Which card should I use for Grab and Uber?

Edit (31/3/2018)  : Citi Rewards MC still currently earns 4mpd as of 22 March 2018. 

Recently, American Express made some enhancements to their portfolio of KrisFlyer co-branded credit cards which gives an earn rate of up to 3.3  KF miles per dollar (MPD) at a maximum of S$200 per calendar month when using it on ride hailing apps Uber, Grab as well as on UberEats (if you’re into this).

To summarize from an earlier article from Aaron :

• American Express KrisFlyer Blue gets 3.1mpd
• American Express KrisFlyer Ascend gets 3.2mpd
• American Express KrisFlyer PPS/Solitaire PPS gets 3.3mpd

Currently there’s a bit of a grey area on which cards would give you maximum returns on Grab/Uber.

We know the DBS Woman’s World MasterCard would definitely net you 4mpd. I personally tried using the Citibank Rewards MasterCard (I don’t have the Visa version) and can confirm that this too gives you 4mpd on Grab  . (Edit : Citibank Rewards would net you 4mpd on Uber, thanks Chelsea for the tip!) 

There has been a lot of chatter recently on the MileLion Telegram Group on which card works best for our daily (private vehicle) commute which has centered mainly on the DBS Woman’s World Mastercard and the KrisFlyer co-branded portfolio. Hence, we’ll be looking at these two cards in particular.

Breaking it down.

Now, let’s crunch some numbers. 

KrisFlyer Blue vs DBS WWMC

KrisFlyer Ascend vs DBS WWMC

KrisFlyer PPS/Solitaire PPS Card vs DBS WWMC

_{(Note that mileage figures are rounded down to nearest whole number)}

Based on the above calculations, you could potentially be losing up to 2160 KrisFlyer miles per year if you were to place your spending on the KrisFlyer co-branded cards! This is assuming you’ll be spending exactly these amounts on Uber/Grab every month consistently.

I did not calculate spending for rides over S$200 a month as after S$200, the KrisFlyer co-brand cards will go back to earning their normal 1.1mpd to 1.3mpd rate. (and you should be putting it on the DBS WWMC instead)

Personally, I spend $100-$200 a year on Grab/Uber as I mainly use them when I can get rides for a dollar (yes I’m cheap), or go out late into the night (which tells you a lot about the nightlife I have) Thus, I wouldn’t mind putting the spending for Grab/Uber on the KrisFlyer Ascend card as the miles would be automatically transferred over to my KrisFlyer account and I can easily track how many miles I received for a particular month of Uber/Grab rides as I do not really use the Ascend card for any other purpose in general.

So what’s the best option?

If you regularly commute on Grab and Uber each month, I strongly recommend putting the spend on your DBS Woman’s World Mastercard if you have it as clearly, you would come out quite far ahead than using the KrisFlyer co-brand ones.

If you do not currently own none of the above mentioned cards, I have listed down their individual income requirements set out by the banks

• KrisFlyer Blue : S$30,000
• KrisFlyer Ascend : S$50,000
• KrisFlyer PPS/Solitare PPS : S$30,000 + PPS Club / Solitaire PPS Club status on KrisFlyer
• DBS Woman’s World MasterCard : S$80,000

This is where getting the Amex KrisFlyer Blue would be better than the Citibank Rewards, as the miles earned from spending are credited directly to your KrisFlyer account, avoiding the pesky transfer fees.

For those of us who are unable to qualify for the DBS WWMC, getting the KrisFlyer Ascend would be quite worthwhile too. In addition to its 3.2mpd earnings on Grab/Uber, it has a 1.2mpd earn rate for general spending, the same rate as the Citibank PremierMiles and DBS Altitude cards, making it a viable alternative to replace your general spend cards and at the same time, achieve a higher earning rate on your private hire commutes. It also has some perks tagged to the card (although you must pay the annual fee to get them).

If you currently already own the KrisFlyer co-brand card in addition to some random general spending cards, putting your Grab expenditure on the KrisFlyer co-brands would definitely be a wise choice as earning 3.1mpd on the KrisFlyer Blue is a big step up from earnings on a general spend card.

Also, check out this article on receiving 500 bonus KF Miles on your Grab ride with your KrisFlyer co-brand cards!

If you do not currently hold any of the Krisflyer cobranded cards, you can find an application link below if you’d like to apply for them, but do note that it may make sense to wait for an upsized sign up offer to come along.

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