Should you bother to get a general spending card?

Most MileLion readers would know by now that there’s two types of credit cards: general spending, and specialised spending (sorry JianHao; not nearly enough types for a video).

• General spending cards earn a flat rate of 1.2-1.6 mpd on all transactions, regardless of MCC (with the obvious exception of general exclusions like education and insurance)

• Specialised spending cards earn 4-6 mpd on certain transactions up to a cap, but 0.4 mpd on everything else (or beyond the cap). 

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see that you can turbocharge your miles collection by using specialised spending cards whenever possible (though I’m constantly amazed by how many people insist on using one card for everything!).

But does that mean there’s no use for general spending cards? 

Well, even though a general spending card shouldn’t be your first port of call, there’s still some roles for them to play. 

When you shouldn’t use a general spending card

Before we talk about scenarios where general spending cards can be useful, let’s first address one where they aren’t. 

If you don’t know the MCC

I’ve often heard it said that general spending cards should be fallback options in situations where you don’t know the MCC, and don’t want to take a chance.

That’s because specialised spending cards are high risk, high reward. Suppose you’re in a hotel restaurant and don’t know if it codes as a hotel, or a restaurant. You could pick a specialised spending card and earn 4 mpd if you guess right, but guess wrong and you’ll only get 0.4 mpd. Some people would prefer to take a guaranteed 1.2-1.6 mpd offered by a general spending card instead.

But MCC uncertainty has become a thing of the past, thanks to HeyMax , DBS digibot and the Instarem app. 

These make it very easy to find the MCC before spending, and therefore you shouldn’t be using a general spending card for want of certainty.

When you should use a general spending card

If you can earn a welcome bonus

While general spending cards shouldn’t be your first choice for day-to-day spend on an ongoing basis, they can be very useful in the initial period when sign-up bonuses are up for grabs.

Here’s a snippet of some of the current welcome offers on the market, which don’t require payment of the first year’s annual fee.

Card	Spend	Bonus Miles	Effective MPD
DBS Altitude Visa	S$2,000	22,600	11.3
StanChart Journey Card	S$3,000	35,000	11.7
KrisFlyer UOB Credit Card	S$2,000	25,000	12.5
DBS Altitude AMEX	S$2,000	25,600	12.8
Citi Rewards	S$800	16,000	20

Two things to note:

• the effective mpd (bonus miles divided by spend) is much higher than what you’d earn with specialised spending cards at 4-6 mpd
• the only specialised spending card on the list is the Citi Rewards; in fact, sign-up bonuses for specialised spending cards are exceedingly rare

So even though your general spending cards have (relatively) underwhelming earn rates outside the welcome bonus period, they can still help provide an initial shot in the arm.

For a rundown of the latest sign-up bonuses, refer to this page.

If that category isn’t covered by a specialised spending card

If there’s a particular transaction that isn’t covered by a specialised spending card, then of course general spending cards are a better option.

But do such scenarios really exist anymore? If they do, they’re exceedingly rare, because of how many specialised spending cards reward methods of payments (e.g. online, contactless) rather than specific MCCs.

Card	Earn Rate	Remarks
UOB PPV Apply	4 mpd	On all mobile payments*, max S$1.1K per c. month Review
UOB Visa Signature  Apply	4 mpd	On all contactless payments*, for S$1K-2K spend per s. month Review
Amaze + Citi Rewards Apply	4 mpd	On all spend except travel, max S$1K per s. month Review
DBS WWMC Apply	4 mpd	On all online spend, max S$2K per c. month Review
*Except UOB$ merchants

With the cards above, you should be able to earn 4 mpd on up to S$6,110 of spend per month, regardless of what MCC it comes under (common exclusions like education and insurance aside).

This means I can only think of a handful of situations where a general spending card is the better option:

• Education
• Insurance premiums
• Utilities
• CardUp

For example, CardUp transactions are not eligible to earn bonuses with specialised spending cards, so your best bet is to use a general spending card with the highest possible earn rate. 

Card	Earn Rate	Cost Per Mile (2.25% fee)	Cost Per Mile (1.79% fee)
DBS Insignia	1.6 mpd	1.38	1.1
DBS Vantage	1.5 mpd	1.47	1.17
UOB PRVI Miles Card	1.4 mpd	1.57	1.26
Citi Prestige Card	1.3 mpd	1.69	1.35
OCBC Premier Visa Infinite	1.28 mpd	1.72	1.37
Citi PremierMiles Card	1.2 mpd	1.83	1.47
BOC Elite Miles	1.0	2.20	1.76

If it’s a big ticket transaction

Suppose you have a big ticket purchase that costs, say, S$10,000, and you cannot split it across multiple cards or via BNPL services.

In the past, the answer would be to put it on the OCBC Titanium Rewards Card (assuming it falls within the bonus whitelist), since it had an annual 4 mpd cap of S$13,335. But that cap was changed to monthly on 1 November 2023, and as a result there’s no specialised spending card suited to handling big ticket transactions.

This means you’re faced with a choice:

• Earn a 1.2-1.6 mpd rate on the entire transaction, or
• Earn a 4-6 mpd rate on a certain portion of the transaction, and 0.4 mpd on the rest

Assuming your general spending option is the UOB PRVI Miles Card, here’s some scenarios.

For example, suppose I had an online transaction to make, and could choose between the DBS Woman’s World Card or the UOB PRVI Miles Card. 

The DBS Woman’s World Card will earn 4 mpd on the first S$2,000, and 0.4 mpd subsequently. The UOB PRVI Miles Card will earn 1.4 mpd throughout. The DBS Woman’s World Card is the superior option up to S$7,200, after which the UOB PRVI Miles Card becomes the better option.

In an ideal world, card-splitting would be possible, but if it isn’t then general spending cards become the better option the higher the transaction amount. 

If you’ve maxed out the bonuses on specialised spending cards

A bit of a “duh” moment, but for the sake of completeness: if you’ve maxed out the bonus caps on your specialised spending cards, then it’s obviously better to switch to a general spending card than to continue spending at the post-bonus rate of 0.4 mpd. 

If you want airport lounge access

If you’re looking for complimentary lounge access, there’s only one specialised spending card that offers it: the invite-only UOB Lady’s Solitaire Metal Card.

All other lounge memberships are only offered by general spending cards.

Credit Cards with Lounge Access

Card	Lounge Network	Free Visits (Per Year)
		Principal	Supp.
Income Requirement S$30-50K (annual fees waivable)
Diners Club Cards	Diners Network	1*	N/A
Citi PremierMiles	Priority Pass	2*	N/A
DBS Altitude Visa	Priority Pass	2	N/A
AMEX HighFlyer Card	Priority Pass	2	N/A
SCB Journey Card	Priority Pass	2	N/A
HSBC TravelOne Card	DragonPass	4	N/A
AMEX KrisFlyer Ascend	Plaza Premium	4	N/A
Income Requirement ≥S$120K (annual fees generally not waivable)
CIMB Visa Infinite	DragonPass	3	N/A
Maybank Visa Infinite	Priority Pass	4	N/A
BOC Visa Infinite	Plaza Premium	4#	N/A
SCB Visa Infinite	Priority Pass	6	N/A
UOB Lady’s Solitaire Metal Card	LoungeKey	6*	6*
DBS Vantage	Priority Pass	10	N/A
OCBC VOYAGE	Plaza Premium	∞	∞
HSBC Visa Infinite	LoungeKey	∞	∞
UOB VI Metal Card	DragonPass	∞ + 1 guest	N/A
Citi Prestige	Priority Pass	∞ + 1 guest	N/A
AMEX Platinum Charge	Priority Pass, Plaza Premium, AMEX & Centurion Lounges, and others	∞ + 1-2 guests	∞ + 1-2 guests
Priority Banking Customers
OCBC Premier Visa Infinite	Plaza Premium	2	2
SCB Priority Banking VI	Priority Pass	12^	N/A
*Allowance follows calendar year instead of membership year #BOC Visa Infinite allowance runs from 1 November to 31 October the following year ^With min. AUM S$200K. If AUM falls under S$200K, then two visits

If you want airport limo benefits

Likewise, if you want to earn complimentary airport limo rides, there’s only one specialised spending card that offers it: the invite-only UOB Lady’s Solitaire Metal Card.

All other limo benefits are only available with general spending cards.

Credit Cards with Airport Limo Benefits

Card	Qualifying Spend	Cap
Income Req. ≥S$30K
UOB PRVI Miles AMEX (T&C)	S$1K (FCY) per quarter for 2 rides	2 per quarter
Income Req. ≥S$120K
UOB Lady’s Solitaire Metal Card (T&C)	None	1 per year (can be used worldwide)
HSBC Visa Infinite (T&C)	S$2K per month for 1 ride (First 2 (Regular) or 4 (Premier) per year are free)	24 per year (includes free rides)
Citi Prestige (T&C)	S$12K per quarter for 2 rides	2 per quarter
OCBC VOYAGE (T&C)	S$12K per quarter for 2 rides	2 per quarter
Maybank Visa Infinite (T&C)	S$3K per month for 1 ride	8 per year

Conclusion

I know plenty of people who insist on using a general spending card for everything, then complain that the miles game moves too slowly.

That’s a user error, really, but it doesn’t mean that general spending cards have no role to play. Their welcome bonuses are valuable, they may come with airport lounge and limo benefits, they’re the only option for certain transactions like CardUp, and if you’re dealing with a huge amount that can’t be split over multiple cards, then they may still be the best option. 

Are there any other cases where a general spending card comes in useful?