Overview

Initial Impression: Aeon Royal Orchid Plus (ROP) JCB is the more perky version of AEON’s ROP Visa card. Regardless, both are a solid entry point for Thai Airways loyalists, providing straightforward mile accumulation and essential travel perks without annual fees.

Benchmarking

As a bank, Aeon is definitely one (or maybe even two) steps behind the competition in terms of customer support, digital platforms, and customer service. However, Aeon ROP JCB’s general earn rate is definitely on the higher end of the spectrum, but you won’t be scoring any preferential earn rates on any other category. However, the bonus you would still be eligible for is the on-top cashback on select categories. Another special perk is that Aeon ROP JCB offers both lounge access from Aeon and JCB –increasing the coverage. We’ll get into more detail on this below. When combined, Aeon ROP JCB offers a rather compelling offer, especially for those who are particularly inclined to spend on travel.

Earn Mechanism

Aeon ROP JCB is very straightforward with a simple base earn rate.

• Base Earning Rate: Earn 1 ROP mile for every 20 baht spend

You can see how this earn mechanism works in the examples below:

There is no general cap on miles you may earn on Aeon ROP JCB. 

Collecting Miles

Unlike other ROP cards offered by other banks (namely, KTC and UOB), Aeon ROP JCB lets you earn miles directly to your ROP account. While this means that you will not need to transfer your points over, it also means that is no flexiblity with regards to what you can do with those miles –ROP redemptions only!

Getting Cashback

Aeon ROP JCB does offer a handful of cashback categories that is applied ON-TOP of the general ROP miles earned:

• Earn 5% cashback on duty-free spend of at least 10,000 baht per sales slip
• Earn 3% cashback on dining spend of at least 1,500 baht per sales slip
• Earn 3% cashback on hotel spend of at least 10,000 baht per sales slip
• Earn 3% cashback on spend with Thai Airways of at least 10,000 baht per sales slip
• Earn 1% cashback on all foreign currency spending

While this cashback scheme seems very attractive, the reality of it is rather disappointing. Cashback is limited to only 3,600 baht per month. So while the minimum sales slip size seems to position this card for top spenders, the cap sure lags behind.

Spending Overseas

When you use a credit card overseas, your purchases are charged in a foreign currency and then converted to Thai Baht. This conversion comes with a foreign exchange (FX) spread or fee—a hidden cost many cardholders overlook.

Aeon ROP JCB FX fees are right on par with all other cards. Aeon ROP JCB does offer 1% cashback on foreign currency spend. However, we’d recommend you stay clear of this card for any foreign currency spending. 1% is hardly enough to cover the fees applied. Furthermore, you’d only net this 1% if you have yet to reach the cashback cap on other categories.

• Currency Conversion Fee: Foreign Currency Conversion Fee of ~2% on top of the JCB spread.
• Exchange Spread: This refers to JCB’s spread that is built into their respective rates. This typically stands at ~1%.

For example, you spend 30,000 baht on an overseas trip.

Lounge Access

Aeon ROP JCB offers lounge access under two separate schemes: the Aeon ROP card’s scheme and the JCB card scheme. The former will only be available when flying with Thai Airways, while the latter may be applicable on any airline. 

Scheme 1: Aeon ROP gives you access to Thai Airways lounges when flying with Thai Airways. However, the conditions to access this perk can be rather restrictive: you must be flying with Thai Airways out of Suvarnabhumi Airport or Chiang Mai to access it.

Scheme 2: As Aeon ROP JCB is also a JCB card, you will also have access to JCB perks. One of the most attractive perks for any JCB card is the ability to access their lounge network. Its a bit complicated though! Access is restricted to only a handful of countries. Note this EXCLUDES Thailand itself!

Other Perks

In addition to the typical miles earn and perks one can expect form a credit card, a co-branded cards also provide exclusive perks from the co-branded partner: Thai Airways. These include:

• Bonus Points: Receive 2,000 extra miles when you fly on 4 qualifying sectors with Thai Airways

Eligibility Criteria

To apply for the Aeon ROP JCB, you must meet specific eligibility criteria based on nationality, income, and employment status. Here's a breakdown of the requirements:

A. Ordinary Requirements:

Thai Nationals

Foreigner

B. Alternative Requirements:

No officially published alternative requirements have been announced by Aeon. You can contact Aeon directly regarding the possibility of using your AUM or fixed deposits as collateral for Aeon credit cards.

Annual Fee

There are no annual fees for Aeon ROP JCB! No minimum spends and no waivers!

Primary Card

Supplementary Card