Tips and hacks on using your credit card to score a free flight

Air miles are a fairly straightforward concept – they’re simply affiliated with credit card companies and are a type of “reward” you score from frequent flyer programmes. It’s essentially what you earn as a reward in return for using your credit card. But do know that each credit card has its own redemption system and their points will equate to a different overall worth. 

It’s tricky figuring out which is the best credit card to suit your lifestyle – especially when trying to score a free flight. There are a few frequent flyer programmes out there that are common in Singapore: KrisFlyer (Singapore Airlines), Asia Miles (Cathay Pacific), and Skywards (Emirates). Yet, there’s still a way to figure out the best credit card to suit your needs when it comes to air miles. You can divvy it up a few ways: miles that don’t expire, the best way to get KrisFlyer miles (that would be Singapore’s main frequent flyer programme), and what the best card is for everyday spend. Briefly, the best credit cards in this arena would include: 

• AMEX KrisFlyer (1.1 miles for every $1 spend) – you wouldn’t have to go out of your way to redeem the miles since they get transferred automatically. 

• UOB KrisFlyer (up to 3 miles for every $1 local spend*) – perfect for your everyday spend, since the miles per dollar ratio is up to 3 miles when you spend it on dining, online shopping & travel, and transport. But you’ll need to spend at least $500 on a Singapore Airlines transaction to get that rate. 
  
  
• Citi PremierMiles (1.2 miles for every $1 local spend) – they can be transferred to 11 different frequent flyer programmes, and they never expire. 

Know that there are plenty of other credit cards out there that could better suit your lifestyle, and it’s well-worth doing the research before signing up. 

Now, this is obviously the question everyone wants an answer to: how much do you actually have to spend? It depends – I mean, how long is a piece of string? I can only share my own experience here. With Singapore Airlines, I claimed an economy round trip ticket to Paris for 76,000 miles and paid $142 for airport and government taxes. With most frequent flyer programmes averaging 1.1 miles per dollar spend, that would suggest I’ve charged close to $70,000 on my credit card. 

Thankfully, that isn’t at all true. 

You’ll need to take sign-up bonuses into consideration. Some credit cards boast that they could even get you as much as 37,000 air miles – just with you simply signing up. Of course, terms and conditions apply so you’ll need to read properly into this before signing up for a card you might not need. 

Besides staying aware of promotions, it’s also worth knowing that short-haul flights are worth less compared to far-flung destinations. When looking at Singapore Airlines and the amount of miles you need for redemption, it’s pretty darn obvious. 

Take travelling to London from Singapore. From my search for the month of April 2022, it’s at least 53,000 miles on Singapore Airlines for an economy class round trip – if we were to search for the monetary price for the exact same dates, it will take us back at least $2,147. Yikes. But that’s when using your miles come into play. In the case of somewhere nearer, like Bangkok? It’s around $295 for a round trip but you’ll need to claim at least 17,500 miles.

While free flights are the ultimate goal, there are still some hidden costs to be aware of. The downside of getting a credit card is that there is always an annual fee – in some instances, you can waive these fees. Another thing you’ll need to consider: airport and government taxes. This entirely depends on the country you’re travelling to, and it’s not something that you can pay off with miles.