Flying business class on points sounds like something other people do. We were nervous it wouldn’t work for us either.
Not about the travel itself — but about whether the points-and-miles strategy we’d been building toward for years would actually work the way it was supposed to when it finally mattered. Our first real test was Singapore Airlines Flight SQ23 from New York to Singapore — the longest nonstop commercial flight in the world, 17.5 hours, in business class. Lie-flat seats. Real glassware. A meal worth sitting down to.
We paid $52 each in taxes. The seats themselves cost us 85,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points apiece, transferred to Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer.
Settling into that cabin for the first time — knowing what the flight would have cost at full fare, knowing we’d earned those points through everyday spending over time — was one of the more quietly satisfying moments we’ve had in years of thinking about this lifestyle. It worked. And it set the tone for everything that followed across six months in Southeast Asia.
Here’s exactly how we did it, and how the strategy held up across Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, and Thailand.
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The Cards — What We Actually Use and Why
We carry five credit cards, but they don’t all play equal roles. Here’s the honest hierarchy.
Chase Sapphire Preferred® — The Everyday Workhorse
Annual fee: $95
This is the card that does the most work for us, and the reason is simple: no foreign transaction fees. For full-time slow travellers spending months at a time outside the United States, that single feature is non-negotiable. Every purchase we made across Southeast Asia — restaurants, markets, transport, accommodation — went on the Sapphire Preferred without a surcharge.
Beyond the international usability, the card earns 2x points on travel and dining, and — crucially — those points transfer 1:1 to major airline and hotel partners including Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer, which is how we booked the business class flights that started this whole adventure.
If you’re only going to carry one card for international slow travel, this is the one.
Current welcome bonus: 60,000 points after $4,000 spend in the first 3 months. Apply for the Chase Sapphire Preferred® here
IHG One Rewards Premier Credit Card — The Hotel Engine
Annual fee: $99
We use this card primarily for restaurant spending, where it earns an accelerated points rate that feeds directly into our IHG hotel redemptions. Across Southeast Asia, IHG properties gave us some of our best stays — and the card’s structure made those stays dramatically cheaper.
The standout perk is the fourth night free on award stays, which we used at the InterContinental Singapore. We paid approximately 35,000 IHG points per night — and got the fourth night at no cost, bringing the total to around 105,000 points for four nights at a five-star hotel in the heart of the city. Out-of-pocket cost: zero.
The card also comes with automatic Platinum Elite status, which has delivered room upgrades and late checkout more times than we can count. The annual anniversary free night alone covers the annual fee.
Current welcome bonus: Up to 140,000 IHG points after qualifying spend. Apply for the IHG One Rewards Premier Card here.
American Express Platinum Card® — The Slow Traveller’s Companion
Annual fee: $695 (has increased since we first got the card, but the perks have scaled accordingly)
This is the card that raises eyebrows when people see the annual fee. We understand why. But for full-time slow travellers, the Amex Platinum is less a credit card and more an annual travel infrastructure package — and the numbers make the case clearly.
What the card actually delivers:
- $200 airline fee credit annually
- $200 hotel credit at participating Fine Hotels & Resorts properties
- $200 Uber Cash annually ($15/month + $20 in December)
- $300 Equinox credit (or digital fitness alternatives)
- $240 digital entertainment credit ($20/month toward eligible subscriptions)
- $189 CLEAR+ credit annually
- Global Entry or TSA PreCheck fee credit
- Hilton Honors Gold Status — complimentary, no spend required
- Marriott Bonvoy Gold Elite Status — complimentary, no spend required
- Lounge access: Amex Centurion Lounges, Priority Pass, Delta Sky Club, and more
- Trip cancellation and interruption insurance
- Trip delay insurance
- Premium car rental protection
- Cell phone protection
- Purchase protection and extended warranty
When you add up the credits alone — airline, hotel, Uber, entertainment, CLEAR — the card’s effective annual cost drops considerably. For us, the lounge access and travel insurance are what genuinely change the experience day to day.
One detail worth adding: we book all our flights directly with the airline using the Amex Platinum card. You still earn 5x Membership Rewards points on those purchases, and in our experience booking direct gives you better flexibility, easier changes, and stronger protections than going through a third-party portal. On long-haul international flights, that 5x earning adds up quickly.
On this trip: we used the Delta Sky Club in Atlanta before flying to New York, the Centurion Lounge at JFK before the Singapore flight, and a Priority Pass lounge at Singapore Changi before flying onward to Kuala Lumpur. Three lounge visits on a single travel day, all complimentary. That used to be a luxury. Now it’s just how we travel.
Current welcome bonus: 80,000 Membership Rewards® points after $8,000 spend in 6 months. Apply for the Amex Platinum here.
Chase Freedom Flex℠ and Chase Freedom Unlimited® — The Supporting Cast
Annual fees: $0 both
We include these for completeness because they’re part of how we build Chase Ultimate Rewards points at home in the US — the Freedom Flex through rotating 5% bonus categories, the Freedom Unlimited through flat 1.5x on everything else. Both cards pair with the Sapphire Preferred to pool points into the same Ultimate Rewards account.
Honest note: neither of these cards travelled with us. No international fee benefits, no travel-specific perks. They earn points at home that we then deploy abroad. Think of them as the background engine rather than the front-line tools.
The Charles Schwab Debit Card — An Honourable Mention
Not a credit card, not a points earner — but worth mentioning because it solved a real problem.
The Charles Schwab Investor Checking debit card reimburses all ATM fees worldwide, automatically, at the end of each month. Across six months in Southeast Asia — withdrawing local currency in Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore — this saved us a meaningful amount in fees and removed a friction point entirely. If you’re travelling long-term internationally, get this card before you leave. It costs nothing and earns back every fee you’d otherwise pay.
Flying Business Class on Points: What It Cost Us
Here’s where the strategy landed in practice across the full trip:
Singapore — Business Class Flights:
- 85,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points transferred to KrisFlyer, per person
- Total: 170,000 points for two business class seats, JFK to SIN
- Out-of-pocket: $52 per person in taxes
Singapore — InterContinental Hotel (4 nights):
- ~35,000 IHG points per night, 4th night free with IHG Premier Card
- Total: ~105,000 IHG points
- Out-of-pocket: $0
Malaysia — InterContinental Landmark 72, Hanoi (side trip from Da Nang):
- Booked on IHG points, upgraded to Junior Suite with Lounge access for $35/night
- Out-of-pocket: minimal
Malaysia — Crowne Plaza Penang (4 nights):
- Booked entirely on IHG One Rewards points
- Out-of-pocket: $0
Lounge access throughout:
- Delta Sky Club (Atlanta), Centurion Lounge (JFK), Priority Pass (Singapore Changi)
- All covered under Amex Platinum — out-of-pocket: $0
The total value extracted from points and card perks across the trip runs well into the thousands of dollars. The total annual fees across all five cards combined sit below $900. The maths works — but only if you’re strategic about which card you use for which category, and disciplined about paying balances in full each month.
The Honest Version of How This Works
We want to be clear about something: we are not points hackers. We don’t churn cards, we don’t manufacture spend, and we don’t spend hours optimising transfer bonuses.
What we do is simpler: we use the right card for the right category consistently, we take advantage of welcome bonuses when we open new cards, and we pay attention to where our points are most valuable before we redeem them. That’s it. Six months in Southeast Asia — business class flights, five-star hotels, airport lounges — built on everyday spending and a bit of patience.
If you’re approaching retirement and thinking about what travel could look like, this is worth starting now. Points accumulate slowly and then all at once, and the earlier you build the habit, the more flexibility you have when it matters.
Practical Starting Point
If you’re new to this and want to start somewhere, here’s our honest recommendation in order:
- Start with the Chase Sapphire Preferred. Best all-round travel card, no international fees, excellent transfer partners. The foundation everything else builds on.
- Add the IHG Premier if you stay at IHG properties or plan to. The fourth-night-free benefit pays for the card quickly.
- Consider the Amex Platinum once your travel frequency justifies it. The credits require active management to capture full value — but for full-time travellers, they do.
And get the Charles Schwab debit card regardless of everything else. It costs nothing and saves you money every time you use an ATM abroad.
Disclosure: Some of the links above are affiliate links. We may earn a small commission if you apply through them, at no extra cost to you. We only recommend cards we personally use.
🎬 Watch the Full Video
We covered the Singapore leg of this journey — including the business class flight and the InterContinental stay — in our first travel video.
▶️ M&M’s Singapore Adventure: The Sweetest Slow Travel Experience!
And for the full cost and points breakdown across Malaysia and Singapore:
▶️ 3 Months in Malaysia & Singapore: Costs, Points & Healthcare Abroad
If you have questions about points strategy or how we book specific trips, drop them in the comments — we read everything.
— Mike & Marge | The Passport Pillow Slow travel for curious souls.
