Earlier this year, I wrote about the RHB Premier Visa Infinite credit card. As RHB's top of the line credit card for its Premier customers, the benefits of the card was well sought out.
I particularly liked that the card had excellent overseas spending miles accrual, making it an excellent choice for children of RHB Premier customers studying abroad, or someone that travels overseas frequently. You can read my full review of the credit card here.
Recently, RHB has announced significant changes to its lounge access policy and miles redemption policy, both of which are downgrades. However, not all is as bad as it seems, and I figure that the recent updates by RHB are merely in content with the direction the market is heading towards.
Changes to Lounge Access Policy
The first key change to the credit card is it's lounge access policy. Previously, RHB offered unlimited lounge access to its Plaza Premium network of lounges, assuming the cardholder spends at least RM100,000 per annum (which isn't difficult at all for cardholders of this level).
If the cardholder does not meet the spend criteria, 10X access to lounges is given, which is already more than enough for the average cardholder. Both principal and supplementary cardholders share this quota.
The new update now places lounge access in three tiers:
Tier 1:
3X access to lounges for new cardholders in the same year.
Tier 2:
9X access to lounges per annum, with a minimum of RM1000 spent in the previous calendar month.
Tier 3:
Unlimited access to lounges per annum with a minimum spend of RM100,000 in the calendar year.
Based on the update above, I would figure that most cardholders would still fall within Tier 3, but perhaps for the first two quarters of the year, the cardholder might find him/her content with Tier 2 lounge access benefits.
For one, I actually think that the policy makes sense, as it encourages usage on the credit card, given that I'm sure many RHB Premier Visa Infinite cardholders do not actually spend on the credit card given its free-for-life annual fee, and instead, use the card as a means of extra lounge access tokens.
Changes to Airline Miles Redemption
Moving on, let's talk about revisions to airline miles redemption for RHB Premier Visa Infinite cardholders.
The new changes to airline miles conversion are as follows:
For Local Spend: 1X-3X Loyalty Points per RM1 spent
For International Spend: 8X Loyalty Points per RM1 spent
Enrich Miles Conversion Rate: 8000 Loyalty Points for 1000 Enrich Miles
Krisflyer Conversion Rate: 14000 Loyalty Points for 1000 Krisflyer Miles
Enrich Miles Overseas Earning: RM1.00 per Mile
Krisflyer Overseas Earning: RM1.75 per Mile
With RM1.00 per Enrich Mile for overseas spending, the conversion rates continue to be amongst the best in the industry. In fact, the Enrich Miles conversion rate is better than the 1 Airline Mile = RM1.25 conversion rate of the CIMB Travel World Elite credit card.
As for the Krisflyer updated conversion rate, I would argue that the Maybank 2 Cards Premier has slightly better rates at RM1.40 per Mile.
Final Thoughts
Recently, RHB announced some key changes to its Premier Visa Infinite credit card, specifically to its lounge access and miles redemption policies.
Note that the changes are not exclusive to the RHB Premier Visa Infinite credit card, as the RHB Visa Infinite credit card, RHB Visa Signature credit card, RHB World Mastercard credit card/-i and RHB Business Platinum credit card are all affected as well.
However, this blog only covers the top of the line RHB Premier Visa Infinite Credit Card. While these modifications are technically downgrades, they align with current market trends and don’t drastically diminish the card’s value.
The lounge access policy now has three tiers, with access ranging from 3X for new cardholders to unlimited for those spending a minimum of RM100,000 in a calendar year.
This new structure encourages card usage and may still adequately serve most cardholders, given the card’s target demographic.
Furthermore, the airline miles conversion rates have been revised but remain competitive, especially for overseas spending. Now, RM1.00 per Enrich Mile and RM1.75 per Krisflyer Mile make it comparable to offerings from other premium cards like the CIMB Travel World Elite credit card and the UOB PRVI Miles Elite credit card.
In conclusion, while the changes to the RHB Premier Visa Infinite credit card are technically downgrades, they are reasonable adjustments in line with market trends. The card continues to offer competitive benefits, particularly for overseas spending, and the new tiered lounge access policy encourages more active usage of the card.
