Welcome back to Part 2 of my 2025 Airline Miles Strategy!
In Part 1, we explored the changing landscape of credit cards in Malaysia and why stability and planning are crucial for success in airline miles accumulation.
Now, it’s time to dive into my personal strategy for 2025, including a look back at 2024, the cards I’ll be prioritizing this year, and practical advice to help you make smarter decisions for your travel goals.
Let’s get started! If you don't wish to see me rambling, feel free to skip to my credit card picks.
Looking Back: My 2024 Airline Miles Journey
2024 was a transformative year for me, both personally and professionally. With a significant career change that took me halfway across the world, it was a year of adjustment, reflection, and strategy.
But despite these changes, let me assure you—I’m not some retired millionaire or high-flying executive with unlimited spending power. I’m just like you, navigating the world of airline miles to maximize every ringgit spent.
In the first half of 2024, I was happily based in Malaysia, and my go-to credit card was the CIMB Preferred Visa Infinite. This choice might surprise some of you, but the unexpected launch of an 8X Bonus Points for Dining campaign by CIMB in January made it an easy decision. It was a pleasant surprise for many miles enthusiasts, myself included.
To make things even better, when CIMB launched a consolidated spend campaign, it was honestly a no-brainer at that time. The strategy was simple: Use my CIMB Travel World Elite in London, while keeping my CIMB Preferred Visa Infinite at home for my wife, hahaha.
Since I already held the CIMB Travel World Elite, it was a natural progression to add the Preferred Visa Infinite to my portfolio, especially as CIMB pools points across its credit cards.
By early 2024, I had already set my sights on spending Christmas in Japan, working toward that goal with my miles strategy firmly in place. But as life would have it, everything changed when I made the leap to a new career in the UK. This move meant rethinking my entire plan. Flying from London to Tokyo requires significantly more miles than from Kuala Lumpur, so I had to reassess my priorities.
Given these changes, I shifted my focus to maximizing miles for long-haul flights between London and Kuala Lumpur rather than medium-haul trips like KL to Japan. Fortunately, my CIMB Travel World Elite proved to be a lifesaver. With its 10X Bonus Points for overseas spending, using it 24/7 in London rapidly accelerated my points accumulation.
By the end of the year, my efforts paid off.
I redeemed a luxurious QSuite one-way flight back to KL for myself, brought my family of four to Japan via Cathay Pacific, and even managed a few domestic redemptions on Japan Airlines using British Airways Avios.
These redemptions were not just about maximizing value but creating unforgettable experiences for my loved ones.
Even after all these redemptions, I still have a healthy stash of CIMB Bonus Points (albeit not enough for a full family trip.
These points will likely fund my summer trips in 2025 and possibly contribute to my plans for the 2025 Christmas season.
What Matters Most to Me in 2025
After a year filled with ups and downs, I’ve taken the time to reflect and reassess my priorities for 2025. At the core of my strategy are three key considerations that will shape how I approach airline miles and travel this year.
Oneworld Emerald Status
Maintaining Oneworld Emerald status remains a top priority for me in 2025. Currently, I hold Enrich Platinum status, which grants me this coveted tier, and it has been the most valuable perk during my travels this past year—particularly as I’m now based in London.
For anyone familiar with London airports, you’ll know how chaotic they can be, with endless queues at check-in and security.
Oneworld Emerald’s fast-track check-in and security privileges have been indispensable, saving me hours and making my journeys far more seamless.
That said, while I’ve flown enough to retain my Enrich Platinum status until 2026, I’m re-evaluating whether I should continue crediting my Oneworld flights to Enrich in the long term.
With British Airways’ recent loyalty program revamp making status accumulation more challenging and Malaysia Airlines' continued decline in value, I’m considering alternative strategies. However, that’s a topic for another day.
Spending Holidays in East Asia
Looking ahead, I know that East Asia—particularly Japan—will play a significant role in my travel plans. There’s something uniquely comforting about spending Christmas in Japan. It feels more “homey” to me compared to the hustle and bustle of the holiday season in Europe.
Moreover, my family shares this sentiment. They’ve expressed a strong desire to spend future holidays in Japan, which makes it a top consideration in my travel and miles strategy. Ensuring I have the right credit cards and airline loyalty programs aligned with this goal will be critical for the next few years.
Credit Card Benefits That Matter
Interestingly, lounge access has taken a backseat in my decision-making when it comes to credit cards. As an Enrich Platinum and Oneworld Emerald member, I already enjoy access to a wide range of premium airline lounges.
That said, a few non-airline lounges did impress me in 2024, such as the Plaza Premium First at KLIA, which I’ve visited countless times, and the Plaza Premium Lounges in Europe, which I found to be superior to some airline lounges.
I've also visited the Infinity Room which sits inside the Plaza Premium First in Hong Kong last month, but although great, it still pales in comparison to the brilliant Cathay Pacific lounges at Hong Kong International Airport.
However, these are exceptions rather than the rule, and lounge access alone is no longer a deciding factor for me.
One benefit I’m particularly eyeing for 2025 is enhanced concierge services. Both Mastercard and Visa offer concierge services for booking dining reservations, travel arrangements, and more.
In my experience, Visa’s concierge has been more reliable than Mastercard’s, but both still leave much to be desired.
As someone who frequently travels to countries like Japan, where dining reservations can be notoriously difficult, a robust concierge service would be incredibly useful. For this reason, I’m placing greater emphasis on cards with superior concierge offerings in 2025.
My Credit Card Picks for 2025
Sticking with CIMB—For Now (Until Q2/2025)
In Q1/2025, I’ve decided to remain within the CIMB ecosystem of credit cards, though not entirely by choice. The main reason is the ridiculous 75,000:5,000 Bonus Points-to-miles conversion threshold.
To avoid being left with unused points, I need to continue spending on my CIMB cards until I meet the next conversion threshold. It’s as simple as that.
However, let me be clear—CIMB does not have the highest MPR (Miles Per Ringgit) rates in Malaysia. In fact, they trail behind the market leaders by 20–30%. So, why stick with CIMB at all?
The answer lies in the unique value proposition that CIMB offers: a realistic path to flying on some of the best business class products in the world, with higher availability of award seats.
For example, Qatar Airways QSuites—widely regarded as one of the best business class experiences—are significantly easier to redeem via Qatar Airways’ Avios program than through other Oneworld carriers like Cathay Pacific Asia Miles.
CIMB’s ability to convert Bonus Points directly to Qatar Airways Avios is a massive advantage, unmatched by any other Malaysian bank. Additionally, CIMB’s conversions to British Airways Avios provide further flexibility for redemptions. You can actually move your BA Avios around between Finnair, Iberia and Qatar Airways. I previously wrote about this here.
That said, with my travel plans shifting to East Asia in 2025 and 2026, I’ve started questioning whether sticking with CIMB is worth the hassle, especially with its high thresholds.
My focus for the next two years will be on redeeming miles for Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer and Cathay Pacific Asia Miles, given Singapore Airlines’ upcoming fleet overhaul and Cathay Pacific’s new Aria Suite Business Class.
But besides these two airlines, I also have access to three other airlines via the Oneworld alliance and Star Alliance. In total, I have 5 airlines to choose from to travel to Japan in terms of seat availability, so I'm not entirely worried.
This brings me to the UOB Visa Infinite, which I recently added to my wallet.
While I haven’t spent on it yet, as I continue to use CIMB for now, I’m prepared to transition fully to UOB once I finalize my 2025 travel plans by the end of January.
In fact, I'm even considering transitioning into a UOB Privilege Banking wealth customer. However, the differences between the UOB PBVI and UOB VI are simply not good enough to commit that much of AUM.
There's only one thing holding me back from making the jump to UOB...drumroll please!
Refined Points has heard rumours of a new premium credit card launching in Q1 2025, which could potentially shake up the market. I’m waiting to see what this card has to offer before making any permanent decisions.
Overall, this is a significant move, given my two-year history with CIMB, but I’m ready to prioritize cards that align better with my evolving travel goals. At the same time, I'm dreaming of the day where UOB finally partners up with Avios, in which case I can finally retire from writing these articles!
Supporting or Backup Cards
In addition to my primary cards, I maintain a few supporting or backup cards to complement my overall strategy. These cards are not the main drivers of my miles accumulation but serve specific purposes based on spending patterns.
Alliance Bank Visa Infinite & Virtual Visa Platinum
I continue to use this card combo primarily for e-wallet top-ups, which offer up to RM6,000 combined cap per month. Factoring in the 1% top-up fee, this translates to an MPR of 0.5 (from 0.53), earning a small amount of Enrich Miles.
These miles are reserved for short regional flights within ASEAN on Malaysia Airlines and are not part of my broader airline miles strategy.
Maybank World Elite Mastercard
I'm sure you're probably scratching your head as to why I've gotten this credit card!
While this card’s airline miles accrual rates are lackluster, I hold it solely for its free hotel night in London (a significant perk for me as I’m now based there) and its lounge access benefits.
Additionally, Maybank granted me a generous annual fee waiver, making this card worth keeping for ancillary benefits such as lounge access. That said, I do not recommend this card for anyone focused on earning airline miles, as it doesn’t compare favorably with alternatives like the CIMB Travel World Elite which also runs on the Mastercard World Elite branding.
These supporting cards play minor roles in my overall strategy, but they’re helpful in niche scenarios and provide added flexibility when needed.
Closing Thoughts on My 2025 Wallet
As you can see, my 2025 strategy focuses heavily on optimizing primary cards while using supporting cards for specific, practical purposes.
Choosing the right card is all about aligning it with your travel goals, redemption plans, and spending habits. I’ll touch more on this in the final section, where I provide a framework for readers to identify the best cards for their needs.
How to Choose the Right Card for Your Spending
While this article primarily focuses on my personal strategies for 2025, I want to offer a quick recap for those trying to decide which credit card is best suited for their goals this year.
If you’ve been following my blog, you’ll know I’ve written extensively on this topic in other articles, but here’s a streamlined guide to help you get started.
1. Identify Your Travel Goals First
Your travel destination should always be the top priority when choosing a credit card. Remember, earning points and miles takes time.
If you’re starting from scratch in January 2025 with a goal to redeem five business class tickets to South Korea for your family by December, let me be honest—that’s highly unlikely.
Instead, set realistic goals. For instance, being able to redeem 2-3 tickets for a family of 5 while paying cash for the remaining seats is already a significant achievement that many can’t accomplish. Even if your travel plans change, sticking to a strategy aligned with your original goals will rarely lead to major regrets.
Take my case, for example. Although my focus is shifting to UOB for East Asia travel, the miles I earn can still be used for flights to Europe if needed. While redeeming seats for Europe might be slightly more challenging due to lower availability, it’s certainly not impossible. Flexibility within your chosen strategy is key.
Note that my world map above is just meant to be a quick illustrative example, but let me recap:
ASEAN | AmBank | AmBank Enrich Visa credit cards, for regional Malaysia Airlines flights. |
Oceania | AmBank | AmBank Enrich Visa credit cards, given Malaysia Airlines good coverage across Australia |
Asia | UOB | UOB via KrisFlyer and Asia Miles |
Europe, Americas | CIMB | CIMB via Avios, Etihad, Emirates. Basically a no-brainer. |
2. Spending Power Over Annual Income
When it comes to earning airline miles, monthly spending power and your category of spend are far more important than your annual income.
Let’s break this down. Even if you earn RM300,000 a year and hold the best credit cards on the market, it won’t help much if your spending habits don’t align with the card’s earning categories.
For example, a card that rewards dining heavily won’t benefit you if most of your spend is on groceries or online shopping. Similarly, overextending yourself to earn miles—spending beyond your means—is never a wise strategy. Financial health should always come first.
I’ve observed individuals with annual incomes of RM120,000 who supplement their earnings through investments or side hustles, bringing their cumulative spending power to RM8,000–10,000 per month. By focusing their spend on specific categories like dining or travel, they accumulate significant points efficiently.
On the other hand, I’ve seen high-income earners who spend sparingly across scattered categories, leading to slower miles accumulation. For those who don’t spend heavily in any one category, buying flights outright and skipping the miles game altogether might be a more practical approach.
The takeaway? Pick a credit card that aligns with both your spending power and the categories you spend most on. Focus on where your money naturally goes—dining, travel, groceries, e-wallets—and choose cards that reward those categories best.
The table I’ve provided is based on monthly local dining spend, as dining is a major category of my personal spending. While it’s impossible to recommend the perfect card for everyone—since each person’s spending patterns are unique—this table reflects what works best for someone like me, who spends a substantial amount on dining each month.
What you should take away from this is to first assess your spending pattern. Which category do you spend the most on? Is it dining, groceries, travel, or something else? Once you identify your key category, selecting the right card becomes much clearer.
For example, if you’re like me and dining makes up a large portion of your spending, cards with high MPR (Miles Per Ringgit) rates for dining are an obvious choice. On the other hand, if your focus is on online spending or e-wallets, you’ll need to explore cards that reward those categories better.
By aligning your card selection with your spending habits, you’ll maximize the value of your spending and accumulate miles more efficiently. Remember, the goal is to make your credit card work for you—not the other way around.
Final Thoughts
As we step into 2025, the key to any successful airline miles strategy is simple: plan with intention and align your efforts with your goals.
Throughout this article, I’ve shared my personal strategy, insights, and the rationale behind my choices for the year. While my approach may not fit everyone, I hope it inspires you to take a closer look at your spending patterns and the opportunities your credit cards present.
Remember, there’s no one-size-fits-all solution in this game.
If I can leave you with one piece of advice, it’s this: think long-term. Earning points and miles is not an overnight endeavor—it’s a marathon, not a sprint. Focus on steady, meaningful progress and don’t get discouraged if you can’t immediately achieve all your goals. Even small wins, like redeeming two out of five tickets for a family holiday, are worth celebrating.
As you refine your own strategy, always prioritize cards and programs that align with your travel goals, spending patterns, and financial capabilities. Don’t overspend just to chase miles, and don’t let the complexities of the game overwhelm you. With the right approach, even modest spending can unlock extraordinary travel experiences.
Here’s to a rewarding year ahead! Let’s make 2025 the year of smarter spending and unforgettable journeys.
