Best Travel cards to Escape the Haze
With the haze this year forecast to be a prolonged one, you may have already started to look for your next holiday destination to escape this shroud of smoke. Travelling should be a relaxing affair and those who travel often will know that it’s the little luxury and service along the way that makes the journey a comfortable one. When looking for the best travel credit cards, most people focus on the air miles they get to earn with regards to their spending patterns. There lies the problem – don’t you want some travel privileges as well when you have spent so much? While most travel credit card reviews focus on the mileage earn rate, our post today would like to focus on the perks of being a travel credit cardholder.
American Express KrisFlyer Ascend Card
Any reviews on travel credit cards will not leave out the signature KrisFlyer cards issued by AMEX. When it comes to choose between the KrisFlyer Gold card and KrisFlyer Ascend card, I prefer the latter for its faster mileage earn ($1.20 per air mile) and better travel perks.
The Krisflyer Ascend gives you 4 complimentary lounge access vouchers to any participating airport lounge each year. Additionally, every year with the card gives you a complimentary night’s stay at one of its 80 participating Millennium Hotels and Resorts properties globally. While you might find access to airport lounges a common feature amongst travel credit cards, a free night’s stay at a hotel is so far one of the highlights of holding this card.
Other than these, the Krisflyer Ascend card also provide cardholders extra travel accident coverage of up to S$1 million when you purchase your travel tickets with the card. You’d also enjoy access to AMEX Travel Service offices in more than 140 countries and exclusive Hertz car rental privileges.
ANZ Travel Visa Card
The ANZ Travel VISA card offers an impressive list of travel perks compared to many standard ones in the market. ANZ bank ups the game with pampering the frequent flyer even before he starts flying! You get to enjoy a one-way complimentary airport limousine transfer when you spend $2,500 on their card 1 month before the scheduled trip. That’s not difficult, if you charge all your online holiday bookings to the card!
When it comes to airport lounge access, cardholders get unlimited complimentary access to airport lounges around the world. Simply sign your partner up for a supplementary card and he/she can enjoy the same access.
The card works best for those who travel to Australia and New Zealand often as this gets you double the mileage earn with 2.8 miles per S$1 spent.
DBS Altitude Visa Signature Card
For those who already hold travel credit cards, you’ll know that some banks may charge a fee to convert your points to miles. With the DBS Altitude card, there are no such fees but you’d need to pay a requent flyer membership fee of $42.80 per year. One of the main highlights of this card is the complimentary priority pass membership which grants you 2 complimentary global airport lounge access over 120 countries.
Other than this, the DBS Altitude card makes it easy for its cardholder to accelerate its mileage earning when shopping with exclusive merchants. The card earns you 3 miles per $1 percent with familar travel merchants such as hotel booking site Agoda and even budget airliners Jetstar and AirAsia.
So remember, next time when you are looking for a air miles card, look at the privileges you get for travelling as well!
