The UOB KrisFlyer Savings Account works in conjunction with any of the eligible UOB cards to get you more miles. The promise is that you can significantly increase your mileage earning rate, depending on your debit/credit card spending and the balance in your savings account.
But is it worth forgoing the higher interest rates of other savings accounts to earn more miles? Let’s find out.
How does the UOB KrisFlyer Savings Account work?
UOB KrisFlyer Savings Account |
|
Base interest rate |
0.05% |
Basic KrisFlyer Miles |
0.4 miles per dollar spent |
KrisFlyer Bonus Miles |
Up to 6 miles per dollar spent (with salary credit) |
Minimum age |
18 |
nationality |
Singaporeans, PRs in Singapore, Foreigners |
First deposit |
1,000 US dollars |
Minimum monthly average balance (MAB) |
1,000 US dollars |
Undercut fee |
$2 |
Limitation of bonus miles |
5% of the workforce |
The UOB KrisFlyer account allows you to earn bonus miles, in addition to the miles you already earn with your other UOB debit/credit cards. For every dollar spent with an eligible UOB card, you earn an additional 5 miles. If you deposit your salary (minimum $2,000) into your KrisFlyer Savings Account, you earn an additional 6 miles per dollar spent.
The eligible UOB cards are KrisFlyer UOB Credit Card, KrisFlyer UOB Debit Card, UOB Reserve Card, UOB Visa Infinite Metal Card, UOB Privilege Banking Card and UOB PRVI Miles Card.
If you already have one of these cards, you can open a UOB KrisFlyer Savings Account with an initial deposit of $1,000, spend with your card and start earning bonus miles instantly. No further linking or signing up is required. The KrisFlyer Miles you earn will be credited directly to your KrisFlyer member account each month.
Please note, however, that there is a cap on the number of bonus miles you can earn, which is equal to 5% of your MAB. The table below illustrates how the miles are calculated.
Example 1 |
Example 2 |
|
Monthly card spending |
$200 |
1,000 US dollars |
Monthly Average Balance (MAB) |
5,000 US dollars |
100,000 US dollars |
5% MAB cap |
$5,000 x 5% = 250 miles |
$100,000 x 5% = 5,000 miles |
Salary credit |
Y |
N |
Basic KrisFlyer Miles |
$200 x 0.4 = 80 miles |
$1,000 x 0.4 = 400 miles |
KrisFlyer Bonus Miles |
$200 x 6 = 1,200 miles(Upper limit of 250 miles) |
$1,000 x 5 = 5,000 miles (Upper limit of 5,000 miles) |
Total KrisFlyer miles collected |
80 + 250 = 330 miles |
400 + 5,000 = 5,400 miles |
Effective mileage collection rate |
330/200 = 1.65 miles |
5,400/1,000 = 5.4 miles |
You can see that to achieve a higher mileage earning rate, you need a higher MAB to achieve a higher bonus mileage cap. To get the most out of the KrisFlyer UOB account, you need to determine the amount of card spending and MAB that makes sense for you.
Pitfalls of the UOB KrisFlyer Savings Account
The biggest danger of the UOB KrisFlyer savings account is the 5% MAB cap. With this cap, your MAB needs to be quite high to get a good mileage earning rate. It is probably not advisable to deposit that much money at 0.05% interest, asThere are many better savings accounts.
For a pure savings account to which you do not credit your salary, CIMB FastSaver Account is a good option. You can find more savings account recommendations in this article: Your savings account sucks, here are some that aren’t.
If you don’t have the amounts shown in Example 2 of the table above, it makes more financial sense to figure out which categories you spend more in and get the right credit card with airline miles.
For general, everyday expenses that UOB PRVI Mileage Card is a popular option (1 $ = 1.4 miles). For restaurant, petrol and taxi costs, there is especially the Maybank Horizon Visa Signature (1 $ = 3.2 miles).
High mileage collection rate
UOB PRVI VISA Mileage Card
Apply now
Further details
Air Miles Features
-
Earn 1.4 miles per S$1 spent on-site (3.5 UNI$ per S$5 spent).
-
Earn 2.4 miles per S$1 spent overseas (UNI$6 per spend), including online shopping on overseas websites
-
Earn 6 miles per US$1 (UN$15 per S$5) spent on major airlines and hotels booked through Expedia, UOB Travel and Agoda.
-
Earn 1.4 miles per S$1 spent (UNI$3.5 per S$5 spent) on bus and train journeys.
-
No minimum turnover and no upper limit for miles collected
-
Complimentary travel insurance cover up to S$500,000. Terms and conditions apply.
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Maybank Horizon Visa Signature
Apply now
Further details
Air Miles Features
-
Earn 3.2 airline miles (8X TREATS points) for every S$1 you spend on food, gas, taxi rides and hotel bookings at Agoda.com/horizon.
-
Earn 2 Air Miles (5X TREATS Points) for every S$1 spent on air tickets, travel packages and foreign currency transactions.
-
Minimum spend: S$300/month
-
Limited to 30,000 bonus TREATS points per month
-
Earn 0.4 air miles (1X TREAT point) with no minimum spend
-
Complimentary lounge access with a minimum spend of S$1,000 in a single transaction for a retail purchase
-
Free travel insurance up to S$1,000,000
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While the UOB KrisFlyer account is definitely not considered a good savings account, if you agree Collect miles instead of interest on your depositsyou can do this with a good UOB air miles credit card like the UOB PRVI Miles mentioned above or even the KrisFlyer UOB Credit Card.
Earn miles for everyday expenses
KrisFlyer UOB Credit Card
Apply now
Further details
Air Miles Features
-
$1 = 3 KrisFlyer miles on dining, food delivery, online shopping, travel and transportation with a minimum annual spend of S$500 with Singapore Airlines Group
-
$1 = 3 KrisFlyer miles for purchases on Singapore Airlines, SilkAir, Scoot and KrisShop
-
$1 = 1.2 KrisFlyer miles for all other spending
-
3,000 miles for the first issue
-
10,000 bonus miles upon renewal
-
Up to 6 additional miles per S$1 spent with the KrisFlyer UOB Deposit Account
-
No mileage exchange fee
-
Exclusive airline privileges (e.g. Scoot: free seat selection, priority boarding and check-in, additional baggage allowance, no booking flexibility, S$20 KrisShop discount and fast track to Elite Silver upgrade)
-
Exclusive travel privileges (2x Grab and ChangiWiFi worth USD 15)
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One good thing about the UOB KrisFlyer account is that you can link it to Mighty FX (available on the UOB Mighty app), basically a mobile money changer that allows you to exchange money at competitive rates (no management fee). If you exchange at least $1,000 into a foreign currency, you will receive an additional 200 miles.
How to open a UOB KrisFlyer account
Still think a UOB KrisFlyer Savings Account is right for you? You can apply for one on the UOB website.
It is relatively easy as you can access your personal information through MyInfo. For new UOB customers, applications submitted between 8:30am and 9pm will be processed immediately and your account will be opened on the same day. For existing UOB customers, you can easily apply through UOB’s iBanking platform and your account will be opened within 2 working days.
What do you think about the UOB Krisflyer Savings Account?
The post “UBB KrisFlyer Savings Account – MoneySmart Review 2022” first appeared on the MoneySmart blog.
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The article UOB KrisFlyer Savings Account – MoneySmart Review 2022 appeared first on MoneySmart.com.
Original article: UOB KrisFlyer Savings Account – MoneySmart Review 2022.
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