Airline Miles vs. Bank Points — What's the Difference?

"Earn miles with every purchase."

You see that line on almost every travel credit card ad in the Philippines. And most beginners assume all travel rewards work the same way.

They don't.

There are actually two very different systems sitting behind that phrase. Airline miles live inside an airline's frequent flyer program. Bank points live inside the bank's own rewards system, and you convert them into miles later — at a ratio that may or may not be in your favor.

The difference sounds like a technicality. But it determines how quickly your rewards expire, how many airlines you can fly with, and whether the card's advertised earning rate is actually what you're getting.

If you've ever compared two cards and wondered why the numbers look the same but the cards feel so different, this is usually why.

System 1: Airline Miles

Airline miles are earned and stored directly with the airline's frequent flyer program.

In the Philippines, the three programs that matter most are:

• Mabuhay Miles (Philippine Airlines). PAL's program. Miles don't expire as long as you earn or redeem at least once every two consecutive years. That's a forgiving window — miss it and your balance resets to zero.
• KrisFlyer (Singapore Airlines). The most aggressive expiry rule in the Philippine market. Miles expire three years from the date they were earned, regardless of account activity. Even if you're actively spending on the card, older miles can disappear while newer ones accumulate. Unless you hold PPS Club status, there's no workaround.
• Asia Miles (Cathay Pacific). The most beginner-friendly expiry rule. Miles renew for 18 months every time you earn or use them. With a regularly active card, they're effectively non-expiring in practice.

Cards that earn directly into these programs auto-credit miles to your frequent flyer account after each billing cycle. No manual step needed. But once those miles land in the airline's program, they're subject to that airline's rules — including expiry.

System 2: Bank Points

Bank points sit in the bank's own rewards system and stay there until you decide to convert them.

This intermediate step is where beginners often lose value without realizing it.

Here's how the major Philippine bank points programs work:

• BDO Membership Rewards (AmEx Explorer). One point per ₱30 spent. Converts 1:1 to airline miles across six airline partners. Points never expire. This is one of the cleanest bank points programs in the market.
• Metrobank Rewards Points. No expiry, cleared only if your account goes delinquent. Converts directly to miles for Metrobank's partner airlines (Asia Miles, Mabuhay Miles, KrisFlyer).
• RCBC Preferred Airmiles. Never expire. Converts to Mabuhay Miles, Asia Miles, or AirAsia.
• BPI Points. Expiry rules depend on the specific card — check your terms. The conversion ratio is where it gets tricky: the BPI Visa Signature earns 1 point per ₱20 spent, but converting to Mabuhay Miles costs 8,000 BPI points for just 1,000 miles. That means the effective earning rate is closer to ₱160 per mile on BPI Signature before any bonuses.
• BDO Rewards (non-AmEx Visa/MC cards). These cannot convert directly to airline miles. Better used for cash credits or SM vouchers. Worth knowing if you have a BDO card that isn't the AmEx Explorer.

The key insight: bank points give you flexibility. They sit safely in your account, with no airline-side expiry pressure, until you're ready to convert and redeem. That's valuable for beginners who are still figuring out which program they want to commit to.

Where Value Actually Gets Lost: Conversion Ratios

This is the part most beginners skip — and the part that matters most.

Not all bank points convert at equal rates. Here's how the major Philippine travel cards actually stack up when you follow the math all the way through to a usable airline mile:

Two things stand out from that table.

The UnionBank Miles+ advertises ₱30 per mile but the 1.6:1 conversion ratio means you're actually spending ₱48 to earn one airline mile. It sounds competitive. It isn't.

The BPI Visa Signature's ratio looks alarming at face value — ₱160 per effective mile. BPI does offer bonus conversions for higher-tier cards and some promotions, but the base rate is genuinely poor. If you have a BPI card primarily for miles, this is worth recalculating.

Direct Miles vs. Convert-to-Miles: The Simpler Distinction

If the conversion table feels like a lot, here's a cleaner way to think about it.

Direct mile cards earn miles that go straight to an airline frequent flyer account. Chinabank Destinations World, Metrobank Travel Visa Signature, and EastWest KrisFlyer cards all work this way. What you see is (mostly) what you get — no manual conversion step.

Convert-to-mile cards earn the bank's own points first. You then request a conversion to your preferred airline partner. BDO AmEx Explorer, BPI, RCBC, and UnionBank cards all work this way.

For beginners, direct mile cards are simpler to understand. But convert-to-mile cards give you more flexibility — because you can hold the points and choose your airline later, rather than being auto-credited to one program whose rules you may not fully understand yet.

The EastWest KrisFlyer cards are technically direct mile cards. But because those miles auto-credit into KrisFlyer — which has a hard three-year expiry — beginners should treat them with extra caution. The convenience of auto-crediting comes with a timer attached.

Expiry Rules: The Real Risk Nobody Talks About Enough

Here's the expiry situation across the programs that matter in the Philippines:

The most important row in that table is KrisFlyer.

Three years from date earned, regardless of activity. That means every batch of miles has its own expiry clock, independent of what you're doing with newer miles. If you earn 5,000 miles in February 2023 and don't redeem until March 2026, those specific miles are gone.

This is the hidden cost of the EastWest KrisFlyer card's impressive earning rates. The ₱12/mile headline assumes you'll actually use those miles before the three-year window closes. For a frequent Singapore Airlines flyer who books regularly, that's manageable. For a beginner who's still figuring out how to redeem, it's a real risk.

Mabuhay Miles and Asia Miles are far more forgiving. Mabuhay gives you a two-year activity window. Asia Miles effectively never expire for anyone with a regularly active card.

Bank points programs — BDO Membership Rewards, Metrobank Rewards, and RCBC Preferred Airmiles — never expire at all. This is a major advantage for beginners who accumulate slowly and want time to learn the system without a deadline.

When Airline Miles Actually Make Sense

Earning directly into an airline program makes sense when:

• You fly the same airline consistently, usually PAL domestically or Singapore Airlines for regional trips from Manila.
• You're flexible with dates and willing to hunt for award seat availability — which can take weeks of checking for popular routes.
• You understand the redemption chart for that specific program and have a realistic target booking in mind.
• Your monthly spending is high enough to accumulate a useful balance before the expiry window closes.

If all four of those are true, co-branded airline cards or direct-mile cards can work well. The EastWest KrisFlyer World card's ₱12/mile rate is genuinely the fastest in the Philippine market for overseas and travel spending — for the right person.

When Bank Points Are Better for Beginners

For most beginners, bank points with flexible conversion partners are the safer starting point.

Here's why.

• You're not locked in. Bank points let you decide later which airline program you want to transfer to. You have time to research redemption values across different programs before committing.
• There's no expiry pressure. BDO Membership Rewards, Metrobank Rewards, and RCBC Preferred Airmiles never expire. You can accumulate for years without watching the clock.
• You can chase the best value at booking time. When you're ready to redeem, you can compare which airline program offers the best value for your specific route and dates — then transfer. With direct-to-airline cards, that flexibility doesn't exist.

The downside: you need to remember to actually do the conversion before booking. Letting bank points sit too long without converting is a mistake too — not because of expiry, but because airline programs sometimes devalue their charts, making those same points worth less in the future.

The Practical Recommendation for Beginners

Start with bank points. Specialize into airline programs later.

Cards like the BDO AmEx Explorer (six airline partners plus Marriott and Hilton, points never expire) and Chinabank Destinations World (nine airline partners, miles never expire) give you time to learn how redemption works without the pressure of expiring balances or airline lock-in.

Once you've booked your first award flight and understand how one program works, you'll have a much clearer sense of whether a dedicated airline card makes sense for your travel patterns.

The EastWest KrisFlyer cards are genuinely powerful tools — for experienced users who fly Singapore Airlines regularly and know how to maximize the program. The combination of the ₱12/mile rate, the three-year expiry, and the single-airline lock-in makes them risky for anyone still learning the system.

The Short Version

• Airline miles live inside an airline's program. Bank points live in the bank until you convert them.
• Direct mile cards are simpler. Convert-to-mile cards give you more flexibility.
• Not all conversions are equal. The advertised rate and the effective rate are often very different things.
• Expiry rules matter more than most beginners realize — especially with KrisFlyer, which runs a hard three-year clock regardless of how active your account is.
• For most beginners: start with a card that earns non-expiring points across multiple airline partners, learn how redemption works, then decide if a specialist card makes sense once you know your own travel patterns.

Understanding the system comes before optimizing it.