CIMB Nukes Complimentary Grab Benefit on Travel Platinum Mastercard
- Refined Points
- 6 days ago
- 4 min read
CIMB has officially nuked one of the most practical perks on the CIMB Travel Platinum Mastercard, with no replacement in sight, resulting in a clear-cut devaluation that noticeably hurts the mass-income segment this card was designed for.
For those unfamiliar, the CIMB Travel Platinum Mastercard is the entry point into CIMB’s highly popular Travel card ecosystem. It offers surprisingly strong value for a RM24,000 annual income requirement, with 0.4 MPR on airlines and overseas spend, and an eyebrow-raising 0.16 MPR on local spend.
When you consider how many RM100k-income cards in Malaysia fail to hit even these basic numbers, the irony writes itself.
Beyond MPR, the Travel Platinum Mastercard also offers four lounge visits per year with supplementary access, contingent on meeting CIMB’s spend criteria. Importantly, this includes access to Plaza Premium First, which is a major coup for a card at this income level.
But for many, the hidden gem was always the complimentary RM65 Grab voucher, awarded twice a year when meeting minimum spend. This came up to RM130 worth of Grab rides yearly, which was meaningful value in a market where mass-segment cards rarely offer any airport transfer benefit at all.
And let’s not forget: the card is free for life. No annual fee, no gimmicks, no conditions.
Has the Value Proposition of the CIMB Travel Platinum Mastercard Changed?
As with all good things in Malaysian credit cards, the CIMB complimentary Grab voucher benefit will be retired on 31 December 2025. The only silver lining is that any eligible spend made before year-end still allows you to receive your voucher, which remains valid for six months from the date of issuance.
Naturally, this update raises an important question: does the CIMB Travel Platinum Mastercard still make sense for you moving into 2026?
If we look back at my ancient review of this card, the thesis has always been the same. The Travel Platinum Mastercard is not a miles-earning powerhouse. It was never designed to be the main engine of your airline miles strategy. The harsh reality is that individuals at this income level generally have limited spending power, and miles are fundamentally a function of spending volume.
No matter how good your MPR is, if you can only spend modestly each month, your miles accumulation will remain slow. Pair that with Malaysia Airlines’ painfully poor economy redemption rates and you’ll quickly find yourself needing several months’ salary to redeem a one-way ticket to Singapore.
Where the Travel Platinum Mastercard shines is in value extraction. It is outstanding relative to its income requirement and offers benefits that punch far above its weight. But there is also a risk factor here.
Mass-segment users without deeper knowledge of miles strategies may end up overspending simply because they are eager to “collect miles”, and this card makes it dangerously easy to fall into that trap with its aspirational branding and lounge perks.
So my stance remains unchanged. Get the CIMB Travel Platinum Mastercard if you genuinely appreciate the lounge access benefits and have enough spending power from additional income streams to justify a miles-earning strategy. It can be an excellent supporting card, but it should never carry the burden of being your primary miles-earning workhorse.
Final Thoughts
The loss of the complimentary Grab vouchers is disappointing, but not surprising. In a market where cost pressures are rising and credit card benefits are tightening across the board, sunset clauses like these are becoming increasingly common.
That said, the core identity of the CIMB Travel Platinum Mastercard remains intact. Despite this devaluation, it still offers one of the strongest value propositions for the mass-income segment, especially with Plaza Premium First access remaining untouched. Few entry-level cards provide even a fraction of what CIMB packages here.
In fact, neither UOB or Maybank, two of CIMB's closest competitors have anything remotely close to what the CIMB Travel Platinum Mastercard offers, and that is precisely why the CIMB Travel Platinum Mastercard has been performing outstandingly well (according to sources close to Refined Points).
But this whole episode also reaffirms an important truth in the Malaysian credit card landscape. Perks like Grab vouchers, limo rides, and lifestyle rebates are always the first to be cut because they cost banks real money. Lounge access is often protected because it is negotiated at scale. Miles earn rates tend to stay stable until a bank undertakes a major structural overhaul. And mass-segment cards are usually where benefits get trimmed first.
For the CIMB Travel Platinum Mastercard, the removal of the Grab benefit does shift the value equation slightly, but not enough to dethrone it within its segment. It is still one of the strongest free-for-life travel cards you can hold, provided you manage your expectations and understand its limitations.
If anything, this is another timely reminder that card strategies should evolve with the market. The travel card landscape moves fast, and blindly relying on static perks is a recipe for disappointment. Treat this card as a high-value entry card rather than a full-fledged miles solution, and you’ll still extract more than enough value to justify keeping it in your wallet.
And if CIMB ever decides to retire Plaza Premium First access, then we can all collectively panic.
Comments