It was good for awhile, but I guess it couldn't last.

Once I lose the 5x TP for Amex and the 4.77 points per KF/AM/Enrich mile I'm out. Thanks Maybank.

Again it depends on your primary objective. Most of us have moved away from Enrich and are focusing more on Asia Miles or Krisflyer so the HLB VI doesn't do anything here. The Wise with cashback might be a different story though, at least there is real cash involved.

For me RM12k-15k annually are with utilities/petrol/government, maybe slightly more. So potentially 25% of my spend.

For me one alternative might be the Amex Gold Credit card which still earns 5x Membership Rewards for petrol (~RM1.2 per AM/KF/Enrich).

Amex Gold is still free for life, so at least I won't worry about having to meet a minimum annual spend. The biggest problem with Amex gold is splitting the spend ie. my points will be spread across Treatspoints and Membership Rewards, never a good idea unless you have 6-figure or higher spend.

The new chart sucks. I will still keep the M2P card until I get hit by the RM800 annual fee in August, then time to cancel...

Thanks for the data point, in other words Maybank is looking at the merchant code/category, not what currency it's being charged.

So if your merchant code is government then you won't get 5x treat points no matter what currency it's charged in.

The welcome pack is meh. If you want mine you're welcome to it Have had it for 1.5 years and it's just sitting unused on my desk at the office...

I would love to find out how you can pay a TT with a credit card.
Even if it were possible, the fees involved is typically a lot higher than just paying straight to the merchant, assuming the merchant accepts cards.

Given your level of spending can't you qualify for the Maybank Diamante? Does that still qualify for 5x TP?

You need roughly 800k AM/KF/Enrich?

I don't understand Maybank, sometimes I think they are out of touch with their customers if they're not allowing spending at youur level to get a decent card...

750k AM sounds like a fun trip. My stash of miles is quickly winding down as well due to reduction in spending, plus a lot of redemptions over the past 1.5 years.

Good luck.

Do keep us up to date on how this is resolved. Maybank customer service is typically slow, but they do eventually come around to fixing stuff. I would like to see some good news coming out of Maybank as well after the recent TP earnings devaluation.

This is awesome news, thanks for the info.

Do I just go to the cashier with my TNB bill? Will do it next time I'm at Nu Sentral!

Even without business expenses, a larger household can get close to that amount. Groceries (~RM2-3k) + utilities (TNB + mobile + astro + unifi) + fuel is already 4-5k per month. Add a holiday or two plus festivities and you can easily top RM80k per year.

If it's TNB have you tried the myTNB app itself? I've successfully paid my bill with my Amex card previously.

My Premiere card annual fee will hit me in a few days, based on last year's statement it'll be in late August and I'm only at the RM75k range this year since most of my normal spend is on other cards.

Tempted to cancel because I'm annoyed at Maybank's attitude but the earning potential is far too lucrative...

That's an interesting idea, but 5k is basically almost 6 months of groceries or almost a year's worth of petrol

I will call in or drop by the Maybank center at KLCC tomorrow. I haven't received my PIN enabled card anyway...

I have access to US based credit cards where sign up bonuses are king. This year alone I have received in excess of 600k points across various credit card sign up bonuses, after $15-20k of spending which is where most of my charging goes to. Once the sign up bonuses are done though I still go back to Maybank Premiere cards especially Amex Reserve since that gives me many more points per USD/RM spent.

I have access because I lived/work in the US for many years so not an issue for me.
These are general steps, and all theoretical based on potentially outdated/flawed info. I'm sure I've posted this before, but am reposting again.

0. You need a forwarding address. Apply for one, pay the $x monthly and use this as your mailing address. Google for options.
1. You need a VPN, some sites use geo-location or IP-location and won't work if you're outside the US.
2. You need a social security number (SSN). Open an investment account, make sure you make a taxable profit, then apply for a SSN to pay taxes in the US.
3. You need credit history, typically one year or more. Once you have that SSN, apply for a basic credit card using the address in #0 as your mailing address. Forward the card to Malaysia.
4. Monitor your credit history (FICO scores, creditsesame, creditkarma) and start applying once you've established a long enough record

In short you're going to have to invest money, around US$20-30 per month for #0 and #1, and time, around 6-18 months for #2 and #3 before you can start with the big leagues eg. Chase Sapphire Reserve for 100k Ultimate Rewards points or Amex Platinum for 100k Membership Rewards.

The big advantages are of course the large sign up bonuses, plus the value of each point is higher in the US. Each US Membership Reward is a one to one transfer to the likes of Asia Miles or Krisflyer for example, not the crummy 6000 points to 1000 miles we get in Malaysia. Also pretty much all the steps above can be done online and you don't have to fly there regularly.

The disadvantages are primarily money/time already mentioned, plus the foreign exchange issues. You need to make a certain amount of expenditure, and you basically need to transfer money from Malaysia to the US regularly to pay for these cards.

The biggest disadvantage is that the banks are already starting to reduce their bonuses. You used to be able to churn cards, ie. apply, meet spend, cancel, repeat which is how I accumulated millions of miles over the years. Not anymore as the economy has strengthened and banks no longer need the customers as they had when the financial crises started. Amex has a once a lifetime bonus, Chase has their 5/24 rule, Citi also has limitations now. IMO the golden age of points/miles was probably 2-4 years ago, now slowly fading away...

This post has been edited by tishaban: Aug 30 2016, 09:52 AM

Yeah I personally wouldn't mind reducing my large credit limit right now. Fraud, which I've had to deal with before, it a real concern. I typically barely use 10% of my limit most months, sometimes up to 20% only.

That's a fair statement, which also relates very much to how much most people are actually spending in a year. I always tell folks that if you're not gaining at least 30-40k miles (not TP) in a year, then a card like the premiere is not worth the annual fee, you can't get enough value out of it compared to a cashback card.

Many don't put enough thought or analysis into it, which is the banks' gain...

Best to read up the prior posts here and check the Krisflyer website yourself. There's more to an award redemption than how many points for a flight, including availability of award tickets, number of award seats per flight etc.