Best flexibility for miles and points, but is it worth paying the annual fee?

With the widest selection of airline and hotel transfer partners, the CIMB Travel World Elite (TWE) is still a good pick, provided that you can meet the minimum annual spend or fully maximize its perks. But given the reduced benefits, we’ve downgraded this card from Boleh to Macam Boleh.

Overview

BolehMiles Rating	Boleh / Macam Boleh / Tak Boleh
Miles Per Ringgit (MPR)	0.80/0.67 MPR (Oversea,Airlines,DFS) 0.16/0.13 MPR (Local spend)
Hotel Points Per Ringgit (PPR)	Marriott: 1.0 PPR Accor: 0.4 PPR IHG: 1.0 PPR (Overseas, Airline and DFS)
Lounge Access	12 x Per year Worldwide (PPF)
Other Perks	▪ Mastercard Affluent Fine Dining ▪ Anantara Vacation Club 4D3N Stay ▪ USD500,000 travel insurance ▪ In-flight WiFi and Travel SIM ▪ Wyndham Diamond status ▪ HoteLux Elite Membership ▪ Mastercard Travel & Lifestyle Services Premium (MTLS) ▪ Asia Gourmet Circle ▪ Mastercard® Southeast Asia Golf Program
Income Requirement	RM250,000 p.a
Annual Fee	RM1215 for primary cardholder RM0 for supplementary cards
Welcome Bonus / Renewal Bonus	None. Come on, CIMB..
Payment Network	World Elite Mastercard
Terms and Conditions	Link to T&C here.

The CIMB TWE was once the undisputed champion for miles earning when it entered the market, offering an incredible 1.0 MPR on almost everything, including local spend. Those glory days are gone, with both the earning rates and perks shrinking over time.

In 2024, BolehMiles still rated the CIMB TWE in the Boleh category, as the Club Wyndham resort stay alone was enough to justify the annual fee. However, with the perk now watered down to the mediocre Anantara Vacation Club offer, it’s getting harder to justify keeping the card.

On the other hand, CIMB Points remain the most flexible and valuable in the Malaysian market, offering excellent access to Seafood Miles.

CIMB has also been offering enticing bonuses for miles and hotel points. We’ve seen bonuses for Accor, Marriott, Japan Airlines, Etihad, and just recently, Asia Miles. This could signal more surprise bonuses in the future, which makes it harder to completely write off the card.

So, for 2025, unless you’re a big spender who can meet the RM240,000 p.a. requirement for an annual fee waiver, we recommend reassessing whether this card still aligns with your spending habits and needs.

Who is this card for?

This is a card for someone who values the flexibility of transfer partners over pure miles earning potential. It boasts the widest selection of airline and hotel transfer partners (best in Malaysia, Singapore and some say Batam).

Another great perk: No 1% foreign currency markup. For those who transact in large amounts online and offline, this can lead to significant savings over time.

This card is great for Malaysians living abroad. For example, if you live in Singapore, this acts as a 2.22 MPD card (1 SGD ~ RM3.3 at the time of writing) and you can consider it as a general spending card which can be used to pay for things like hospital bills and insurance.

Miles Earning Rates and Transfer Partners

CIMB has the widest direct transfer partners (if you don’t count HSBC), with 12 airlines and 3 hotels.

The Air Miles earning rate is 0.8 MPR for Enrich, 0.67 MPR for others (except 0.5 MPR for JAL). It’s not the highest in the market, so it’s a bit of a tradeoff for flexibility. It also offers a Marriott Bonvoy earning rate of 1.0 PPR, a surprisingly decent hotel points earning rate.

Category	Programme	PPR/MPR
Hotel	Marriott Bonvoy™	1.0 PPR
	ALL – Accor Live Limitless	0.4 PPR
	IHG One Rewards	1.0 PPR
AirMiles	Enrich	0.8 MPR
	KrisFlyer	0.67 MPR
	Flying Blue	0.67 MPR
	Infinity Mileagelands	0.67 MPR
	Executive Club	0.67 MPR
	Etihad Guest	0.67 MPR
	Miles&Smiles	0.67 MPR
	Privilege Club	0.67 MPR
	Emirates Skywards	0.67 MPR
	Cathay	0.67 MPR
	JAL Mileage Bank	0.5 MPR

How does this card stack up against its peers for Overseas Spending?

Here’s a full comparison of the miles earning rate (MPR), foreign transaction (FX) fee, and the resulting CPM (cost per mile).

Do note that the actual FX fee can sometimes differ from the advertised rate—so the FX fees shown here are approximate, based on transaction data using Mastercard/Visa exchange rates.

Card	Category	MPR	FX Fee	CPM (RM)
CIMB Travel World Elite	Overseas Airlines Duty-Free	0.67	1.25%	1.87
UOB Visa Infinite Read Review Apply	Overseas Dining	0.83	2.25%	2.71
UOB Priv Miles Elite Read Review Apply	Overseas	0.83	2.25%	2.71

When it comes to overseas spending, CPM is a better gives us a better picture of the value. While the CIMB TWE doesn’t offer the highest MPR, its CPM turns out to be the most competitive among its peers—second only to the AmBank Visa Infinite.

However, the AmBank VI only earns Enrich, whereas CIMB TWE gives you full flexibility with a wide range of airline transfer partners, as we elaborate below.

The King of Seafood Miles

Accumulating miles is just the first part of the game; the real dificulty comes in how you redeem them.

Finding award availability for your desired date can be tricky, which is why flexibility matters. Having more options beyond Enrich, KrisFlyer, or Asia Miles opens up better redemption opportunities.

CIMB Points are the most flexible and valuable in the Malaysian market, and we like to call it the “King of Seafood Miles” in the BolehMiles Nutrition Chart. Read this post to understand more about Miles Nutrition.

Here are some examples of how you can use Flying Blue Miles, offering flexibility beyond the usual Malaysia Airlines and Singapore Airlines.

Flight	Programme	Airline	Miles Required (Business)
KUL-TPE			23,000
CGK-MEL			36,500

Hotel Transfer Partners

The CIMB TWE offers an earning rate of 1.0 PPR (Points Per Ringgit) for Marriott Bonvoy on overseas, airline, and DFS spending—a very decent rate, all things considered.

For Marriott hotel redemptions, you can realistically get 4–9 cents per point in value, most of the time. Looking for a dream honeymoon destination? How about The Ritz-Carlton Maldives, Fari Islands, where you could potentially hit that 9-cent redemption value.

Convert to Other Seafood Miles

Here’s the magic. You can also convert Marriott points to almost every major airline (39 in total) at a 3:1 ratio, with a bonus of 5,000 miles for every 60,000 Marriott Points converted.

Since CIMB already has 12 transfer partners that overlap with Marriott’s 39, this effectively gives you access to an additional 27 airline transfer partners, a huge selection of Seafood Miles.

Factoring in the bonus, the CIMB TWE earning rate for Seafood Miles is 0.41 MPR.

Accor Reward Points

Each Accor Reward Point has a fixed redemption value of 9.6 CPP (cents per point) when used for hotel stays (2,000 Accor Points = €40).

With an earning rate of 0.4 PPR on the CIMB TWE, the card effectively provides 3.84% value-back in points for Accor stays. It’s not the most exciting return, but it’s a steady, reliable rate you can always count on.

Lounge Access

12x Access to Plaza Premium First

This card gives you 12x access to the Plaza Premium First Lounge at KLIA T1 and a wide range of Plaza Premium Lounges worldwide.

You can view the full list of lounges here.

Take note, the top-tier lounges for this card are Plaza Premium Firsts, and they are located in Kuala Lumpur, Hong Kong, Macau, and Jakarta. We recommend saving your entries for Plaza Premium Firsts if possible.

At KLIA T1, visiting Plaza Premium First also grants you access to the premium shuttle at Gate G1, allowing you to board more comfortably even if you’re flying Economy.

12x Access to Sky Lounge access at SkyPark Terminal, Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport (Subang Airport)

Spend RM2,000 within the same calendar month to enjoy complimentary lounge access. It’s capped at 1,000 visits per month, so it’s first come, first served. Valid from 1 April 2025 until 31 January 2026. See here for full Terms & Conditions.

Sky Lounge is a pretty underwhelming lounge with limited food and drink options. If you happen to be flying from Subang and meet the minimum spend of RM2,000, we’d say go check it out. Otherwise, you’re not missing much. You can also access this lounge with the DragonPass perk from the UOB Visa Infinite.

Other perks

Mastercard Affluent Fine Dining – Free Makan

Note that this offer isn’t exclusive to the CIMB TWE (any World Elite Mastercard is eligible, such as the UOB Zenith).

Cardholders get a free set lunch for two under the Mastercard Affluent Dining program. Redemptions are limited each month for each restaurant and are on a first come, first served basis, and only once during the campaign period.

The program continues in 2025 with 3 new restaurants added to the list

• FLOCK (W Hotel KL) – New
• Chynna (Hilton KL, replacing Graze) – New
• Thirty8 (Grand Hyatt KL) – New
• Nobu (Four Seasons Place KL)
• Nizza Restaurant (Sofitel KL)
• IL Baraco (Campbell House Penang)

You can view the details of this offer here: https://www.mastercard.com.my/en-my/personal/offers-and-promotions/affluent-fine-dining.html

Anantara Vacation Club 4D 3N Stay

This used to be a 4D 3N stay with Club Wyndham in 2024. In 2025, CIMB Travel World Elite and Travel World cardholders can enjoy a complimentary 4D3N stay at selected Anantara Vacation Club properties in Thailand between 1 April 2025 and 31 March 2026, with stays bookable until 30 April 2026.

The conditions became stricter in 2025 compared to last year:

1. Minimum spend of RM10,000 during month of stay (e-wallet spends are not counted )

2. Presentation (sales pitch) attendance is mandatory (used to be exempted for CIMB TWE)

3. Mandatory USD150 / RM665 payment for taxes and service charge.

You can view the Terms and Conditions here.

While this is marketed as a benefit, there are quite a few conditions to meet before cardholders can fully enjoy it. The RM10,000 minimum spend and the taxes and service charge are reasonable. However, sitting through a mandatory sales presentation does take up part of your holiday time and can disrupt the experience with sales talk. It’s a bit similar to the shopping stops on tour groups, where there’s often a sense of pressure to sign up. It’s just not our cup of tea.

In-flight WiFi and Travel SIM card

Sometimes you wanted to go online during a flight, but feel put off by the high price tag of in-flight WiFi?

No worries, just pay with CIMB Travel World Elite and get RM80 cash back (limited to once a day, by statement date). Some airlines such as Singapore Airlines are progressively adding free WiFi service to its customers, so this perk may lose its relevance in the future.

Also, you can get one SIM card from FlexiRoam with 3GB data covering over 150 countries. Limited to one redemption per calendar year.

Wyndham Rewards Diamond Level

With CIMB TWE, you get access to Wyndham Rewards Diamond status.

While Wyndham might not be as popular as Marriott, Accor, or Hilton, they do have seven properties in Malaysia. The Diamond tier gives you perks like suite room upgrades (subject to availability).

Travel Insurance

The card provides travel insurance of up to USD 500,000, which is a very high amount of coverage. The insurance policy is provided by AIG. View the policy wording here.

Airport Limo

No free Airport Limo unfortunately, which is a shame.

Exclusions and Caps

You can view the exclusions and bonus caps here.

Here’s highlight of exclusions:

• Petrol
• Auto billing / direct debit / recurring transactions (some Insurance payments may fall into this category)
• Payments to Charity
• Government related payments
• E-wallet (MCC 6540)

There is a cap to the bonus: 50,000 to 100,000 bonus points across various categories such as insurance, supermarket and utilities, so make sure you spend only RM5000 to RM10,000 in these categories.

Is the annual fee worth it?

The annual fee is RM1,215, which is on the higher side. And there’s no waiver unless you meet the minimum spend requirement. Our conservative estimate puts the total value of the perks at around RM1,080, which is RM135 less than the annual fee.

It doesn’t even break even, and honestly, it doesn’t excite us much. As miles chasers, we want to feel like we’re getting a good deal and not just covering the fee.

Perk	How Do We Value This?	Value
Mastercard Affluent Fine Dining	We value this cool dining experience at RM200.	RM200
Anantara Vacation Club	With so many conditions to meet, we are only assigning RM100 for this perk.	RM100
12x Plaza Premium First Access	Assume we are flying 12 times a year, and each lounge visit is worth RM40. So RM40 x 12 = RM480.	RM480
Subang SkyLounge Access	Given the minimum spend requirement and the uncertainty around 1,000 visits a month, we assign only RM50 to this	RM50
Travel Insurance	Assume the value of travel insurance at RM150	RM150
Free In-flight WiFi and Travel SIM	Assuming you fly twice a year and use WiFi (RM20 each), plus a 3GB travel SIM (~RM10), we assume a total value of RM50.	RM50
Wyndham Rewards Diamond Level	We’re not giving this too much weight—RM50 feels fair since there’s no free breakfast attached.	RM50
Total Value		RM1,080

Should I cut CIMB TWE in 2025? What are the alternatives?

It really comes down to whether you’re able to make full use of the perks and you spend enough on Overseas, Airlines, and Duty-Free transactions to justify the value of the Seafood miles. If you do spend at least RM120,000, the 50% discount makes can help to justify the perks that you receive.

Look, if you still want to tap into Seafood Miles for the flexibility of exploring airlines beyond Malaysia Airlines and Singapore Airlines, holding a CIMB card is essential.

Here are some CIMB alternatives worth considering, but each comes with its own limitations. We would say the CIMB Preferred Visa Infinite is a viable alternative , as the Annual Fee is waived.

Card	Category	MPR
CIMB Preferred Visa Infinite	Overseas Dining	0.76*
CIMB Travel Platinum	Overseas Airlines DFS	0.33
CIMB e-Card	PayWave Utilities Online	0.80^

What Happens to my CIMB Points if I cut my CIMB TWE?

As long as you still hold any other CIMB card that earns CIMB Points, your points will be retained. So if you have a sizeable stash of CIMB Points, you can keep them alive by holding any of the cards above or any non-cashback CIMB card.

That said, miles are depreciating assets, and we generally recommend adopting an earn and burn approach, so don’t hoard them for too long.

Conclusion

Pros	Widest selection of transfer partners No 1% markup for foreign currency spend Decent hotel points earning rate for Marriott and Accor Access to Plaza Premium First lounges
Cons	Not the best earning rate for miles No free Limo. Come on, CIMB…

The CIMB Travel World Elite (TWE) card offers great flexibility for AirMiles transfers and solid hotel points earning.

However, with the removal of the reduced perks, we now rate this card as Macam Boleh and we recommend reassessing whether it’s still worth keeping based on your needs.

See you on the next post.