Best Credit Cards For Post-Covid Travel (2022)

What are the best credit cards for travel? Take your pick from our round-up of the best airline miles credit cards and best cashback credit cards according to your priorities and preferences.

Now that travel’s finally back on most of our agenda, it’s high time you armed yourself with the best credit cards for travel and best credit cards for travel rewards on the market.

Let’s face it, post-Covid travel isn’t cheap, especially if you’re looking to get out of Singapore right now. While we can’t beat economics (think: demand and supply), we can definitely take steps to make our hard-earned money go further.

This means picking the best credit card combinations that work to our advantage while we plan our coveted, deeply missed travel escapades to fun, far-flung places around the world. After all, credit cards aren’t all created equal.

Read on to find out valuable tips and tricks on how you can make your post-Covid vacations come true without hurting your wallet.

Best for no FX charges
Best credit cards for post-Covid travel
Best for free lounge access & travel insurance
Best for Singapore Airlines & Scoot perks
Best for 6mpd on major airlines & hotels globally
Best for 8% cashback
My ideal post-Covid travel credit card combination
Determine your best travel credit cards

Best for no FX charges & competitive FX rates: Instarem amaze card

Ears up if you haven’t already heard of the Instarem amaze card. Similar to popular cards like YouTrip and Revolut, the Instarem amaze card offers users competitive FX rates wherever in the world they may be. The Instarem amaze card doesn’t charge users any FX charges for using the card either.

Better than its competition, users stand to gain from earning bonus cashback, plus the ability to stack up rewards on their linked Mastercard credit card — a truly revolutionary product in my book.

Not enough to convince you? Well, there’s no need to top up any funds to start using the Instarem amaze card. All you have to do is link your Mastercard credit card or debit card.

Best credit cards for post-Covid travel

Best for	Credit Card
Free lounge access & travel insurance	Citi PremierMiles
Singapore Airlines & Scoot perks	UOB KrisFlyer Credit Card
6mpd on major airlines & hotels globally	UOB PRVI Miles Mastercard
Up to 8% cashback	Citi Cash Back Card Maybank Family & Friends Card

Compare Best Travel Insurance Deals

Best for free lounge access & travel insurance: Citi PremierMiles

Citi PremierMiles is great for those on the lookout for a fuss-free air miles credit card that comes with two free Priority Pass airport lounge visits each year, free travel insurance of up to S$1 million coverage on accidental death and permanent disablement alongside earning unlimited expiry-free Citi Miles.

Apart from its lounge and travel insurance benefits, this accessible miles credit card offers 2mpd on foreign currency spend. Travel-wise, cardmembers can enjoy up to 7mpd on Agoda bookings, up to 10mpd on Kaligo bookings, and 1.2mpd on all eligible local spend.

⚡Flash Deal⚡: Be one of the first 500 applicants to get a PlayStation 5 Disc Version (worth S$799) or Dyson Airwrap (worth S$859) or S$500 ecapitaVoucher when you apply for a Citi Card and spend a minimum of S$500 within 30 days of card approval. Remaining applicants will enjoy existing rewards. Applicable to new-to-Citibank cardmembers only. Promo runs from 9 April, 9AM SGT - 2 May 2024. T&Cs apply.

SingSaver's Exclusive Offer: Enjoy the following rewards when you sign up for a Citi PremierMiles Card:

Receive an Apple iPad 10th Gen Wifi 64GB (worth S$691.60) or Dyson Supersonic (worth S$699) or S$400 eCapitaVoucher or S$300 cash via PayNow upon activating and spending a minimum of S$500 within 30 days of card approval. Valid until 30 April 2024. T&Cs apply.

Apply Now

Best for Singapore Airlines & Scoot perks: UOB KrisFlyer Credit Card

KrisFlyer UOB

UOB KrisFlyer Credit Card is a KrisFlyer miles credit card designed for those who enjoy flying with Singapore Airlines and/or Scoot (or travelling in general). While it doesn’t come with complimentary airport lounge access, it offers a slew of Singapore Airlines and Scoot perks that you can scoop up when planning your trips:

Fast track to KrisFlyer Elite Silver status
Earn 3mpd at KrisShop, Singapore Airlines, Scoot, and Kris+ purchases
5,000 welcome KrisFlyer miles with a min. S$5 transaction
10,000 KrisFlyer miles annual fee renewal bonus
S$20 KrisShop rebate (Promo code: KFUOBKS2023)
S$10 off dining and retail with Kris+ app registration (Promo code: KPUOB23)
S$15 off ChangiWiFi
S$15 off Grab rides (Promo code: KFUOBCC)
Priority check-in and boarding on Scoot
Additional baggage allowance on Scoot
Booking Flexibility waiver on Scoot
Standard seat selection on Scoot, and more

This air miles credit card lets you earn 3mpd on SIA-related purchases, dining, food delivery, online shopping, travel (including Airbnb) and transport with a minimum of S$800 annual spend on these transactions. Meanwhile, you can earn 1.2mpd on all other non-SIA spend.

There is also no cap on how many miles you can earn, and no conversion fee you need to bother about — your miles will be automatically credited into your KrisFlyer account.

KrisFlyer UOB Card Welcome Offer: Get up to 31,000 miles plus a first-year annual fee waiver when you are one of the first 100 eligible new-to-UOB credit cardmembers who apply and make a min. spend of S$2,000 within 2 months from card approval date. Valid till 30 April 2024 . T&Cs apply.

Apply Now

Best for 6mpd on major airlines & hotels globally: UOB PRVI Miles Mastercard

UOB PRVI Miles Mastercard is perfect for those keen on chalking up miles quickly on everything and anything they spend on, travel included.

This air miles credit card lets you earn 6mpd on major airlines and hotels worldwide (UNI$15 per S$5 spend), 2.4mpd on overseas spend (UNI$6 per S$5 spend), including online shopping on overseas websites, and 1.4mpd on local spend (UNI$3.5 per S$5 spend), including bus/train rides via SimplyGo.

Besides redeeming your UNI$ for real air miles that you may use to offset your future travel bookings, you can turn your UNI$ into cashback to offset your card spend or redeem shopping vouchers, dining vouchers and more, too.

Apart from complimentary travel insurance coverage of up to S$500,000, cardmembers can gain access to UOB PRVI Travel Butler for dedicated comprehensive travel assistance including flight, hotel, car rental and insurance booking.

UOB PRVI Miles World Mastercard Welcome Offer: Get up to 50,000 miles when you make a min. spend of S$1,000 per month for 2 consecutive months from card approval date plus annual fee payment and SMS enrolment. Valid till 30 April 2024 . T&Cs apply.

Alternatively, receive 25,200 miles when you are one of the first 50 to apply with first year annual fee waiver and make a min. spend of S$1,000 for 2 consecutive months from card approval date. Plus, get another 4,800 miles (a total of 30,000 miles) when you make a min. overseas spend of S$1,000 per month for 2 consecutive months. Valid till 30 April 2024 . T&Cs apply.

Apply Now

Best for cashback: Citi Cash Back Card, Maybank Family & Friends Card

Citi Cash Back Card

The Citi Cash Back Card may just be what you need if you tend to spend on family-oriented purchases like dining, groceries and petrol.

As long as you consolidate your expenses and hit the minimum spend of S$800, you can safely call the 6% cashback on groceries and dining as well as 8% cashback on petrol and private commute. This applies regardless of whether you’re spending locally or overseas.

For families who intend to whip up their own meals, visit plenty of restaurants and cafes on the road, or make road tripping a major part of their travel itinerary, the Citi Cash Back Card is not to be passed up — especially if earning up to S$80 cashback per statement month appeals to you.

Just to sweeten things up a little, the Citi Cash Back Card also offers up to S$1 million in travel insurance coverage when you charge your travel tickets to this card.

SingSaver's Exclusive Offer: Receive the following rewards when you sign up for a Citi Cashback Card:

Get a Dyson Supersonic (worth S$699) or Apple iPad 9th Gen 10.2 Wifi 64GB (worth S$508.30) or Dyson V8 Slim Fluffy (worth S$509) or S$400 eCapitaVoucher or S$300 cash via PayNow upon activating and spending a minimum of S$500 within 30 days of card approval. Valid until 30 April 2024. T&Cs apply.

Apply Now

Maybank Family & Friends Card

The Maybank Family & Friends Card is another cashback credit card you can count on to deliver 8% cashback globally on your five chosen bonus categories. Take your pick from these 10 options:

Groceries
Dining & Food Delivery
Transport
Data Communication & Online TV Streaming
Retail & Pets
Online Fashion
Entertainment
Pharmacy
Sports & Sports Apparels
Beauty & Wellness

To earn the 8% cashback on your chosen cashback categories, simply consolidate your expenses and make a minimum spend of S$800 per calendar month. You can earn up to S$25 cashback per bonus cashback category, up to a total of S$125 each calendar month!

Apply Now

My ideal post-Covid travel credit card combination

Instarem amaze card lets me enjoy competitive FX rates and no FX charges, complete with the fact that I can get bonus cashback on my eligible spending, provided I meet the requirements. This card is a must-have for me when I travel. In fact, I’ve already taken my amaze card to London, Maldives and Johor Bahru — all within a month of relaxed border measures!

I pair the Instarem amaze card with UOB KrisFlyer Credit Card as a good part of my expenses go towards dining, transport and online shopping. This credit card lets me earn unlimited KrisFlyer miles and enjoy an array of Singapore Airlines & Scoot perks.

My Citi PremierMiles is the old Visa version, so I can’t use it with the Instarem amaze card. But, if you were to sign up now, your Citi PremierMiles MasterCard would be perfect for linking it to the Instarem amaze card. Just to reiterate, Citi PremierMiles lets you enjoy free Priority Pass lounge access and free travel insurance, on top of the unlimited 2mpd you can earn on all foreign currency spend.

Determine your best travel credit cards

Eagle-eyed readers would have realized the credit cards I’ve selected above are all Mastercard cards. This allows you to pair your travel credit card with the Instarem amaze card to stack on rewards while enjoying competitive FX rates and zero FX charges abroad!

While there’s not that much of a difference when you compare Mastercard vs Visa vs American Express Credit Cards, note that you can only pair a Mastercard credit or debit card to the Instarem amaze card at this time. Nobody knows if and when they would let users pair Visa or American Express cards.

How to choose your ideal travel credit cards?

Follow these simple steps:

Sign up for the Instarem amaze card (you’re under no obligation to use my referral code ‘JjUuwf’)
Pick your preferred Mastercard credit card(s) according to your spending habits, rewards and benefits preferences
Remember you can get different cards for different purposes (e.g. one for free lounge access, one for earning credit card rewards etc)

Compare Best Credit Cards

SingSaver's Best Price Travel Campaign: All successful applicants of participating Travel Insurance products will receive 1x (single trip) or 3x (annual trip) draw chance to enter our weekly lucky draw, where 1 lucky winner will stand to have their flight ticket reimbursed (up to a maximum of $2,000) and 12 lucky winners will receive a Samsonite Volant Spinner 68/25 EXP worth S$480. Valid till 31 December 2023. T&Cs apply.

Travel Insurance	Premium for Individual Cover	Covid-19 Coverage	Promotion
Etiqa (TIQ) Travel Insurance Apply Now <div class="wp-block-button aligncenter"><a class="wp-block-button__link has-text-color has-very-light-gray-color has-background has-luminous-vivid-orange-background-color blog-trackable" href="https://singsaver.link/tiq-travel-insurance" class="blog-trackable" ga-action="blog conversion - apply now click" ga-category="travel-insurance" ga-label="Tiq-Tiq Travel Insurance" target="_blank" rel="sponsored nofollow noopener"><strong>Apply Now</strong></a></div>	from S$39 (for 1 week in Asean)	Yes	Single Trip: Use the promo code TIQSINGSAVER to get 48% off. T&Cs apply. Valid till 24 Oct 2023. T&Cs apply. Annual Trip: Use promo code TIQSINGSAVER to get 60% off COVID-19 add-on + $20 cashback. Fulfillment by TIQ. Valid till 31 Oct 2023. T&Cs apply. Enjoy 1x chance (Single Trip) or 3x chances (Annual Trip) to enter our weekly lucky draw, where 1 lucky winner will stand to have their flight ticket reimbursed and 12 lucky winners will receive a Samsonite Volant Spinner 68/25 EXP worth S$480. Promotion ends on 31 December 2023. T&Cs apply. Additionally, stand to win S$3,000 in TIQ Travel Insurance Monthly Lucky Draw Campaign 2023 (Fulfillment by TIQ). Valid till 31 Dec 2023. T&Cs apply.
Starr TraveLead Travel Insurance Apply Now	from S$11.05 (for 1 week in ASEAN)	Yes	Get up to $50 Grab Vouchers (min. Premium $30) and get 35% off when you use promo code SSVTL35. Valid till 31 Oct 2023. T&Cs apply. Plus, till 31 October, every 2nd successful applicant will score an Apple AirTag worth S$45 on top of our weekly lucky draw. Enjoy 1x chance (Single Trip) or 3x chances (Annual Trip) to enter our weekly lucky draw. 1 lucky winner will stand to have their flight ticket reimbursed and 12 lucky winners will receive a Samsonite Volant Spinner 68/25 EXP worth S$480. Promotion ends on 31 December 2023. T&Cs apply. Additionally, enjoy 1x chance to win your share your share of up to S$200,000 in prizes in our epic 101! Milestone Giveaway, including S$5,000 bonus cash each week on top of ongoing promotions! T&Cs apply.
Allianz Travel Insurance Apply Now	from S$34.10 (for 1 week in Asean)	Yes	Use promo code SSV45 to get 45% discount plus get up to $35 Grab Vouchers when you apply NOW! Valid till 31 October 2023. T&Cs apply. Additionally, enjoy 1x chance (Single Trip) or 3x chances (Annual Trip) to enter our weekly lucky draw, where 1 lucky winner will stand to have their flight ticket reimbursed and 12 lucky winners will receive a Samsonite Volant Spinner 68/25 EXP worth S$480. Promotion ends on 31 December 2023. T&Cs apply.
MSIG Travel Easy Apply Now	from S$34.10 (for 1 week in ASEAN)	Yes	Enjoy 40% off when you apply for Single Trips and 20% off for Annual Plan plus get up to $38 Grab Vouchers when you purchase now!! Valid till 31 October 2023. T&Cs apply Plus, till 31 October, every 2nd successful applicant will score an Apple AirTag worth S$45 on top of our weekly lucky draw. Enjoy up to 3x chances to enter our Weekly Lucky Draw, where 1 lucky winner will stand to have their flight ticket reimbursed and 12 lucky winners will receive a Samsonite Volant Spinner 68/25 EXP worth S$480. T&Cs apply. Additionally, enjoy 1x chance to win your share your share of up to S$200,000 in prizes in our epic 101! Milestone Giveaway, including S$5,000 bonus cash each week on top of ongoing promotions! T&Cs apply.
FWD Travel Insurance Apply Now	from S$22.50 (for 1 week in Asean)	Yes	Use the promo code OCT23 to get 35% off on Single Trip and 30% off on Annual Trip plans. Valid till 25 October 2023. T&Cs apply. Receive 1x Airalo eSim with up to 3GB data (minimum premium $60). Valid till 31 October 2023. T&Cs apply. Enjoy up to 3x chances to enter our Weekly Lucky Draw, where 1 lucky winner will stand to have their flight ticket reimbursed and 12 lucky winners will receive a Samsonite Volant Spinner 68/25 EXP worth S$480. T&Cs apply. Additionally, enjoy 1x chance to win your share your share of up to S$200,000 in prizes in our epic 101! Milestone Giveaway, including S$5,000 bonus cash each week on top of ongoing promotions! T&Cs apply.
Singlife Travel Insurance Apply Now	from S$46.20 (for 1 week in ASEAN)	Yes	Score an Airalo eSIM with up to 3GB data and receive it before you fly when you apply now! Valid till 31 October 2023. T&Cs apply. Additionally, enjoy 1x chance (Single Trip) or 3x chances (Annual Trip) to enter our weekly lucky draw, where 1 lucky winner will stand to have their flight ticket reimbursed and 12 lucky winners will receive a Samsonite Volant Spinner 68/25 EXP worth S$480. Promotion ends on 31 December 2023. T&Cs apply. Single Trip: Enjoy a 25% discount when you use the promo code TRAVEL25. Valid till 31 Oct 2023. T&Cs apply.
Allied World Travel Insurance Apply Now	from S$45 (for one week in Asean)	Yes	Enjoy a 45% discount for Single Trip and 15% discount for Annual Trip when you apply now! Valid till 30 Nov 2023. T&Cs apply. Enjoy 1x chance (Single Trip) or 3x chances (Annual Trip) to enter our weekly lucky draw, where 1 lucky winner will stand to have their flight ticket reimbursed and 12 lucky winners will receive a Samsonite Volant Spinner 68/25 EXP worth S$480. Promotion ends on 31 December 2023. T&Cs apply
AIG Travel Guard® Direct Apply Now	from S$30 (for 1 week in Asean)	Yes	Single Trip: Apply promo code SS20OFF to receive 20% discount and receive up to S$50 Grab vouchers on AIG Single Trip Travel Insurance (minimum premium $100, fulfillment by AIG). Valid till 31 Oct 2023. T&Cs apply. Annual Trip: Get up to 6 Plaza Premium Lounge Access Passes with the promo code SSTGD when you apply NOW! Fulfillment by AIG. Valid till 31 Oct 2023. T&Cs apply. Additionally, enjoy 1x chance (Single Trip) or 3x chances (Annual Trip) to enter our weekly lucky draw, where 1 lucky winner will stand to have their flight ticket reimbursed and 12 lucky winners will receive a Samsonite Volant Spinner 68/25 EXP worth S$480. Promotion ends on 31 December 2023. T&Cs apply.
Great Eastern Travel Insurance Apply Now	from S$52 (for one week in Asean)	Yes	Single Trip: Get an 30% discount when you use the promo code TSP30S. Valid till 31 Dec 2023. T&Cs apply. Annual Trip: Get an 10% discount when you use the promo code TSP10A. Valid till 31 Dec 2023. T&Cs apply. Discount is only valid for Elite and Classic plans. Enjoy 1x chance (Single Trip) or 3x chances (Annual Trip) to enter our weekly lucky draw, where 1 lucky winner will stand to have their flight ticket reimbursed and 12 lucky winners will receive a Samsonite Volant Spinner 68/25 EXP worth S$480. T&Cs apply. Promotion ends on 31 December 2023. T&Cs apply.