (plus Visa is accepted more places than Amex).

    Valuing an avios is difficult but 1-1.5p is the norm (so ~0.1 HK$)


  9. #9

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    If that is indeed the objective I'd focus on cash back cards rather than miles. you can get 2% cash back these days - even with avios on short distance, the yield is poor given the high CIS and taxes that need to be paid separately. I'd say about .1HKD/mile tops.

    In any case, OP seems to be doing ok given the stated CC spend, _and_ you can accumulate BEA and Citi PM points which never expire and transfer to AM as needed.


  10. #10

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    You should sign up for a HSBC Signature card. The annual fee is waved for 2 years and you currently get some supermarket coupons as well. Then sign up for red hot rewards, that'll add an additional 5 reward points (so you're 6x) plus the signature card itself gets a bonus 3x. So now you get 9x the miles, which means 1 reward cash per $27.8 HKD spent, assuming its in your red hot reward category. If you were really smart you could even get a card for your spouse, assuming you're married, and then cover another red hot reward category with her card.

    Reward cash equals to 10 miles. A return ticket to Australia from memory is 40,000 miles for example. So that means you'll get one return ticket to Australia (worth $11k) for every $14k you spend. Not bad. Depending on what you're buying on your credit card you may end up with one international airfare per month

    Last edited by cendrillon; 28-09-2017 at 01:08 PM.

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