As part of my revamped schedule for posting regular reports – in the top menu bar, you would see three reports: CPF, alternative income, and KrisFlyer miles – this is my KrisFlyer Miles Report for the second quarter of 2020.
Just like what I have mentioned in my alternative income report, rather than write adhoc report posts like what I have been doing for the past few years, I intend to follow a more consistent schedule moving forward. These regular reports can help you by serving as reference and learning points for people who are pursuing the same goals.
Quick rehash, this is going to be the few format of quarterly and half-yearly reports –
- Jan / Jul – CPF Reports
- Feb / May / Aug / Nov – Alternative Income Reports
- Mar / Jun / Sep / Dec – KrisFlyer Miles Reports
In my last miles update, I have mentioned that the KrisFlyer miles extension program will help to mitigate any expiry problems in the short term. Couple with their default 3-year validity, no worries on that front.
228,301 miles collected as of June 2020
My current miles stash looks like this –
- KrisFlyer : 107,456
- Citibank : 85,641 (85,641 Citi Miles)
- Citibank : 19,620 (49,050 Citi Points)
- DBS : 7,466 (3,733 DBS Points)
- UOB : 8,118 (4,059 UNI$)
- Total Miles Available : 228,301
Compared to my last update, it is an increase of a modest 9,000 miles in a space of two months. Not much, but it’ll do.
The current situation doesn’t look optimistic for the travel industry, and it looked like there isn’t going to be any improvements any time soon. Miles collecting has been relegated to a side-project as of now considering that I’m getting 10% cash-back on my card expenses.
Income tax payment via CardUp using GrabPay
Prior to income tax season, I have been regularly topping up GrabPay using Citi Rewards Visa (yes, I know, it is an open secret) for 4 miles per dollar. At one point in time, the balance reached over three thousand dollars which amused my wife a little. OK, more than a little.
When the crisis hit, Crypto.com launched an incredible promotion that granted 10% rebate on groceries and food deliveries services for their MCO Visa card, and it was capped at US$50 per month (or S$70) for my card tier. Initially, I was just using it for food deliveries (e.g. Grab Food, Food Panda, and Deliveroo) and groceries (e.g. NTUC, Giant, and Sheng Shiong) and I was easily hitting the maximum amount of rebates every month.
Read – my reviews of MCO Visa card with free Spotify, Netflix and US$50 credit upon signing up
Later on, I learned from BetterSpider that by virtue of being the same company i.e. Grab, topping up Grab Pay gets the 10% as well. This means 10% on every transaction. EVERY transaction! I promptly topped up the maximum amount at the start of the month. Unfortunately, the generous promotion will be ending this month.
- Citi Rewards VISA > Grab Pay (4 miles per dollar)
- Bank Debit card > MCO VISA > Grab Pay (10% rebate)
Instead of using GIRO to pay for my income tax, I scheduled a CardUp payment. For the purpose of paying IRAS via CardUp, I found promo codes that lowered the fee to 1.75%.
- Grab Pay > IRAS (1.75% fee)
Perhaps I will write a how-to guide for using CardUp for income tax payments next time if you’re interested.
Licking my wounds – annual travel insurance
Purely unavoidable, but I’m not one to shy away from my mistake. It didn’t help to know that I bought annual travel insurance for this year which renewed in January 2020, and I have used it for a grand total of one time – a short trip to Batam, Indonesia. *cries*
Well, these things happen – just something we have to live with and roll with the punches.
If you enjoyed my miles posts and found them useful, here are more useful guides to help you out –
- Redeem KrisFlyer Flights + Stopover : A Guide To Your US$100 Business Class Flight
- Redeem DBS Points For KrisFlyer Miles
- Redeem UOB Rewards Points (UNI$) For KrisFlyer Miles
- Redeem OCBC Rewards Points (OCBC$) For KrisFlyer Miles
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Hi! I’m Kevin, Turtle Investor.
I am the personal finance blogger who laid claim to a negative net worth of minus $25,755 at the age of 30.
Seven years later, I hit CPF Full Retirement Sum (FRS) of $176,000 without making a single cent of CPF top-up. More tidbits about myself here if you’re curious. My blueprint for financial independence can help give you a headstart in your own FIRE journey.
Married to a lovely wife and that means dual income with no kids. In my free time, I chase miles so that we can fly in business class. My hobby is making pocket change off this blog and sharing everything I know with you!
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