HONDA & TOYOTA (Revision 05)

HONDA CIVIC 1.5 TURBO: (Year 2020 - Present)

TOYOTA ALTIS 1.6: (Year 2015 - Year 2020)

HONDA CIVIC 1.8: (Year 2012 - Year 2015)

Just the car cost itself (with COE of course), the total car ownership cost for 18.5 years is S$200,512. 

In average, S$10,838 per year.

Revision 05 (last paragraph): updated on January 4, 2022.

Revision 04: updated on February 28, 2021.

Revision 03: updated on September 29, 2020.

Revision 02: updated on December 15, 2015.

I bought my first used car in April 2012. A pearl white Honda Civic 1.8 lit with a price tag of S$44,000. I have scrapped the car earlier in November 2015 with a return value of S$11,000. My COE will be expire in February 2016 instead.

So, literally, the car cost was S$33,000 for 3.5 years of usage (after getting back the car scrap value).

My beautiful used car:

 

 

April 2012 - car mileage was 84,206 KM
November 2015 - car mileage was 117,064 KM

In this 3.5 years of car usage, the car mileage clocked total of 32,858 KM.

In average, I run the car for 9,388 KM per year.

I finally know why everyone said Honda Civic is a reliable car.

For the past 3.5 years , I only spent S$2,344 for the car maintenance. It is average S$669+ per year! I only do car standard maintenance once in a year !

The Honda Civic car engine gave me zero problem for a nearly 10th year old car, can you believe it ? Zero problem !

Out from this S$2,344 car maintenance cost, it is good to point out the following items:

(1) I spent S$500 for 4 pieces of new car tyres.

(2) I changed my car battery in October 2012 and it still run well in November 2015 ! The car battery last for 3 years and more ! It is worth to mention the car battery is AMARON (12V 45 MAH type).

 

Of course, you have to pay insurance and road tax every year.

 

Road tax for 1.8 lit car is S$978 per year.

 

Car insurance average is S$1,600 and it will go lower and lower. I have yet to reach the 50% no claim limit discount.

 

Last but not least, you also need to include the car park fees and petrol cost.

 

In summary, I love Honda Civic car a lot. It is truly a fun car to drive.

 

I have since bought a brand new Toyota Altis in November 2015 and I will share more about the experience with Toyota here. Of course , Honda Civic is better than Altis but in terms of price, of course, Altis presents a much better value car, that is the key reason I bought Altis especially the new version of Altis looks so much better than the older generation, so, why not give it a try ?

 

So, this blog will be a continuous blog of my car experience with Toyota Altis thereafter. :)

 

Updated on December 15, 2015

=======================

 

Toyota Altis: (mine is pearl white again)

 

 

 

I bought a new Toyota Altis in early November 2015 with a price tag of S$110,000 nett.

 

 

 

 

 

It is a 1.6 lit. pearl white elegance series. It is a free upgrade that worth S$7,000.

 

This also include free 1 year servicing (4 times @ 1,000 KM, 5,000 KM, 10,000 KM and 20,000 KM). It has 5 years warranty for the car engine with unlimited mileage.

 

It is worth to take note the road tax for 12 months is now S$594 for a 1.6 lit. car.

 

The COE secured is S$56,001.

 

Do let me know if the Altis elegance series price start to drop below S$110,000 level. That has to be in line with the COE price drop, obviously.

 

My new baby now:

 

After driving almost 900 KM with Toyota Altis, let me share some views of this car in comparison with Honda Civic.

 

What I like:

 

(1) The price is great. At least it is cheaper than Honda Civic by S$15,000. I can use the price difference for Altis maintenance cost for 10 years ! :)

 

(2) The car looks great. The doors look like Lexus IS250. :)

 

(3) Even though it is a 1.6 lit car, the power is still not bad, acceptable.

 

(4) The noise isolation of this Altis is superb. It is extremely quiet once you close the door. I am impressed.

 

(5) Extremely fuel efficient. I will share more on that.

 

(6) And many more small little items like key less ignition, electric adjustable seat, built in GPS, auto LED light.

 

What I think it can be better:

 

(1) The steering wheel is too light for me but I somehow get used to it.

 

(2) The movement of the gear box is like a toy. Oh boy, luckily I don't have to change gear often like a manual car. The movement is not shiok like Honda Civic.

 

(3) The car compartment design is really bad. They should just copy Honda Civic. Civic compartment in the car is super.

 

Toyota Altis has a scrap value of S$9,800

Honda Civic scrap value is S$10,000

Honda City scrap value is S$4,500.

 

I have once calculated the standard and major maintenance until 80,000 KM ( I probably only able to clock 80,000 KM in 10 years time or lesser). The maintenance cost would be S$ 1,575 for 10 years from Toyota Service Centre. That's not too bad indeed. (The cost breakdown will be shared in the next revision).

Updated on September 29, 2020

=======================

I will trade in the Toyota Altis on October 13, 2020 for S$50,000 and I lost the car scrap value of S$9,800. 

Technically speaking , I paid S$60,000 to drive the new car for 5 years.

S$12,000 to own the car for a year. 

I have driven about 75,000 KM.

My next servicing is scheduled to be end of Q4 2020 and I skipped it due to the trade in.

Hence, my maintenance cost for this car was S$3,769.20. It includes new tyres cost of S$565.

In average, I pay S$753 per year. The cost does not include the road tax, VICOM car test, ERP, car park fees, etc..

As for the car insurance paid for the past 5 years, total paid: S$4,300++.

Goodbye Toyota Altis.

It is indeed a good reliable Japanese car. No problem at all. 

Updated on February 28, 2021

========================

(1) 13th October 2020

- New car collection!

- FREE 6 months road tax worth S$342.

- 5 years extended warranty (unlimited mileage)

- FREE 3 years servicing (7 times or up to 60,000KM)

- FREE front recording camera

- FREE Honda coilmat

- COE: S$41,510

- KahShield Undercoating/ Rustproofing, paid S$256.80.

- After 10 years scrap value will be S$14,487 (Minimum PARF Benefit)

(2) 30th October 2020

- paid S$540 for BlackNano coating (including windscreen coating on all glass panels, GYEON RIMS coating on all 4 rims, Interior coated with GYEON leather COAT and head and tail lamps coating. 36 months warranty, where covering gloss, uneveness of coating as well as peeling and cracking on the coating.

(3) 13th November 2020

- FREE first car servicing

- used Shell Helix Ultra 0W-20 Fully Synthetic Motor Oil

For the past 5 months car driving experience, I only can say this Honda Civic 1.5 Turbo indeed is a fun car to drive! 

Simply LOVE it !

Picked latest color in year 2020: Coffee Cherry Red Metallic.

Divine Exchange. :) Traded in 5 years old Toyota Altis for S$50,000.

Honda Civic 1.5 Turbo engine.

After NanoBlack coatings.

Used during the first FREE car servicing at Honda Service Centre.

Updated on January 4, 2022

========================

One year detail expenses for Honda Civic 1.5 Turbo are shown below.

Keep track the petrol usage for fun. : ) 

The Honda Civic 1.5 Turbo has a petrol tank size of 47 liters.

One year net car petrol cost S$2,136.77. 

That's S$178.06 per month.

Total distance traveled within a year: 12,378KM.

Total 1 year spent (1st year) : S$3,489.86 . Average per month: S$290.82.

I don't have to go through ERP gantry to work and also no ERP gantry when I drive back home.

I also do not have to pay for car park fee at work place as well as the residence place.

However, I do have to pay car park fee elsewhere and that can round out the average spent per month to be S$300.

Horizon Hills - Reap LOW Sell HIGH

I have the permission from the owner to share this piece of information. He is one of my buddies and also a successful investor.

He bought a Corner Terrace house at Horizon Hill, Gateway Precinct, unit size is 22” x 70” and land size is 32” x 70” during the launch time in year 2006 for RM 350,000. He spent about RM100, 000 on renovation, made it a beautiful sweet home for self-stay after the key collection in year 2009.
He then sold the unit in late year 2012 for a cool price tag of RM 1,250,000. That’s right, a windfall of RM900, 000 FAT GAIN.

This is a classic example of reaping at LOW price and sell at the PEAK. It is a pure luck. Sound like a stock market, isn't it ?

The new owner of the unit is trying to sell at RM1,000,000 and there are no takers yet. It is not a rocket science to know it is the timing of the market + beautiful renovation that fetch the previous PEAK price.

Oh ya, you also need some sheer luck to ensure that your neighbor unit don’t spoilt the potential buyers first impression. Some neighbors don’t really care about their compound and the grass just simply grows and it will deteriorate your house value if your unit is right next to it. You are daydreaming if you think your neighbor can be sold at “such price” meaning your unit can too. It depends, really, maybe even more?

That’s one piece of information to share. It is good news for all the Horizon Hill owners.

For all the potential buyers and sellers (regardless of what properties), you always need a bank valuation to obtain the housing loan. By then, you will truly know what is your unit market price. You can have all the sky high asking price but the buyer must be ready to fork out any differences between the asking price and the market valuation by CASH. It is the same for Singapore properties purchase too.

Good luck for all the investors.

Summary: Investment Linked Plan/ Endowment Plan / Whole Life Insurance

After writing 3 articles about ILP, Endowment Plan and Whole Life Insurance in one day, it seems like many people are still confused about the three products. Hence, I shall draw summaries and key takeaways for these 3 products.

 Investment-Linked Plan (ILP)

------------------------------------------

 

Investment-Linked Plan performance is purely based on your selected funds. You can buy Singapore Growth fund, Asia Growth fund etc. You can also split your monthly payment, 50% into Emerging Country fund or 50% into China fund. So, your fund performance is solely depends on the funds you have picked. The projected 5%, 9% returns of course are non guaranteed portion. That is just an illustration if your fund yields a 5% return or 9% return. That is why there WILL NOT be any guarantee portion. How can an insurance company guarantees such guarantee returns regardless of the funds you have chosen? It does not make sense.

 

Endowment Plan

------------------------ 

As for Endowment Plan, there is no fund for you to choose from. You just buy and wait for the performance of the investment of the insurance company. Of course, they also take your monies and invest but you have no control, they have. Therefore, they do have guarantee portion for Endowment plan and as well as non guarantee portion. Usually, with endowment plan, the insurance company tends to be more conservative in investing because they need to make sure they are able to pay the guarantee portion. They will not bet your monies into high risk products or buying volatile stock like Genting share. Usually, people are buying Endowment plan for the purpose of discipline saving for certain purpose, for example, kid education fund, or even save money to have a certain lump sum pay out at certain age. This is the lowest insurance coverage plan, people will not buy Endowment plan for the insurance coverage as their objective.

 Whole Life Insurance

-------------------------------

As for whole life insurance, I do not understand why people are extremely sceptical about the performance of Tokio Marine by hitting the projected bonuses every single time. Well, maybe it just sounds too good to be true. There are some voices saying, if that is true, why they have this non-guarantee portion too. Well, we are in Singapore, every single product is regulated in the same manner/format. I would believe this is the regulation of MAS, I don’t know. This is the norm for every single insurance company to declare in such format, guarantee and non guarantee. Please don't ask me why, ask PAP. If you check carefully, Tokio Marine seems to give conservative non guarantee pay out compared to the rest of the insurance companies, simply because, I believe, they want to achieve that non guarantee pay out every single year as their trademark of the product. So they can’t just put a handsome number and then not hitting the mark at the end, just like many other insurances companies. Well, even for the marketing material advertised at the Straits Times, it has to be a true fact. If you doubt that, you can always check the figures yourself or even ask any insurance agents, they are all trained and they know all the truth and figures. Just ask a simple question, why the other insurance companies don't advertise in that manner? The answer is simple. They didn't meet the projected bonuses every single year. If they did, you think they don't want to advertise that too? Of course, other insurance companies will tell you the list of pros and cons for every single companies. Anyway, for whole life insurance, there is no funds for you to choose too. Insurance companies will take your monies and invest somewhere as well. They cannot place your monies in the bank and give you guarantee and non guarantee pay out, right? It is common sense that all insurance plans required certain type of investment to generate incomes.

Besides these 3 insurance products, there are other insurance plan namely, term insurance, hospitalization & Surgical insurance(H&S) and travel insurance. They are all the same “categories”.

 

Continue to pay money and no surrender value, zero value.

 

You just keep paying for the insurance coverage. That’s it. We all know many people prefer term insurance, because the premium is cheap or much cheaper than whole life insurance and the coverage is much bigger.

 

They will tell you the cost differences and the extra monies can be handled by themselves to do investment and generate better returns. That is one way of course. I do other investment myself too but I don’t like term insurance simply because I do NOT like the idea of ZERO value.

Whole Life Insurance

I am excited to talk about whole life insurance as that is something I have planted a huge confident seed in this product, especially it is from Tokio Marine. Here we go!

 

I have signed up a whole life insurance plan from Asia Life in year 2006 and now Asia Life was bought over by Tokio Marine. The payment term is only 20 years. I have since heard many cases from the olden time that they have to keep paying for the whole life insurance, this is extremely bad. You do not want to keep paying while you are retired. So, 20 years payment term is pretty reasonable.

 

Again, I have changed my monthly payment into annual payment of S$3,243. With this change, I have a saving of S$124.20 per year, that’s a lot, isn’t it? Take note, S$585 are actually paid for the rider, to cover the critical illness. Sum assured both are at S$150,000.

 

 

I have sing the song many times about Tokio Marine that their whole life insurance is the best in the market that they NEVER EVER fail to meet the projected value. Is this really the case?

 

 

 

I have checked my surrender value today and it is S$24,386.97. With 9 years of payment, the projected Surrender value (guaranteed + non-guaranteed) is S$20,958. Wow. It outperforms by S$3,428.97. This is what I am talking about!

 

 

You know what, you don’t surrender whole life insurance.

 

This is my personal philosophy. So, for curiosity, how much I have put in so far?

 

S$3,243 x 9 years = S$29,187 and yet if I surrender now, I still can get S$24,386.97. That's a lot of money still!

 

Hey, seriously, honestly, this is too good to be true. This is pure whole life insurance! Unlike term insurance, you get ZERO, of course with the same amount, you can get much larger insurance coverage, I know.

 

So, what’s my next strategy?

 

I have shared many times and do not mind to repeat again.

 

Whole life insurance is for the next generation. Only if I fall into an extreme dire situation, then, I will force to choose to surrender (also at very later age), maybe say age 65. BUT, under normal circumstances, I will let my kid to surrender the whole life insurance for me and you know what I am talking about and that return will be the greatest of all.

 

And now I am happy, at least for the whole life insurance policy from Tokio Marine.

Endowment Plan

Besides ILP, I also have an Endowment Plan called, Target Saver, issued from HSBC bank.

 

In my early years, my thought was to have all three “insurance” as early as possible and to fully diversify into ILP, Endowment Plan and also whole life insurance. I cannot imagine at the end of the day, I was actually forking out almost close to 30% of my monthly income into these plans during my early years of employment in Singapore.

 

So, this endowment plan has a term of 21 years. Interest coupon is 2.5%. I started at age 26 (year 2005, after a year of work in Singapore). Hence, the expiry age will be age 47. By the time, my kid is 15 years old, maybe this can be his university education cost? I used to pay monthly GIRO of S$211.13. But I have since changed the payment mode to annual payment of S$2,483.88. That is an instant saving of S$49.68 per year.

 

You should do annual payment for such endowment plan or whole life insurance plan as it does not change “anything”. But it is highly NOT recommend doing so for ILP as you want to contribute in monthly basis to get rid of the market volatility. This is crystal clear. So, this Target Saver has only sum assured of S$28,000 and same amount for the Critical Illness. Buying Endowment plan is not so much for the insurance coverage, it is more or less for the pure saving purpose in order to beat the low interest rate in the saving account or fix deposit account. Is this really the case? I hope so.

 

Endowment plan has GUARANTEED surrender values as well as non-guaranteed surrender value.

 

 

To give the true case scenario, I checked my endowment plan value as for today, it is S$23,532.44. Do we beat the projected returns? Based on the table, end of policy year of 10, the total surrender value is projected to be S$25,386. It seems to have a short fall of S$1,853.56.

 

So, how much return after paying 10 years of endowment plan?

 

 S$2,483.88 x 10 years = S$24,838.80 (Take note this  is annual payment, if you continue to choose the monthly payment, you actually put even more into the endowment plan).

 

So, there is still a short fall of S$24,838.80 – S$23,532.44 = S$1,306.36. So, after paying 10 years of Endowment plan, I still loss S$1,306.36?

 

 

What is going on here? Again, bulk of the payment goes to their management fees? This is very discouraging.

 

My ILP paying 11 years is still in loss, not earning a single cent.

Even my Endowment plan paying 10 years is also in loss, not earning a single cent.

 

Something must be really wrong somewhere. What is the point to have all these policies in the market? I definitely will not need this pathetic insurance coverage of S$28,000 from the endowment plan, unlike ILP has the coverage up to S$100,000, which is a consolidation prize.

 

What should I do? I will continue to pay and observe the policy value in yearly manner to make sure it is close enough to the projected surrender value. Hopefully, yeah, a big fat hope, that the surrender value will hit the projected surrender value by the age 47. I only can tell you 12 years later from now.

 

You know what, many people are just like me and you, we constantly receiving annual letter from the insurance agency, happy announcing to you that no matter how volatile is the market, we still keep our promises, giving you the interest coupon as declared, hitting the mark, etc. But again, if you sit down, and crunch in the value that you have put into the insurance policies so far and check the policy surrender value as for today date, then, you will know if all these are true. They might be correct that they fulfil their promises, projected return, but again, there are just way too many other hidden charges behind. 

 

That is why you now should appreciate why government emphasizes so much on the CPF top up, planning well within the CPF account. If you always think you can beat the CPF interest rate, go ahead and make sure you do your math right. It is not the case all the time. At least my two cases fail badly. Okay, I know it has insurance coverage, but still it is not worth the effort after all. I think I will make a visit with the insurance agent and ask them to explain why. I am keen to know what is their reply.

 

Now topic shall be Whole Life Insurance. No more surprises, please.

Investment-Linked-Plan (ILP) (Revision 02)

Revision 02 (last paragraph) : updated on April 10, 2021.

Let’s talk about ILP. I had signed up one ILP right after I got my first job in Singapore. It is from AIA, 100% into AIA Acorns of Asia Fund, with a monthly cost of S$203.26. I can choose to continue to pay this ILP up to 77 years (I will be age 101 by then), that is why I say ILP payment is forever and ever. Of course, you can choose to surrender anytime you want and I am going to do it at around age 65 while it is at BULL market, this is very important. If I see a super bull market at age 60, I will also consider surrendering the policy too. I give myself a time horizon of at least 35 years. It has to be, at least, like the BULL market in year 2007. Let’s put it that way, by then, STI shall be way above 5,000 points. Don’t you think so?

So, this ILP comes with S$100,000 life insurance, S$100,000 critical illness benefit as well as S$90,000 TPD (Total Permanent Disability). Take note, S$203.26 monthly with S$100,000 sum assured if you sign up the package at age 23. If you sign up the package at the later age, the sum assured will get lesser as well, vice versa. ILP is just like stocks or I would say ETF, they take your money and invest in equities and you can check the fund sheet and annual report to know the top 20 companies they have invested. So, it makes perfect sense to do a monthly purchase to average out the market volatility, you do not want to make a yearly premium in this case as you might be really unlucky to purchase during the “bull market” always.

 

ILP has no GUARANTEE payout. In worst case scenario, you might even loss money due to the poor fund performance. You will also incur losses if you surrender the policy too early. The market term of breakeven is always 7 years. How does my ILP fund perform so far after 11 years? It is simply BORING.

The fund house is required to project the return based on 5% and 9% during my time. I think the projected return percentage was revised lower by MAS lately.

I just checked my fund surrender value today; it is S$26,135.43.  Do I meet the projected return?

Well, after 11 years of payment, their projected 5% is S$25,000 and 9% is S$31,800. It seems like my fund performance hit the high 5%. It sounds OK but is this really the case?

The true amount I put it in is S$203.26 x 12 months x 11 years = S$26,830.32. Where is the 5% gain here? If I sold it today and get back S$26,135.43. I will still incur a loss of S$694.89 after 11 years.

Okay, this is the problem. Not all the monies, S$203.26, goes into the funds, it has administration charges as well. As for my total cost per month is S$203.26 and I expect GAIN, not breakeven after considering all the fee charges. So, what should I do now?

Here is the plan. The number will become great if you surrender at the BULL market; see the number at age 30 (above illustration table). The projected 9% is S$15,100 and the surrender value is even higher at S$17,018 (sound like a 10% gain for me). But again, is this really hitting 9% P.A. gain, you should work out the number precisely when you consider surrendering the policy.

So, what should I do next? I won’t surrender this ILP simply because I got it “cheap” at age 23 with sum assured of S$100,000. At least I have additional S$100,000 insurance coverage here beside my other health insurance. As I said, I am looking at 35 years horizon time and I need to search/wait/catch a really cool BULL market and it shall and it will happen. By then, hopefully, I will have some meaningful gain; I would not know how many % (P.A.). It won’t be great, so the only extra thing you have here is the extra S$100,000 insurance coverage, that’s it.

Of course, if you really time the market correctly with the right fund, for example, buying China fund last year and the current value is almost 100% gain, but with ILP monthly purchase, you won’t see crazy profits here too simply because your monthly payment has average out all the volatility.

So, will my AIA Acorns of Asia fund doing great in the next 25 years? You bet.

Will I get crazily good profits out of it? No.

(Next I will talk about Endowment plan) 

Revision 02 : updated on April 10, 2021

After 6 years, I finally see lights in the tunnel. :)

Based on the fund update on Feb 28, 2021, the top 5 equities holdings are now Taiwan Semiconductor manufacturing , Samsung Electronics, Tencent Holdings, Alibaba and HDFC Bank.

The AIA Acorns of Asia fund price also hit historically high at S$4+ level !

I will probably surrender this policy 25 years later when I am age 65 and only surrender the policy during the BULL market, for example, now in April 2021. That's when you reap the highest return of all.

CPF versus Whole Life Insurance (for kids)

"Why not putting monies into the kid CPF account instead of Whole Life Insurance ? ", a reader asked.

 

This is an interesting figure to find out. As I have committed S$6,602 payment for 5 years into my kid whole life insurance, it would be good to know what if these monies are placed in the kid CPF SA account instead. What are the differences at the end?

 

Below table are generated by placing the same amount of S$6,602 per year for the first 5 years only. To include the MA of S$3,000 from the government is to see when the (SA+MA) will hit the first S$60,000. It is because the interest given for the first S$60,000 is 5%, thereafter it will be 4%. In this case, it will happen at the age of 14.

 

So, by the age of 65, these amount of monies (S$6,602 x 5 = S$33,010) will turn out to be S$435,006 in the CPF SA account.

 

If you look at the insurance policy, the surrender value by the age of 65 will be S$368,309.

 

Although one can argue these numbers are non-guarantee value (which is correct) but this insurance company, Tokio Marine, never fails to pay the declared non-guarantee surrender value for the past 67 years (since year 1948), so it is very credible to claim that you will receive this amount of declared value, nothing more and nothing less.

 

 

 

To make the comparison complete, I also include the death benefit by the age of 65. The value is S$654,682.

 

In summary, if you compare the surrender value, you will see you have a shortfall of S$66,697 compared to the CPF returns in SA account.

 

 

 

Nevertheless, whole life insurance has additional layer of benefit (in this case, it also includes critical illness riders), which is an insurance coverage for the entire life span and in this example, from age 1 to age 65 as comparison.

 

It is now my ultimate goal to ensure that my kid will have the same opinion as me that this shall be a legacy plan. It shall not be surrendered for the sake of his own usage but passing on to the next generation. That's why it is called Legacy Plan.

 

For my interest to see what happen from age 66 to age 85. SGD 1 million dollar just appeared. The power of compound interest.

 

 

Singapore Airline KrisFlyer & SQ Business Class experiences! (Revision 06)

Revision 06 (last paragraph): updated on December 2, 2016

Revision 05: updated on November 15, 2016

Revision 04: updated on June 8, 2016

Revision 03: updated on May 6, 2016

Revision 02: updated on April 13, 2015

 

I have been working at this beautiful country, SINGAPORE, for 11 years. I wish to continue to work for another 20 years here at least, simply because I love my job.

 

For my past 7 years of working at Leica Microsystems, I had 12x business trips, all trips to Frankfurt, Germany. The work place were instead located at Mannheim and Wetzlar (an optic town).

 

All 11x flights were with Singapore Airlines and 1x trip with Thai Airways due to the fact that all SIA flights were fully booked. The total duration stays of 12x trips at Germany was about 1 year (as there were two trips with 3 months engagement each at Germany). I worked a lot, learnt a lot, played a lot and collected a lot of Krisfyler mileage points too.

 

I have since redeemed:

 

4x SIA Economic flights to Hong Kong and 2x SIA Economic flights to Tokyo.

 

As I came into the 5th year of working journey with my new company, I had 53x business trips so far. Thankfully, majority of the trips are a short 60 minutes trip to Penang, a place full of delicious food. It was a great surprise for me to have an opportunity to go back to Washington D.C. (Never thought I will go back to the U.S. again. I had visited Washington and New York during my two summer breaks at my university time at Michigan). Through my current job, I can explore new destinations , e.g. Zurich, San Francisco & Brisbane currently.

 

So far, all the long haul trips are with Singapore Airlines, except the trip to Washington D.C. with Emirates airlines because the airfare ticket was S$1,100 cheaper than SIA (Can you believe it ? Emirates actually offered a ticket to Washington D.C. at S$1,600 ! ) Guess what? Both of my round trips flight transferred at Dubai were delayed with Emirates!

 

I was then offered a good night stay at Dubai for both trips. I also went for a 4 hours city tour at Dubai, widely open my eyes about this crazy kingdom. Best of all, I was rewarded a cash of S$1,000 (hit the maximum claimable amount) from my company Travel Insurance for the flight delayed. That is not bad , isn't it? I seriously don't mind to take Emirates again! :)

 

 

 

I have chalked up 69,290 KrisFlyer miles.

 

With my two up-coming trips to Brisbane in April and May, the number shall well pass 70,000 miles.

 

I do not collect air miles through credit card spent, simply because I can collect the air miles easily for free through business trips and I prefer to opt for direct cash rebate for the credit card spent.

 

So much for the stories, here comes with the plan how to use the miles to the fullest. It also depends on your miles expiry date, SIA KrisFlyer miles will expire after 3 years.

 

Below air fare are simulated based on the cheapest airfare available RIGHT NOW in December 2015.

 

The miles shown are 2 ways ticket with 85% discount by redeeming the air ticket online.

 

Take a look at the taxes and surcharges, for destination like Hong Kong, Economic, Business and First class are charged the same amount, S$70.40 only.

 

I am now given an option to redeem:

 

(1) 1x cool round trip First Class ticket to Hong Kong

(2) 1x round trip Business Class ticket to Tokyo/ Seoul with plenty of extra miles left

(3) 3x round trip Economic Class tickets to Hong Kong

(4) 6x round trip Economic Class tickets to Bali

 

It looks more "valuable" to redeem Business class ticket or even a First class ticket as the air fare price itself are extremely expensive compared to the Economic airfare.

 

Furthermore, all the airlines currently are having a price-war to offer really affordable Economic airfare to all destinations throughout the year. With the current extremely low oil prices environment, I believe the airlines will continue to offer cheap airfares.

 

This is a good news for the customer but it also means it is less attractive to redeem the Economic airfare with miles as the air fare ticket now is so much cheaper than before.

 

Good luck on collecting miles and have a happy holiday, as always, with Singapore Airlines!

 

 

 

Updated on April 13, 2015

====================

 

As my parents are at Tai Chung with my younger brother during the Chinese New Year 2016, I decided to book a flight to Taipei for year 2016 Chinese New Year. We shall explore Taiwan all the way down to Kaohsiung.

 

The price below is from the hot date, 2016 Chinese New Year week, Feb 4 - 10, 2016.

 

The full fare cost for Economic Class, SIA is S$550.30 whereby MAS is S$597.10 (higher price probably because you have to transit at Kuala Lumpur). I don't think there will be anyone booking MAS flight for this route.

 

 

 

The air ticket cost for budget airlines, Tiger Airways, JetStar, AirAsia are S$316, $445 and S$481. All prices exclude the check in luggage fees and booking service fees (the additional fees can be quite substantial).

 

To redeem one SIA Economic Class, you have to pay Taxes and Surcharges fees of S$340.30. Yes, it is almost like a Full Fare cost of Tiger Airways! The SIA fare price is actually only S$210.

 

To redeem one SIA Business Class, you will pay Taxes and Surcharges fees of S$375.70 (slightly more by S$35.40). But the SIA fare price is S$2,500. It is 11 times higher price than the Economic Class. The mileage redeem for Business Class makes better sense and more value, in this case.

 

By the way, there is no First Class / Suites flying from Singapore to Taipei with SIA. Too bad.

 

Happy Chinese New Year 2016 at Taiwan !

 

 

  

 

 

 

Updated on May 6, 2016

===================

It is about time to update my Business Class experience with Singapore Airline from Singapore to Taipei and it was awesome!

I chose a window seat. Seat 14A.

There was no one sitting next to me. :)

The lunch menu.

I had tried the Pu Er tea and it was very nice.

Starter

I had pre-order this dish.

Classic lobster thermidor. It was very nice indeed.

Ice-cream was simply too hard (still frozen). That's bad. :(

On the return trip from Taipei to Singapore. Again, I chose a window seat. Seat 14K and there was no one sitting next to me yet again. That was truly fantastic.

Before I got into the plane, I had a good warm shower at the Krisflyer lounge at Taipei airport.

The roasted almonds & cashews were so delicious.

Starter

Even the garlic bread was fantastic.

I pre-order this dish as well.

Beef tournedos on red wine sauce. Not bad.

The size was good. Too full after this meal.

Dessert was just so-so only.

Dinner menu.

Love their 180 degree flat bed mode.

After all, the experience with Singapore Airline Business class was great and I will be back again!


In the past, for my own holidays, I usually pick the cheapest airfare from Air Asia, Jet Star and Tiger Airway. I do not have chance to sit on Scoot airline yet. With our little boy joining us, we now also pick Singapore Airline for our own holiday trip. It is a pure luck that the oil price now is extremely low, that is why the air ticket nowadays are very affordable from SIA too.


We also booked 3x SIA holidays so far, namely, Taipei, Melbourne and Tokyo/Osaka.


We had a trip to Taipei with SQ on March 11-19, 2016. The total cost is S$1,655.70 with 2 adults and 1 child. It is S$551.90 per person. Economy Super Deals fare type.

The total taxes and surcharges are S$1,025.70. It is very high indeed.

We as well got the Economy Super Saver airfare for our Melbourne trip, total S$1,944.70. That is S$648.23 per person.

The total taxes and surcharges are expensive as well at S$1,239.70 for 3 person.

We booked a multi cities airfare for Japan trip. Arriving at Tokyo and returning from Osaka. Total airfare is S$2,267.50, that's S$755.83 per person.

I plan to travel from Tokyo to Shizuoka, Nagoya, Kyoto then finally Osaka. Then, taking a return flight from Osaka to Singapore.

The total taxes and surcharges are extremely low at S$197.50 for 3 person. That is the Japanese government initiative to boost the tourism at Japan.

I used American Express True Cash Back credit card for all the bookings. It has a cash rebate of 1.5% with no requirements at all. That's good. :)

Updated on June 8, 2016

===================

Eva Air has offered really good price for the flight from Singapore to Taipei. SGD 441.30 is the cheapest non-budget airline airfare I have ever seen.

I intended to book a flight to Taipei during Chinese New Year 2017.

My first Eva Air flight. :)

The price is really good. I shall update my first Eva Air flight experience soon.

 

Updated on November 15, 2016

=======================

 

I called Singapore airline hotline and know some interesting facts!

 

(1) If you have SQ Economic Class seat and the plane has Premium Economic Class seat, you cannot upgrade your seat straight to Business Class. You are only able to upgrade to Premium Economic Class. That said, only Premium Economic Class can upgrade to Business Class (especially on A380 flight). That is lousy as I do not want to upgrade to Premium Economy Class only.

 

(2) If you are using miles to upgrade the Economic Class to Business Class, the airport tax and levy charges differences between the two classes are waived. You do not need to pay for it. It is free, that is awesome!

 

(3) You cannot do seat upgrade online to enjoy 15% discount on miles. You can only do the seat upgrade through the phone.

 

Hence, I just upgraded by Singapore to Shanghai SQ flight from Economic to Business Class (as it is a BOEING 777 flight with no Premium Economic Class).

 

This is a company business trip and I realised the HR booked Economy Flexi fare instead of Economy Flexi Saver. It has a cost difference of S$300. With this Economy Flexi fare, I am able to do the class upgrade.

 

Take note only Y, B and E fare type can do the flight upgrade. Those promotion airfare (including the Economy Flexi Saver) cannot upgrade the flight. My Economy Flexi is E fare type.

 

The Economy Flexi E fare type is selling at S$1,808.10 on the SIA website.

However, the HR is able to get this E air fare type at only CNY 8,210, that's S$1,690. That is a difference of S$118.

 

 

 

I also take a look at the cheapest one way flight from Singapore to Shanghai, it costs S$1,242,70 for just one way! It is so expensive because the booking was done one week before departure. I did see promotion airfare from SQ full fare to Shanghai is only S$508 (2 ways) !

 

 

I checked the cheapest business class one way fare too, it is S$2,965.10.

 

So, the air fare difference is S$2,760 - S$1,056 = S$1,704 difference.

The airport tax and levy charges difference is S$192.90 - S$186.70= S$6.20, no wonder SIA waived this small charges la !

 

I spent 27,500 miles to upgrade the Economic Class to Business Class from Singapore to Shanghai, just one way trip only. And my 27,500 miles worth at least S$1,704 or more !

 

 

 

And I have selected my meal, grilled angus beef burger. :)

Updated on December 2, 2016

======================

 

It is time to update my business class experience with SIA new business class at BOEING 777-300ER aircraft. It features greater recline and two new seating positions - "Lazy Z" and "Sundeck".

 

Before you board the plane, it is always good to visit the luxurious lounge to have coffee and foods!

 

 

 

This is my seat. Seat 17K. It is at "Lazy Z" seating position.

 

 

My neighbour which is empty throughout the flight.

 

 

My foods on board

 

 

 

You can ask air stewardess to change the seat position to "Sundeck".

 

 

Then, you can sleep soundly through the flight.  

There are many storage area almost everywhere and of course a 18-inch LCD screen.

 

 

Even the toilet is big. :)   

Indeed always a good experience with SIA!