As we race through the final quarter of the year, it’s time for another update to The MileLion’s 2024 Credit Card Strategy, taking into account the latest buffs and nerfs on the market.
A lot has happened since the last update in May. There’s more bad news for the HSBC Revolution, but a pleasant turn of fortunes for the OCBC Rewards (though half the credit for that should really go to HeyMax). UOB has become the second major bank to nerf rewards for Amaze, while Maybank has been making waves with the new-and-improved Maybank World Mastercard. And did someone say DBS yuu?
With all that in mind, here’s how my overall game plan has changed.
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| ๐ณ 2024 Credit Card Strategy |
| Abbreviations: c. month= calendar month, s. month= statement month, m. year= membership year |
Before we start
Before we talk about specific cards, here’s a few important points to make.
Not a comprehensive listing
First, this article is not intended to be a comprehensive listing of the best cards for each category.
For example, in the public transport section I’ve not included the StanChart Smart Card, even though it earns an impressive 5.6 mpd on bus and MRT rides.
That’s because StanChart cards don’t otherwise feature in my regular rotation, and by adding a single card I’d likely end up with orphan miles. Remember, the goal here is to share a strategy, not an encyclopedia.
If you’re interested in a comprehensive listing of the best cards for a given category, you should instead refer to the articles below.
| ๐ณ What’s the Best Card for… | ||
| โ Overall Guide |
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| โ๏ธ Air Tickets |
๐ Amaze | ๐ Car Rental |
| ๐ Charity | ๐ฝ๏ธ Dining |
๐ซ Education |
| ๐ฅก Food Delivery | ๐จ Hotels | โ๏ธ Insurance |
| ๐ฑ Kris+ | โ๏ธ Medical | ๐๏ธ Overseas |
| ๐ Pharmacies | โฝ Petrol | ๐ Public Transport |
| ๐ Supermarkets | ๐ฐ Utilities | ๐ Weddings |
Don’t forget sign-up bonuses
Second, this article doesn’t take into account ongoing sign-up bonuses.
These are opportunities for new cardholders to earn a lump sum of miles by spending a minimum amount within a certain period following approval. You should absolutely try and leverage these first, because the effective earn rate (in terms of miles awarded to dollars spent) will be superior to many of the cards in this post.
I publish a monthly article that covers all the sign-up bonuses in detail, and you can also bookmark my Welcome Offers page to keep tabs on the latest promotions.
Categories can overlap
Third, categories can overlap or be subsets of each other, so don’t think about them too rigidly.
For example, a card which earns bonuses on contactless payments can be used at a restaurant, department store, supermarket, or anywhere that contactless payments are accepted. Likewise, if a card earns bonuses on foreign currency spend, it doesn’t matter whether that spend is dining, shopping or travel-related.
Check the definitions
Fourth, different cards may define the same category differently. For example, what counts as dining for HSBC may be different from UOB.
Always refer to the T&Cs for the exact list of eligible MCCs, and if you need to check the MCC of a given merchant, use the methods below.
| โ What’s the MCC? | ||
| Method | Ease of Use | Reliability |
| โHeyMax | โโโ | โ |
| ๐ฑ Instarem app | โโ | โโ |
| ๐ค DBS digibot | โ |
โโโ |
Overall strategy
Broadly speaking, there’s two types of miles cards out there:
| General Spending Cards | Specialised Spending Cards | |
| Selected Categories | 1.2-1.6 mpd | 4 mpd |
| Everything Else | 0.4 mpd |
General spending cards (e.g. UOB PRVI Miles) earn a flat rate of 1.2-1.6 mpd on all transactions, whereas specialised spending cards (e.g. UOB Preferred Platinum Visa) earn 4 mpd on particular categories, and 0.4 mpd on everything else.
Since specialised spending cards can cover such a wide range of transactions, however, it seems almost sinful to settle for the lower earn rates of a general spending card. Put it another way: someone who regularly utilises 4 mpd cards will earn a free flight much faster than someone who puts everything on a 1.2-1.6 mpd card.
Therefore, your goal should be to:
Use specialised spending cards as much as possible
It doesn’t mean that general spending cards are useless. As I’ve explained in the post below, they have a role to play in a well-balanced miles strategy. But they certainly shouldn’t be your first port of call!
| ๐ Extra 2 mpd with UOB Lady’s Cards |
| Whenever you see the UOB Lady’s Card or UOB Lady’s Solitaire in the sections below, remember you can earn an extra 2 mpd by opening a UOB Lady’s Savings Account and depositing S$10,000. |
Contactless Payments: UOB Preferred Platinum Visa, UOB Visa Signature
| Card | Earn Rate | Remarks |
 UOB Pref. Plat. VisaApply |
4 mpd | Max S$1.1K per c. month, must use mobile payments Review |
 UOB Visa Signature Apply |
4 mpd | Min S$1K, max S$2K per s. month on contactless & petrol Review |
Contactless payments aren’t a category of spending as such, more like a method. But that works to your advantage. Since contactless terminals are so ubiquitous these days, earning 4 mpd on the vast majority of your spending should be straightforward.
The UOB Preferred Platinum Visa (PPV) continues to be the go-to option, earning 4 mpd on all mobile contactless transactions. Simply add this card to your Apple, Fitbit, Google or Samsung Pay account and tap your phone or watch in-store to pay.
Those who regularly spend beyond the UOB PPV’s monthly S$1,000 bonus cap can consider the UOB Visa Signature, which has a higher monthly bonus cap of S$2,000. Cardholders will earn 4 mpd on contactless transactions, with a minimum spend of S$1,000 per statement month.
Do note the difference in how each card defines contactless spending. You will not earn any bonuses if you tap the physical UOB PPV card!
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| UOB PPV | UOB VS | |
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โ | โ |
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โ | โ |
 |
โ | โ |
 Excludes MST |
โ | โ |
 Tapping physical card |
โ | โ |
| In-app payments are not eligible to earn contactless bonuses (though they may earn bonuses on the UOB PPV if the MCC matches the online bonus whitelist) | ||
| โ ๏ธ Statement Month vs Calendar Month |
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Your card’s bonus cap may follow the calendar month or statement month.
The UOB Visa Signature’s 4 mpd cap resets on the statement date. This adds an additional level of complexity, but you can always call up customer service and ask them to change your statement cycle to follow the calendar month instead. |
You currently need to exercise caution when dealing with UOB$ merchants such as Bread Talk, Cold Storage, Giant, Guardian and Starbucks, because at UOB$ merchants:
- you’d earn 3.6 mpd with the UOB Visa Signature
- you’d earn no miles with the UOB PPV
But there’s good news! This won’t be a problem from 1 November 2024 onwards, when UOB allows double dipping on UNI$ and UOB$, so wait a little while and you can forget all about it.
Also, I shouldn’t have to say this (though based on some angry emails I receive, perhaps I do), but UOB’s standard exclusion list still applies. You won’t earn 4 mpd if you use contactless payments at an educational institution or government office, for instance.
Online Transactions: Citi Rewards, DBS Woman’s World Card
| Card | Earn Rate | Remarks |
 Citi RewardsApply |
4 mpd | Max S$1K per s. month, excludes travel Review |
 DBS Woman’s World CardApply |
4 mpd | Max S$1.5K per c. month Review |
Like contactless payments, online transactions are another big catch-all category.
Both the Citi Rewards and DBS Woman’s World Card (WWMC) will earn 4 mpd, so long as it doesn’t fall into:
- the bank’s general list of exclusions, or
- in the case of the Citi Rewards
- travel-related transactions such as airlines, cruises, hotels, rental cars and travel agencies
- in-app mobile wallet payments (e.g. Deliveroo + Citi Rewards = 4 mpd, Deliveroo + Google Pay (using Citi Rewards) = 0.4 mpd)
| โ Blacklist vs Whitelist |
|
You could certainly use the HSBC Revolution or UOB Preferred Platinum Visa for some online transactions, but you’ll need to exercise more caution because these cards follow a “whitelist” approach: a given online transaction doesn’t earn 4 mpd unless its MCC falls within the inclusion list. Contrast this with the Citi Rewards and DBS WWMC, which follow a “blacklist” approach :a given online transaction will earn 4 mpd unless its MCC falls within the exclusion list. If the whole concept of whitelist and blacklist confuses you, refer to this post. |
In other words, both the Citi Rewards and DBS WWMC would be well-suited to cover everyday transactions like:
- Food delivery
- Ride-hailing
- Google Play or Apple App Store purchases
- Netflix, Spotify and other streaming subscriptions
- E-commerce sites like Amazon, Lazada,Qoo10, Shopee etc.
- (WWMC only) Buying airline tickets, cruises, prepaid hotels or activities & attraction bookings with Klook or Pelago
If you have to choose between the two, you might lean in the direction of the Citi Rewards Card, simply because its points have a longer validity period (up to 5 years, versus 1 year for the WWMC) and more transfer partners (11, versus 4 for the WWMC). However, its monthly bonus cap is also 33% lower than the WWMC’s.
Dining: UOB Lady’s Cards and KrisFlyer UOB
| Card | Earn Rate | Remarks |
 UOB Lady’s CardApply |
4 mpd | Max S$1K per c. month. Must choose Dining as bonus category Review |
 UOB Lady’s SolitaireApply |
4 mpd | Max S$2K per c. month. Must choose Dining as bonus category Review |
 KrisFlyer UOB Credit CardApply |
3 mpd | No cap. Min. S$800 on SIA Group transactions in a m. year Review |
I used to recommend the HSBC Revolution for this category, but ever since July, bonuses are only awarded for online transactions. Unless the restaurant offers QR code ordering and online payment, or accepts Kris+/ShopBack Pay, then it’s a non-starter (and even if it’s food delivery, remember that it can code under MCC 5814, which no longer earns 4 mpd).
So it’s a choice between the UOB Lady’s Cards (where Dining is selected as your bonus category) for a capped 4 mpd, or the KrisFlyer UOB Credit Card for an uncapped 3 mpd.
But there’s another factor to consider: MCC coverage. As it turns out, these cards define dining differently.
| ๐ฝ๏ธ Dining Card MCC Coverage | ||
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| UOB Lady’s |
KF UOB |
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| 5811 Caterers |
โ | |
| 5812 Restaurants |
โ | โ |
| 5813 Bars & Nightclubs |
โ | |
| 5814 Fast Food |
โ | โ |
| 5441 Candy Stores |
||
| 5462 Bakeries |
||
| 5499 Misc. Food |
โ | |
| Earn Rate | 4 mpd | 3 mpd |
| Monthly Cap | S$1K/2K | No cap |
Each of these involve trade-offs:
- UOB Lady’s Cards cover four dining categories but have a monthly 4 mpd cap of up to S$2,000 (you can add an extra 2 mpd by depositing S$10,000 into a UOB Lady’s Savings Account)
- KrisFlyer UOB Credit Card covers three dining categories, but offers 3 mpd with no cap, provided you meet the min. S$800 spend on the SIA Group per membership year- which shouldn’t be that hard to do
Groceries: DBS yuu and UOB Lady’s Cards
| Card | Earn Rate | Remarks |
 DBS yuu AMEXApply |
10 mpd | Min. spend & cap of S$600 per c. month Review |
 DBS yuu VisaApply |
||
| UOB Lady’s Card Apply |
4 mpd | Max S$1K per c. month. Must choose Family as bonus category Review |
| UOB Lady’s Solitaire Apply |
4 mpd | Max S$2K per c. month. Must choose Family as bonus category Review |
Groceries has historically been the one category where I’ve had to grit my teeth and admit that miles cards aren’t the best option. But not anymore.
yuu Points can now be converted to KrisFlyer miles at a 3.6:1 ratio, which means that the DBS yuu Card earns 10 mpd on Cold Storage and Giant (plus other yuu merchants). That’s simply an unbeatable rate, though keep in mind you also have the option of cashing points out for an overall rebate of 18%.
If you do your groceries at Sheng Siong or NTUC, you can use the UOB Lady’s Cards (with Family selected as the bonus category) for 4 mpd.
Foreign Currency (FCY): Amaze, UOB Visa Signature or Maybank World Mastercard
| Card | Earn Rate | Remarks |
 Amaze + Citi RewardsApply |
4 mpd | Max $1K per s. month Review |
 UOB Visa SignatureApply |
4 mpd | Min. S$1K, max S$2K per s. month on FCY spend Review |
 Maybank World MastercardApply |
3.2 mpd* | Min. S$4K per c. month, no cap Review |
| *Cardholders who spend at least S$800 per c .month will earn an uncapped 2.8 mpd |
||
Amaze’s implicit FCY fee has held steady at 2%, which means it’s still a superior option to bank credit cards and their 3.25% FCY fees.
Unfortunately, the recent nerfing of rewards by UOB means that Citi and OCBC cards are the only remaining 4 mpd options to pair with Amaze. My default will continue to be the Citi Rewards Card, though it won’t offer any bonuses for air tickets, cruises, hotels, rental cars or other travel-related spending.
Once the cap is exhausted, you can switch to the UOB Visa Signature for 4 mpd on FCY spend, subject to a minimum FCY spend of S$1,000 per statement month, and capped at S$2,000 FCY spend per statement month. Do note that this cap is shared with the 4 mpd cap for contactless payments/petrol. For a more detailed explanation of how the caps work, refer to this article.
If you’re spending big and need something without a cap, the Maybank World Mastercard is your best bet. Cardholders will earn an uncapped 3.2 mpd on FCY spending, with a minimum spend of S$4,000 per calendar month. And if that sounds too daunting, you can still earn an uncapped 2.8 mpd on FCY spending with a minimum spend of S$800 per calendar month. Don’t forget that this bonus even applies to commonly-excluded categories like donations, education, hospitals and utilities!
| ๐ณ Maybank Horizon works too |
| As an alternative, you could use the Maybank Horizon as well, which earns an uncapped 2.8 mpd with a minimum spend of S$800 per calendar month (you’ll also earn 2.8 mpd on up to S$10,000 of air tickets per calendar month). For more on the differences between the Maybank World Mastercard and Maybank Horizon, refer to this post. |
Shopping: OCBC Rewards, UOB Lady’s Cards, KrisFlyer UOB
| Card | Earn Rate | Remarks |
 OCBC RewardsApply |
4 mpd | Max S$1.1K per c. month Review |
| UOB Lady’s Card Apply |
4 mpd | Max S$1K per c. month. Must choose Fashion as bonus category Review |
| UOB Lady’s Solitaire Apply |
4 mpd | Max S$2K per c. month. Must choose Fashion as bonus category Review |
| KrisFlyer UOB Credit Card Apply |
3 mpd Online |
Min. S$800 on SIA Group transactions in a m. year Review |
For online or offline shopping, the OCBC Rewards Card and UOB Lady’s Cards will earn a capped 4 mpd. You could also use the Citi Rewards Card, but I’d rather preserve its precious 4 mpd cap for online spending instead.
If you’re buying a big ticket item and paying for it online, then the KrisFlyer UOB Credit Card offers an uncapped 3 mpd, though sadly it’s no longer possible to pair it with Amaze to turn offline transactions into online ones.
Do note that each bank has a different definition of shopping. We don’t have the space here to list what each MCC refers to, but this guide will come in handy.
| Card | Shopping MCCs |
| KrisFlyer UOB Credit Card |
4816, 5262, 5306, 5309, 5310, 5311, 5331, 5399, 5611, 5621, 5631, 5641, 5651, 5661, 5691, 5699, 5732, 5733, 5735, 5912, 5942, 5944-5949, 5999, 7278 (only for Shopee, Lazada and Qoo10) |
| OCBC Rewards |
5309, 5311, 5611, 5621, 5631, 5641, 5651, 5655, 5661, 5691, 5699, 5941, 5948, Alibaba, AliExpress, Amazon, Diagou, Ezbuy, Guardian, Lazada, Mustafa Centre, NTUC Unity, Qoo10, Shopee, Taobao, TikTok Shop, Watsons |
| UOB Lady’s Cards |
5311, 5611, 5621, 5631, 5651, 5655, 5661, 5691, 5699, 5948 |
I want to highlight MCC 5311 Department Stores in particular.
HeyMax, the website better known for its MCC lookup tool, sells vouchers for a wide array of merchants. These merchants would normally code under a wide range of MCCs, but HeyMax vouchers all code as MCC 5311.
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| ๐ 700 Max Miles joining bonus |
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| Sign up for a HeyMax account and get up to 700 Max Miles as a welcome bonus after adding a card, purchasing a voucher and viewing the redemption page | |
| 700 bonus Max Miles |
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I hope you see where I’m going here. Whether you’re buying electronics or furniture, booking activities, taking a Grab or gojek, ordering food delivery, buying eSIMs or shopping online, you can use HeyMax to turn that into MCC 5311, earning bonuses with these cards.
Even better- from now till 31 December 2024, the OCBC Rewards Card is offering 6 mpd on MCC 5311 for up to S$1,000 per calendar month. It’s the main reason why I’ve added this card back to my lineup, after chucking it during last year’s nerf.
Petrol: Maybank World Mastercard, UOB Lady’s Cards, UOB Visa Signature
| Card | Earn Rate | Remarks |
| Maybank World Mastercard Apply |
4 mpd | No cap Review |
| UOB Lady’s Card Apply |
4 mpd* | Max S$1K per c. month. Must choose Transport as bonus category Review |
| UOB Lady’s Solitaire Apply |
4 mpd* | Max S$2K per c. month. Must choose Transport as bonus category Review |
| UOB Visa Signature Apply |
4 mpd* | S$1K-2K on petrol + contactless per s. month Review |
| *Excludes SPC transactions |
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Even though the Maybank World Mastercard has always earned an uncapped 4 mpd on petrol, I haven’t included it in this section before because I didn’t think it made sense to get a card just for petrol, when other options like the UOB Lady’s Cards or UOB Visa Signature could cover this category.
But now that it’s one of my go-to options for FCY spending, I might as well tap its bonuses on petrol too.
Of course, if you own a large fleet of vehicles and spend big on petrol each month, then this would probably have been on your radar already.
Public Transport: UOB Lady’s Cards, KrisFlyer UOB Card
| Card | Earn Rate | Remarks |
| UOB Lady’s Card Apply |
4 mpd | Max S$1K per c. month. Must choose Transport as bonus category Review |
| UOB Lady’s Solitaire Apply |
4 mpd | Max S$2K per c. month. Must choose Transport as bonus category Review |
| KrisFlyer UOB Credit Card Apply |
3 mpd | Min. S$800 on SIA Group transactions in a m. year Review |
Public transport won’t be a huge component of your monthly expenditure, but it’s still a category worth optimising.
The UOB Lady’s Cards (with Transport selected as the bonus category) will earn a capped 4 mpd, or you can use the KrisFlyer UOB Credit Card for an uncapped 3 mpd.
General Spending: Amaze + Citi Rewards, AMEX HighFlyer Card, UOB PRVI Miles Card
| Card | Earn Rate | Remarks |
| Amaze + Citi Rewards Apply |
4 mpd | Max $1K per s. month Review |
|
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1.8 mpd | Only available to SME owners Review |
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1.4 mpd (local) 2.4 mpd (overseas) |
S$5 blocks may reduce effective mpd on smaller trxns Review |
UOB PRVI Miles CardIf you haven’t yet exhausted the 4 mpd cap on the Citi Rewards, then it can be a useful general spending card when paired with Amaze. Remember, Amaze converts all offline transactions into online ones, so you can spend in-store and still earn 4 mpd.
Otherwise, the AMEX HighFlyer Card (only available to SME owners) is the highest-earning general spending card with 1.8 mpd on all local and overseas spend. To make things better, the previous transfer limit of 30,000 miles per KrisFlyer account has now been boosted to 100,000 miles.
For everyone else, there’s the UOB PRVI Miles Card which earns 1.4 mpd on local spend and 2.4 mpd overseas. There’s no real harm in using the DBS Altitude/ Citi PremierMiles/ OCBC 90ยฐN Card either, even though they earn slightly less. Ideally, you’d be putting as little spending as possible on your general spending card anyway, so the difference in absolute terms shouldn’t be too material.
Of course, if you earn enough to qualify for one of the 1.6 mpd general spending cards such as the Citi ULTIMA, UOB Reserve, DBS Insignia or the OCBC VOYAGE (Premier/PPC/BOS), by all means go ahead and use it.
As I said at the start, you should be using your general spending card as sparingly as possible. This should be reserved for situations where you’ve exhausted your bonus caps on specialised spending cards, or when the category is not “bonus-able” (which is exceedingly rare these days).
| โ ๏ธ Effects of Rounding |
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A card with a lower earn rate could still end up earning more miles than a card with a higher earn rate if its rounding policy is more favourable. For example, the UOB PRVI Miles Card rounds all transactions down to the nearest S$5 before awarding points, while the Citi PremierMiles Card rounds transactions down to the nearest S$1. To learn more about rounding policies for each card, refer to this post. |
Don’t forget Kris+
Whenever you’re at a restaurant, store, spa or hotel, always be sure to check whether they’re a Kris+ merchant, because that’s an easy opportunity to stack a further 1-9 mpd on top of your credit card miles.
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| S$5 for new Kris+ Users | |||
| Get S$5 (in the form of 750 KrisPay miles) when you sign-up with code W644363 and make your first transaction |
I’ve written a separate guide on the best cards to use with Kris+, which can be found below.
Bill Payments
The trouble with bill payments such as insurance premiums, rent, tuition fees, taxes and utilities is that credit cards either aren’t accepted, or if they are, usually won’t earn rewards.
But these aren’t lost causes. If you’re willing to pay a small admin fee, then platforms like CardUp and Citi PayAll let you earn miles.
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| CardUp | Citi PayAll | |
| Admin Fee | 1.5-2.6% | 2.6% |
| Cost Per Mile | From 0.92ยข* | From 1.63ยข ongoing promo reduces cost to 1.49ยข |
| Supported Payments | ||
| Insurance | โ | โ |
| MCST Fees | โ | โ |
| Mortgage Loans | โ | |
| Renovation | โ | โ |
| Helper Salary | โ | โ |
| Season Parking | โ | โ |
| Rent | โ | โ |
| Education | โ | โ |
| Car Loans | โ | |
| Taxes | โ | โ |
| Electricity | โ | โ |
| Donations | โ | |
| Travel Expenses | โ | |
| Wedding Expenses | โ | |
| Child Care Services | โ | |
| Medical Services | โ | |
| Storage | โ | |
| *Depends on type of payment and payment method | ||
| โ New to CardUp? |
| First-time CardUp users save S$30 off their first payment with the promo code MILELION. No minimum payment required; for Visa and Mastercard only. |
Should you pay the admin fee? It all boils down to how much you value a mile. I personally would consider options that let me buy miles at less than 1.5 cents apiece, but your situation may differ.
Is it possible to over-optimise?
As much as we want to maximise 4 mpd everywhere, is it possible to overdo it?
Definitely. The way I see it, there are two additional considerations:
(1) Conversion Fees
By spreading your cards across multiple banks, you’re collecting different points currencies and will have to pay multiple conversion fees.
However, I’m not too worried about this. Conversion fees are annoying and we try to minimise them where we can, but paying them isn’t the end of the world. In the grand scheme of things, an extra S$25 here and there isn’t going to destroy the overall value proposition of the miles game.
| Issuer | Per Conversion | Annual Option |
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S$201 | N/A |
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S$30 | N/A |
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S$27.252 | N/A |
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S$27.25 | S$43.603 |
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Free till 31 Jan 25 | N/A |
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S$27.254 | N/A |
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S$25 | N/A |
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S$27.25 | N/A |
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S$255 | S$506 |
| 1. Waived for all AMEX Platinum and AMEX Centurion cardholders 2. Waived for Citi ULTIMA cardholders 3. Automatic conversions in blocks of 500 DBS points (1,000 miles) each quarter. Additional ad-hoc redemptions can be done for free 4. Waived for Maybank Visa Infinite and Maybank World Mastercard cardholders 5. Waived for UOB Reserve, UOB Visa Infinite Metal, UOB Visa Infinite and UOB Privilege Banking cardholders 6. Automatic conversions in blocks of UNI$2,500 (5,000 miles) each month for balances above UNI$15,000. Additional ad-hoc redemptions cost S$25 |
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Moreover, it doesn’t necessarily mean more cards = more fees. If you own multiple cards from the same bank, you may still pay only a single conversion fee, provided the points are pooled.
For example, a UOB customer could hold a UOB PRVI Miles, UOB PPV, UOB Visa Signature and UOB Lady’s Card, all while paying only a single conversion fee.
(2) Orphan Points
Orphan points are a bigger concern than conversion fees. If you spread yourself too thin, you may end up in a situation where you’re optimising on individual transactions, but not in an overall sense.
To illustrate, suppose I drive infrequently but get a Maybank World Mastercard just so I can earn 4 mpd on petrol. I may be optimising on that particular transaction, but it counts for very little if I end up with a small chunk of TREATS points that I can’t cash out.
All things equal, the larger a card’s minimum conversion block, the more likely you are to end up with orphan miles.
| โ๏ธ Min. Conversion Blocks for KrisFlyer Miles | ||
| Currency | Points |
Miles |
| AMEX Membership Rewards Pool |
400 (Plat. Charge, Centurion) |
250 |
| 450 (All others) |
||
| BOC Points | 45K | 10K |
| Citi Miles | 10K | 10K |
| Citi ThankYou Points | 25K | 10K |
| DBS Points Pool |
5K | 10K |
| HSBC Points Pool |
25K (+5 beyond this) |
10K (+2 beyond this) |
| Maybank TREATS Pool |
25K | 10K |
| OCBC$ Pool |
25K | 10K |
| OCBC 90ยฐN Miles Pool |
1K | 1K |
| OCBC VOYAGE Miles | 1 | 1 |
| SC 360ยฐ Rewards Points Pool* |
25K (Visa Infinite & Journey) |
10K |
| 34.5K (Non-Visa Infinite Cards) |
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| UOB UNI$ Pool |
5K | 10K |
| *Points earned on Visa Infinite/Journey cards cannot be pooled with points earned on non-Visa Infinite cards | ||
tl;dr: Optimisation is good, but you need to look at both the micro and macro picture. If you don’t spend a significant amount on a particular category, then consider using your general spending card instead.
Conclusion
If you told me I could have five cards and no more, my top picks would be:
- UOB Preferred Platinum Visa (for all in-store mobile payments)
- Citi Rewards (for all online transactions, as well as in-store transactions paired with Amaze)
- DBS Woman’s World Card (for all online transactions)
- UOB Lady’s Solitaire (with Travel and Dining as my two bonus categories)
- KrisFlyer UOB Credit Card (to mop up anything beyond my 4 mpd caps)
If I were a bigger spender, I’d swap the UOB Preferred Platinum Visa for the UOB Visa Signature, and if I were going overseas, the Maybank World Mastercard would come into play (yes, I know I said five cards and no more…)
Keep in mind, that’s the combination that best suits my spending patterns. You may land somewhere else, so it’s important to take stock of your spending, break it down into categories, and pick the cards that match it the best.
Once again, I want to emphasise that this article is not meant to be an exhaustive list of cards you can use for each category. There are other cards not mentioned which could justifiably fit into a sound miles strategy, depending on which bank you’re already earning points with, and your overall spending patterns.
Hi Aaron, for those with big regular insurance bills – use of SCB prudential card might be a better option compared to paying fees to cardup. My insurance bills racks up to more than $40k per annum.
Qn: is scb Prudential only for Prudential bills, or does it earn points for all insurers?
Earns for all insurers, but the earn rate is very low for a no-fee option. Used to be using it until we couldn’t pool the SC Rewards points together.
Hi Aaron,
Would you use Amaze paired with UOB Lady Solitaire for dining, or just the card directly?
if you are overseas, of course use amaze. if local doesnt matter
Should HSBC Revolution still figure prominently as a travel card after their recent nerfs?
Would certainly avoid using it for hotels because of mcc 7011 uncertainty. Keep it as dining and groceries card
@aaron : how about using HSBC for online shopping and travel bookings โฆis it worth to keep or switch to citi rewards and ICBC rewards?
After Feb will there be categories for the uob ladies card? Or default everything 4mpd like the ppv?
Thanks @Aaron as always for sharing this very comprehensive article. For myself I opted for a simple “brain dead” strategy because I dont want to be one of those people that are constantly stressing about which card to use for which transaction, not to mention orphan points and worrying about expiry currently adopting a 2 card strategy: 1. Main: Citi rewards + AMAZE This is used for all day-day transaction e.g dining, shopping , petrol. usually about ~$1000 which is the cap for rewards (although some months may exceed the cap slightly) 2. Sub: Citi PM. for sub mainly used… Read more »
I do a similar strategy, HSBC Revo instead of the above just to get 1k @ 4mpd then OCBC Premier Voyage for 1.6 elsewhere. Sure I leave some miles on the table but I avoid a lot of headaches.
I would replace HSBC revo with UOB VS in the top 5 list as it is more encompassing.
Yup, Uob vs is a good shout if hitting the 1k min spend each month isn’t a big deal for you.
But Aaron, it actually doesn’t make sense to not have UOB VS in the Top 4, and you can debate depending on your personal context whether HSBC Revo, Citi Rewards or UOB Krisflyer should be #5. If you have problems hitting the 1k min spend each month, then you will need to worry about orphan miles and cannot spread your miles over too many banks. UOB VS is a no brainer here because UOB VS pools with Lady and PPF, and it’s fine if you do not use it some months because of the minimum. The Top 5 here is… Read more »
Nope. It’s up to his preference right?
Hi, just thinking that maybe there’s a 3rd reason for not over-optimising. The time and preference factor. Essentially if using 4mpd cards affects: 1. Choice of shop/dining/website to patronize 2. Having to monitor various cards for : (a) spending min/max limits (b) annual fee waivers (esp UOB /OCBC) (c) points expiry (d) transaction vs posting date or statement month cycles I think this applies especially if I sign on to more cards then I can usually use for my monthly/annual spending habits. For a busy person, maybe the time saved and the lack of soft constraints on spending could be… Read more »
Agree. Plus it’s also how much does 1 spend per month. For me, I only use HSBC Revolution for all things offline. And DBS Women’s for all things online. These two cards are enuf for my expedition monthly, which is usually below $2k. Should I travel, I use SC Journey or HSBC Travel One. Sometimes with Amaze but also without at times. If it’s travelling for work, I don’t care about fcy since it’s gonna reimbursed, so it’s all about earning miles. If travelling for leisure, I might even use Revolut/Youtrip cause it’s more of saving money than earning miles.… Read more »
@Aaron, can you clarify why you put UOB PPV over HSBC Revolution as your #1 choice?
I would have thought revo would be much better as a overall balanced card with lack of restriction(see: min spend) as well as no annual fee
Please don’t get hung up over the order. Next time I should just use bullet points instead of numbered bullets…
UOB PPV pooling with UOB Lady (and UOB VS) would be an easy reason.
Hi, If given the option, I would rather avoid ALL UOB cards completely due to lack of proper customer support in case of any transactional issue and the call center giving misleading information. Just to share you my recent experiences: (1) My purchase at the Microsoft store last year was taken as a fraudulent transaction. As a result, my attempts to pay for my purchase has been rejected consecutively for 5 times. Then when I called the UOB call center for assistance, the customer service confirmed that my 6th attempt was successful but it only lasted 30 mins as it… Read more »
Yes UOB. I’ve had lousy call experiences too.That’s why I hesitate to take up the Infinite Metal or the Lady’s Solitaire and prefer to stay with other banks. I dropped all my OCBC cards too.
In with you 100% on this. I effectively boycott UOB products (credit card or banking) – canโt be bothered jumping through hoops with their small print to get any bonuses and Iโve found their customer care to be borderline malicious it is so ineffective.
If not UOB, what other best options for miles accumulation cards?
in my experience all banks have quite poor customer service. amex is not perfect but the best amongst the clowns.
Hi Aaron, I noticed you donโt seem to recommend the WMMC as a general spending card (for contactless payments) anymore. Has this benefit been nerfed or do we still get 4mpd for tapping it on a contactless terminal?
Er, that was never recommended. You might want to refer to the past strategy guides
Argh you’re right. I don’t know why I got it mixed up. Anyway, it doesn’t matter. I’ve been using it mostly for grab and Shopee purchases anyway.
Hi Aaron,
Currently I’m using amaze card link with citi rewards card. In the past I was using card-up through this citi rewards card for insurance payment to earn the citi points, I stop using card-up due to the admin fee.
I would like to check If I don’t use card-up for the insurance and just make payment through amaze card, can I still earn citi points for my citi rewards card?
I need a Spreadsheet to keep track of these terms and conditions that are regularly changed . Good to have Aaron giving us regular updates. Thanks Aaron.
I would also suggest under the “Offline Shopping” category, to also include the UOB Lady’s Cards (Shopping category selected) and OCBC Titanium Rewards Blue/Pink (though yes it has been nerfed to SGD1K cap per month)
Hi Aaron
is Grab in the transport category for the UOB ladyโs solitaire?
Hi Aaron, for cards like uob ppv & uob vs, is making payments using mobile contactless sufficient for us to earn the bonus miles? Or do we need to be mindful of the mccs as well?
standard exclusions eg insurance, education apply
Was told at UOB today that the the PPV is discontinued. They arenโt accept any new applications. Some other cards got the axe as well. I took a photo of the current list. Happy to share.
Hi Aaron,
Thanks for the comprehensive write-up! For someone living overseas, and coming back once a year – are there any cards with no currency conversion fees so that I can spend overseas and earn miles at the same time?
there are, but they’re not suitable for earning miles, e.g. trust card.
This is something US credit cardholders, not Singapore credit cardholders, enjoy.
Hello Aaron, love your articles. If you could only pick one between Citi rewards and UOB PPV, which would be your pick?
The reason for this would be a monthly spend close to only $1k, then you’d have to pick one card that captures most of what you actually spend on. No fixed answer.
could you do an updated strat post following all the nerfs
My strategy for 2024, put everything on my Amex Plat Charge. If amex not accepted put it on the prestige.
Amex does have less acceptance than MC but wouldn’t doing it in the opposite order earn more miles except for maybe SQ and 10X merchants? Perhaps you’re trying to get an invite for the Centurion?
Plat Charge is the worst miles card of all lmao
Hi, personally think is worth mentioning all uob cards pool points together so wont have much orphan miles issue!
Moreover, it doesnโt necessarily mean more cards = more fees. If you own multiple cards from the same bank, you may still pay only a single conversion fee, provided the points are pooled.
For example, a UOB customer could hold a UOB PRVI Miles, UOB PPV, UOB Visa Signature and UOB Ladyโs Card, all while paying only a single conversion fee.
Many cafes / restaurants nowadays provide QR code for ordering and payment using their in-app ordering system. What is the MCC codes for these and whats the best card to use ? is this consider online spending seeing that it is paid in-app and is online ?
Excellent question. I want to know too. Currently I circumvent this by asking to pay on their terminal instead of putting my card details in the app. Can someone enlighten us?
Hi Aaron, for transport, why wasnโt the SC smart credit card mentioned? Am i missing something haha
do read the article again, especially the start.
I also tried the SC Smart card as a MRT card but stopped using it after the first cashback. For the same reason Aaron wrote.
Aaron, would it be OK to update the article to disclose your estimated monthly spending range, and if you heavily use CardUp and Citi PayAll? This is crucial context to understand a strategy. Below a certain spend level, you have to worry about orphan miles a lot more and should not use more than 1-2 banks. Above a certain spend level, you are prone to maxing out many of the 4 mpd cards and need to pay more attention to UOB Krisflyer and other uncapped/general spend cards. Would also love to see which categories are most important for your family’s… Read more »
Just curious. Why not use both citi rewards visa and Mastercard for online purchases rather than dbs women’s card cos dbs points expire after one year and technically citi card can accumulate for a much longer period?
Citi Rewards Mastercard is more useful because it can be used overseas with Amaze, and Citi does not pool (even between the two cards). If you have another DBS card like DBS Vantage, Women’s is more useful.
But in his article it does not mention dbs vantage or altitude.
And citi visa cannot be used with amaze card.
Unless you mean because it has a higher cap by 500 per month. But I thought it might be negated by the longer expiry date Unless you consistently use more than 1000 per month.
Citi does not pool (even between the two cards). Check if you could consistently max out both cards.
I wouldn’t place UOB PPV above Citi Rewards + Amaze. Other than travel contactless payments (how often does that happen?), you could argue that CRMC + Amaze works on all contactless payments as well. Add on the fact that you can pair it with Kris+ on all merchants, use it overseas without FCY fees, no rounding down to $5 blocks of spend, and the ability to convert points to a wide variety of transfer partners, I would have to say CRMC + Amaze beats out UOB PPV by a sizeable margin. The only thing going for UOB PPV is saving… Read more »
Pooling
What best for Telco bill?
Curious if large FCY shopping expenses using Amaze + Krisflyer UOB will be better than Maybank Horizon? Will this still trigger the 1% fee on Amaze card even if transactions are in FCY?
Also what card app is good to use for hawkers now that xnap is not usable? Any alternatives?
AMEX Pay.
Not the best but at least you get some points
Hi Aaron, thank you for the comprehensive guide. What card do you use for public transport or petrol? Seeing that you chose Dining and Travel for your UOB Solitaire. I do not have DBS WWMC for hotels. For UOB Solitaire, I selected Dining and Transport to hit the $500 monthly spend for my UOB One account to get the interest. If I switched one of the category to Travel, I would no longer be able to hit $500 every month. Just wondering if there are better alternatives than getting DBS WWMC just for hotel bookings. I currently have CRMC+Amaze and… Read more »
Isn’t your spend level too low for miles if you cannot hit $500/month on UOB Solitaire?
Yea my monthly expenditure is not very high. But my monthly expenditure for public transport + fuel + dining can easily hit $500 each month.
For Travel category, I do not spend every month
public transport: krisflyer uob.
petrol: wife’s uob lady solitaire which has transport as bonus category
Hi Aaron, So i am curious on bluesg and getgo, what cards will be potentially useful for that? Also, for groceries are you using the KrisFlyer UOB Credit Card?
The low cap on specialized cards is too much of a risk for me. I would end up with fewer miles.
Hi Aaron. From the 2024 Best Credit Cards for Petrol post: “SPC transactions are explicitly excluded from earning rewards with UOB cards, but like Shell, itโs different in practice. The latest data points I have suggest that the UOB Preferred Platinum Visa and UOB Visa Signature will not earn miles for SPC, but the UOB Ladyโs Cards will.”
Is there a mistake on the asterisks for the Lady cards at the petrol section in this post?
Thanks!
latest info from april suggests it may no longer be the case. need more data points.
Aaron, you say that the Yuu cashback is enough for you to just take the cash. But with this logic, should you not be using the UOB EVOL card for cashback? UOB EVOL gives maximum $40 cashback on $600 minimum spend (6.67% cashback), and the minimum spend requires online and contactless spend similar to UOB Preferred Platinum. $600 spend on a 4 mpd specialized card is 2,400 miles or $36 with a 1.5 cpm valuation. With this logic, isn’t UOB EVOL flexible enough and the cashback rate is high enough that it should replace the nerfed HSBC Revolution in your… Read more »
I’m not Aaron but for myself I’d say that the main difference is 18% vs 6.7% cashback ($108 vs $40). A few minor points: Firstly, the DBS offer adds unlimited 5% cashback beyond $600 spend for the selected merchants (mainly Cold Storage and Guardian for me) should I exceed my caps on miles cards. Secondly, 2400 miles in J or F is usually worth more than 1.5cpm. Thirdly, I prefer not to have UOB credit cards (I know what I’m supposedly missing but I’ve had not so great experiences with OCBC and UOB – my credit cards are for convenience… Read more »
Hi Aaron, thanks for putting all these information together. Overwhelming and need to read numerous times ๐. Quick question, what is best card for paying petrol using Shell Fleet Card? Thanks
HSBC Revolution MC’s need updating (now nerved to the ground) as well as other HSBC recent changes.
Hi Aaron, what would be a better choice for online transactions? Citi rewards + amaze combo, or just the DBS WWC?
why is there no mention of HSBC TravelOne card? there’s no cap on international payments. I import goods from USA and spend about 7000 sgd per month which adds up to about 21k sq miles. Do you think that’s a good strategy? I also do have the hsbc revolution card.
Bcs T1 is not a specialised spending cards ?
What about travel? If we canโt get solitaire and UOB Ladyโs is maxed out since itโs only 1K
Dbs woman world
but the DBS Woman World is only limited to online transactions right?