Compare Best Air Miles Credit Cards in Hong Kong

Compare best air miles credit cards in Hong Kong to earn frequent flyer miles, enjoy airport lounges access and all kinds of travel and flight rewards.

Best Air Miles Credit Cards Hong Kong 2020

Best for	Air Miles Credit Cards	Mileage Conversion
Online shopping and dining	Standard Chartered Asia Miles Mastercard	Up to $4/mile
Oversea spending and Avios earners	DBS Black World Mastercard	Up to $4/mile
Frequent overseas spenders who want free travel insurances	Citi PremierMiles Card	Up to $3/mile
Cathay Pacific frequent flyers and Asia Miles earners	American Express Cathay Pacific Elite Credit Card	Up to $6/mile

What is the Best Credit Card for Air Miles?

Asia Miles

American Express Cathay Pacific Elite Credit Card: Enjoy free access to Plaza Premium Lounge each year
Standard Chartered Asia Miles Mastercard：Relatively high earning ratio of HK$4 = 1 mile
Citi PremierMiles Card: HK$3 = 1 Mile on overseas and online foreign currency spending

Avios

Dah Sing British Airways Platinum Card：HK$6 = 1 Avios on local spending
DBS Black World Mastercard : HK$4 = 1 Avios on overseas spending
American Express Platinum Credit Card: HK $5 = 1 Avios on local spending

ANA Mileage Club

Dah Sing ANA World Mastercard：HK$8 = 1 mile on local and overseas transactions

Popular Rewards Program for Air Miles Credit Cards

Besides your spending habits, the type of air miles should be other criteria you consider while comparing air miles credit cards. Among all of the air miles programs, you need to pick one that best fits your travel and flying habits. If you take a certain airline very often, such as Cathay Pacific, you may want to pick an air miles program such as Asia Miles. Here are the most popular air miles programs in Hong Kong:

Asia Miles

Asia Miles allows you to redeem flight tickets from a diverse range of airlines, including Cathay Pacific and Qatar. You can redeem travel, entertainment, lifestyle, and other rewards with your air miles credit cards.

Avios

Avios in British Airways Executive Club is cheaper than Asia Miles when redeeming short flights. Plus, they offer a household accounts program, allowing you to earn Avios with your family members.

ANA Mileage Club

ANA’s mileage program lets you redeem flight tickets under Star Alliance. The strengths of ANA program are that they require fewer miles for flights to Japan and offer you a household account.

Best Asia Miles Credit Cards

American Express Asia Miles

Holder of American Express Platinum Credit Card can earn up to HK$1=3 points (capped at HK$120,000 spent) without prior registration. Points can be converted to Asia Miles

Holders of American Express Cathay Pacific Card can earn HK$8 = 1 Asia Mile on all local purchases and HK$8 = 1.5 Asia Miles on foreign currency purchases (with no cap)

Holders of American Express Cathay Pacific Elite Card can earn HK$6 = 1 Asia Mile on all local purchases and HK$6 = 1.5 Asia Miles on foreign currency purchases (with no cap)

No cap on earning Asia Miles

Convert spending into Asia Miles automatically with no handling fee

Standard Chartered Asia Miles

Welcome offer: Up to 40,000 Asia Miles (up to HK$0.2 = 1 Asia Mile)

HK$4 = 1 Asia Mile for eligible dining, online and foreign transactions. Even Octopus auto add value service can earn HK$6 = 1 Asia Mile

Enjoy HK$1 = 1 Asia Mile on Mondays with Asia Miles partner restaurants

2 days priority redemption for selected discount flight awards bookings online

20% off Mileage Renewal fee, Mileage Transfer fee and purchase of Asia Miles Gift Miles

Miles will be automatically credited to your Asia Miles account

Citibank Asia Miles

Citi PremierMiles Card: HK$8 = 1 Mile

Citi Rewards Visa Card: HK$3 = 1 Mile

Citi Prestige Card: HK$6 = 1 Mile

Besides, eligible Citibank credit card holders can earn points for local and overseas spending, which can be transferred to 13 travel loyalty programs for free air tickets and hotel accommodations.

The conversion rate: 15 points=1 Asia Miles

Cardholders are required to transfer at minimum 18,000 points (equivalent to 1,200 Asia Miles) each time and each transfer must be made in 18,000 point increments

HSBC RewardCash to Asia Miles

Step 1

First, enrol in the Mileage Programme for an annual membership fee of HK$300 and fill in your details in the online enrolment form with your Asia Miles membership number.

Step 2

Then, submit an application to transfer your RewardCash to Asia Miles either via HSBC internet banking or by post.

Step 3

Go to a participating airline’s or Asia Miles website to redeem the miles earned and choose your travel destinations.

How to earn and redeem Asia Miles

You need to first sign up as Asia Miles members. You can do so through their website or apps. Marco Polo Club members are automatically enrolled as Asia Miles members, with the same membership number.
Then you can start earning your Asia Miles from your everyday spending.
You can join programs (Join Amex Turbo Programme to earn double points for every HK$1 spending) / spend on specific category/ spend on the designated day (enjoy HK$1 = 1 Asia Mile on Mondays with Asia Miles partner restaurants) to earn miles faster.
Finally, you can start redeeming your Asia Miles. But it’s worth finding out the minimum amount of Asia Miles cardholders are required to redeem each time and the conversion fee.

Things to Know Before Converting Air Miles

Air Mile Converting Fee

A handling fee of HK$100-300 is usually charged for each mileage conversion. Some airline or frequent-flyer co-branded credit cards such as BEA Flyer World Mastercard and Citi PremierMiles Card offer a handling fee waiver.

Processing Time

Please allow enough time for mileage credits to be credited to the Member’s account. It may take between 4-6 weeks for the credits to be reflected in your account balance.

Taxes

The ticket prices under miles redemption programs exclude taxes and other fees such as the Air Passenger Departure Tax, the Passenger Security Charge, terminal building charges, and the Airport Construction Fee. The final price of a redeemed flight ticket will be adjusted based on your travel destination, which will be deducted from your credit card. Please note that different amount of air miles will be charged depending upon the seasons by air miles programs (e.g. Avios and ANA).

Frequently Asked Questions

Are airline miles credit cards worth it?

Yes, if you are a frequent flyer who spends with a credit card. You earn air miles as you normally spend. When you have collected enough miles, you can redeem a free reward ticket. If you are a lower spender, credit cards which offer cashback/ points could be a better option than airline miles credit cards.

How do air miles work on credit cards?

Airline mile credit cards reward cardholders each time for making an eligible purchase. The amount of miles earned depends on the earning ratio, which is different from provider to provider.

Which airline credit card is the easiest?

Standard Chartered Asia Miles Credit Card is the easiest to apply because it only requires HK$96,000 annual income and it offers automatic mileage conversion with no conversion fee. It also offers a relatively high earning ratio of HK$4 = 1 Asia Mile on dining, online and overseas spending. But this card is only designed for collecting Asia Miles.

How do I redeem Air Miles for flights?

You will need to transfer the points you earned to air miles via internet banking first, in order to do so, you must be a member of one of the participating frequent flyer programs. After that you will be able to search and redeem for rewards fights with different destinations, date or classes, for partner airlines that can't be redeemed online, you may call the service hotline or submit a request form to make a redemption.

How many miles do you need to get a free flight?

It depends on your travel destination and the season you travel. But in order to redeem a free return ticket, you need to collect at least 12,000 Avios points for return tickets from Hong Kong to Taiwan.

How long do my air miles stay valid?

Airline or air miles co-branded credit cards will automatically transfer the earned miles into your air miles account. For other credit cards, you need to transfer reward points into air miles yourself via e-banking or by calling the customer service hotline. Some credit cards may set an expiry date for reward points from 1-5 years (usually 2-3 years). But there are a few credit cards that have no expiry date on the points, such as DBS Black World Mastercard and American Express credit cards, giving you more time on earning points for flight tickets.

Air miles have their own expiry date as well. For Asia Miles, redeemed miles in the account will no longer expire from 1 January 2020, as long as you earn or use the miles at least once every 18 months. Avios has a similar rule which expires after 36 months in an account with no activity.

Is there anything I need to know while converting flight tickets with air miles?

The prices of flight tickets under miles redemption programs don’t include taxes and other fees, including the Air Passenger Departure Tax, the Passenger Security Charge, terminal building charges, and the Airport Construction Fee. The final price of a redeemed flight ticket will be adjusted based on your travel destination. The relevant extra costs will be deducted from your credit card. Note that some air miles programs (e.g. Avios and ANA) will set flight ticket prices based on seasons and charge you different amounts of air miles.