In case you missed the news, the Standard Chartered Journey Card is a 2023 rehash of the bank’s rather ill-conceived X Card, and has now taken 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 sign-up bonus of up to 45,000 miles, including 10,000 miles for optional payment of the first year annual fee, when you spend at least S$3,000 on the card in the first 60 days from approval.
The most recent deal was set to expire on 31st July 2024, but Standard Chartered has now extended the offer once again.
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 between now and 31st October 2024.
You’ll effectively be eligible for the 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 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 |
(waived) |
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 |
In a former offer last year, 35,000 bonus miles were available with first year fee waiver, so 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 categoriesThe 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:
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:
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Note the recently-announced MCC exclusions that kick in from 3rd September 2024, which will affect some or all of your spend in the qualifying 60 day period, primarily affecting Utilities and Hospital payments.
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: |
| July 2024 | 31st October 2024 |
| August 2024 | 30th November 2024 |
| September 2024 | 31st December 2024 |
| October 2024 | 31st January 2025 |
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 retains 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 previously had 10 loyalty programme transfer partners including KrisFlyer, though the transfer ratios to many of these (e.g. Qatar Privilege Club) were not attractive and meant earning less than the advertised mpd rates.
That’s academic now anyway.
Nine of the 10 partners were removed from late March 2024, though on the plus side Asia Miles was finally added to the list, meaning there are now two conversion options remaining; KrisFlyer and Asia Miles.
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 cards.
The DBS WWMC recently cut its spend cap for 4 mpd online from S$2,000 to S$1,500, while the UOB Lady’s cards axed their temporary 6 mpd earn rate, reverting back to 4 mpd, plus the Solitaire version got a 33% reduction in its monthly spend cap from S$3,000 to S$2,000.
More details about the Journey Card are available here.
Summary
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 who apply by 31st October 2024, pay the first year annual fee, and spend S$3,000 in the first 60 days.
Those who don’t wish to pay the first year annual fee will only earn 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
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| 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 |
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| 45,000 miles when you spend APPLY HERE |
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(Cover Photo: Aneta Foubikova)