Standard Chartered Visa Infinite Card Review

With a 35,000 welcome miles offer, this elite credit card is packed with many indulgences. How does it compare to similar cards?

If you enjoy the finer things in life, you probably want your overseas trips to be as comfortable and pleasing to your senses as possible. And it makes sense that a travel credit card like the Standard Chartered Visa Infinite Card would be on your radar.

With a hefty annual fee of S$588.50 (including GST) and an exciting 35,000 welcome miles offer, this card is packed with a number of elite indulgences. But can it meet your expectations of a perfect trip? And how does it compare to other Visa Infinite credit cards?

Basic Card Features

1.4 miles per local dollar spend, 3 miles per overseas dollar spend. Accumulate miles at a rate you can't find on the average travel credit card.

10% cashback on Uber rides in 395 cities. Save up to S$400 a year by travelling the hassle-free way. Principal and supplementary cardholders earn up to S$100 in savings per quarter for Uber rides in 395 cities worldwide. This is valid until 31st March 2017.

6 complimentary airport lounge access worldwide. The Standard Chartered Visa Infinite Card comes with a complimentary Priority Pass membership. Cardmembers get six complimentary visits to any Priority Pass lounge around the world per year, after which each visit will cost S$38.

10% off your own private jet. Skip the airport queues altogether by booking a 10- or 12-seater luxury private jet via AsiaJet. Cardmembers get 10% off the hourly rate and complimentary limousine transfers.

Complimentary travel insurance coverage. With up to S$1,000,000 in coverage, the Standard Chartered Visa Infinite Card automatically covers you with travel insurance when you charge the whole trip to your card.

Luxury hotel privileges. Besides access to the Visa Luxury Hotel Collection, cardmembers get exclusive perks at Raffles Hotels and Resorts and an upgrade to Hilton HHonors™ Gold status after staying two or four nights at any participating Hilton hotel and resort.

Gourmet dining privileges. Get discounts at The Fullerton Hotel’s fine restaurants and bars, which include 20% off a la carte lunch at Jade and 25% off Town Restaurant during your birthday month.

Lifestyle privileges. You can also use this card to get the Gold Class Infinite Experience Package at Golden Village, which comes with two glasses of wine and up to three complimentary sweet or savoury dishes from the menu. If yachting is your thing, the Standard Chartered Visa Infinite can also get you privileged rates on your next luxury yacht. And with complimentary green fees at Sentosa Golf Club all year round, you can perfect your swing for when you need to impress.

35,000 miles welcome offer. Apply for the Standard Chartered Visa Infinite Card and pay the annual fee to qualify (more on this later).

What’s Great About the Standard Chartered Visa Infinite Card

Accessible. Unlike the ANZ, UOB, and HSBC Visa Infinite Cards, which are by invitation only, you can apply for the Standard Chartered Visa Infinite Card as long as you meet the S$150,000 annual income requirement. Existing Priority or Private Banking customers qualify for this credit card with a mere S$30,000 annual income (but given that you need S$200,000 to become a Priority Banking member, you probably won’t have difficulties meeting this requirement).

Pay as low as S$0.017 per mile. In order to qualify for the welcome gift of 35,000 miles or 25,000 miles and S$100 Uber credits, you’ll have to pay the annual fee of S$588.50. Opting for the 35,000 miles means you’re paying as low as S$0.017 for one mile, which is a lot cheaper than a long haul KrisFlyer mile, estimated to be at S$0.025.

The only premium card that works with Uber. Other travel cards in this league offer complimentary airport transfers, but only Standard Chartered Visa Infinite gets you up to S$400 rebates in a year across all types of Uber cars. If you want to ride in style, book an UberExec. Or if you’re travelling in a big group, book an ExecLarge.

The Fine Print

A minimum of S$2,000 charge must be made for miles accumulation. This must be made every statement cycle or you would only earn 1 mile per local or overseas dollar spend.

You’re given rewards points, which must be converted to miles. Don’t expect to receive miles instantly. You will be given rewards points instead, which you need to redeem for miles, and these will be credited to your account 5 days after the statement cycle.

Rewards points need to be redeemed in blocks, under your individual KrisFlyer account. Below is the conversion exclusively for the Standard Chartered Visa Infinite Card:

*Give 5 to 7 days for air miles to be reflected in your KrisFlyer account.

The miles accumulation is not valid for cash advances, balance transfers, monthly instalment from EasyPay transactions, AXS and ATM transactions, online bill payment and any other charges or fees.

Welcome miles are also given as rewards points. Instead of getting the miles directly, you get 87,500 rewards points redeemable for 35,000 miles or 62,500 rewards points redeemable for 25,000 miles and four S$25 Uber credits. You’ll have to pay the annual fee to qualify for the welcome gift and have the credit card valid within six months of account opening date.

Note that the four S$25 Uber credits must be used consecutively for rides in Singapore. The Uber app has to be linked to your Standard Chartered Visa Infinite Card and the promo code keyed in. You’ll have any excess charged to your credit card. This can be used on any class of Uber rides. Promo codes have to be utilised six months from the first promo code used.

Up to S$100 Uber rebates in a quarter of a year. 10% cashback for Uber rides apply to principal and supplementary cardholders, but is capped at S$100 per quarter (January to March; April to June; July to September; and October to December). Your Uber account must be linked to your Standard Chartered Visa Infinite Card for this to work.

How Many Miles Can You Earn?

Here’s an idea of what you can earn with your Standard Chartered Visa Infinite Card compared to the HSBC Infinite Card in the first six months from card application.

HSBC Infinite Card rewards you with 1 mile per local dollar spend and 2 miles per overseas dollar spend.

*Required to charge a minimum of S$2,000 a month to qualify.

As you can see, the Standard Chartered Visa Infinite lets you accumulate miles at a faster rate in the first 6 months. 61,800 miles is more than enough for a flight upgrade on Standard Chartered’s exclusive travel partner Singapore Airlines. Or you can redeem a business class ticket to Southeast Asia.

However, the points you collect on HSBC can be redeemed for KrisFlyer and Asia Miles miles. You also don’t need to pay S$25 each time you want to convert your points to miles, as the cardholder is required to enrol in HSBC’s Mileage Program, which costs S$40 annually.

Should You Get the Standard Chartered Visa Infinite Card?

If nothing less than luxury travel suits you, the Standard Chartered Visa Infinite Card serves it to you on a silver platter, with its exceptional privileges and preferential rates.

While premium travel cards offer similar privileges (HSBC Visa Infinite has complimentary one-way limousine airport transfer, for instance), the Standard Chartered Visa Infinite gives a wider range of lifestyle benefits both at home and overseas.

The 35,000 welcome miles also makes a strong case for this card. You'd be hard-pressed to find a similar premium travel card that lets you purchase miles as low as S$0.017 per mile.

Consider this credit card if you travel frequently and want a smaller pool of choices for hotels, restaurants, and travel insurance. With access to the Visa Luxury Hotel Collection and Hilton HHonors™ Gold status, finding the right accommodations can be done in minutes. And if you spend over S$2,000 on your trips each month, the generous earn rate of 3 miles per S$1 on overseas spend lets you stack miles quickly.

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