General Travel

From the 15th of July to 21st July 2020, apply for selected credit cards to get a chance to win 1 of 10 Nintendo Switch (worth S$669). In addition to the lucky draw, rewards of up to S$300 cash (for new-to-bank cardholders) or S$50 cash (existing cardholders) will also be given for every application.

Again, you might wonder – how is this enticing reward possible? As mentioned previously, the traditional way of getting new card sign ups – that of hiring promoters and organizing roadshows in areas with heavy foot traffic – actually cost a lot of money. Many card companies have resorted to doing it online for the past few years – often through the help of aggregators such as Singsaver. The cost saving allows them to offer attractive gifts from time to time such as cash, luggage or gadgets like the Nintendo Switch. 

Should you apply, the annual fee for the credit cards covered here is waived. To be eligible for the lucky draw and gift, all you have to do is spend any amount within 2 months of receiving your card. You will then get a notification about the cash reward and in addition, the Nintendo Switch if you win the lucky draw.

Which credit cards are covered by the promotion?

Citi Cashback

Earn 8% cashback on dining, groceries and petrol spend. 

Annual Fee: S$192.60 (waived for first year)

Minimum Income Requirement: S$30,000 per year (Singaporean/PR); S$42,000 (foreigner)

Reward: S$300 cash sent via PayNow (new Citibank cardholder); S$30 (existing Citibank cardholder) plus lucky draw chance for Nintendo Switch

APPLY HERE

Citi Cash Back+ Mastercard®

Earn 1.6% cashback on all spend with no minimum spend required or cap on cashback to be earned. Plus, cashback earned does not expire.

Annual Fee: S$192.60 (waived for first year)

Minimum Income Requirement: S$30,000 per year (Singaporean/PR); S$42,000 (foreigner)

Reward: S$300 cash sent via PayNow (new Citibank cardholder); S$30 (existing Citibank cardholder) plus lucky draw chance for Nintendo Switch

APPLY HERE

Citi Rewards

A must-have in every wallet (both physical and virtual), the Citibank Rewards Mastercard earns you 4 miles per S$1 spend on retail stores that sell bags, clothes and shoes. You also qualify for 4 miles per S$1 on online merchants like Lazada, Amazon, Shopee, etc. 

Annual Fee: S$192.60 (waived for first year)

Minimum Income Requirement: S$30,000 per year (Singaporean/PR); S$42,000 (foreigner)

Reward: S$300 cash sent via PayNow (new Citibank cardholder); S$30 (existing Citibank cardholder) plus lucky draw chance for Nintendo Switch

APPLY HERE

Citi Premiermiles

Earn 1.2 miles per S$1 on local spend and 2 miles per S$1 on international spend. Earned miles will never expire. Citibank also has the most number of airline partners to redeem from.

Annual Fee: S$192.60 (waived for first year)

Minimum Income Requirement: S$30,000 per year (Singaporean/PR); S$42,000 (foreigner)

Reward: S$300 cash sent via PayNow (new Citibank cardholder); S$30 (existing Citibank cardholder) plus lucky draw chance for Nintendo Switch

APPLY HERE

Citi Prestige

Earn 1.3 miles per S$1 on local spend and 2 miles per S$1 on overseas spend. One night free for every four night stay in any hotel.

Annual fee: S$535 (no annual fee waiver)

Minimum Income: S$120,000 per year

Reward: S$300 cash sent via PayNow (new Citibank cardholder); S$30 (existing Citibank cardholder) plus lucky draw chance for Nintendo Switch

APPLY HERE

Standard Chartered Unlimited Cashback

Earn 1.5% cashback on all eligible spend.

Annual fee: S$192.60 (waived first two years)

Minimum Income: S$30,000 per year (Singaporean/PR); S$60,000 (foreigner)

Reward: Jabra Elite Active 75t earbuds (worth S$318; for new SCB cardholders); S$50 (existing SCB cardholder) plus lucky draw chance for Nintendo Switch

APPLY HERE

Standard Chartered Spree

Earn 3% on all online spend in foreign currency and vPost; 2% cashback on online spend in local currency and contactless payments; 1% on other retail spend (capped at S$60 per month)

Annual fee: S$192.60

Minimum Income: S$30,000 per year (Singaporean/PR); S$60,000 (foreigner)

Reward: Jabra Elite Active 75t earbuds (worth S$318; for new SCB cardholders); S$50 (existing SCB cardholder) plus lucky draw chance for Nintendo Switch

APPLY HERE

Standard Chartered Rewards+

Earn up to 2.9 miles per S$1 spend on overseas spend

Annual fee: S$192.60

Minimum Income: S$30,000 per year (Singaporean/PR); S$60,000 (foreigner)

Reward: Jabra Elite Active 75t earbuds (worth S$318; for new SCB cardholders); S$50 (existing SCB cardholder) plus lucky draw chance for Nintendo Switch

APPLY HERE

Personal Loans (Up to S$200 cash reward plus lucky draw chance for Nintendo Switch)

There are three different personal loans eligible under the SingSaver Mid-Year Deals campaign and depending on which one you apply for and the reward ranges from S$50 to S$200 cash with the approved loan:

• Standard Chartered CashOne Personal Loan – Effective Interest Rate from 6.95% p.a. (50% cashback on first month’s installment)

• UOB CashPlus Personal Loan – Effective Interest Rate from 7.72% p.a.

• HSBC Personal Loan – Effective Interest Rate from 7.00% p.a.

APPLY HERE

Insurance (Up to S$30 cash reward plus lucky draw chance for Nintendo Switch)

In addition to credit cards and personal loans, selected insurance plans are also eligible under the SingSaver Mid-Year Deals.

• AXA SmartHome

• MSIG CancerCare Plus

• MSIG MaidPlus

APPLY HERE

Fulfillment of this promotion is done via SingSaver. Check out the full T&C here.

In collaboration with Singsaver, I Wander is offering a very enticing promotion where you can get yourself a brand new Apple AirPods Pro (UP S$379). New Citibank cardholders (those who have not held a Citibank card in the past 12 months) who apply for a credit card and get approved will receive a pair of Apple AirPods Pro.

Annual fee is waived for the first year for all the cards listed below except for the Citi Prestige. Citibank normally waives the annual fee for succeeding years as long as you actively use the card but if not, you can always cancel to avoid paying the annual fee. You can even cancel the card after receiving the Apple AirPods Pro if you wish.

If you are already an existing Citibank cardholder, fret not. You still get to have S$30 with your successful application.

Note that this offer is valid only if you apply via the below exclusive links (direct application with Citibank doesn’t count for the promotion). Why is that so? Singsaver actually acts as an aggregator and affiliate partner for Citibank cards and from time to time, Singsaver and Citibank may jointly fund the gift in order to split the marketing expense between them. 

After clicking submit on your credit card application, make sure to take note of your Application Reference Number. You will have to fill out a redemption form (automatically sent to your email once you make a card application) in order to be registered.

Once your card is approved, remember to make at least one transaction (any amount) after you receive your card in order to receive the Apple AirPods Pro. You will get an email within 60 to 90 days with instructions on how to claim your gift.

Here are the Citibank cards that qualify for the promotion:

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In light of the current global situation, the Singapore government last week issued a mandatory 14-day stay home notice for people returning to Singapore from other ASEAN countries, Japan, Switzerland or the UK effective 16th March 2020, 11:59PM. Only a few days later, the government expanded its scope and made it mandatory for residents returning from ANY country to stay home for 14 days. 

I was in another ASEAN country when I first heard about the stay-home notice affecting returnees from ASEAN countries. Although there was a bit of a grace period, I could not return to Singapore prior to it kicking in as I was overseas due to an urgent personal matter. I eventually returned to Singapore on the 19th March, days after the restriction kicked in. 

Update: As of 18th June 2020, there are now slightly different variations of the stay-home notice which depend on (a) which country you come from and (b) your residency status in Singapore. 

If you are arriving from these countries: Australia, Brunei, Vietnam, New Zealand, China (including Hong Kong and Macao), Taiwan, Japan and South Korea – you can serve your stay-home notice at your place of residence regardless whether you are a Singaporean/PR or a Long-Term Pass Holder. If you are a Long-Term Pass Holder, you should also possess a valid approval letter for entry into Singapore. In addition to the stay-home notice, all arriving passengers must also do a covid-19 test before the SHN ends and this is chargeable (S$200, regardless of residency status).

If you are arriving from a country other than what is mentioned in the preceding paragraph, then you can only do your stay-home notice in an approved facility. If you are Singaporean/PR, this is not chargeable if you last left Singapore prior to the 27th May 2020 travel advisory (chargeable at S$2,000 if you left Singapore after the travel advisory). If you are a Long-Term Pass Holder with valid approval letter to enter Singapore, the stay-home notice in a facility is also chargeable (S$2,000). Again, the covid-19 test is also required and is chargeable regardless of residency status.

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While there have been several news reports of countries opening up to tourism, most of such announcements are plans or proposals that have yet to be enacted or involve only a specific, essential type of travel. Moreover, many such intentions to open up involve travel bubbles where only people coming from selected countries are allowed to enter. Mostly, this would involve countries within the immediate periphery of the destination in question.

This list, on the other hand, aims to show countries which are currently open to visitors from all countries and nationalities without the abovementioned restrictions. I will update this article as and when new countries open up.

As a disclaimer, by coming up with this article, I am not necessarily endorsing leisure travel at this time. This is for informational purposes only. 

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Earlier in October, I had the pleasure of attending the Asia Super Team 2019. The almost week-long event is an annual affair geared towards corporate travelers and is usually held around Taiwan’s national day – 10th October. In it, teams from 8 countries go around various sights in the island and compete in a set of challenges for the grand prize. This year, that prize was US$50,000 worth of incentive travel for the winning team’s company.

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Samsonite’s trade in campaign is back. Simply trade-in your pre-loved luggage at any Samsonite outlet in Singapore and get 30% discount on the brand’s Aspero and Varro models (comes in three sizes for each model).

The campaign runs from now until the end of 31st March with prices for the luggage starting from S$280 after the 30% trade-in discount.

You can view the full list of Samsonite stores in Singapore here.

As for the pre-loved luggage, these will be recycled into fossil-free diesel. Samsonite will also donate S$10 to WWF for each trade-in made.

Here is a look at the models you can purchase at 30% off after the trade-in:

Samsonite Varro 

Coming in sizes of 55, 68 and 75; the Varro is notable for its split in the middle, with the design being inspired by the motion of an arrow. The model comes with matte textured grooves to reduce the visibility of scratches. 

Samsonite Aspero

The Aspero is Samsonite’s lightweight luggage with its stylish design as well as strong finish. Coming in sizes 55, 69 and 75; the Aspero weighs as little as 2.2kg for the 55 version.

Better late than never in getting this list up! This year marks the 10th year since I first developed the habit of optimizing credit card spend to earn miles so this list is way overdue. Contrary to what many readers might expect, the overwhelming majority of the flights reviewed here come from hard-earned miles from over the years. I am not a spendthrift and do keep a close eye on my expenditures, so I’m still happy to have racked up a decent amount of miles – at least it’s enough for minimally 1 long-haul round trip flight per year. I believe that’s enough for most white-collared workers in Singapore who have enough annual leaves for perhaps 1 long trip and a few short ones.

Without further ado, these are the top credit cards in my wallet (or saved into my mobile payments) right now!

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Many of my long trips over the past five years have been in Europe and since I require a Schengen visa to enter most countries in the continent, I have applied in various embassies here in Singapore. Generally, my experiences applying for a Schengen tourist visa have been very procedural. Several documents are required for presentation but as long as one manages to fulfill them, there are barely any questions asked — unlike the application process for other countries for example.

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