UOB PRVI Miles Card: One of the best air mile cards in Singapore?

Now that travel has restarted, it's time to bust out the air miles credit cards and start racking up points for free air tickets.

The UOB PRVI Miles Card is one of the best air miles credit cards in Singapore with high earn rates of $1 = 1.4 miles (local) and $1 = 2.4 miles (overseas). This is all the more impressive considering its entry-level income requirement of $30,000 for Singaporeans and $40,000 for foreigners.

But is there a catch? Let's find out by taking a closer look at the UOB PRVI Miles Card.

1. UOB PRVI Miles Card: Summary

The UOB PRVI Miles Card is UOB's entry-level air miles card.

You earn six air miles for every dollar you spend with major airlines and major hotels worldwide on Expedia and Agoda, 2.4 miles on every $1 spent overseas (including online shopping on overseas websites) and 1.4 miles for every $1 spent locally.

Actually, the miles are paid to you in UNI$ (UOB's rewards points). You must then convert your UNI$ to air miles at the conversion rate of UNI$1 = 2 miles, paying a $25 conversion fee each time.

You can't really get around this conversion fee. The only alternative is to sign up for the Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer Auto-conversion programme and pay an annual conversion fee of S$50 to have your UNI$ auto-converted to miles (in blocks of UNI$2500 to 5,000 KrisFlyer Miles) at the end of very month.

The card comes in three variants:

• Mastercard
• Visa
• American Express

While the three cards' basic miles earn rate is the same, there are some slight differences.

The Amex Card is the heavyweight among the three when it comes to benefits, with additioanl dining, shopping and hotel perks overseas in Hong Kong, Taiwan, and the Maldives.

It's also got a generous bunch of other offers in food, retail, and more, including up to 15 per cent off car rentals at Sixt Rent-a-Car and Avis,up to 15 per cent off selected jewellery at SK Jewellery and Love & Co., and $25 off with min. spend of S$150 at Dancing Crab, Douraku Sushi, Tunglok Signatures, USHIO Sumiyaki & Sake Bar, and LingZhi Vegetarian.

The downside to the Amex card? Amex is not as widely accepted as Visa and Mastercard, and you can't earn miles on your daily commute. Only Mastercard and Visa cardholders can earn miles on their bus and train rides via Simply Go.

To get the UOB PRVI annual fee waived, you have to spend at least $50,000 on the Amex card. On the Mastercard and Visa, on the other hand, you can spend UNI$6,500 (UOB's rewards points) to get the annual fee waived.

2. UOB PRVI Miles Card: Annual fee, minimum income

3. UOB PRVI Miles Card minimum spend

The UOB PRVI Miles Card lets you accumulate air miles at the following rates:

• 6 miles per $1 spent on major airline and hotel bookings at Agoda, Expedia and UOB Travel
• 1.4 miles per $1 spent locally
• 2.4 miles per $1 spent overseas
• 1.4 miles per $1 spent on bus/train rides via SimplyGo (Mastercard and Visa only)

The card’s biggest strength is its generous earn rate on airline and hotel bookings. But to qualify, you have to makes sure you book your flights or hotels at Agoda, Expedia or UOB Travel. The offer does not include budget airlines.

UOB miles expire within two years, so you need to ensure that you convert your miles before that happens.

4. UOB PRVI Miles Card Benefits

Here’s a quick summary of UOB PRVI Miles Card’s main benefits.

There are a few other perks, including the following:

• Complimentary personal accident coverage and emergency medical assistance of up to S$500,000.
• S$20 off Grab ride to or from Changi Airport if you spend min. S$1,200 in a calendar month, on major airlines, hotels and/or travel services transactions using PRVI Miles Mastercard or Visa Card.
• S$12 off with min. S$20 spend for new Shopee customers / S$6 off with min. S$80 spend on Shopee Supermarket

UOB PRVI Miles Card holders enjoy a whole bunch of travel, dining and lifestyle promotions — more than we an list out in this article honestly. Check out the full list here.

5. UOB PRVI Miles Card Terms and Conditions

The UOB PRVI Miles Card’s terms and conditions exclude some types of transactions for earning miles. These include the following:

• NETS transactions
• Insurance
• Banking
• Rent
• Parking
• Gambling
• Hospital bills
• School fees
• Charities, religious and political organisations
• Court costs
• Fines
• Taxes
• Postal services
• Government services

Run of the mill card exclusions, but exclusions all the same.

6. How do I maximise my UOB PRVI Miles Card?

There is no cap on the number of miles you can earn on the UOB PRVI Miles Card. In order to maximise your points, you should, as much as possible, book all your air tickets and accommodation on the UOB PRVI Miles page for Agoda, Expedia or UOB Travel in order to enjoy the $1 = 6 miles conversion rate.

Also make sure to swipe your card to pay for your expenses when you’re overseas or shop online on foreign websites, as the $1 = 2.4 miles earn rate for overseas spending is quite attractive as well.

And finally, if you hold the Visa or Mastercard versions of the UOB PRVI Miles Card, tap in and out of your MRT/bus commutes using SimplyGo to earn 1.4 miles per dollar. It may not sound like much, but these can add up over time.

7. How to convert UOB PRVI Miles to KrisFlyer miles?

Whenever you use the card, you earn UNI$ which you must then convert to air miles by paying a $25 conversion fee.

UNI$ have a shelf life of two years, so remember to convert them before they expire. You can log into your account to check the expiry date.

The conversion rate is UNI$1 = 2 miles, and they can be deposited directly into your KrisFlyer account. KrisFlyer miles expire in three years.

8. Should I get the UOB PRVI Miles Card?

The UOB PRVI Miles Card has one of the most generous miles earn rate not only compared to other entry-level air miles credit cards, but also some higher-income cards.

High spenders and families are in the best position to take advantage of this card due to their higher local expenses on groceries, dining, kids and the like. Families also have to pay for multiple people when they travel, which really helps you rack up those overseas spending miles.

However, if you’re not at such an expensive life stage, it might be wiser to opt for a miles card whose miles don’t expire, so you have a longer time to accumulate miles.

Another thing to note that is the UOB PRVI annual fee is relatively high for an entry-level card (although it is waived for the first year), so you want to make sure you’re going to use the card extensively if you’re going to sign up for it.

9. UOB PRVI Miles Card Promotions

From now till 31 Oct 2023, get up to 50,000 miles when you successfully apply for a UOB PRVI Miles Card.

1. Receive up to 45,200 Miles when you (1) pay the annual fee of S$259.20 and (2) spend at least S$1,000 in eligible transactions per month for two consecutive months using the card from your card approval date.
2. Plus, get 4,800 miles when you charge a minimum of S$1,000 in Overseas Spends per month for two consecutive months.

10. Alternatives to UOB PRVI Miles Card

Here are a few other air miles cards to consider:

DBS Altitude Card: Up to $1 = 10 miles conversion rate on travel bookings and overseas spending. Miles never expire, so this can be a good option if you don’t spend much.

AMEX KrisFlyer Card – Up to $1 = 3 miles on Grab rides, Singapore Airlines purchases and overseas spending. Convenient as miles are credited directly to KrisFlyer account.

Maybank Horizon Card – Great local spending earn rate of up to $1 = 3.2 miles on dining, petrol, public transport and Agoda bookings, but you must meet their minimum spending requirement of $300.

Here’s a look at how the UOB PRVI Miles card compares to the ones we listed above.

UOB PRVI vs DBS Altitude vs AMEX KrisFlyer vs Maybank Horizon Air Miles Credit Cards:

ALSO READ: UOB Lady's Card: New design and rewards earn rates sweeten the deal for this revamped card

This article was first published in MoneySmart.