It is known for a while that CIMB will be announcing a new set of travel credit cards that will replace the now-discontinued Enrich co-branded cards. Yesterday evening, CIMB shared plenty of new information about the new cards – and there’s quite a lot of reasons to be excited if you’re an air miles credit card fan.

CIMB will be announcing not one, but three new CIMB Travel Credit Cards on 21 October: the CIMB Travel Platinum Credit Card, the CIMB Travel World Credit Card, and the premium CIMB Travel World Elite Credit Card. These three will be replacing the three Enrich co-branded cards, and existing users will be transitioned to the new cards.

However, this is no mere relaunch – the new CIMB Travel Credit Cards pack a surprising amount of perks, which we’ll list down in this article. The main one will naturally be the ability to redeem air miles from more than just Enrich Points by Malaysia Airlines. In fact, you will be able to redeem from 11 frequent flyer programmes and 3 hotel chains.

While CIMB has revealed virtually everything about the cards, it has not revealed two equally important things: the cardfaces of these cards as well as the income requirements to qualify for them. We expect these to be revealed on 21 October.

CIMB Travel World Elite Credit Card

Let’s start with the flagship. The CIMB Travel World Elite Credit Card will replace the CIMB Enrich World Elite Card, and unlocks the miles-earning potential to more than just Enrich Points. CIMB hasn’t stopped there either – here’s what you need to know.

Best-in-class air miles earn rates

We’ve been told some time back that CIMB was launching a “best-in-class” air miles earn rate card, and it appears the bank has achieved just that with the CIMB Travel World Elite Credit Card. This card offers 10x Bonus Points for all retail transactions – overseas and local (it’s unclear if there are the usual exclusions like government spending) – resulting in a flat RM1 = 1 Air Mile earn rate (for most frequent flyer programmes in the CIMB Rewards catalogue). With the recent revisions to some popular air miles credit cards, the CIMB Travel World Elite Credit Card is a compelling option for those looking for an air miles card that offers good benefits for local spend.

Spend categories	BP awarded for every RM1 spent
Overseas spend (including hotels)	10 BP
Airlines & duty free	10 BP
Other local spend	10 BP

Now, the fine print. CIMB states that the 10x BP benefit for other local spend is time-limited, applicable only from 21 October 2022 until 31 December 2023. After this period (and if there are no changes), all local spend (besides airlines & duty free) will only be awarded 2BP for every RM1 spent – the same as the other two cards.

You can view this in two ways: either it’s a short-term marketing ploy to hook you in, or it’s a year-long marketing campaign that allows you to maximise earnings for local spending.

New perks – lounge access, hotel benefits, WiFi cashback, comprehensive insurance protection

Besides the high air miles earn rate, CIMB is also packing a wide array of perks that cover other parts of travel too. Cardholders get a combined 12x access to Plaza Premium First (the higher end version of Plaza Premium Lounges), Plaza Premium Lounges, and affiliated lounges worldwide. This quota is shared by both principal and supplementary cards, a benefit that not all cards offer.

In addition, there are two new hotel benefits that come with the CIMB Travel World and CIMB Travel World Elite Credit Cards. New cardholders will enjoy a complimentary HoteLux Elite Plus membership for 12 months and 2,000 HoteLux points. This benefit is actually from a partnership between Mastercard and HoteLux, allowing cardholders to enjoy additional benefits reserved to hotel chain members, such as daily breakfast, hotel credits for dining or spa, late check-outs, and more. The second perk is more straightforward: complimentary 4 nights stay at participating Marriott Vacation Club properties.

CIMB is even offering perks for cardholders while flying, in the form of in-flight WiFi cashback. This is definitely a rare benefit and quite a timely one considering more aircraft these days are being fitted with WiFi at more than useable speeds. For this card, you get up to RM80 cashback on WiFi spend per statement, which means you can enjoy this benefit every month (if you travel that often, you lucky fella).

Finally, rounding up the list of benefits is a comprehensive array of insurance that goes beyond travel insurance. This includes:

• Up to US$500,000 travel insurance protection
• Overseas Covid-19 Diagnosis Quarantine Allowance of US$150/day
• Up To US$1,000 Rideshare
• Up To US$1,000 Collision Damage Waiver (excess only)
• Up To US$500 Wallet Guard
• Up To US$2,000 Mobile Phone Protection
• Up To US$1,000 E-Commerce Protection
• Up To US$20,000 Purchase Protection

Of course, all these perks come with a pretty hefty annual fee of RM1,215.09 (the same as the Enrich World Elite Card previously), while supplementary cards’ annual fees are waived. There is an annual fee waiver of 50% or 100% but with spend requirements for the year: 50% waiver with RM120,000 spend, and 100% waiver with RM240,000 spend. This is definitely a card for the select few, and considering the value of the combined benefits of this card, they may find the annual fee worth paying.

CIMB World Travel Credit Card

Meanwhile, the existing CIMB Enrich World credit card will be replaced by the new CIMB Travel World card, which also rewards you with Bonus Points (BP) for every RM1 spent on in the same three categories as the CIMB Travel World Elite card – but at a lower rate of up to 8x. Additionally, it also has other travel perks, such as complimentary access to several premium lounges, hotel memberships, and travel insurance.

Specifically, the CIMB Travel World card will award BP according to the following expenses:

Spend categories	BP awarded for every RM1 spent
Overseas spend (including hotels)	8 BP
Airlines & duty free	8 BP
Other local spend	2 BP

New perks – lounge access, hotel benefits, WiFi cashback

On top of this, CIMB Travel World cardholders enjoy the same 12x complimentary airport lounge access as the CIMB Travel World Elite, applicable to Plaza Premium First, Plaza Premium Lounges worldwide, and affiliated global lounge partner network. This perk is provided for both the principal and supplementary cardholder.

There’s also the same hotel benefits in the form of complimentary HoteLux Elite membership (12 months and 1,000HoteLux points) and four-night stay at participating Marriott Vacation Club properties.

However, some other benefits are pared down, such as the complimentary insurance provided which only includes travel insurance with up to RM1 million coverage, and WiFi cashback of up to RM50 per statement cycle.

The annual fee for the CIMB Travel World card remains the same as the CIMB Enrich World card’s; principal cardholders will need to pay RM554.72 per annum, while supplementary cardholders can enjoy a waiver. The annual fee for principal cardholders can be waived, however, with RM60,000 spend per annum (50% waiver) or RM120,000 spend per annum (100% waiver).

CIMB Travel Platinum Credit Card

Finally, the CIMB Travel Platinum credit card is the entry-level variant. As the lowest tier card out of the three CIMB Travel credit cards, however, you’ll only be able to earn up to 5BP via this card.

Here’s the exact BP rewards rate for the CIMB Travel Platinum card:

Spend categories	BP awarded for every RM1 spent
Overseas spend (including hotels)	5 BP
Airlines & duty free	5 BP
Other local spend	2 BP

New perks – lounge access, WiFi cashback, airport transfer

As for other travel perks, the CIMB Travel Platinum card also offers complimentary airport lounge access to Plaza Premium First, Plaza Premium Lounges worldwide, as well as affiliated global lounge partner network to both the principal and supplementary cardholder – but at a lower amount of up to 4x. It’s worth noting here that if the minimum income requirement for this card is the same as its predecessor at RM24,000/year (RM2,000/month), this will be one of the only credit cards in its tier to offer lounge access.

Aside from that, unlike the two higher-tiered cards, the CIMB Travel Platinum card does not offer hotel benefits, but it does have an airport transfer perk unique to this card. As a cardholder, you’ll be able to claim up to 2x Grab rides (up to RM65) when travelling to or from any of the ten local airports listed below:

• KLIA
• KLIA2
• Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport (Subang Airport)
• Penang International Airport
• Langkawi International Airport
• Senai International Airport
• Kota Kinabalu International Airport
• Kuching International Airport
• Miri International Airport
• Tawau Airport

However, there is a spend requirement to “unlock” the airport transfer benefit of RM3,000 per quarter. Upon completion of that, cardholders will receive a promo code via email which can then be entered in the Grab app when going to or from the airport. In the next quarter, you can receive another promo code upon meeting the RM3,000 spend requirement. However, this benefit is limited to two promo codes per calendar year.

Finally, there are two more travel perks: travel insurance of up to RM1 million coverage, as well as up to RM30 cashback for in-flight WiFi per statement cycle.

Unlike the two higher-tiered cards, the CIMB Travel Platinum is free for life, with the annual fee waived for both principal and supplementary cardholders.

Initial Impressions

Overall, it does look like CIMB has released some interesting cards with the new CIMB Travel Credit Cards. The World Elite Travel looks like a real challenger to the status quo of high-end cards like the Citi Prestige and the American Express Platinum charge card – though the 1-year-only benefit of the 10x BP for local spend is a bummer.

Meanwhile, the CIMB World Travel Card and CIMB Platinum Travel Card are both interesting products – but its success will likely depend on their qualifying income range. If the CIMB Platinum Travel Card remains an entry level card, it’ll be one of (if not the only) card in its tier to offer airport lounge access.

On the other hand, the CIMB World Travel Card enters a competitive space featuring a large majority of travel cards. Its overseas air miles earn rate is competitive at RM1.25/mile (though not the best), but its generous lounge access and first-year-only hotel benefits could sway other cardholders who’ve had their card benefits revised recently.

The new CIMB Travel credit cards will officially launch on 21 October 2022.

• TAGS:
• CIMB
• CIMB Travel Credit Card
• CIMB Travel Platinum Card
• CIMB Travel World Card
• CIMB Travel World Elite Card