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After few Malaysia credit card reviews, earning enough points for a decent travel seems far far away.
Take an example for flying to Osaka in Malaysia Airline's Business class (with A350 hopefully), it takes 50,000 Enrich Miles.
With an amazing earning & redemption rate of 2.8 : 1 from HongLeong Bank Visa Infinite card, it requires 140,000 MYR local spend to redeem that one way ticket.
To simplify the calculation. If I spend 2,000 MYR per month on this Visa Infinite card, it takes 70 months to reach that spending amount, which is approximately 5-6 years' time. Amazingly long right?
However, Travelling is not just about flying. A comfortable hotel stay and savoury dining experience could fulfil the needs and wants of travelling too.
That's the market AmBank is aiming.
AmBank offers Hilton Dining Asia Pacific Membership to most of its reward points earning cardholders.
Hilton Dining Asia Pacific is a third party company affiliated with Hilton Hotels and Resorts, offering exclusive discounts on accommodation and dining. In the package, there would be certificates ranging from complimentary cake to complimentary dinner buffet for two and even complimentary room.
Check out the details of Hilton Dining Asia Pacific Membership from [the link]
For the package of Hilton Dining, it comes with different variety. The prices are not shown online. From review, it typically ranged from 750 MYR to 1,000 MYR.
Since AmBank credit cards are having 0 annual fee, it will be a catch for having additional benefits when travelling within Malaysia and stay in participated Hilton properties.
Let's have a deeper look in credit cards AmBank offers towards its reward program (AmBonus Point).
A. Highest Tier (Visa Infinite/ World Mastercard)
There are two variations of this tier. The ordinary version and invitation only (Signature Priority Banking)
Benefits:
- 5x for overseas spending (online purchases with foreign currency are ineligible).
- Plaza Premium Lounge access (unlimited for Signature Priority Banking and 5x for ordinary version, with minimum 500 MYR before and/or after each lounge access)
- Complimentary Hilton Dining Asia Pacific Membership
- 10% cash back at duty-free outlets across ASEAN countries
- 1 for 1 dining deals at Shangri-la hotels in Malaysia
- travel insurance
- E-commerce protection (for Mastercard only)
- Golf privileges for World Mastercard
- 30 MYR off on Shopee on Sunday (Min spend 200 MYR)
Requirements:
- Minimum Annual Income of 120,000 MYR
Miles Redemptions:
- Airasia Big Points 7:1 (Min 7,000 points : 1,000 miles)
- Malaysia Airlines Enrich 10:1 (Min 10,000 points : 1,000 miles)
- Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer 12.5:1 (Min 12,500 points : 1,000 miles)
- Asia Miles 12.5:1 (Min 12,500 points : 1,000 miles)
B. Mid High Tier (Visa Signature)
Benefits:
- 3x for overseas spending (online purchases with foreign currency are ineligible).
- 5x Plaza Premium Lounge access (with minimum 500 MYR before and/or after each lounge access)
- Complimentary Hilton Dining Asia Pacific Membership
- 10% cash back at duty-free outlets across ASEAN countries
- 1 for 1 dining deals at Shangri-la hotels in Malaysia
- travel insurance
- 30 MYR off on Shopee on Sunday (Min spend 200 MYR)
- No annual fee
- 30 MYR off on Shopee on Sunday (Min spend 200 MYR)
Requirements:
- Minimum Annual Income of 80,000 MYR
Miles Redemptions:
- Airasia Big Points 8:1 (Min 8,000 points : 1,000 miles)
- Malaysia Airlines Enrich 12:1 (Min 12,000 points : 1,000 miles)
- Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer 15:1 (Min 15,000 points : 1,000 miles)
- Asia Miles 15:1 (Min 15,000 points : 1,000 miles)
C. Mid Low Tier (UnionPay Platinum, Platinum Mastercard/ Visa)
The UnionPay variation is a slightly higher tier card, with slightly different benefits.
AmBank UnionPay Platinum Card
Benefits:
- 5x for overseas spending (online purchases with foreign currency are ineligible).
- 0.5x for every 1 MYR retail purchases
- 2x Plaza Premium Lounge access (with minimum 500 MYR before and/or after each lounge access)
- Complimentary Hilton Dining Asia Pacific Membership
- 10% cash back at duty-free outlets across ASEAN countries
- Complimentary UnionPay Lounge Access at Pavillion Mall, Kuala Lumpur
- Travel Insurance
- Golf privileges by Platinum UnionPay
- 30 MYR off on Shopee on Sunday (Min spend 200 MYR)
Requirements:
- Minimum Annual Income of 60,000 MYR
AmBank Platinum Mastercard/ Visa
Benefits:
- 2x for overseas spending (online purchases with foreign currency are ineligible).
- 10% cash back at duty-free outlets across ASEAN countries
- Travel Insurance
- 30 MYR off on Shopee on Sunday (Min spend 200 MYR)
Requirements:
- Minimum Annual Income of 48,000 MYR
Miles Redemptions (for both):
- Airasia Big Points 8:1 (Min 8,000 points : 1,000 miles)
- Malaysia Airlines Enrich 12:1 (Min 12,000 points : 1,000 miles)
- Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer 19:1 (Min 19,000 points : 1,000 miles)
- Asia Miles 19:1 (Min 19,000 points : 1,000 miles)
C. Low Tier (Gold Mastercard/ Visa)
Benefits:
- 1x for every 1 MYR spend
- Travel Insurance
- 10% cash back at duty-free outlets across ASEAN countries
- 30 MYR off on Shopee on Sunday (Min spend 200 MYR)
Requirements:
- Minimum Annual Income of 24,000 MYR
Miles Redemptions (for both):
- Airasia Big Points 12:1 (Min 12,000 points : 1,000 miles)
- Malaysia Airlines Enrich 15:1 (Min 15,000 points : 1,000 miles)
Final Thoughts
The mileage redemption rates and multipliers offered by AmBank might not be the most desirable in market. However, the non annual fee policy and membership of Hilton Dining Asia Pacific have definitely escalate the values of AmBank's credit cards.
The bottom line is, this should be an additional "should have" card in your desk. Yes, desk instead of wallet.
Just by few swipes, getting this card activated is more than enough.
Utilise the membership of Hilton Dining is the goal to enhance the travel experience.
Bear in mind that the certificates could only be used domestically in participated hotels, although it is backed with Hilton brand.
Hence, these cards (besides Gold and Platinum (Visa/Mastercard) are definitely keepers.
Enjoy your next "cuti-cuti Malaysia"with what AmBank offers.
Have a glance of estimated earning miles by using the excel file below:
By inserting the amount of expense in Yellow Column
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