KrisFlyer is a great frequent flyer program for redemptions in Business and First Class with Singapore Airlines and a range of Star Alliance partners.
Earning KrisFlyer miles from credit card spend is one of the key ways that many KrisFlyer members earn their points – if you happen to put a lot of your day to day spend on any of American Express, Visa or Mastercard, there are some high points earning options out there.
In this guide, we’ve rounded up some of the highest KrisFlyer earning cards on the market, with American Express options earning more than 1 KrisFlyer mile per $, and the Visa/Mastercard options earning over 0.75 miles per $.
Note that American Express is adjusting both earn rates and points transfer rates for most cards effective 15 April 2019. Here is our take on the changes and further information from American Express.
We’ve included an overview table so you can assess the cards that are out there, versus those you may have in your wallet. We also include some of the current sign up bonuses for new card applicants.
Redemptions on domestic Virgin Australia Business Class flights are one of the best uses of KrisFlyer miles
Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer-earning credit cards
| Card | American Express KrisFlyer Miles earned / $ spent | Visa/MasterCard/Diners KrisFlyer Miles earned / $ spent | Points Cap | Annual Fee | Our Guide |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| American Express Business Accelerator | 2 miles (1 mile after points cap) | - | 100,000 p.a. | $160 | → |
| American Express Explorer ↓ | 1.5 miles | - | uncapped | $395 | → |
| American Express Business Explorer ↓ | 1.5 miles | - | uncapped | $395 | → |
| American Express Velocity Platinum ↓ | 1.11 miles on general spend except utilities and ATO 1.85 mile with Virgin Australia | - | uncapped | $375 | → |
| Westpac Altitude Black ↓ | 1 miles on general spend 1.67 miles on foreign currency spend | 0.41 miles domestic | uncapped | $250 for the Mastercard $199 for the Amex | → |
| American Express Platinum Charge ↓ | 1 mile on general spend except utilities and ATO 3 miles at selected restaurants 2 miles on travel & overseas spend | - | 300,000 p.a. | $1,450 | → |
| American Express Platinum Edge ↓ | 1 point on general spend except utilities and ATO 3 points at supermarkets 2 points on fuel | - | uncapped | $195 | → |
| American Express Business Platinum Charge ↓ | 1 mile on general spend 2 mile on selected business and advertising expenses, at most restaurants in Australia, on travel and overseas spend | - | 375,000 p.a. | $1,750 | → |
| Diners Club Card + World MasterCard | - | 1 miles on Diners 0.375 miles on Mastercard | uncapped | $299 | n/a |
| St. George Amplify Signature ↓ | - | 0.75 mile | uncapped | $279 | → |
| Citi Prestige Visa ↓ | - | 0.4 mile on general spend 0.8 mile at major petrol stations, supermarkets and retailers 1.2 miles at major restaurants, airlines and international spend | uncapped | $700 | → |
How to analyse this list
For all the cards and offers listed on this page we are only touching on the ‘effective earn rate’ – this is when points in the parent bank / credit card rewards program are transferred to KrisFlyer, and is a way to compare the specific points earn rates for each card across various credit card rewards programs that offer different headline earn rates and transfer rates to frequent flyer programs.
Each card has other benefits too, along with other transfer partners, annual fees and terms and conditions – so be sure to check out the full guide to each card.
There’s also the signup bonus of a card to consider. A large signup bonus may help to offset a lower earn rate on a card, so bear that in mind. It depends how much spend you put through your credit card each month, and how long you keep the card for.
Each card offer, with bonus, fee and other offer information on this page will be up to date at the date of publication, however please note that we update offers over time.
Transferring to KrisFlyer through Velocity
One of the unique things about Singapore Airlines partnership with Virgin Australia is that you can immediately transfer points / miles between the two programs, at a rate of 1.55 points / miles in one program = 1 point / mile in the other.
What does this mean for credit card choice? Well, this opens up any Velocity-linked card to KrisFlyer transfers. You’ll need 5,000 points minimum in Velocity to be able to transfer, but otherwise it’s useful to be able to earn KrisFlyer miles from other credit cards.
This partnership is also why I’d be surprised to see a KrisFlyer-branded credit card in the market again here in Australia – Westpac used to issue one, but it’s no longer open to new applicants.
As a result, we’ve included Velocity-branded cards in this KrisFlyer round up too, and specified their effective earn rate per $ after transferring points to KrisFlyer.
Some current offers for key Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer-earning credit cards
The American Express Explorer’s earn rates are very similar to the personal version, which earns the equivalent of 1.5 KrisFlyer Miles per dollar with no points cap, including utilities. Government bodies earn at 0.5 Miles per $ spent.
The American Express Business Explorer earns the equivalent of 1.5 KrisFlyer Miles per dollar with no points cap, including utilities. Government bodies earn at 0.5 Miles per $ spent.
The American Express Westpac Altitude Black earns the equivalent of 1 KrisFlyer Miles per dollar on local spend, and 1.67 Miles per $ on overseas spend. While the Mastercard account earns 0.41 miles per dollar on spend.
Government bodies earn at 0.16 Miles per $ spent with the American Express account.
The American Express Velocity Platinum earns the equivalent of at least 1.11 KrisFlyer Miles per dollar for most transactions, and 1.85 Miles per $ on spend with selected Virgin Australia products and services, after being transferred from Velocity.
Utilities & government bodies earn at 0.2 Miles per $ spent.
The American Express Platinum Charge Card earns the equivalent of at least 1 KrisFlyer Miles per dollar for most transactions, with 3 Miles per $ on restaurant and dining spend, and 2 Miles per $ on travel and overseas spend – those bonuses are available up to 300,000 points per year.
Utilities & government bodies earn at 0.5 Miles per $ spent.
The American Express Edge earns the equivalent of at least 1 KrisFlyer Miles per dollar for most transactions, with 3 Miles per $ on supermarket spend, and 2 Miles per $ on fuel spend – those bonuses are available up to 300,000 points per year.
Utilities & government bodies earn at 0.5 Miles per $ spent.
The American Express Platinum Business Charge earns the equivalent of 1 Krisflyer mile per dollar on general spend, 2 miles on selected business and advertising expenses, 2 miles at selected restaurants and 2 points on travel and overseas spend, capped at 375,000 p.a..
The St. George Amplify Signature Visa earns the equivalent of 0.75 KrisFlyer Miles per dollar with no points cap, along with a 10% points bonus of all points earned in the previous year on your birthday.
The Citi Prestige Visa earns the equivalent of 1 KrisFlyer Mile per dollar with no points cap, and 2.5 KrisFlyer Miles per $ on all overseas spend until 15th June 2017.
Many other cards with lower annual fees are also linked to KrisFlyer, but with lower points earn rates too. Check out the cards table for the list.
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Keith Mason
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I think you missed Diners – 2 velocity miles per $, converts to 1.48 kris per $ (1.29 from Jan 2019). And even better if you do it during a transfer bonus period (usually May and November)
Do you know of any Krisflyer linked cards that provide SG lounge passes similar to the Qantas Westpac Card? Looking to gain extra Krisflyer points and also obtain lounge access in Singapore lounges.
I’m not aware of any KrisFlyer-linked cards in Australia providing Singapore Airlines lounge access, so I would suggest getting a card with Priority Pass lounge membership as a perk and using that to visit one of the many lounges at Changi Airport.
With the The American Express Business Accelerator you need an ABN to apply.
As long as you keep transferring points to your Krisflyer before reaching the 100,000 limit you can consider this card also uncapped.
You do need an ABN, yes.
However the points are bonused on earning them, not on transferring them. You can see this on your points activity statement – you’ll see double, up until the point at which you earn 100,000. After that they earn at 1 point per dollar. The transfer rate to KrisFlyer doesn’t change though, so the card does have a cap for the 2 points per $ earn rate – but you do keep earning after the cap (points don’t drop down to 0).
The Westpac Altitude Black Amex only offers 1.2 Krisflyer points per $ now I think, can you verify. Will we be better off transferring our Citi Prestige points to Velocity after June 15th when they offer the 15% bonus as that will work out to around .852 points per dollar for Krisflyer.
Thanks Keith and understand. However you still need to add the double overseas rate for the St George/BankSA card.
The list is wrong both for the Citi Signature (no longer earns overseas bonus) and for the St George/BankSA card (does earn an overseas bonus) and also earns an exta 10% for your birthday so if you are keeping the card long term it makes it one of the highest earning non Amex cards.
Thanks – Citi Signature corrected.
I didn’t factor in the St. George birthday bonus into the earn rate – people should if they intend to keep the card year on year, but firstly if you don’t keep the card until that point then the earn rate is 0.75, and secondly, just like most of the cards on the list – they could devalue their earn rates or take away that feature at any time, so I chose not to factor it in given it’s a long-term benefit.
2 other cards that may be worth mentioning if you have no need of the free flight (Edge) or travel credit (Explorer) would be the DJs Amex cards.
The DJs Amex would give:
1.5 miles at supermarkets and fuel
1 mile at DJs
0.5 miles on everything else
The Platinum DJs Amex would give:
1.5 miles at supermarkets and fuel
2 miles at DJs
0.5 miles on everything else
Unless you shop a lot at DJs the regular card looks like a good deal for supermarkets and fuel (especially for only a $99 annual fee).