OCBC Credit Card Review | OCBC 90°N Visa Card Singapore

Credit Cards

In the year 2019, OCBC introduced the OCBC 90°N Mastercard. And now OCBC has issued an air miles credit card! They followed up late last year with the introduction of the OCBC 90°N Visa. In this blog, we give you an OCBC credit card review. 

Earnings for trip bookings and bonus categories are higher

Begin with the OCBC 90°N Mastercard. When you book your lodgings on Agoda.com, the earn rate for foreign currency is increased to 7 Travel$ per S$1 for foreign currency reservations and 6 Travel$ per S$1 for local currency bookings. If you have upcoming travel plans, this is a great way to build up miles quickly. If you’re sticking to staycations, for the time being, sign up for a free 12-month Elite membership and save up to 30% on hotel stays. Not only that but there are plenty of other benefits to choose from, such as eating coupons and spa credits.

Also, in case you prefer cash four-letter word, you can also receive up to 2.1 percent cash returns from your Travel$. You can get a $10 cash rebate for every 1,000 Travel$ earned (based on 2.1 Travel$ earned for every S$1 spent in foreign currency). You might be better off turning your Travel$ to miles.

OCBC Credit Card Review – Bonus Category

The OCBC 90°N Visa, on the other hand, has greater bonus category earn rates. OCBC 90°N Visa Card customers could earn up to 20 Travel$ per S$5, which amounted to 4 miles per dollar, on online shopping, food delivery, grocery, and international spending until the end of last month. If you missed out, you can still earn up to 15 Travel$ every S$5 on online entertainment and 7.5 Travel$ per S$5 on online retail, food delivery, and grocery. Every month, the bonus component is capped at $500 Travel$. It’s not the finest earn rate we’ve seen, but given that the miles don’t expire and there are no conversion costs, it’s worth considering. You may also stack your Travel$ if you have both the Mastercard and the Visa!

Miles have no expiration date, no conversion cost, and a low conversion requirement

If you’re a seasoned player in the miles game, you’ll know to pay particular attention to the tedious back-end minutiae like expiration dates and conversion rates. The fine print is just as significant as the headline promotions and perks of miles cards. In fact, that’s where OCBC’s miles card shines as a long-term miles card that you’ll want to keep even when the generous promotions expire.

OCBC allows you to earn miles in Travel$ (one Travel$ equals one KrisFlyer mile), and they never expire, so you can earn them for as long as you want. Ka-ching! This places the OCBC 90°N Card in the same league as the beginner-friendly air mile credit cards DBS Altitude and Citi PremierMiles, whose miles do not expire.

However, the OCBC 90°N Miles Visa and Master Cards are superior in various aspects. There is also no conversion fee for redeeming miles (usually $25 with other cards), and miles can be redeemed in 1,000-mile increments (as opposed to 10,000 typically).

Significant downsides include: only KrisFlyer miles are supported, and there are no lounge privileges

If you’ve ever used a mileage card, you know how it works. There are the positive aspects, and then there are the trade-offs that must be made with each card. It’s just the way it is – there are no perfect mates in the world; you simply have to find one who complements you the best. Here are a few things to keep in mind when using the OCBC 90°N Miles Visa and Master Cards.

First, as a mile currency, OCBC Travel$ is not very adaptable. Because KrisFlyer is the only frequent flyer programme supported, miles cannot be redeemed through any other programme.

OCBC Credit Card Review – Conclusion

The major benefits of the OCBC 90°N Mastercard and Visa cards are that the miles have no conversion fees, do not expire, and have a low minimum for conversion. Given that the world is still in the process of opening up and you may not be able to travel as frequently as you would like, being able to keep your miles is a godsend!

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