What’s the best way of spending yuu Points?

Ever since the DBS yuu Card received a huge Temasek-funded buff, I’ve been religiously raking up yuu Points instead of miles when it comes to groceries and Gojek.

No, I don’t care that you think I’ve betrayed everything I believe in. As alluring as 6 mpd is, you’d have to be an ideologue to say no to 18% rebates- now extended till 29 February 2024.

DBS yuu Card
Apply (AMEX)
Apply (Visa)
	Earn Rate	Remarks
Non-yuu merchants	Base: 1 pt/S$1 (0.5% rebate)	No min. spend or cap
yuu merchants (till 29 Feb 2024)	Base: 10 pts/S$1 (5% rebate)	No min. spend or cap
	Bonus: 26 pts/S$1 (13% rebate)	Min. S$600 spend per month, cap at 15,600 points per month
Base points credited when transaction posts, bonus points credited within 60 days after the end of each month

As a result, I’m now sitting on a healthy number of yuu Points, and I think it’s time I figured out what to do with them.

What can you do with yuu Points?

The most obvious way of using yuu Points is to Pay With Points at yuu merchants:

• A fixed rate of 1 point = 0.5 cents is used
• A minimum redemption of 200 points (S$1) is required
• Partial usage of points is not possible; if you have 10,000 points (S$50) and a S$75 transaction, you’ll need to redeem all 10,000 points at one go

Pay with Points is simple, but it’s not necessarily the best option.

The yuu app features a rewards catalogue that I previously dismissed as an “aunty deals” sort of distraction. Think 10 points for a pack of nuts, 11 points for a can of green tea, 150 points for some Vitamin C gummies.

Those options still exist, but yuu has expanded the range to include some gems that might actually be worthwhile. My advice is to sort the list by “most discounted” to see the best offers.

The selection may very well have changed by the time you read this, but I’m quite a fan of the Singtel CAST packages. Getting 30 days of Sports Plus and 30 days of HBO Go netted me more than 2x the value I’d normally get had I redeemed the points in-store.

Another option that caught my eye was S$50 off the Singtel Online Shop for 6,000 points, ~0.83 cents per point and potentially useful if you already had something in mind. 

I also found it interesting that if you’re really trying to optimise your value, it’s ever-so-slightly better to redeem yuu Points for Cold Storage vouchers, than to spend points at check-out!

It should be said that not every redemption here represents great value. Some merely give you the usual 0.5 cents per point, which if nothing else provides additional options.

But others are actively bad. There’s a laughable “deal” that lets you pay 70,000 points + S$13 for a pair of Apple AirPods Pro (2nd Gen).

The official retail price is S$363. So by redeeming yuu Points, you’re paying…70,000 pts x S$0.005 + S$13 = S$363. It gets even worse when you realise the price elsewhere has dropped to as little as S$308!

Likewise, 200,000 points + S$312 for an Apple iPhone 14 (128GB) simply means you’re paying full retail price. Such deal, many value.

Avoid these landmines, and you’ll be fine. 

DBS yuu Card sign-up offer

If you don’t already have a DBS yuu Card, the bank is currently offering the following sign-up offers for new and existing DBS customers who sign up by 30 September 2023.

Card	New	Existing
DBS yuu AMEX Apply	S$250	S$80
DBS yuu Visa Apply	S$250	S$50
❓ New Cardmembers are defined as those who do not currently hold a principal DBS/POSB card, and have not cancelled one in the past 12 months

A minimum spend of S$500 within 30 days of approval is required. You’ll obviously want to spend this entire amount at yuu merchants for the biggest possible rebate. 

The T&Cs of this sign-up offer can be found here.

Conclusion

While paying with yuu Points is a solid rebate in and of itself, you should always be on the lookout for deals in the rewards catalogue that can stretch them even further. I’m quite pleased with my sports package and HBO Go subscription.

As a reminder, DBS has extended the yuu Card’s upsized 18% rebates till 29 February 2024, so there’s more time to make hay with all that sweet VC money. 

DBS yuu Card extends 18% rebates till 29 February 2024

Any other yuu deals you’ve spotted?