A lot of credit cards emphasize on providing preferential conversion rates for air miles. Nonetheless, how much is 1 air mile actually worth? Is it better to convert your reward points into cash or air miles? Let MoneyHero tell you how much one air mile is worth before you decide to get a credit card!
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Using Hong Kong's most popular air mile programme, Asia Miles, as an example, how much 1 mile worth actually depends on where you are going, and whether it is a short-haul or long-haul flight.
Example 1:
Excluding taxes and other surcharges, return flights to Taiwan cost 15,000 Asia Miles; while plane tickets are on sale for about HKD 1,500. That means 1 Asia Mile is worth approximately HKD 0.1.
Example 2:
A trip to Finland can help you make the most out of your Asia Miles. Return flights to Finland costs 45,000 Asia Miles, or HKD 7,000 (again, excluding taxes and other surcharges). So 1 air mile comes to about HKD 0.16.
Flights to other places range from HKD 0.1 to HKD 0.16. Standard Chartered's WorldMiles card, the American Express Cathay Pacific credit cards and the Citibank Prestige card all offer a conversion rate of HKD 4~HKD 6 to 1 Asia Mile. For instance, every HKD 5 spent using the Standard Chartered WorldMiles card will earn you 1 mile.
That is to say, for every HKD 5, you get a rebate of HKD 0.1 to HKD 0.16, which is about 2% to 3.2%. Comparing to cash rebates of 0.4%, which is generally the rate offered by credit cards, Asia Miles would obviously be a better bargain. So if you need to buy a plane ticket, choosing air miles over cash rebate will be a smart move.
Here are a few credit cards that have the best Asia Miles offer:
Standard Chartered Worldmiles card: HKD 5 per mile for local and overseas spending.
American Express Cathay Pacific Elite Credit Card: HKD 4 per mile for overseas spending and HKD 6 per mile for local spending.
Citi Prestige Card: HKD 4 per mile for overseas spending and HKD 6 per mile for local spending.
Citibank PremierMiles Card: HKD 4 per mile for overseas spending and HKD 8 per mile for local spending.
DBS Black World MasterCard: HKD 4 per mile for overseas spending and HKD 6 per mile for local spending
If you want to know more about credit cards and air miles, you are more than welcome to visit MoneyHero’s site!
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