Disclaimer: The article and product(s) that is/ are mentioned are non sponsored. All insights are based on personal opinions and researches done. The information would have been updated during the time you read this article. The resources are based on the day of this article being posted.
Have you ever notice the small letters on a Credit Card? (Eg. Platinum, Signature, Infinite under Visa's logo or Titanium, Platinum, World, World Elite above Mastercard's logo)
They are actually reflecting different tiers of credit cards. The tier itself does not affect your payments' transaction, but it sure does affect your user experiences.
Today, we are going to look deep into UnionPay.
UnionPay or China UnionPay is founded in year 2002, a major payment network in China. Currently, it is widely being accepted around the world.
"In partnership with more than 2000 institutions worldwide, UnionPay International has enabled card acceptance in 178 countries and regions with issuance in 61 countries and regions." - https://www.unionpayintl.com/en/aboutUs/companyProfile/introductiontoUPI/
In Thailand, few banks provide Credit Cards with UnionPay scheme, namely Kasikorn Bank, Bangkok Bank and Krungthai Bank.
Among these banks, only Krungthai Bank provides the highest tier of UnionPay Credit Card- Diamond. UnionPay offers 4 tiers of its cards: UnionPay, UnionPay Gold, UnionPay Platinum and UnionPay Diamond.
As it is one of the high tier credit cards offered by Krungthai Bank, it comes along with default benefits of 2x Points for spending on foreign currency and yearly 2 times' access* to Thai Airway's Royal Silk lounge at Suvanabumi Airport in Bangkok.
*Access by vouchers that come along with the package of credit card. The cardholder(s) must present the voucher, together with the issued credit card and Thai Airways' boarding pass, flying internationally. Hence, if the card holder is not flying with Thai Airways, the access of lounge is not granted. However, the cardholder could bring one more passenger for the lounge access.
1. Key Benefits for UnionPay Diamond:
Discounted Price for subscribing DragonPass (Typical lounge pass, similar to Priority Pass offers by major credit card issuers):
A. 62 CNY** (approx 290 THB) per access to any lounge affiliated with DragonPass
**The access could be purchased under promotional price for maximum 2 times per month. If the cardholder is not DragonPass user, he/she would need to apply for annual membership at 20 CNY (approx 93 THB).
For UnionPay Platinum users, per access is priced at 99 CNY (approx 460 CNY) per access and 155 CNY (approx 720 THB) for UnionPay and UnionPay Gold users.
Currently, this benefit is offered till 31 December 2020.
Side note 1: Lounge access really indulge the flying experience. Moreover, DragonPass allows the member redeeming point for one extra passenger.
Please check out the lounges around the world affiliate with DragonPass: https://en.dragonpass.com.cn/airports
B. Besides lounge access, DragonPass does offer limousine service in Mainland China and Taiwan. Starting price for Diamond cardholder is 130 CNY (approx 604 THB) and 195 CNY (approx 906 THB), 300 CNY (approx 1,394 THB) for Platinum and Gold/ UnionPay cardholders.
2. Other Key Benefit for UnionPay in Thailand
A. Special price for AirAsia processing fee at 74.9 Baht for domestic flight and 70 Baht for international flight (Offer is subject to AirAsia’s terms and conditions)
3. Application Requirements
A. Foreigners: Now, this is the tricky part. For foreigners, the required minimum monthly income is 50,000 THB for all the credit card types in Krungthai Bank. Of course, minimum age of 20 years old. Unlike other banks that require just one year working longevity, Krungthai requires at least two years. (From my personal experience)
B. Thais: It is a lot easier, with just 3 months' salary slips (From my personal observation). The required monthly income is 50,000 THB for Unionpay Diamond and 15,000 THB for Unionpay Platinum (15,000 THB is the regular required monthly salary for credit card application for Thais in Thailand)
After the product descriptions, now it's the time for evaluating the card itself, from myself, an actual cardholder. To be short and sharp, will be 3 ups and 3 downs.
Pros:
A. DragonPass: I had accessed lounges via DragonPass from my previous trips. The ease of topping up "points" and verification at counter really wins my heart. All you need is just few taps on your phone.
P.S: Some might argue that we still have to pay for it in term of lounge access. But...Hey! A small discount is better than no discount, right?
Side note 2: I will be covering up another non annual fee card with Free lounge access in the next post, soon.
B. Promo codes provided affiliated with Grab: Currently (April 2020), there is promo code for Grab Food at 120 THB. Before that, there was code "UP80" for 80 THB Grab Car discount (expired on 31st March 2020). From the trend, I strongly believe that the promo codes will keep on coming.
C. Different Currency Exchange Conversion: It might not be a big big deal in most situations, but to utilise things around is my motto, so I will include this as one of the Pros. As in introduction, Unionpay is a payment channel through China. Hence, the foreign currency exchange rate made overseas will be based on CNY. In case, if CNY is lower, you would, might, maybe, probably receive better rate compared to VISA, Mastercard or etc.
Cons:
A. Wide but not that widely accepted: This is totally based on personal experiences. I had tried to use Unionpay issued by Krungthai couple of times when I was travelling back to Malaysia. The merchants at restaurant, supermarket, airline counter tried to swipe my Unionpay credit card, but the transactions would not go through. But it is fine with my Krungthai Visa card.
B. Thai Royal Silk Lounge access by vouchers: This is a con in my point of view. This is not just for Krungthai's top tiers cards, but the same for other issuers. To access the lounge having too much terms and conditions. I used that voucher once (while I am holding 6 in total). Well, it is definitely not a bad experience, Thai Airway is certainly great and the lounge itself is fabulous, but the T&C really holds me back.
C. I could not think of others.
Krungthai UnionPay Diamond card is definitely a "Worth It" card on my list, especially it is a non annual fee credit card. Plus, it is the highest tier's UnionPay credit card.
I know, a lot of credit card issuers offered annual fees waived by just phone call. But default 0 annual fee really reduces the hassle when tracking your credit card(s).
It is to my surprise that Krungthai Bank provides few options of mid-high and high tier credit cards (Visa Signature and Mastercard World) for application of foreigners.
In contrast, Kasikorn Bank requires minimum monthly salary of 70,000 THB for application of their One Siam (Visa Signature) and The Passion (Visa Signature) credit cards.
Aeon Bank (Thailand) requires minimum monthly salary of 70,000 THB as well for application of AEON Royal Orchid Plus World Mastercard, with annual fee of 12,000 THB (waive-able by redeeming 35,000 points)
Krungsri Bank requires minimum monthly salary of 70,000 THB for application of it's Visa Signature credit card, with 4,000 THB annual fee (waive-able by accumulating minimum spend of 300,000 THB in 12 cycles cut a.k.a 1 year)
So, it's either getting higher salary or waiting the clock hits 2 years of working in one company to get a mid-high/ high tier's credit cards.
The foreword for next next article would probably be is it "worth it" to apply credit card(s) with annual fees.
In conclusion for Krungthai Unionpay (either Diamond/ Platinum), it is no harm to get your "next card" from different payment channels. As long as keep in mind that "Spend whatever you would normally spend". Do not make impulse purchases because you have got that extra credit limit.
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