Best Air Miles Credit Cards in Malaysia

CompareHero.my Team

CompareHero.my Team

Last updated 01 March, 2024

There are certain credit cards that are specifically designed to reward frequent travelers, whether you travel locally or overseas. These best travel credit cards offer different types of benefits. 

Some of the more common benefits you'll see on a travel-centric card is travel insurance to cover all those unexpected circumstances. Additionally, you'll often find complimentary access to premium airport lounges, free or discounted airport transfer and a points collection system.

Each credit card provider has a different points collection system with different names. For instant, Maybank offers TreatsPoints and UOB has their UNIRinggit/UNIRM points. You can usually earn these points by spending on daily necessities like petrol, groceries and the like. Travel credit cards also like to reward points for overseas or foreign currency spend.

How do These Points Translate to Air Miles?

The points that you collect with your travel credit card can be used to redeem  Air Miles. Air Miles are basically the points system employed by different airlines. Here are some examples of Airlines and their Air Miles Schemes.

What are Air Miles Good for?

Air Miles offer you plenty of travel related goodies, both local and overseas. If you're a frequent flyer, these Air Miles will help you save on expenditures such as transport within your destination, airport transfers, hotel accommodations, dining and the like. Here are some of the things Air Miles can help you redeem:

Flight upgrades Airport lounge access
Inflight entertainment Inflight shopping
Travel insurance Hotel stays
Airport transfers Car rentals
Travel attractions Lifestyle awards

Some may wonder, how Air Miles differ from Frequent Flyer programmes. The answer is simple. Air Miles can be earned or redeemed with points from a wide array of spends, such as petrol, groceries, dining, and more.

On the other hand, Frequent Flyer schemes allow you to earn points only from flying with an airline, i.e. the further you fly and the more often, the more points your earn. 

 

Top 5 Best Air Miles Credit Cards in Malaysia

Best AirMiles/Travel Card

Features

HSBC TravelOne

HSBC TravelOne

APPLY-NOW

  • Up to 8X reward points for overseas spend
  • Up to 5X reward points for local travel and local dining spend
  • 6 times access to Plaza Premium Lounge
  • Convert reward points to AirAsia points, Krisflyer Miles, Asia Miles and MAS Enrich Points
  • Travel insurance coverage up to USD250,000
  • Min. monthly income RM5,000

UOB PRVI Miles

UOB_PRVI_MASTERCARD

APPLY-NOW

  • 5X UNIRM points for every RM1 spent on travel agencies, hotels and airlines.
  • 5X UNIRM points for overseas spend
  • 1X UNIRM points for all other spend, no limit
  • 50% off Grab rides, up to RM10 per ride.
  • 2000 bonus UNIRM points with 3X retail spend per month

Standard Chartered Journey 

SC_Card_OM_Journey_20220816-AssetA-RGB-2500px_HENRY YEO

APPLY-NOW

  • Earn 5X Miles on travel and dining spend
  • Unlimited access to Plaza Premium Lounge at KLIA 1 and 2 for international flights.
  • Complimentary airport transfer via Grab
  • Cashback up to RM65 on your first Grab transaction of every month
  • 1 AirMile for every 2 Miles points collected
  • Minimum monthly income RM7,500

 

Alliance Bank Visa Infinite

Alliance_Bank_Visa Infinite

APPLY-NOW

 

  • 8X Timeless Bonus Points for online and eWallet spend
  • 5X Timeless Bonus Points for Overseas, dining and grocery spend
  • 0% Flexi payment for flight tickets, overseas and hotel purchases
  • 2X access to Plaza Premium Lounges worldwide
  • Zero first year fees, waived in subsequent years with minimum RM12,000 spend
  • Minimum monthly income RM 5,000

 

Hong Leong Sutera Platinum

hongleongsuteraplatinumvisa

APPLY-NOW

 

  • 8X Reward Points for overseas spend

  • Complimentary travel insurance up to RM1.7 million

  • Hong Leong Club Rewards include hotel and dining vouchers, and frequent flyer miles

  • Minimum monthly income RM3,000

CIMB Travel Platinum

cimb-travel-platinum-card

APPLY-NOW

 

  • 5X Bonus Points for airlines and overseas spend
  • 2X Bonus Points for local spend
  • 4 times complimentary access to Plaza Premium Lounge
  • Up to RM1,000,000 travel insurance
  • ZERO annual fees for life
  • Minimum monthly income RM2,000

Maybank Visa Infinite

MaybankInfiniteVisa

APPLY-NOW

  • 5X TreatsPoints for overseas spend
  • 5X access to Plaza Premium Lounge
  • Travel insurance coverage up to RM2 million
  • Up to 40% discounts on food and beverage spend, including selected hotels.
  • Golf privileges around the world

 

Here are the best credit card for air miles in Malaysia that allows you to earn points easily. These points can then be redeemed for Air Miles from several airlines, as well as be used themselves to redeem travel goodies.

 

HSBC TravelOne Card

HSBC_travelone_banner

The HSBC TravelOne offers a tonne of ways to collect points, and exchange them for Air Miles. For starters, you can earn up to 8X reward points for any overseas expenditure you make on your trips. 

When you travel and dine locally, you can get up to 5X reward points. These HSBC reward points can then be used to redeem both Air Miles and Frequent Flyer schemes from the HSBC rewards catalogue. 

Here's what you can redeem and how much:

HSBC Reward Points Amount Required 

Air Miles Redeemed

21,000 1,000 Enrich Points (MAS)
12,000 1,000 airasia points (AirAsia)
25,000 1,000 Asia Miles (Cathay Pacific)
25,000 1,000 Krisflyer Miles ( Singapore Airlines)

Travellers will also enjoy 6X access to Plaza Premium Lounge for free per year, as well as up to USD250,000 travel insurance. This is truly the card to make your travels more rewarding and comfortable. 

Requirements:

  • Minimum monthly salary , RM5,000
  • Annual fees RM300

 

Standard Chartered Journey

SC Journey CTA banner

Just like its name suggests, the Standard Chartered Journey card is meant exclusively for travelers. If you love being rewarded, then you will thoroughly enjoy the benefits this card offers. 

To begin, this card allows you 5X Miles points on travel, dining and overseas spend. That's almost everything you spend on if you're a frequent wanderer or if you travel for business. These Miles points are flexible as you can use them to redeem Air Miles, gifts or cashback. 

Every 2 SC Journey Miles can be converted to 1 AirMile from the frequent flyer program of your choice. 

Without the Miles points, the card itself comes with plenty of hotel privileges including free night stays, room upgrades, complimentary breakfasts, and early or late check-outs. 

We should also mention that the card comes with UNLIMITED access to Plaza Premium Lounge and complimentary airport transfers via Grab in Malaysia. With this card, you'll travel like a VIP.

Requirements:

  • Minimum monthly income RM7,500
  • Annual fee RM600

Alliance Bank Visa Infinite

AB Visa Infinite Banner

When you collect points with other cards, these points usually have an expiration date. That way, you'll feel like you have less flexibility on when you want to redeem your reward. In fact, you may even feel rushed into a decision.

With Alliance Bank, you'll be able to collect Timeless Bonus Points which never expire. This lets you redeem points whenever you're ready. It also allows you to accrue points for more valuable redemptions. 

With the Alliance Bank Visa Infinite, you can collect up to 8X Timeless Bonus Points (TBPs) for online and e-wallet spend. You'll also get 5X TBPs for dining, grocery and overseas spend. You can then exchange the TBPs you've earned for Air Miles. Here are the exchange rates:

Timeless Bonus Points Required

Air Miles Redeemed

6000 1,000 airasia points (Air Asia)
15,000 1,000 Enrich Points (MAS)

Apart from just earning TBPs, this card also rewards travellers in various other ways. For starters, there's the 0% flexi payment plan for flight tickets, hotel and overseas transactions for you to convert large expenditures to affordable instalments. 

You'll also enjoy 2X complimentary access to Plaza Premium Lounges worldwide and enjoy annual fee waivers if you spend at least RM12,000 on the card.

Requirements:

  • Minimum monthly salary RM5,000
  • Annual fees RM 438 ( waived the first year, and subsequent years with RM12,000 spend p.a.)

Hong Leong Sutera Platinum

HLB SUTERA BANNER

The Hong Leong Sutera Platinum is a great card for collecting points, especially if you're a young adult, since its minimum monthly income requirements are rather affordable at RM3,000. 

You can collect up to 8X reward points for Online Spend merchants, groceries, selected convenience stores, dining and overseas spend. You'll even be able to collect 1X reward points for every other spend. 

You can then exchange your Hong Leong reward points for Air Miles as per their credit cards reward catalogue:

Air Miles 

Hong Leong Reward Points ( online redemption)

Hong Leong Reward Points ( HLCC redemption)

1000 airasia points (AirAsia) 9000 10,800
1000 Enrich Points (MAS) 24,000 28,800

Apart from Air Miles, you can also use your reward points to redeem travel and dining related vouchers, such as those from Sofitel and Grab. Cardholders also get to enjoy travel insurance of up to RM1.7 million.

Requirements:

  • Minimum monthly salary RM3,000
  • Annual fees RM120 (waived for the first year if you swipe your card within 45 days of issuance)

CIMB Travel Platinum

CIMB  Travel platinum BANNER

It would seem like we've saved the best air miles credit card for last. The CIMB Travel Platinum is the perfect first card for any avid traveler. This is due to the fact that it only requires a minimum monthly income of RM2,000 and is also free of any annual fees, for life. 

With this CIMB card, you'll be able to collect up to 5X Bonus Point for every RM1 spent overseas and on airlines. There's also 2X Bonus Points for every RM1 spent locally. You can then exchange these CIMB Bonus Points for Air Miles at these rates. 

Air Miles 

CIMB Bonus Points Required

1,000 airasia Points (Air Asia) 8,000
1,000 Enrich Points (MAS) 10,000
1,000 Air France-KLM Miles 10,000
1,000 EVA Air Miles 10,000
1,000 British Airways Avios 10,000
1,000 Etihad Airways Miles 10,000
1,000 Turkish Airlines Miles 15,000
1,000 Qatar Airways Avios 15,000
1,000 Emirates Miles  15,000
1,000 Cathay Pacific Miles 15,000
1,000 Japan Airlines Miles 20,000

As you can see, CIMB is one of the providers with the most options when it comes to exchanging your points for air miles. It's arguably one of the most affordable and easiest as well, with only 8,000 Bonus Points needed for 1,000 airasia points. 

CIMB also offers points transfer schemes for various hotels, including Marriot-Bonvoy and Accor Live Limitless programmes. 

Requirements: 

  • Minimum monthly salary RM2,000
  • NO annual fee for life

In Conclusion

Get the Best AirMiles Card for your travels today !-1

Whilst the perfect AirMiles credit card may not yet exist, there are many options for you to consider. These travel-centric cards are designed especially for your jet-setting lifestyle and will offer you enhanced comfort and increased savings the more you travel and use them. 

Compare all the travel-friendly credit cards here at CompareHero and get rewarded when you apply, activate and spend! Also, sign-up and get all the latest news and promotions directly from us.

 

 

 

 

The CompareHero.my team is comprised of many talented individuals, sharing their knowledge, experiences and research to help others make better financial decisions.

FINANCIAL TIP:

Use a personal loan to consolidate your outstanding debt at a lower interest rate!

Subscribe to our newsletter to stay up-to-date with exclusive money-saving tips & great deals