For those unaware, the Standard Chartered Journey Card is a 2023 rehash of the bank’s rather ill-conceived X Card, now taking shape as an entry-level S$30k income general spend option, with a S$196.20 annual fee, waivable in year one, and a year-round 3 mpd earn rate for the first S$1,000 of selected online spend each month.

Since the re-launch, the Journey Card has been offering a generous 45,000 miles sign-up bonus, with 10,000 miles for optional payment of the first year annual fee, plus 35,000 miles when you spend at least S$3,000 on the card in the first 60 days from approval.

That deal expired on 15th January 2024, and Standard Chartered has now tweaked the offer slightly, depending on whether you wish to pay the first year annual fee or not.

Sign-up bonus: Up to 45,000 miles

If you’re a new-to-bank credit card customer with Standard Chartered, which means not having an existing principal credit card with the bank and also not having done so in the last 12 months from the date of application, you’ll be eligible for the Journey Card sign-up bonus.

The latest offer is now available for applications made from 16th January 2024 to 31st March 2024.

  APPLY HERE

You’ll effectively still get the previous 45,000 miles bonus deal if you pay the first year annual fee, but you’ll only be eligible for a 25,000 miles bonus (instead of 35,000 miles) if you want to have the first year fee waived.

Here’s how the new deal works, depending on whether you pay the first year annual fee or not.

Journey Card Sign-Up Bonus
Annual Fee Paid

Bonus Category	Reward Points	Equivalent KrisFlyer Miles
Payment of First Year Annual Fee (S$196.20)	25,000	10,000
Bonus miles on spend of S$3,000+ in the first 60 days	87,500	35,000
Total	112,500	45,000

Journey Card Sign-Up Bonus
Annual Fee Waived

Bonus Category	Reward Points	Equivalent KrisFlyer Miles
Payment of First Year Annual Fee	n/a	n/a
Bonus miles on spend of S$3,000+ in the first 60 days	62,500	25,000
Total	62,500	25,000

Previously, with 35,000 bonus miles available and first year fee waiver, it really wasn’t actually worth paying the annual fee with this card, since you were effectively ‘buying’ miles at nearly 2 cents each when doing so.

However, under this restructured deal it’s now better to pay the annual fee since you’re getting 20,000 more miles in total; 10,000 for the fee payment and an extra 10,000 when you spend.

As you can see, if you opt for annual fee waiver, you won’t be eligible for the 10,000 miles welcome bonus, and you’ll also take a hit on the spend bonus, which is cut to 25,000 miles, though these can be considered ‘free’ provided you have S$3,000 spend coming up anyway.

These bonus miles are an addition to the card’s regular earn rates of 1.2 mpd / 2 mpd / 3 mpd, so for example if you make all S$3,000 spend locally you’ll be looking at an additional 3,600 miles (S$3,000 x 1.2 mpd), though this applies year-round for that spend anyway, so it isn’t part of the bonus.

Spend exclusions

Standard Chartered is excluding transactions which fall under its usual list of excluded spend categories when it comes to qualifying spend for the S$3,000 minimum within 60 days to trigger the bonus miles, as shown below (click to expand).

SCB Spend exclusion categories The following transactions by MCC code are not eligible for 360° Rewards Points (and therefore miles) earning, with new categories added on 3rd September 2024 highlighted: MCC Code Description 4829 Money Transfer   4900 Utilities – Electric, Gas, Water, and Sanitary   5047 Medical, Dental, Ophthalmic and Hospital Equipment and Supplies   5199 Nondurable Goods   6050 Quasi Cash 6051 Non-Financial Institutions 6211 Security Brokers/Dealers 6513 Real Estate Agents and Managers   6529 Quasi Cash   6530 Quasi Cash   6534 Quasi Cash   7299 Other Services – Not Elsewhere Classified 7349 Cleaning, Maintenance and Janitorial Services   7511 Quasi Cash 7523 Parking Lots, Parking Meters and Garages   8062 Hospitals 8211 Schools, Elementary and Secondary 8220 Colleges, Universities, Professional Schools and Junior Colleges 8241 Schools, Correspondence 8244 Schools, Business and Secretarial 8249 Schools, Trade and Vocational 8299 Schools and Educational Services - Other 8398 Organisations, Charitable and Social Service 8651 Organisations, Political 8661 Organisations, Religious   8999 Professional Services (Not Elsewhere Classified) 9211 Court Costs including Alimony and Child Support 9222 Fines 9223 Bail and Bond Payments 9311 Tax Payment 9399 Government Services (Not Elsewhere Classified) 9402 Postal Services - Government Only 9405 Intra-Government Purchases Highlighted transactions with the above listed MCCs will continue to earn rewards points on your card until 2nd September 2024. Transactions posted to your card from 3rd September 2024 onwards will no longer earn rewards points. Additionally, 360° Rewards Points are not awarded for: AXS and SAM payments EZ-Link and Transit Link transactions

Note that CardUp and ipaymy spend is not excluded, so you can potentially settle large payments like property rental, insurance premiums, taxes and education fees to help you along your way to the S$3,000 threshold.

When will you receive the bonus?

If you opt to pay the first year card membership fee of S$196.20, you’ll receive 25,000 Reward Points (10,000 miles) in your account within 60 working days (around 12 weeks) of your card activation date.

If you participate in the 25,000 / 35,000 miles bonus for a spend of S$3,000+ in the first 60 days of card membership, these bonus miles will be credited as follows:

Journey Card approval month:	Bonus miles credited by:
January 2024	30th April 2024
February 2024	31st May 2024
March 2024	30th June 2024

Terms and Conditions

Full terms and conditions for the sign-up offer are available here.

This includes the full list of excluded transactions, when considering the S$3,000 minimum spend to trigger the bonus miles (see Point 10).

About the Journey Card

Since its brand switch from the X Card, the Journey Card retails an uncapped 1.2 mpd for local spend and 2 mpd for overseas spend, while two complimentary Priority Pass lounge visits per year also remain part of the deal.

The card also retains 10 loyalty programme transfer partners including KrisFlyer, though the transfer ratios to many of these (e.g. Qatar Privilege Club) are not attractive and mean earning less than the advertised mpd rates.

In late 2023 Standard Chartered also made a promotional launch 3 mpd bonus earn rate year-round, which applies for the first S$1,000 spend in online transport, online food delivery and online grocery shopping categories per statement cycle.

While it’s not the best rate in these categories, it’s potentially useful for those who already max out monthly caps on their other 4 mpd / 6 mpd cards (remember, the DBS WWMC is cutting its spend cap for 4 mpd online from S$2,000 to S$1,500 in March 2024).

More details about the Journey Card are available here.

Standard Chartered has extended its sign-up bonus for the Journey Card, with 45,000 bonus miles in total available to new-to-bank customers paying the first year annual fee and spending S$3,000 in the first 60 days.

However, those who don’t wish to pay the first year annual fee take a cut compared to before, with a further 35,000 miles bonus now only worth 25,000 miles, making voluntary fee payment in year one a better option in our book.

The full 45,000 miles deal is quite a generous one for a relatively modest spend, worth considering in its own right even if you don’t intend to keep this card long-term.

Fast Facts
Annual fee: $196.20/yr Local earn rate: 1.2 mpd FCY earn rate: 2 mpd Bonus earn rate: 3 mpd Lounge access: 2 per year FCY fee: 3.5% Min. age: 21 Min. income: $30,000/yr
45,000 miles when you spend APPLY HERE

(Cover Photo: Tom Bixler)