Singapore Expats

Hi,

I'm trying to work out which visa or mastercard is best for accumulating airmiles and other benefits. My boyfriend has an Amex, so something else....

The information I can find on the web is huge and I don't know where to start to get through it, so if anyone has any ideas or tips on what works well for them for, I would appreciate hearing it so much!

Thanks!!!

C

I don't have a local credit card but my favorite is the Citi Bank Card. It has doesnt have black out dates, takes less miles and it simple to redeem.

I like it better than my AMEX and the Citi Bank doesn't have any fees.

CHS - this question's been ask heaps - use the search facility on the forum to find the relevant posts - "credit cards" should do the trick there - that should give you a good indication of what most have done.

Once you've done that, post back with some specifics and we'll try to help further!

Cheers and welcome to the forums!

P

Krisflyer American Express Gold is the best for earning miles. The rest are all more or less the same, and no, there's no MasterCard/Visa that comes even close.

jpatokal wrote:Krisflyer American Express Gold is the best for earning miles. The rest are all more or less the same, and no, there's no MasterCard/Visa that comes even close.

...one thing to note, if you buy locally it is not a probblem but AMEX charges you 2% on all international purchases.

Thanks for all the tips, I will go back and search through past threads! I had DBS and Citi mentioned a few times as well as the Amex.

Fingers crossed.....

RULDS wrote:

jpatokal wrote:Krisflyer American Express Gold is the best for earning miles. The rest are all more or less the same, and no, there's no MasterCard/Visa that comes even close.

...one thing to note, if you buy locally it is not a probblem but AMEX charges you 2% on all international purchases.

Is this in addition to exchange rate charges?

Strong Eagle wrote:

RULDS wrote:

jpatokal wrote:Krisflyer American Express Gold is the best for earning miles. The rest are all more or less the same, and no, there's no MasterCard/Visa that comes even close.

...one thing to note, if you buy locally it is not a probblem but AMEX charges you 2% on all international purchases.

Is this in addition to exchange rate charges?

In regards to the AMEX card that I have, which is from the U.S., all purchases are charged 2% if they do not originate from the states. They do not charge for an exchange rate but give the current market rate.

I 'boycoted' using my AMEX while in Singapore because of this and because they will not 'link' accounts. For example - if I were accrue 10K points on an AMEX from Singapore they will not let me transfer these points to my U.S. AMEX when I leave.

Most credit cards do charge 1% on all international purchases. It does not matter whether is it Visa/Mastercard, it depends on who issues the credit card. I found that my 'Capital One - Visa' does not charge any international fees so this is the card I prefer to use while traveling.

I only use my AMEX in Singapore if I am buying high-end electronics for AMEX offers an extra year warranty on certain electronics and paying that extra 2% is worth it.

RULDS - interesting!

Our AUS Diners Club don't do that - interesting that AMEX do.

Could you advise if that's just on hard purchases, or is it a flat 2% across the board - eg. hotels etc.?

Also, if I could slightly append another question without hijacking - could someone advice if they have a SIN AMEX CHARGE (not credit) card, if the 2% charge applies to purchases (hard or soft) outside of SIN?

Many thanks in advance, P.

sierra2469alpha wrote:RULDS - interesting!

Our AUS Diners Club don't do that - interesting that AMEX do.

Could you advise if that's just on hard purchases, or is it a flat 2% across the board - eg. hotels etc.?

Also, if I could slightly append another question without hijacking - could someone advice if they have a SIN AMEX CHARGE (not credit) card, if the 2% charge applies to purchases (hard or soft) outside of SIN?

Many thanks in advance, P.

As far as I know, it is on any purchase. I have spoken with AMEX about this issue in the past about how much they charge when I travel outside the US and they have never given me any conditions where I would not be charged. Whenever I look at my statement, I always see the additional 2% charged under each international purchase.

i dont have much idea on credit card for miles.

but if you are looking for the best cash rebates based credit cards, go for the following

SCB xtrasaver
UOB one
SCB manhattan
POSB everyday

AMEX don't charge 2% on international purchases. No credit card that I have used ever does this. A MERCHANT may ask you to pay a surcharge but that is not AMEX. Plus this would appear on your bill. I think something else maybe happening.

I have serveral cards, which I have used across the region, UK, US and have never been charged by the issuer for buying something. They would go out of business if this were the case.

Cash advances incur charges.

ringo100 wrote:AMEX don't charge 2% on international purchases. No credit card that I have used ever does this. A MERCHANT may ask you to pay a surcharge but that is not AMEX. Plus this would appear on your bill. I think something else maybe happening.

I have serveral cards, which I have used across the region, UK, US and have never been charged by the issuer for buying something. They would go out of business if this were the case.

Cash advances incur charges.

You will want to double check your purchases. The 2% that is spoken about is NOT derived from the Merchant, it is soley from the credit card company nor is it a cash advance.

I cut and copied this clause from my AMEX statement:

Transactions Made in Foreign Currencies: If you incur a Charge in a foreign currency, it will be
converted into US dollars on the date it is processed by us or our agents. Unless a particular rate is required by applicable
law, we will choose a conversion rate that is acceptable to us for that date. Currently, the conversion rate we use for a
Charge in a foreign currency is no greater than (a) the highest official conversion rate published by a government agency, or
(b) the highest interbank conversion rate identified by us from customary banking sources, on the conversion date or the
prior business day, in each instance increased by 2%.

I also did a quick google search after reading your comment and this was the first article listed....like I said, Capital One was the only card I know of that didnt charge a fee.

http://www.bargaineering.com/articles/f ... -list.html

i dont have an AMEX so cant comment on the 2% thing with them

but for the other cards that i have in singapore, i have never seen a 2% transaction fee.

but no big deal. even if there is no transaction fee, the bank can still earn from the poor exchange rate. so its all already included. only that we dont see the 2%.

since the charges is already hidden, that will make customers happy to see no 2% fees. is that what you want?

for VISA card (doesnt matter from which bank), the exchange rate is set by VISA. the rate is very close to the interbank rate. it is the fees that the bank will pocket. to check what exchange rate you are getting and to include your bank's fees, check this out...

http://corporate.visa.com/pd/consumer_s ... _rates.jsp