OCBC Voyage offering new cardholders up to S$500 worth of rewards

OCBC is offering a rare sign-up promotion for its Voyage credit card over the next couple of months, with a promotion for new cardholders to receive 15,000 Voyage Miles (equivalent to S$200 cash credit) along with S$300 worth of The Warehouse Hotel accommodation vouchers, when you spend S$1,500.

The Warehouse is a 5-star boutique heritage hotel in Robertson Quay.

The hotel vouchers are limited to the first 330 new cardholders to sign up and meet a spend of S$1,500 in the first full month of card membership, so even though the promotion runs from now until 31st May 2021, it’s best to apply and spend soon to stand the best chance of picking up the gift.

The deal

To qualify you’ll have to be new to the OCBC Voyage card, or make sure it’s been at least 12 months since you cancelled your OCBC Voyage card.

Those holding other OCBC credit cards, like the Titanium Rewards, are eligible as new Voyage cardholders.

APPLY HERE

The non-waivable annual fee of S$488 (including GST) must be paid.

You’ll then need to make a minimum qualifying spend of S$1,500 on the card in the first full month of membership, which depends on your card approval month as shown in the following table.

Card Approval Month	Qualifying Spend Period
April 2021	1 Apr – 31 May 2021
May 2021	1 May – 30 June 2021

You’ll then receive the following gifts:

Criteria	Gift	Value
Payment of S$488 Annual Fee	15,000 Voyage Miles	S$200
Qualifying Spend of S$1,500	S$300 Warehouse Hotel Voucher*	S$300*
Total >		S$500

* First 330 new cardholders to meet the spend criteria

Not only is the Warehouse Hotel voucher a new addition, the ‘cash-out’ value of Voyage Miles has been temporarily hiked to 1.33 cents per mile (a 33% increase on the usual 1 cent per mile level), for those not wanting to retain these for transfer to KrisFlyer miles.

With travel options likely to reappear on the horizon from the second half of 2021, however, we would personally still value these miles more in the KrisFlyer programme, for future redemptions, though if you’re happy to cash out at 1.33 cents per mile it’s not the worst rate to do so.

Do note that to take advantage of OCBC’s temporary increased value for Voyage Miles, you’ll have to cash them out on or before 30th June 2021, after which their cash out value will return to 1 cent each.

Provided you value the Warehouse Hotel voucher at S$300 (i.e. you want to stay there and would use it!), you can choose to retain the 15,000 Voyage Miles for a future KrisFlyer transfer, meaning you’re ‘buying’ miles at 1.25 cents each (S$488-S$300 = S$188 ÷ 15,000).

Those who are entitled to receive the S$300 Warehouse Hotel voucher will be notified after the promotion has ended, and will receive the voucher two months from their qualifying spend period end date (i.e. by late July or late August 2021).

Voyage Miles transfer to KrisFlyer miles at a 1:1 ratio, with any conversion amount supported (from as little as 1 Mile) and zero transfer fee, but unfortunately OCBC in Singapore has no other frequent flyer partnerships.

The Warehouse Hotel vouchers

Usually, The Warehouse Hotel vouchers (in S$100 denominations) can be used for a hotel stay or a dining experience at Po Restaurant or the hotel’s Lobby Bar on a different date (i.e. no stay required).

Unfortunately for this promotion, vouchers are only redeemable in full for accommodation at the hotel.

This isn’t too clear in the terms and conditions, so we reached out to OCBC to confirm this.

“The S$300 voucher can only be used for accommodation, and cannot be split. It is applicable only for a one time use.”

OCBC

Qualifying spend and exclusions

Qualifying spend for this promotion includes physical and online transactions that normally accrue Voyage Miles in accordance with the main card terms and conditions (Clause 1).

For excluded transactions, see section 1.4 specifically. Notable exclusions are for GrabPay top-ups, hospitals, schools, insurance and utility payments.

Both CardUp and ipaymy are counted as eligible spend, which could be an easy way to clock up the required total by settling any bill payments or invoices you have due, including for some of the normal exclusion categories.

Bear in mind that your S$1,500 in transactions will have to be posted to your card account by the end of the qualifying spend period, so you’ll need to be making the charge 3-4 days beforehand to be sure it is counted.

Ideally you’ll be clocking up the required spend even sooner than that, however, to try and ensure you’re in the first 330 cardholders to do so, to secure the hotel vouchers.

Terms and conditions

Full terms and conditions for this promotion are available here:

 OCBC Voyage Apply and Spend T&C

About the OCBC Voyage card

The OCBC Voyage card earns 1.3 mpd for local spend and 2.2 mpd for foreign currency transactions, plus it can generate you up to 24 airport limo rides per year for your spend and offers unlimited access to Plaza Premium airport lounges.

For full details about the card, see our comprehensive review covering all its features.

(Cover Photo: The Warehouse Hotel)