BPI skymiles Platinum Mastercard:The sky's no limit

MANILA, Philippines - What’s the one thing you can’t leave home without? Your all-important cell phone perhaps? What’s the one thing you can’t leave the country without? But of course, your almighty credit card!  And if you’re a frequent traveler (or aspire to be one), there’s one card you should have (or aspire for): The BPI SkyMiles Platinum MasterCard.

Indeed, the recent merger between Delta Air Lines and Northwest Airlines sent spirits soaring. After all, this marriage made in heaven (or literally the sky) made way for an exciting new product that zeroes in on the expanded benefits of being a SkyMiles frequent flyer program member.

Launched just recently, the BPI SkyMiles Platinum MasterCard is a dream card come true for those who travel and who travel a lot; for those who are not yet jet-setters but are certainly on their way to becoming one. It is for those who want to make the most use of their miles and fly with the family on vacation for free. It is for those who really love traveling. So, to these people, every mile counts. This was the inspiration when BPI launched a co-brand airline product in 2006

A marriage made in the sky

”Northwest and Delta, now the largest airline in the world, are integrating their two rewards programs,” says Maria Cristina “Ginbee” Go, senior VP, Cards Issuing business head. “Now, it’s time to convert the cardholders to the new SkyMiles program. So it’s actually a combination of the best features of the rewards programs of SkyMiles and World Perks, which is now labeled as SkyMiles. Since then, you must have received your own membership card. So whatever World Perks credits you have are now in your SkyMiles.”

Ginbee smiles and adds, “We’ve been happy with our partnership. We actually went into a co-brand partnership with Northwest in 2006, where our cardholders who get a BPI World Perks MasterCard automatically earn one World Perks mile for every P45 they spend. It’s automatically converted, no need to call, unlike other mileage programs where you need to call to convert your points into miles. We’ve made it easier for our cardholders to earn miles and travel for free.  Immediately, you can use the miles that you’ve accumulated to redeem for airline tickets or get an upgrade. For a certain number of miles, you can go to the US, Japan, to whatever destination Northwest, now Delta, flies. And not only Delta but all SkyTeam Global Alliance partners — KLM, Air France, Malaysia Airlines, Alaska Air, Korean Air, etc. It’s a big consortium of airlines, the biggest in the world today.”

When you fly the friendly skies, the BPI SkyMiles Platinum MasterCard is the only card you ought to have as it gives you more experiential and prestigious travel opportunities, and maximum privileges every time you use the card. For instance, every time you book a flight with Delta Air Lines using your BPI SkyMiles Platinum MasterCard, you get double miles. Actually, you get miles when you purchase your ticket with the regular SkyMiles MasterCard; if you’re platinum, you get double miles. And when you finally fly, you get the regular miles that you would when you fly.

With this card, you get free access to the Delta Sky Lounge at our NAIA. There, you can enjoy a nice and hot bowl of arroz caldo, among other pastries and delicacies, while waiting for your flight. And you don’t even have to fly business class to enjoy such a perk.

It’s in the (credit) card

”To sum it up, based on our market research, people look for value for money in a credit card,” Ginbee points out. “Depending on the segment, there are different aspirations. For the credit card market in general, people go for the best customer service; they want to access their account 24/7 because when you’re traveling, you’re in different time zones. You have to be able to access your account, know your credit limit anywhere you go. And, of course, it’s important to them that the card is widely accepted. They will get mad if they can’t transact or their card is declined. MasterCard is accepted worldwide.”

Ginbee elaborates, “Peace of mind and security are important. Aside from being able to access their account anytime 24 hours a day, seven days a week, having a very secure card is important. We’re still the only card issuer in the country who is on chip technology, meaning it has a superior encryption capability compared to the pure magstripe cards. A chip or dip transaction is more secure. That’s why we moved ahead on the conversion to chip. All our cards are already chip-based.”

”For example, Malaysia-issued cards are based on chip technology. So if you use a Philippine BPI-issued credit card in Malaysia, it would be a chip-to-chip transaction,” says Judith Marie Dayrit, VP, marketing & member relations, MasterCard International Philippines, Inc. “But in other countries like Hong Kong and Singapore, both of which are frequented by Filipino travelers, there may be situations where it’s still a hybrid of chip and magstripe. If you see the salesperson dip the card inside a terminal, then that’s a chip transaction. If they swipe it as you normally notice, then it’s a magstripe transaction.”

It’s a very good differentiator for BPI in the Philippines. With higher credit limits given platinum cards, a BPI-Delta Platinum MasterCard offers more safety and peace of mind because of the chip-enabled cards for chip transactions.

”That’s one of the major considerations for this particular market,” Ginbee notes. “And then, of course, our fees and foreign exchange rates are very reasonable. So when you go to a different country, you don’t think twice about doing it with a BPI card.”

BPI cardholders noted that the exchange rates are not too far from what you will see as the PSE closing rate for that foreign currency for the day. If you travel often to Singapore, normally the exchange rate is about P33 to a Singapore dollar. Therefore, you have the peace of mind knowing that the exchange rate is very competitive.

Have insurance, will travel

Add to all that — value for money, wide acceptance, customer service, peace of mind with a secure card, EMV-compliant chip technology — BPI SkyMiles Platinum MasterCard cardholders also get an automatic travel insurance of up to P20 million, which is activated when they use their card to purchase an airline ticket. Regular cardholders get a travel insurance coverage of up to P10 million.

If you’re an ordinary traveler, normally you wouldn’t buy travel insurance. However, if you buy your Delta tickets on your BPI SkyMiles Platinum MasterCard, the insurance is built into your purchase of the travel package or air ticket … It’s all about traveling — delayed flights, your baggage disappearing, etc. You can get something in return for all the inconveniences, which may happen.

The nice thing about the BPI Platinum MasterCard co-brand with Delta is that they really put a value add into a platinum card. And because it’s a co-brand, it’s the best offer from Delta you can get on the market.

Ginbee is quick to add, “Our cardholders find our installment facility the best. For example, when we say it’s real zero percent, it’s really real zero percent. No hidden charges.”

”Normally, you don’t travel by yourself. You travel with family so you want to make it easy on the wallet. You save up for a trip, so you want to collect miles. And it feels so good when you’re able to travel on free miles,” Ginbee gushes.

That’s why seasoned travelers use a credit card most of the time. There’s nothing you get out of using cash. A card gives you more financial flexibility and you have the rewards.

”Customer service is also a major thing for us that’s why BPI pioneered the 24-hour banking,” says Ginbee. “We were the first in ATMs, in phone banking, we’re big on Internet banking, and the first in mobile banking. We want to make sure our customers are able to contact us 24/7.”

Go ahead and fly the world

From a customer perspective on benefits, who else offers a Delta miles program as good as BPI?  If Delta is among the top US carriers and the Filipinos’ number one destination is the US, as surveys show, then it’s the most valuable miles program. Moreover, with the SkyMiles partnership with other airlines, where you can credit your miles to another SkyMiles partner, then you can really fly the world.

”With Delta, you can access over 900 cities in 160 countries,” says Ginbee.

And MasterCard is present in 220 countries, with over 30 million acceptance location, including 1.6 million ATMs. With this, cardholders who frequently travel can use their card almost anywhere in the world.

Fact is, the BPI SkyMiles Platinum MasterCard is a very lifestyle-driven card.  ”As our ads say, ‘We’re inspired by your lifestyle.’ Because our clients have taste in the way they shop and dine, in the way they relax, all our ads are geared towards that. We have our private banking clients, our preferred banking clients so definitely, we have a lot of clients who travel, and this will definitely address their needs. We always want to make sure we address the needs and wants of our cardholders,” Ginbee asserts.

Certainly, BPI knows how to keep its clients satisfied and loyal, and reward them for their loyalty. For one thing, SkyMiles is already a loyalty program in itself. And for those who value miles, once they get this card, they’re hooked forever because they would want to earn more and more miles.

And there’s more to look forward to — more exclusive promos. For instance, Platinum cardholders can look forward to discounted flights to Japan and US destinations, Buy 1 Take 1 to the US with the BPI SkyMiles MasterCard, and exclusive Real Thrills and Special Installment Plan (SIP) tie-ups with hotels and travel-related merchants.

Surely, BPI SkyMiles Platinum MasterCard will not hesitate to go the extra mile for its valued clients.