Uncapped bonus rates and miles straight into KrisFlyer, if you fly Singapore Airlines enough
| Min income | Base earn | Bonus earn | Unlock |
|---|---|---|---|
| S$30,000S$40,000 for foreigners | 1.2 mpdlocal, uncapped | 2.4 mpddining, online, travel, transport | S$1,000SIA Group spend per membership year |
| SIA Group spend | Annual fee | Fee returns | Miles expiry |
| 3 mpduncapped, year round | S$196.20first year waived | 10,000 mileson paying the renewal fee | 3 yearsfrom when they are earned |
Every other card in this lineup earns bank points that you later pay to convert into airline miles, in blocks, with a fee, whenever you remember. This one skips all of that. It earns KrisFlyer miles, they land in your KrisFlyer account every month, and there is no transfer fee, no minimum block and nothing to remember.
That convenience is the entire pitch and it is a real one. It is also the trap, because miles in KrisFlyer are only ever going to be KrisFlyer miles. There is no version of the future where you look at a Qatar award chart and move your balance across.
UOB also cut the rates on 1 June 2025, taking the everyday bonus from 3 mpd down to 2.4 mpd and raising the annual Singapore Airlines spend needed to unlock it from S$800 to S$1,000. The figures below are the post-cut ones, which is worth saying because plenty of writing about this card still is not.
Annual Fee
S$196.20, first year waived, and paying it returns 10,000 KrisFlyer miles.
| Card | First year | Second year on |
|---|---|---|
| Principal card | Waived | S$196.20 |
| What the fee gives back | Nothing | 10,000 miles |
10,000 miles for S$196.20 is under two cents a mile, which is a fair price if you were going to use them and a poor one if they expire. Unlike most UOB cards, the answer here is usually to pay rather than to call.
I am guessing the credit exists because a direct-earn card only works for Singapore Airlines if people keep it open, and 10,000 miles a year is a cheap retention tool for an airline that would otherwise watch you drift to a bank card with eleven partners.
One thing this card avoids: UOB settles annual fees out of UNI$ on its points cards, automatically, and UNI$6,500 taken that way is worth 13,000 miles. This card does not earn UNI$. It puts KrisFlyer miles straight into your account, so it is not on UOB's UNI$ waiver list and there is no points balance for the fee to eat.
That does not make the S$196.20 disappear. It means the fee stays a cash question rather than a miles one, so ask for the waiver on the usual terms and nothing is quietly deducted while you wait.
The part that changes the sums: paying the annual fee returns 10,000 KrisFlyer miles at renewal. At S$196.20 that is under two cents a mile, cheaper than buying them anywhere, and it means the fee is closer to a purchase than a charge on this card.
So the usual advice to call and ask for a waiver is the wrong instinct here. A waived fee is S$196.20 you keep and 10,000 miles you do not get.
Welcome Bonus
UOB KrisFlyer UOB Credit Card
Welcome bonus
- S$95 Cash via PayNow
The same promotion runs flash tiers worth more, including Dyson Airstrait straightener at S$799 and Cash via PayNow at S$400, but those go to the first few applicants at a set time each day. Nearly everyone receives the reward above.
Offer ends 2026-08-31
Welcome bonus
- 5,000 miles Welcome milesTransferable to airlines
Sign-up rewards change often, so confirm the current offer before you apply. New customers only, meaning no card from UOB in about the last 12 months.
Sign-up offers move monthly and this one is for first-time KrisFlyer UOB applicants only.
How many miles do I earn?
3 mpd on Singapore Airlines spend, 2.4 on everyday categories once unlocked, and 1.2 on everything else.
| Spend | Rate | Condition |
|---|---|---|
| Singapore Airlines, Scoot, KrisShop, Kris+, Pelago | 3.0 mpd | Uncapped, year round |
| Dining, online shopping, travel, transport | 2.4 mpd | Needs the S$1,000 SIA unlock |
| Everything else | 1.2 mpd | Always |
| Utilities, insurance, education | Nothing | Excluded |
Note that the 2.4 mpd tier is not a rate you have by default. Until the unlock is met, those four categories pay the same 1.2 as everything else, which makes this a fairly ordinary card for anyone who does not fly SIA.
The S$1,000 SIA Gate
This is the mechanic that decides whether the card is good or forgettable, and it is unusual enough that it breaks most comparison tools. To earn 2.4 mpd on dining, online, travel and transport, you must first spend S$1,000 with Singapore Airlines, Scoot or KrisShop inside the same card membership year.
Read that carefully, because it is three awkward things at once. It is an annual threshold, not a monthly one. It is measured on a completely different set of merchants than the bonus it unlocks. And the year it runs on is your card membership year, not the calendar.
| Your year | Dining, online, travel, transport | Miles on S$2,000 of it |
|---|---|---|
| No SIA spend | 1.2 mpd | 2,400 |
| S$1,000 of SIA Group spend | 2.4 mpd | 4,800 |
So one return ticket effectively doubles the card for the rest of the year. If you were flying SIA anyway, that is free. If you are buying a ticket you did not need in order to unlock a rate, you have talked yourself into something.
Amaze and YouTrip transactions earn nothing on this card, and neither do Grab wallet top-ups.
Transfer Partners
One. That is the whole point, and the whole risk.
There is no transfer step, no S$27 fee and no 10,000-mile block to reach, because the miles are already where they are going. Every other card in this lineup makes you save up to a threshold before any of it is usable; this one credits every month, automatically.
| Programme | Where the miles can go |
|---|---|
 Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer | Direct |
The cost is optionality. A Citi or HSBC balance can become Qatar, Cathay, Avios or KrisFlyer depending on what is available when you are ready to book. This balance can become one thing, so if KrisFlyer has no saver space on your route, you wait or you pay cash.
How to use it. Hold it alongside a flexible-points card rather than instead of one, so it covers the SIA spend and the everyday categories while the other card builds a balance that can go anywhere. Diversifying into a second programme is only sensible once there is a redemption in mind for the first.
Before any redemption, always check the route you want is actually available. The worst thing you can do is diversify into another mileage programme with no redemption in mind.
What should I pair it with?
Nothing on this card runs out mid-month, and the 3 mpd on Singapore Airlines spend is uncapped and year round. That is genuinely generous. The catch sits at the other end: KrisFlyer miles expire 3 years after they are earned, and unlike bank points there is no way to delay the clock by holding off on a transfer.
With bank points you choose when the countdown starts. Here it starts the month you spend, whether you have a redemption in mind or not. That is the real price of the convenience, and it is the thing to weigh before making this your main card.
A flexible-points card, so that every mile you earn is not locked to one airline.
The gaps here are not really categories, they are structural. What this card cannot do is give you a choice at redemption time, and no amount of spending on it will fix that.
| The gap | What it costs you | What closes it |
|---|---|---|
| Only one airline | No fallback when saver space is gone | Citi PremierMiles, HSBC Revolution |
| Miles expire in 3 years | A clock you cannot pause | Citi PremierMiles, which does not expire |
| Groceries | 1.2 mpd | UOB Preferred Visa, Citi Rewards |
| Overseas spend | 1.2 mpd unless it is SIA | UOB PRVI Miles at 2.4 mpd uncapped |
Build your miles card stack
One card never covers everything. Put in what you actually spend and see which cards to hold together, and what to put on each.
Build my stack→The verdict, restated
A convenience card with a loyalty condition attached. If you fly Singapore Airlines often enough that S$1,000 of SIA spend happens without thinking about it, this pays well across ordinary categories, hands you 10,000 miles a year for the fee, and spares you the whole transfer ritual. If you do not, the unlock never fires, the rate collapses to 1.2, and you are holding a card that can only ever pay out in one airline’s currency.
Sources
KrisFlyer UOB Credit Card product page and T&Cs, checked 26 July 2026. Earn rates, the S$1,000 Singapore Airlines Group unlock, the renewal-year miles credit and the three-year KrisFlyer expiry correct as of that date, and reflect the rate cut of 1 June 2025. Exclusions beyond the usual three are not exhaustive here: medical services, gambling, cryptocurrency, Grab wallet top-ups, and Amaze and YouTrip transactions all earn nothing. The Wallet Builder understates this card for frequent Singapore Airlines flyers, because a merchant-level bonus cannot be expressed in its spend categories. This guide shares my own experience for education, it is not financial advice, and card terms change: always verify with the bank before applying.