UOB has announced some big changes to the UOB Lady’s Card and UOB Lady’s Solitaire Card, and this should make any miles chaser sit up and take notice.
From 8 March 2023 to 29 February 2024, cardholders will earn 6 mpd on their choice of one (UOB Lady’s Card) or two (UOB Lady’s Solitaire & Solitaire Metal Card) bonus categories, capped at S$1,000 (UOB Lady’s Card) or S$3,000 (UOB Lady’s Solitaire & Solitaire Metal Card) per calendar month (T&Cs).
While it would certainly be better if this were an evergreen feature, I’m not going to complain about one entire year to make hay…
| 💳 One or the other |
| You can only hold the UOB Lady’s Card or the UOB Lady’s Solitaire/Solitaire Metal Card, not both. |
UOB Lady’s Card: 6 mpd on up to S$1,000 per month
 UOB Lady’s Card | ||
| Till 7 Mar 23 | From 8 Mar 23 | |
| Earn Rate | 4 mpd | 6 mpd |
| Bonus Categories | 1 | 1 |
| Bonus Cap (Monthly Spend) | 1,800 UNI$ (S$1,000) | 2,800 UNI$ (S$1,000) |
UOB Lady’s Cardholders currently earn:
- 1 base UNI$ for every S$5 spent (0.4 mpd)
- 9 bonus UNI$ for every S$5 spent (3.6 mpd)
on their choice of one bonus category, capped at 1,800 bonus UNI$ per calendar month.
From 8 March 2023 to 29 February 2024, UOB Lady’s Cardholders will earn:
- 1 base UNI$ for every S$5 spent (0.4 mpd)
- 9 bonus UNI$ for every S$5 spent (3.6 mpd)
- An additional 5 bonus UNI$ for every S$5 spent (2 mpd)
on their choice of one bonus category. The 9 bonus UNI$ is capped at 1,800 UNI$ per calendar month, while the additional 5 bonus UNI$ is capped at 1,000 UNI$ per calendar month.
Since the change is happening mid-way through March, here’s how it works for the rest of the month.
Scenario 1: Cardholder has already hit the old UNI$ bonus cap for March
If a cardholder has already spent S$1,000 from 1-7 March 2023, she can spend a further S$1,000 from 8-31 March 2023 to max out the additional 1,000 bonus UNI$ cap.
| 1-7 Mar 2023 | 8-31 Mar 2023 | Total | |
| Spend | S$1,000 | S$1,000 | S$2,000 |
| Bonus UNI$ | 1,800 | 1,000 | 2,800 |
| Base UNI$ | 200 | 200 | 400 |
Her total return for March 2023 would be 3,200 UNI$ for S$2,000 spend, or ~3.2 mpd.
Scenario 2: Cardholder has yet to make any spend in March
If a cardholder has not spent anything from 1-7 March 2023, she can spend a further S$1,000 from 8-31 March 2023 to max out the new 2,800 bonus UNI$ cap.
| 1-7 Mar 2023 | 8-31 Mar 2023 | Total | |
| Spend | 0 | S$1,000 | S$1,000 |
| Bonus UNI$ | 0 | 2,800 | 2,800 |
| Base UNI$ | 0 | 200 | 200 |
Her total return for March 2023 would be 3,000 UNI$ for S$1,000 spend, or 6 mpd.
UOB Lady’s Solitaire & Solitaire Metal Card: 6 mpd on up to S$3,000 per month
 UOB Lady’s Solitaire & Solitaire Metal Card | ||
| Till 7 Mar 23 | From 8 Mar 23 | |
| Earn Rate | 4 mpd | 6 mpd |
| Bonus Categories | 2 | 2 |
| Bonus Cap (Monthly Spend) | 5,400 UNI$ (S$3,000) | 8,400 UNI$ (S$3,000) |
UOB Lady’s Solitaire & Metal Solitaire Cardholders currently earn:
- 1 base UNI$ for every S$5 spent (0.4 mpd)
- 9 bonus UNI$ for every S$5 spent (3.6 mpd)
on their choice of two bonus categories, capped at 5,400 bonus UNI$ per calendar month.
From 8 March 2023 to 29 February 2024, UOB Lady’s Solitaire & Metal Solitaire Cardholders will earn:
- 1 base UNI$ for every S$5 spent (0.4 mpd)
- 9 bonus UNI$ for every S$5 spent (3.6 mpd)
- An additional 5 bonus UNI$ for every S$5 spent (2 mpd)
on their choice of two bonus categories. The 9 bonus UNI$ is capped at 5,400 UNI$ per calendar month, while the additional 5 bonus UNI$ is capped at 3,000 UNI$ per calendar month.
Since the change is happening mid-way through March, here’s how it works for the rest of the month.
Scenario 1: Cardholder has already hit the old UNI$ bonus cap for March
If a cardholder has already spent S$3,000 from 1-7 March 2023, she can spend a further S$3,000 from 8-31 March 2023 to max out the additional 3,000 bonus UNI$ cap.
| 1-7 Mar 2023 | 8-31 Mar 2023 | Total | |
| Spend | S$3,000 | S$3,000 | S$6,000 |
| Bonus UNI$ | 5,400 | 3,000 | 8,400 |
| Base UNI$ | 600 | 600 | 1,200 |
Her total return for March 2023 would be 9,600 UNI$ for S$6,000 spend, or ~3.2 mpd.
Scenario 2: Cardholder has yet to make any spend in March
If a cardholder has not spent anything from 1-7 March 2023, she can spend a further S$3,000 from 8-31 March 2023 to max out the new 8,400 bonus UNI$ cap.
| 1-7 Mar 2023 | 8-31 Mar 2023 | Total | |
| Spend | 0 | S$3,000 | S$3,000 |
| Bonus UNI$ | 0 | 8,400 | 8,400 |
| Base UNI$ | 0 | 600 | 600 |
Her total return for March 2023 would be 9,000 UNI$ for S$3,000 spend, or 6 mpd.
What are the bonus categories?
UOB Lady’s Cardholders and UOB Lady’s Solitaire & Metal Solitaire Cardholders get to choose one and two bonus categories respectively, and change them every calendar quarter if they wish.
| Category | MCCs | Description |
| (1) Beauty & Wellness | 5912, 5977, 7230, 7231, 7298, 7297 | Discount, Mass and Drug Stores, Cosmetics Stores, Barber and Beauty Shops, Health and Beauty Spa, Massage Parlours |
| (2) Dining | 5811, 5812, 5814, 5499 | Caterers, Eating places and Restaurants, Fast food restaurants and food deliveries |
| (3) Entertainment | 5813, 7832, 7922 | Bars, Taverns, Lounges and Nightclubs, Motion Picture Theatres, Theatrical Producers and Ticket Agencies |
| (4) Family | 5411, 5641 | Grocery stores, Children and Infants wear store |
| (5) Fashion | 5311, 5611, 5621, 5631, 5651, 5655, 5661, 5691, 5699, 5948 | Department Stores, Men’s and Boy’s Clothing and Accessories Store, Women’s Ready-to-wear Stores, Women’s Access and Specialty, Family Clothing Stores, Sports and Riding Apparel Stores, Shoes Stores, Men’s and Women’s Clothing Stores, Miscellaneous Apparel and Accessories Shops, Luggage and Leather Stores |
| (6) Transport | 4111, 4121, 4789, 5541, 5542 | Local Commuter Transport, Taxi, Cabs, Limousines and Travel Service, Service Stations and Automatic Gas Dispensers |
| (7) Travel | Credit card retail transactions made at major airlines and/or hotels with their main business activity classified as flights and/or hotels only | |
The ability to change your bonus category every quarter means the card can be different things to you at different times.
If this quarter you’re taking an overseas trip, switch your bonus category to travel to earn 6 mpd on your airline and hotel bookings. If this quarter you’re dining out a lot, switch your bonus category to dining to earn 6 mpd on restaurants, caterers and fast food. If this quarter you’re buying an expensive massage package, switch your bonus category to beauty & wellness.
This is an excellent change
No two ways about it: this is an excellent change, and makes the UOB Lady’s Card practically essential for anyone who qualifies.
With the changes, a UOB Lady’s Cardholder who spends S$1,000 per month would earn 72,000 miles per year, enough for a round-trip Business Class flight to Taiwan. A UOB Lady’s Solitaire Cardholder who spends S$3,000 per month would earn 216,000 miles per year, enough for a round-trip Business Class ticket to Europe or the USA, or to fly a family of four to Japan or South Korea and back in Economy Class.
No other card on the market offers anything beyond 4 mpd, let alone on a regular basis. In fact, I’ve often used “4 mpd cards” as a shorthand for rewards cards, on the assumption that nothing could go higher than that. I mean, I have my issues with UOB cards, but man, are they hard to ignore.
| 💳 Rewards Cards | ||
| Card | Bonus Rate | Cap |
 UOB Lady’s SolitaireApply | 6 mpd | S$3,000 per calendar month |
 UOB Lady’s CardApply | 6 mpd | S$1,000 per calendar month |
 OCBC Titanium RewardsApply | 4 mpd | S$13,335 per membership year |
 UOB Visa Signature Apply | 4 mpd | S$2,000 per statement month |
 DBS WWMCApply | 4 mpd | S$2,000 per calendar month |
 UOB Pref. Plat. VisaApply | 4 mpd | S$1,110 per calendar month |
 HSBC RevolutionApply | 4 mpd | S$1,000 per calendar month |
 Citi Rewards CardApply | 4 mpd | S$1,000 per statement month |
Of course, the catch here is that the UOB Lady’s Card is exclusively for females. My personal workaround is to add The MileLioness’ card to my phone and use Google Pay wherever possible. If nothing else, let this be a reason for all you BBFAs to start hitting the dating circuit in earnest- there’s miles to be had!
And come to think of it, if you decide to get hitched, you’ll have a wonderful wedding banquet strategy on your hands: make S$11,220 of payments per month to get 50,880 miles (make sure your spouse-to-be earns more than S$120,000/yr. so she qualifies for the UOB Lady’s Solitaire Card…does Tinder have an income filter?)
| 💒 Monthly Banquet Payments | ||
| 🤵 Him | 👰 Her | |
| UOB Pref. Plat. Visa Apply | S$1,110 | S$1,110 |
| UOB Visa Signature Apply | S$2,000 | S$2,000 |
| UOB Lady’s Solitaire Apply | N/A | S$3,000* |
| HSBC Revolution Apply | S$1,000 | S$1,000 |
| Total Spend | S$4,110 | S$7,110 |
| Total Miles | 16,440 | 34,440 |
| *If banquet held in a hotel, select travel as your bonus category. If banquet held in a restaurant, select dining as your bonus category | ||
And when you go on your honeymoon (I’m really stretching this example), you can pair the UOB Lady’s Card with Amaze to earn 6 mpd on your overseas spend with no foreign currency transaction fees (save Amaze’s own spread). I’d personally choose travel and dining as my bonus categories, since hotels and food are likely to be my two biggest expense items on trips.
Bonus is applicable at UOB$ merchants
It’s long been thought that UOB cards should be avoided altogether at UOB$ merchants (formerly known as SMART$ merchants), such as Giant or Cold Storage, but I’ve recently confirmed that it’s not so clear cut.
While base UNI$ will not be awarded, bonus UNI$ will still be awarded for eligible transactions. This means that a UOB Lady’s Card or UOB Lady’s Solitaire Cardholder will earn 5.6 mpd at UOB$ merchants, subject to selecting the relevant bonus categories.
For the full details, refer to this post (and replace 3.6 mpd with 5.6 mpd).
Confirmed: UOB$ merchants qualify for bonus miles with UOB cards
Conclusion
UOB has given its Lady’s Cards a shot in the arm by upsizing their bonus earn rate to 6 mpd. This means you can earn up to 6,000 miles per month with the UOB Lady’s Card, and an astounding 18,000 miles per month with the UOB Lady’s Solitaire Card, without having to increase your current spending.
There’ll be much more to say about this in the days and weeks to come, but if 6 mpd is the “new normal” for rewards cards in Singapore, this might be the start of something grand.
