Credit Cards KrisFlyer

OCBC Voyage Card Review (2020)

This is our review of the OCBC Voyage card issued in Singapore. It forms part of our series of credit card reviews, which are all summarised on our dedicated Credit Cards page.

Dollar amounts refer to SGD, and ‘miles’ refer to KrisFlyer miles, except where stated. This review was updated on 1st February 2023.

OCBC Voyage
Card 2020 v2 Small
1.3 mpd
local spend

Unlimited
lounge access

Free airport
limo rides
APPLY HERE
OCBC Voyage
Card 2020 v2 Small

1.3 mpd
on local spend

Unlimited
lounge access

Free airport
limo rides
APPLY HERE

  Mainly Miles Says


The OCBC Voyage card benefits from some nice perks, including a competitive local earn rate and flexible, fee-free transfers into KrisFlyer miles.

There are also complimentary airport limo rides for those spending over $5,000 per month, however the drawbacks include the bank’s new annoying $5 rounding policy for miles accrual, plus a limited selection of airport lounges compared to other cards in this high annual fee category.

  Pros   Cons
  • Voyage Miles never expire
  • 1-mile transfer blocks
  • Generate ‘unlimited’ miles from 1.9 cents
  • 15,000 miles on annual renewal
  • Up to 8 airport limo rides per year
  • Only one miles transfer partner
  • Min. $5 spend to earn miles
  • $5 earning blocks adversely affect ‘real’ earn rate
  • Points don’t pool with other OCBC cards
  • Limited airport lounge selection
  • OCBC’s “Any flight, any time” redemptions can be poor value

  Eligibility


  • Minimum Age: 21
  • Minimum Income: $120,000/yr

The OCBC Voyage card has a $120,000 per year income requirement for all applicants.

  Annual Fees & Interest Rates


  • Annual Fee (principal): $492.50
  • Annual Fee (supplementary): $189 (first two supplementary cards waived for first year)
  • Fee Waiver: $60k+ annual spend (regular), $30k+ (Premier)

The annual fee for the OCBC Voyage Visa card is high at $492.50, though this also gets you 15,000 bonus miles on sign-up and at each yearly renewal. On its own that’s not worth it – you’re paying 3.28 cents per mile which is way too high, but the card does come with some other useful benefits which may make up the value for you.

If you meet a minimum spend of $60,000 in your card membership year, you’ll currently be eligible for automatic annual fee waiver. Premier customers can unlock fee waiver with a reduced spend of $30,000. Any other fee waiver is on request from OCBC. If the annual fee is waived on renewal, the 15,000 bonus miles will not be credited.

You monthly statement shows how much more you need to spend in the current membership year to trigger automatic annual fee waiver on renewal.

Supplementary cards can be added to your account for an annual fee of $189 each (first two cards free in year one), with the same waiver policy described above.

Other fees and interest rates for the OCBC Voyage card include:

  • EIR: 26.9%
  • Interest-free period: 23 days
  • Minimum payment: 3% (or $50, whichever greater)
  • Late payment fee: $100
  • Cash advance fee: 8% (min. $15)
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  Sign-up bonus


The current sign-up bonus for the OCBC Voyage Visa card is one of the following options:

  • 15,000 miles for a $492.50 annual fee (3.28 cents/mile)
  • 150,000 miles for a $3,240 annual fee (2.16 cents/mile)

For the 150,000 miles sign-up option, the entire bonus must be converted to KrisFlyer miles (you cannot hold them as Voyage Miles, see below).

Fun fact: The OCBC Voyage card previously offered a 500,000 miles sign-up bonus option for a $10,000 annual fee, however this was withdrawn in August 2018.

The ‘enhanced’ sign-up bonus option (with 150,000 miles) was also reportedly being re-offered at annual renewal for some cardholders last year, though there is nothing in the terms and conditions about this so it is likely a targeted or temporary offer. You may or may not receive the option.

  Regular earn rates


The OCBC Voyage Visa card earns:

  • 1.3 miles for every $1 spent locally (i.e. transacted in SGD), and
  • 2.2 miles for every $1 spent overseas (i.e. transacted in foreign currency).

These revised earn rates took effect in June 2020, with the card’s bonus earn rate for dining transactions (1.6 mpd) withdrawn.

If you have a banking relationship with OCBC you may be eligible for an OCBC Premier or Bank of Singapore Voyage card. (Photo: OCBC)

If you are an OCBC Premier, OCBC Premier Private Client or Bank of Singapore Voyage cardmember, you’ll get higher earning rates of:

  • 1.6 miles for every $1 spent locally (i.e. transacted in SGD), and
  • 2.3 miles for every $1 spent overseas (i.e. transacted in foreign currency).
Fun fact: The OCBC Voyage card used to cap Voyage Miles accrual to 230,000 per month. That’s right – you couldn’t earn more than 2.76 million miles a year through this card! In case you were worried, there is no longer any cap on the maximum number of Voyage Miles earning.

  Bonus earn rates


OCBC Voyage cardholders can earn up to 7 miles per dollar for hotel bookings in foreign currency and 6 miles per dollar for SGD bookings at Agoda.

This is valid for bookings made before 31st July 2021, for stays through to 31st December 2021, via the following dedicated link:

  www.agoda.com/Voyage

Note that this promo is for prepaid bookings through Agoda, so be careful to shop around for the best price first. Initially you’ll earn at the regular 1.3 mpd (SGD) / 2.2 mpd (FCY) rates, with the bonus element awarded within two calendar months of your completed stay.

Full terms and conditions are available here.

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  Eligible transactions


OCBC awards Voyage Miles on all retail transactions, with the exception of the following:

  • All card fees and charges, card annual fees, membership fees, renewal fees, balance transfer and charges incurred for any balance transfer facility, cash-on-instalment facility and charges incurred for any cash-on-instalment facility.
  • Instalment payment plan, extended payment plan, income tax payment, interest, late payment charges, GST, cash advances, bill payments made via internet banking, and other fees and charges.
  • Payment of funds to prepaid accounts and merchants who are categorised as “payment service providers”, which include (without limitation) EZ-Link, NETS FlashPay, eNETS, SAM, Transit Link and AXS.

There are also some merchant-specific excluded MCC codes, including payments to charitable organisations and for utilities, insurance and education, plus payments to Singapore public hospitals. Grab top-ups are also excluded.

For a full up to date list of exclusions, see the card terms and conditions.

What about CardUp and ipaymy?


At the time of writing the OCBC Voyage card accrues miles normally at the local earn rate for both CardUp and ipaymy transactions, allowing you to accumulate miles on bill payments, monthly rental and income tax, among other invoices.

Remember to check the cost per mile based on the prevailing fee for your transaction type to make sure you’re ‘buying’ miles at a sensible rate when using card payment providers.

 Are KrisFlyer miles credited directly?


No, in fact rather than being credited miles directly you’ll accrue ‘Voyage Miles’ for your regular spending on this card. These transfer to KrisFlyer miles at a 1:1 ratio, so for $10,000 of local spending (regular cardmember), you’ll net 13,000 Voyage Miles, which can be converted to 13,000 KrisFlyer miles.

  Which loyalty schemes can I transfer into?


Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer is the sole frequent flyer program for OCBC redemptions. With the obvious exception of the KrisFlyer co-brand credit cards, that makes OCBC the only bank in Singapore not offering an alternative miles transfer partner, such as Asia Miles or Emirates Skywards (even UOB supports Asia Miles transfers!).

Update: OCBC cards will have 8 new transfer partners added in February 2023. This section will be updated with the details once the transfer ratios have been announced.

That’s a big drawback of the OCBC cards in our opinion, as we often top up our balances in these other programmes to give us oneworld and other partner redemption opportunities.

Be sure to bookmark our continually updated list of which banks transfer where for the latest range of options.

For the best range of transfer partners, look towards Citi, American Express or Standard Chartered cards.

Transfers into KrisFlyer miles are the most popular among our readers, also unlocking Star Alliance redemptions, however it’s much better to have some alternatives too. (Photo: MainlyMiles)

Is there a minimum transfer amount?


The OCBC Voyage card is almost completely unique in Singapore in allowing single miles to be transferred to KrisFlyer.

That’s right, you can transfer as little as 1 mile across, with no upper limit applied.

That means you can transfer exactly the number you need for a redemption, with no wastage. For example if you have 91,250 miles but you want to lock in a Singapore to London saver award in Business Class priced at 92,000 miles, just transfer 750 miles across from your Voyage Miles.

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  When do Voyage Miles credit?


Voyage Miles should reflect in your account once your transaction posts, which takes anywhere between one and three days.

You won’t have to wait until your monthly statement for the points to be added, so if you’re making a purchase to achieve a short-term top-up they should be available to you within a few days.

For example, a $1,000 local purchase on a Monday should see 1,300 Voyage Miles added to your rewards account by Thursday the same week, which you can then transfer to KrisFlyer.

The only exception is bonus Voyage Miles earned from the Agoda promotion, which credit within two months of your completed stay, and Voyage Miles earned from payment of the annual fee, which are credited to your account only on publication of the associated monthly statement.

  Do Voyage Miles expire?


No they don’t, which is great because as you will probably know once transferred into KrisFlyer miles they will then only last for three years. That means no need to keep an eye on the expiration date at the OCBC side, just transfer to KrisFlyer when you need to.

  Voyage Miles don’t pool


Unfortunately the Voyage Miles currency is unique to the OCBC Voyage card, so you can’t pool them with OCBC$ or Travel$ accrued on the Titanium Rewards or 90°N card.

As OCBC states in its terms and conditions “Voyage Miles cannot be transferred, assigned or carried on to any other card issued by OCBC Bank”.

  Three OCBC rewards ‘currencies’


It’s probably a good time to mention that OCBC has three rewards ‘currencies’ across its miles earning credit cards, none of which combine with one another and all of which work slightly differently.

With this card you’ll earn Voyage Miles, which are the most flexible of all with 1:1 transfers into KrisFlyer in single point denominations, and no transfer cost. They also never expire.

  OCBC$ Travel$ Voyage
Miles
Card(s) BluePink Card-2-small-1 Card 2020 v2 Small
Transfer Ratio 2.5:1 1:1 1:1
Min. Transfer 25,000 1,000 1
Transfer Cost $25 $25 $25
Expiry 2 years Never Never

Unfortunately as mentioned above if you hold other OCBC credit cards, you’ll have separate pools of non-combinable points, which are less flexible than Voyage Miles (though the Travel$ associated with the OCBC 90°N card are the most similar).

  What is the transfer cost to KrisFlyer miles?


One great benefit of the OCBC Voyage card was that transfer to KrisFlyer miles were free, though sadly this changed on 1st February 2023, and there is now a charge of $25 for each conversion (yes, even when you convert a single mile!).

Once Voyage miles are transferred into KrisFlyer you’ve got three years to use them, so unless you have an urgent need then it may be better to keep them as Voyage Miles for as long as possible.

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  How long do miles take to credit to KrisFlyer?


The official line is “approximately 21 working days”. That’s probably the worst transfer time between credit card reward points and KrisFlyer miles in the whole of Singapore.

The good news is – it doesn’t actually take that long at all. A few data points show that transfers from Voyage Miles (or OCBC$ if you hold the Titanium Rewards card / Travel$ if you hold the 90°N card), take just 24 hours.

Our most recent transfer from OCBC$ to KrisFlyer met the 24-hour turnaround (transfer requested 12.30pm on a Wednesday, credited to KrisFlyer by 11.30am on the Thursday).

That’s actually one of the faster points to miles transfer times in Singapore.

That means OCBC conversions even make it into our Instant and quick ways to transfer miles to KrisFlyer rundown (also featuring Amex and Citi, for the sake of completeness).

  Points rounding


Since June 2020 a big drawback of OCBC credit cards is that reward points are awarded for every $5 block of spending charged to your card. Any amount charged is rounded down to the next $5 denomination.

That means unless your spend hits a $5 denomination exactly – the bank always wins.

“As an illustration, a customer who spends an amount between S$10 and S$14.99 in a single transaction can earn 23 Voyage Miles (i.e. 11.5 miles per block of S$5 spent). However, a customer who spends S$4.90 in a single transaction, or who spends S$2.50 in one transaction and S$2.50 in another transaction, will not be awarded any Voyage Miles.”

OCBC

When you are charging smaller amounts, it begins to have a big impact on the effective miles per dollar rate you are actually earning for the transaction.

Voyage Miles awarded
Card 2020 v2 Small
Charge
(SGD)
Local Spend FCY Spend
$4.99 0
(0 mpd)
0
(0 mpd)
$5.00 6.5
(1.3 mpd)
11
(2.2 mpd)
$9.99 6.5
(0.7 mpd)
11
(1.1 mpd)
$10.00 13
(1.3 mpd)
22
(2.2 mpd)

One cent can make all the difference here, and to truly optimise the maximum number of Voyage Miles earned, you should plan your spending in $5 blocks especially at the lower transaction levels (e.g. $5 / $10 / $15).

Try to avoid falling just below a $5 block if possible, or only exceed a $5 block by a small amount.

The impact becomes less important with higher amounts, for example let’s say you make a local transaction with your OCBC Voyage card as follows:

  • $244.99 – 312 Travel$ awarded (312 miles / 1.27 mpd)
  • $245.00 – 318.5 Travel$ awarded (318.5 miles / 1.3 mpd)

As you can see falling 1 cent short of a $5 block size in this case isn’t significantly affecting your miles per dollar rate in the same way that a $9.99 vs. $10.00 spend is.

Minimum spend to earn points


Since any amount in Singapore dollars is first rounded down to the next $5 denomination, $5.00 is the minimum transaction amount to earn any reward points using the OCBC Voyage card.

Smaller transactions, including those converted from foreign currency into SGD which are subsequently charged to your card account at less than $5, will not earn any points.

For sub-$5 transactions, consider the DBS Altitude card (see our review) with a $1.67 minimum spend to earn miles, or the Citi PremierMiles card (see our review) with a $1 minimum spend.

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  FCY fee / cpm overseas


OCBC used to charge a 3% fee for credit card transactions in foreign currency, however this was increased to 3.25% in December 2019.

That makes it a fairly average card to use for overseas purchases, with a cost per mile of 1.56 cents. There are still some better cards to focus your FCY spending on, including the UOB PRVI Miles and HSBC Visa Infinite options.

Cost per mile on overseas credit card transactions by card
(Best to worst, August 2020)

Card Fee Miles per $ Cost per mile
image_standard-chartered-visa-infinite@2x02.pngSCVI 3.5% 3.0* 1.22¢*
HSBCviNEW2HSBC VI
(Step up rate)
2.8% 2.25** 1.33¢**
AscendCC.pngKF Ascend
(Jul & Dec)
2.5% 2.0 1.36¢
Card Trans.pngUOB PRVI Miles 3.25% 2.4 1.43¢
Card.pngMaybank Horizon Visa 2.75% 2.0 1.48¢
HSBCviNEW2HSBC VI
(Regular rate)
2.8% 2.0 1.50¢
Card.jpgOCBC Voyage 3.25% 2.2 1.56¢
Altitude Card Amex SmallDBS Altitude Amex 3% 2.0 1.60¢
Card.pngBOC EM 3% 2.0 1.60¢
CardOCBC 90°N
3.25% 2.1 1.63¢
Card2019.pngCiti PM 3.25% 2.0 1.71¢
Altitude Card Visa SmallDBS Altitude Visa 3.25% 2.0 1.71¢
CardX Card 3.5% 2.0 1.83¢
Card 2KrisFlyer UOB 3.25% 1.2 2.86¢

* 3 mpd earn rate for the SCVI card is subject to a minimum spend of $2,000 (any currency) in the same statement cycle.
** Step up earn rate for HSBC VI is only applicable from year 2 of card membership onwards, provided you spent at least $50,000 in the previous year.

Cost per mile also accounts for an additional 0.3% ‘spread’ over money changer currency rates, though this doesn’t apply to all banks and all foreign currencies, so is a worst-case scenario.

However as you can see the OCBC Voyage card does come in cheaper on a cost per mile basis than the Citi PremierMiles and the DBS Altitude cards.

  Any flight, any time redemptions


Here’s an interesting angle to the OCBC Voyage Miles scheme, rather than transfer them to KrisFlyer you can use them to book revenue flight tickets directly – with any airline.

As these are not redemption tickets, award availability is not necessary, and you will earn the normal airline frequent flyer miles and relevant status credits from the ticket purchased using Voyage Miles (they are basically converting Voyage Miles into cash at a specific rate for you in this case).

It sounds too good to be true and that’s where the downside comes in – the value of the miles isn’t that great when they are used this way. It’s more of a ‘cashback’ scheme, and based on reports the value does not always ‘fix’ at the same rate for different bookings.

You’ll need to call up to find out what they will quote you in Voyage Miles for the revenue ticket of your choice.

Using your Voyage Miles to redeem a full fare flight gives you the opportunity to try some alternative airlines and cabin products. (Photo: Etihad)

Generally Voyage Miles appear to be worth anywhere between 1 cent and 2.5 cents per mile when used this way, often a lot poorer value than a KrisFlyer saver redemption, so you’ll almost always want to transfer into KrisFlyer to achieve better value if you can.

Remember though the flexibility offered means this method should not be totally discounted. Some frequent flyer schemes, like British Airways Avios, allow their gold status members to ‘force’ a redemption where one isn’t available by paying double the number of miles required, provided commercial (cash fare) availability exists for a seat in that class on that flight.

In a sense, that’s what you’re doing here, paying more miles (perhaps 50-60% more according to online reports) for the flexibility you don’t always get from KrisFlyer, due to redemption availability constraints.

Whether that represents acceptable value is up to you. Remember to account for the elite status miles and/or PPS Value you’ll earn on these tickets, which you won’t receive on a KrisFlyer redemption.

Pro Tip: If you do use your Voyage Miles to purchase air tickets directly through OCBC, don’t pay the taxes and fees this way. Only use the miles to offset the base fare, otherwise you’ll be getting just 0.5 cents per mile value for the taxes element. That’s worse than KrisPay!

  What else can Voyage Miles be used for?


OCBC allows you to redeem Voyage Miles to offset your statement balance at either 5,000 miles for $50 credit or 10,000 miles for $100 credit. That’s equivalent to a very poor 1% cashback, so definitely isn’t worth considering.

Other voucher-based redemption options are even worse value at around 0.8 cents per mile (e.g. $10 Robinsons voucher for 1,200 miles).

It’s also possible to trade your Voyage Miles through OCBC’s STACK programme into other ‘currencies’, however the conversion ratios are terrible and with 1-mile transfer blocks into KrisFlyer there should be no need even to spend any orphan points this way.

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  Lounge access


The OCBC Voyage card has unlimited access to Plaza Premium airport lounges.

That sounds great, however there are only around 100 Plaza Premium lounges worldwide, with some glaring omissions for our readers based in Singapore, including:

  • No lounges at Changi Terminal 3 (SIA’s main base)
  • No lounges in Bali, Manila, South Korea or Japan
  • No lounges in the USA, and only two useful ones in Europe (for SIA passengers)

This certainly limits the use of this benefit, which pales into insignificance compared to the unlimited Priority Pass lounge benefit with the Citi Prestige card or the unlimited LoungeKey access with the HSBC Visa Infinite (including access for up to five supplementary cardholders at no additional cost).

On the plus side we do find Plaza Premium Lounges are quite good, including one of our favourite third-party lounges at Changi in Terminal 1.

There’s also an impressive one in Jakarta’s new Terminal 3, plus Plaza Premium partners with the (very acceptable) Oman Air lounge in Bangkok.

A guest allowance was previously part of the lounge access deal for OCBC Voyage cardholders, however this was removed in August 2019.

Supplementary cardholders are also entitled to Plaza Premium lounge access, though again no guest allowance is included.

Lounges at Singapore Changi Airport are:

The full list of available lounges under the OCBC Voyage programme is available here.

  Free airport limo rides


OCBC Voyage cardholders used to accrue up to two complimentary limo rides per calendar month, one for every S$5,000 spent on the card, which was up to 24 per year for the big spenders.

Each ‘earned’ ride was then valid for three months. For example if you earned two free rides in January (S$10k+ spend) and two in February (S$10k+ spend), you could then take all four of those in March (even with no spend in March itself).

Sadly, from 1st February 2023, OCBC Voyage cardholders now have to spend S$12,000 in a calendar quarter to accrue two complimentary limo rides (maximum).

Calendar quarters are defined by OCBC as:

  • January to March
  • April to June
  • July to September
  • October to December

Spend is considered by transaction date, based on Singapore timing (UTC + 8 hours).

In other words if you make a purchase on 31st March at 11.30pm Singapore time, it will count as a transaction in the January to March quarter, even though it will almost certainly be charged to your card in April.

Effectively, you will now have to accrue spend of at least S$12,000 in one of the calendar quarters defined above to unlock two complimentary limo rides using this card.

  • S$11,999 in a quarter is not enough (0 rides)
  • S$24,000 in a quarter doesn’t give you any more (2 rides is the cap)

For example, if a new OCBC Voyage card account is opened on 15th February, the cardmember has to meet the qualifying spend of S$12,000+ before 31st March (i.e. in the same calendar quarter), to be awarded two complimentary one-way limo rides.

These limo rides remain valid for a three-month period, as they did before, but this is a significant reduction in the total number of rides that can be accrued, from 24 per year under the old system to just 8 per year now.

You can take up to 8 complimentary limo rides to or from Changi Airport per year with the OCBC Voyage card. (Photo: Shutterstock)

Additionally, an absolute minimum spend of S$12,000 per calendar quarter is required to unlock any free limo entitlement (in fact, two will then be accrued).

Full details are provided in the latest OCBC Voyage TnCs document, effective from 1st January 2023 (though these limo changes come about a month later, according to the website).

We have a full dedicated rundown of which credit cards provide airport limo service, if you wish to compare cards.

Voyage Payment Facility


The OCBC Voyage has had a longstanding income tax payment facility, allowing you to pay your annual IRAS Notice of Assessment and accrue miles for the transaction.

This facility was enhanced in April 2019, and now effectively lets you pay any bill (or just pay yourself, like UOB’s PRVI Pay facility) for a 1.9% or 1.95% fee. This can be a useful way to generate miles from your income tax payment or any other payments you need to make part way through the year.

Note that for any payments made through the Voyage Payment Facility only 1 Voyage Mile (convertible to 1 KrisFlyer mile) is awarded per $1 rather than the usual 1.3 or 1.6 mile rates. 

Voyage Payment Facility
(Image: OCBC)

Funds are credited to your specified bank account. In the case of income tax you must provide your income tax ‘Notice of Assessment’ with your application, then arrange the income tax payment to IRAS yourself.

For ‘other payments’ no evidence of needing the funds for anything in particular is required. The 1.95% fee here means a cost per mile of 1.95 cents each, unless you’re requesting a (rather unrealistic) $150,100+. Also note that for ‘other payments’ a minimum funds transfer of $10,000 is required.

Of course in all cases you must have sufficient credit balance to cover the total.

For example:

  • Annual Income Tax Bill: $5,000
  • OCBC 1.9% Fee: $95
  • Total Payable: $5,095
  • Miles Accrued: 5,000 (5,000 x 1.0)
  • Cost per mile: 1.90 cents (we value KF miles at 1.9 cents each)

This is a good way to accrue miles at a reasonable cost, especially if you use the ‘other payments’ option to top up your KrisFlyer balance to meet a specific redemption level in a short time period (e.g. 10,000 miles will cost you $195 and only takes a few days).

For income tax payments however do note that the Standard Chartered Visa Infinite (SCVI) tax payment facility, which we detailed in our review here, comes out much better with a lower fee and higher miles earning rate – an equivalent cost per mile of 1.1 cents.

You can also refer to our latest update on the best options for earning miles paying income tax in Singapore which shows how the OCBC Voyage card stacks up against various options as there are some other cards offering a better ‘purchase rate’ here including a couple of CardUp methods.

In 2020 the excellent promotional fees of 1.75% offered by both CardUp and ipaymy both came out as attractive options using the OCBC Voyage card with an equivalent cost per mile of 1.32 cents.

Note that even once OCBC pay the total sum of your income tax bill into your bank account under this program, this does not compel you to then pay your income tax to IRAS in one lump sum if you don’t wish to. You can use the credited funds to settle the amount on your credit card statement (usually posted the following month), and then set up a GIRO to pay your income tax in interest-free instalments over the year as normal.

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  Other benefits


For a card charging a $488 per year annual fee – the OCBC Voyage Visa Infinite is a little light in terms of additional perks. Some of the key benefits which will be of most interest to our readers are:

  • VOYAGE Exchange – personal concierge service. This can be helpful for arranging things like restaurant reservations, limo transfers or concert tickets.
  • Complimentary travel insurance when you charge air tickets to your Voyage card. Full details here.
  • 19% off fuel at Caltex, with no minimum spend.
  • Visa Infinite benefits, including a fourth night free hotel deal.
  • A selection of rotating hotel, shopping and dining offers, including specially priced stay packages and discounts.
Merchant promotions including staycation offers

No contactless option


Unlike most credit cards issued in Singapore, the OCBC Voyage does not have contactless payment ability (Visa payWave).

The OCBC Voyage is a metal card. (Image: OCBC)

This is apparently due to the metal material the card is manufactured from (Duralumin), which does not allow embedding of a contactless chip.

You can however add the OCBC Voyage card to Apple Pay, Google Pay or Samsung Pay and then use it at payWave enabled terminals through your mobile device.

  Terms and conditions


Here are links to the full terms and conditions applicable to the OCBC Voyage card and the OCBC Rewards programme.

 OCBC Voyage Card T&C
 OCBC Rewards Programme T&C
 OCBC Credit Card Fees & Charges

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Our summary


The OCBC Voyage Visa Infinite has some nice features – especially fee-free transfers to KrisFlyer and flexible transfer blocks starting at just 1 mile.

The ability to buy a large chunk of KrisFlyer miles from the outset is a rather unique option some will find useful, as is the Voyage Payment Facility letting you buy almost unlimited miles from 1.9 cents each.

(Image: OCBC)

Potentially if you spend enough on the Voyage card, either in Singapore or overseas, you could get 8 complimentary airport limo transfers per annum, and for regular travellers that’s probably saving you over $100 versus a year’s worth of medium-distance taxi or Grab rides.

Fee waiver is also currently offered for those spending at least $60,000 per year, while the Voyage’s “any flight, any time” redemption option provides great flexibility even if it’s not always the best value way to use your miles.

Unfortunately OCBC’s recent move to $5 earning blocks makes this card unsuitable for many smaller transactions, the selection of airport lounges with unlimited access is poor, and for the vast majority converting into airline miles the bank still has only one transfer partner – KrisFlyer.

Our Rating
3.5 / 5
among high income general spend cards

OCBC Voyage Card
Card 2020 v2 Small

APPLY HERE

Best in class: A must-have for the miles earner in Singapore
Excellent: A leader in its category with few if any downsides
Very good: Drawbacks largely outweighed by the positive aspects
Good: Useful benefits despite some poor features vs. other cards
Average: Worth considering but not an essential addition to your wallet
Conflicted: Some benefits but much better cards exist in the same category
Poor: Few benefits worth having
Very poor: Almost no benefits, not recommended
Awful: Not worth considering

Links on Mainly Miles may pay us an affiliate commission.

(Cover Photo: OCBC)

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