Apart from speedo photos of The Milelion, an updated version of The Milelion’s credit card guide is one of the most requested features that readers have.
I’ve always been hesitant to do this for three reasons
- The miles game is dynamic, and the “best” solution can change frequently as banks launch new promotions, update T&Cs etc. Publishing a static, hardcoded guide is a surefire way to get people confused
- The “best” solution might not always be the optimal solution. Someone who only dines out occasionally might want to forgo getting a dedicated dining card and focus on using their general spending card for dining (even though that’s not the “right” card to use) so as to avoid orphan points
- I have absolutely no design skillz, and was hoping some bank/comparison site/sugar mummy would come along and offer to handle the design side of things, while paying me a buttload of money for branding rights.
Since (3) hasn’t happened, I’m going to bite the bullet and just create a simple page that tracks which cards have bonus miles earning in which categories.
This doesn’t amount to a guide as such, as you may want to pick a best-of-breed strategy or go with cards from one bank only, depending on how much you spend per month. But hopefully it’ll be a good place to start.
Bookmark this page on your phone for a quick reference guide!
I am commenting before I read it cos I was so excited when the notif came in hahaha. FINALLY.
was it everything you dreamed about and more.
Indeed. I don’t dine out often, or more like rarely. Places that i dine sometimes don’t accept amex payment, hence like what you said it’s accumulating slowly (5kUNI$) after 15 months of usage and the cost for conversion to airline miles is separate, for both ppv and PPA which is kinda meaningless.
come again? uob only charges one fee for conversion as your points pool together.
That’s great . Always mixed ’em up with citi.
Thanks for the update man. Just wanna say that your website has been a absolute lifesaver. got about 250k miles within my first year thanks to all your tips. Keep up the AWESOME WORK.
nice! headed anywhere fun? want to take a punt on sq’s new a380 cabins?
Pretty tempted on the sq suites man. But trying to get a spot for that is a nightmare. Probably end up using the miles for honeymoon haha
Hm, 250k within a year on earning average like $120K/year or $10/mo spend.
Definitely not an ordinary spend category…
not really! My fiance and I make what avg fresh grads make. we just made use of the various sign up bonuses . There are claimable company expenses in play as well ๐
If I count properly, one of the biggest expense categories per year for me and my wife would would be:
1. Singtel for work phone – about $3000/year
2. Utilities/SP – about $2500/year
3. Health insurance – NTUC and Prudential – $3500/year
So it is almost $10k per year – not a small amount. After DBS T/C updates and latest events Altitude card does not get ANY points in any of above categories.
So I am looking for an alternative. Anyone?
Those u mentioned are not discretionary spending…tbh hardly any banks offer pts/miles for those..
Well, seems there is still a hope….
Hi, can share how to earn miles on those expenses?
Use US issued credit card.
On more serious notes – not clear yet…
You can pay your singtel bill online. I’ve been getting points for paying them online manually each month when the bill comes in.
You can’t pay Singtel bill online if it is corporate account.
Which card gives you the most mpd though? The DBS WWC doesn’t work anymore (for Singtel)
Great post. It’s probably worth mentioning that till atleast Q2 next year DBS Altitude (Visa and Amex) and Expedia have a promo that gives you an additional 3mpd on select airlines (there are quite a few though). So that’s the same as the UOB and Expedia promo.
waiting for your update, Aaron ๐