The MileLion’s 2025 Credit Card Strategy

It’s time once again to share The MileLion’s 2025 Credit Card Strategy, my game plan for earning miles in the year ahead. 

2024 was an eventful year (aren’t they all?) that saw nerfs and buffs to some major miles cards, so in case you weren’t paying attention, here’s a brief summary of everything important that happened.

For this year’s card strategy post, I’m going to take a slightly different approach:

• First, I’m going to tell you which cards I’m personally going to be using for the year ahead.
• Then, I’m going to assign each card to a different category of spending
• Finally, in recognition that your circumstances will likely be different from mine, I’ll suggest some alternatives that you might want to explore

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. There are other cards that could work just as well, so please don’t flood the comments with “why not Card X for category Y?”

Remember, the idea here is to present a strategy rather than a compendium. If you’re interested in a comprehensive listing of the best cards for a given category, you should instead refer to the articles below.

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.

Which cards am I using for 2025?

Here’s a summary of the cards that I’ll be using the most in 2025. 

Card	Categories
Citi Rewards Apply	Amaze Online transactions (ex. travel) 4 mpd Capped
DBS Woman’s World Card Apply	Online transactions 4 mpd Capped
DBS yuu AMEX/Visa Apply	yuu merchants (7-Eleven, Cold Storage, foodpanda, Giant, gojek, Guardian) 10 mpd Capped
KrisFlyer UOB Credit Card Apply	Dining Kris+ OTAs Public transport Ride-hailing 3 mpd Uncapped
Maybank Horizon Apply	Air tickets 3.2 mpd* Capped FCY spend 3.2 mpd* Uncapped
Maybank World Mastercard Apply	FCY spend 3.2 mpd Uncapped Petrol 4 mpd Uncapped
OCBC Rewards Card Apply	Department stores (aka Heymax vouchers) 6 mpd Capped
UOB Lady’s Solitaire Dining  Travel Apply	Air tickets Dining OTAs Hotels 4 mpd Capped
UOB Pref. Plat. Visa Apply	Contactless spend 4 mpd Capped
UOB Visa Signature Apply	Contactless spend FCY spend 4 mpd Capped
*Limited-time upsize that ends on 31 January 2025

I realise that 10 cards may seem like a lot to keep track of, but once you learn the general heuristics, it’s really not as complicated as it seems.

Also, if your monthly spending is more modest, it’s highly unlikely you’ll need all the cards shown above. Those spending <S$5,610 per month could get by with the following “minipack” that offers 4 mpd on almost everything, without the need to memorise categories.

💳 “Minipack” For Smaller Spenders
Card	Spend	Remarks
Citi Rewards Apply	S$1,000	Online spend ex. travel
DBS Woman’s World Card Apply	S$1,500	Online spend
UOB Pref. Plat. Visa Apply	S$1,110	Contactless spend
UOB Visa Signature Apply	S$2,000	Contactless spend (min. spend S$1,000)

You will miss out on some higher-earning opportunities (like 6 mpd with the OCBC Rewards or 10 mpd with the DBS yuu), but this makes things extremely straightforward.

What card for which category?

Contactless Payments

Card	Earn Rate	Remarks
UOB Pref. Plat. Visa Apply	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

Having a bonus for contactless payments is practically a license to earn 4 mpd everywhere, given how ubiquitous contactless terminals are nowadays.

The UOB Preferred Platinum Visa continues to be the go-to option, with 4 mpd on all mobile contactless transactions. Simply add this card to your Apple, Google or Samsung Pay account and tap your phone or watch in-store to pay. 

Those who regularly spend beyond the UOB Preferred Platinum Visa’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.

Even better: since November 2024, there’s no more worries about UOB$ merchants zapping your miles, because UOB now allows double dipping on UOB$ and UNI$.

Do note the difference in how each card defines contactless spending. You will not earn any bonuses if you tap the physical UOB Preferred Platinum Visa card!

	UOB PPV	UOB VS
	✅	✅
	❌	❌
	✅	✅
Excludes MST	✅	✅
Tapping physical card	❌	✅

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

Card	Earn Rate	Remarks
Citi Rewards Apply	4 mpd	Max S$1K per s. month, excludes travel Review
DBS Woman’s World Card Apply	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 on online transactions, 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)

In other words, both the Citi Rewards and DBS WWMC would be well-suited to cover everyday transactions like:

• Food delivery
• Ride-hailing
• Movie tickets
• Google Play or Apple App Store purchases
• Netflix, Spotify and other streaming subscriptions
• E-commerce sites like Amazon, Lazada, Shopee etc.
• (WWMC only) Buying airline tickets, cruises, prepaid hotels or activities & attraction bookings with Klook or Pelago

If I had to choose between the two, I’d 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, so that’s something to take into account.

Department stores (aka Heymax)

Card	Earn Rate	Remarks
OCBC Rewards Card Apply	6 mpd	Max S$1K per c. month
KrisFlyer UOB Credit Card Apply	3 mpd Online	No cap. Min. S$800 on SIA Group transactions in a m. year Review

I personally don’t shop at department stores, but I love it when I see a credit card with MCC 5311 Department Stores as a bonus category. 

Why? Because of Heymax. This website, better known for its MCC lookup tool, sells vouchers for a wide array of merchants. These merchants would normally code under numerous different MCCs, but Heymax voucher purchases all code as MCC 5311. 

👍 700 Max Miles joining bonus
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
Amazon Best Denki Courts Deliveroo Foodpanda Grab IKEA Klook Lazada	NTUC FairPrice Online Oddle Eats Pelago Ryde Sephora SHEIN Shopee TADA Zalora

Therefore, 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.

The OCBC Rewards Card will earn 6 mpd on these transactions, capped at S$1,000 per calendar month, until 30 June 2025. If that cap is exhausted, I would switch over to the KrisFlyer UOB Credit Card for an uncapped 3 mpd. 

Dining

Card	Earn Rate	Remarks
UOB Lady’s Solitaire Apply	4 mpd	Max S$2K per c. month. Must choose Dining as bonus category Review
KrisFlyer UOB Credit Card Apply	3 mpd	No cap. Min. S$800 on SIA Group transactions in a m. year Review

The dining category includes both dining at restaurants, as well as ordering through food delivery platforms like Deliveroo and GrabFood (but if you’re using foodpanda, then the 10 mpd DBS yuu Card should be the only choice- see below).

I choose Dining as one of the two bonus categories on my UOB Lady’s Solitaire Card, so that’s 4 mpd capped at S$2,000 per calendar month. Once that cap is exhausted (remember, it’s shared with another bonus category), I switch to the KrisFlyer UOB Credit Card for an uncapped 3 mpd.

Do note that there is a subtle but important difference between the two cards in terms of dining definition, with the UOB Lady’s Card covering MCC 5499 (e.g. Famous Amos, Bee Cheng Hiang, Nespresso), and the KrisFlyer UOB Card covering MCC 5813 (e.g. Harry’s, Wine Connection, Zouk). Therefore, they’re not completely interchangeable. 

🍽️ Dining Card MCC Coverage
	UOB Lady’s	KF UOB
5811 Caterers	✅
5812 Restaurants	✅	✅
5813 Bars & Nightclubs		✅
5814 Fast Food	✅	✅
5441 Candy Stores
5462 Bakeries
5499 Misc. Food	✅
Earn Rate	4 mpd	3 mpd
Monthly Cap	S$1K/2K	No cap

Foreign Currency (FCY) spend

Card	Earn Rate	Remarks
Amaze + Citi Rewards Apply	4 mpd	Max $1K per s. month Review
UOB Visa Signature Apply	4 mpd	Min. S$1K, max S$2K per s. month on FCY spend Review
Maybank Horizon Apply	3.2 mpd*	Min. S$800 per c. month, no cap Review
*Temporarily upsized to 3.2 mpd until 31 January 2025, after which 2.8 mpd

Assuming I haven’t already busted the Citi Reward Card’s bonus cap, I’ll pair it with Amaze to earn 4 mpd on overseas spending with a 2% FCY fee. Given 2024’s UOB nerf, however, I’ll consider it something of a minor miracle if Amaze makes it through 2025 unscathed!

Otherwise, next in line is 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- you can refer to this article for a more detailed explanation on how the caps work.

If that’s still not enough, or if I’m making a big ticket purchase and need something without a cap, then I’d use the Maybank Horizon for an uncapped 3.2 mpd on FCY spend, subject to a minimum spend of S$800 per calendar month. 

That’s only till 31 January 2025 though, after which it reverts to the usual 2.8 mpd. When that happens, I’ll switch to the Maybank World Mastercard, which earns:

• An uncapped 2.8 mpd with a minimum spend of S$800 per calendar month
• An uncapped 3.2 mpd with a minimum spend of S$4,000 per calendar month

It’s basically similar to the Horizon, but with the added upside of 3.2 mpd if I manage to clear S$4,000 spending in a month. 

The great thing about Maybank cards is that their FCY bonus applies even to  commonly-excluded categories like donations, education, hospitals and utilities!

Groceries

I used to select Family as one of the bonus categories on the MileLioness’ UOB Lady’s Solitaire Card so I could earn 4 mpd on groceries, but after doing the sums, realised it didn’t really make sense.

Most of my grocery spend was at Giant or Cold Storage, simply because of the DBS yuu Card. While I did visit NTUC occasionally, it wasn’t enough to justify using an entire bonus category just for groceries. And besides, I’m more likely to shop at FairPrice’s website these days, so I can use a card with online spending bonuses instead. 

So I no longer keep a separate card for this category, and follow this simple rule:

• In-store NTUC, Sheng Siong: UOB Preferred Platinum Visa or UOB Visa Signature
• Online/ In-store Giant, Cold Storage: DBS yuu Card
• Online NTUC: DBS WWMC

Petrol

Card	Earn Rate	Remarks
Maybank World Mastercard Apply	4 mpd	No cap Review

My hybrid car gets around 5 litres per 100km, so petrol expenses each month are modest. When I do need to pump, I usually turn to the Maybank World Mastercard for an uncapped 4 mpd, with no minimum spend.

It’s worth noting that from now till 31 March 2025, those pumping petrol at Esso can earn an extra 3 mpd from Kris+, on top of credit card miles (though some may prefer to take a straight 21% discount with AMEX and SPC).

Earn 7 mpd (or more) on Esso petrol with Kris+

This won’t work with the Maybank World Mastercard, because the 4 mpd for petrol doesn’t apply to online transactions, but I’d use the DBS WWMC (4 mpd) or KrisFlyer UOB Credit Card (uncapped 3 mpd) instead.

Public transport

Card	Earn Rate	Remarks
KrisFlyer UOB Credit Card Apply	3 mpd	No cap. Min. S$800 on SIA Group transactions in a m. year Review

When I don’t have access to the car and need to take the bus or train, the KrisFlyer UOB Credit Card is a straightforward solution with an uncapped 3 mpd.

Travel

Card	Earn Rate	Remarks
UOB Lady’s Solitaire Apply	4 mpd	Max S$2K per c. month. Must choose Travel as bonus category Review

The second bonus category on my UOB Lady’s Solitaire Card is Travel, so I can earn 4 mpd on up to S$2,000 of travel-related transactions such as:

• Air tickets (e.g. Singapore Airlines, Scoot)
• Cruises (e.g. Disney Cruises, Royal Caribbean)
• Duty-free stores (e.g. KrisShop)
• Hotels (e.g. Marriott, Hilton)
• Online and regular travel agencies (e.g. Klook, Trip.com)

yuu merchants

Card	Earn Rate	Remarks
DBS yuu AMEX Apply	10 mpd	Min. spend & cap of S$600 per c. month Review
DBS yuu Visa Apply

If you’re spending at a yuu merchant, there is absolutely no question about which card you should use: the DBS yuu AMEX or DBS yuu Visa, both of which earn 10 mpd on the following.

The only speedbump here is the minimum spend of S$600 per calendar month (which is also the cap), but between groceries, food delivery, pharmacy stuff and gojek, it’s doable for me.

Since this gets asked a lot, I want to clarify that the minimum spend need not be on yuu merchants alone. However, I find it a waste to spend on non-yuu merchants because you’ll earn just 0.27 mpd, which will drag down your overall earn rate. Even if you’re slightly short of the minimum spend, buying Cold Storage or Giant vouchers would be a better way of making up the balance than non-yuu spend.

For a detailed guide on the DBS yuu Card and yuu Points, refer to this post. 

What other cards can you consider?

UOB Lady’s Card

If you do not meet the minimum income requirement for a UOB Lady’s Solitaire Card (S$120,000 p.a.) then the UOB Lady’s Card would be the next best alternative. This card earns 4 mpd on one bonus category, capped at S$1,000 per calendar month.

You cannot hold both the UOB Lady’s Card and UOB Lady’s Solitaire Card at the same time. I’m aware of situations where cardholders who upgrade from the Lady’s to Lady’s Solitaire end up holding both cards for a period, but there’s really no incremental benefit as you’re still capped at 2x bonus categories and a S$2,000 bonus cap per calendar month. 

HSBC Revolution Card

2024 was a year of nerfs for the HSBC Revolution Card (and 2025 begins with yet another one!), but despite all the carnage, it still earns 4 mpd on selected bonus categories, capped at S$1,000 per calendar month.

Bonus categories include MCC 5311, which is good news for those looking to buy Heymax vouchers, as I explained earlier in this post.

Besides, HSBC points are arguably the most useful rewards currency in Singapore.

• Conversion fees are waived indefinitely
• Conversions to all but two programmes (Hainan and JAL) are instant
• Rewards points pool across all HSBC cards
• While the minimum conversion block is 10,000 miles, the subsequent block is just two miles (so you could transfer 10,002 or 20,496 miles, for example)
• Even though non-expiring points would be nice, HSBC still offers longer validity than most competing banks at 37 months
• It has 16 airline and four hotel transfer partners, by far the most of any bank in Singapore

If you’re a KrisFlyer or bust kind of person, then you’re not going to find the HSBC Revolution very useful- especially since HSBC will be devaluing points transfers to Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer by 20% on 16 January 2025.

However, if you value points flexibility and are prepared to go down the Heymax route, then I could see an argument for keeping this card. 

StanChart Beyond Card

I’m still not completely sold on whether the newly-launched StanChart Beyond Card is worth its S$1,635 annual fee, but if you’ve taken the plunge nonetheless, you’d better start using it religiously.

Not only do you have a hefty minimum spend of S$20,000 to meet for the welcome bonus, this card’s mechanics are structured in a way that the more you spend, the more you get rewarded. 

For FCY spending, cardholders earn anywhere from an uncapped 3-8 mpd. The top-end of that spectrum is reserved for SC Priority Private customers, for dining transactions only, but if you’re in that position you’d better start making hay. 

StanChart Smart Card

The StanChart Smart Card now earns a remarkable uncapped 9.3 mpd on streaming, public transport, electric car charging and fast food, but there’s a big catch here. You need to spend at least S$1,500 per statement month to unlock that rate (7.4 mpd is possible with a minimum spend of S$800). 

I don’t know about you, but I would find it exceedingly difficult to spend that much on these categories, though I’m sure there’ll be some who make it work (e.g. a Grab driver with an EV).

General spending cards

I make it a point to avoid general spending cards as much as possible, for the simple reason that there’s no reason to earn 1.2-1.6 mpd when you could be earning 4 mpd. 

However, general spending cards can still be part of a sound miles strategy, in situations where:

• There’s a lucrative welcome offer
• You’ve exhausted the bonus caps on higher-earning specialised spending cards
• You have a big-ticket transaction that can’t be split across multiple cards
• There’s a limited-time promotion that upsizes the earn rates (e.g. DBS Altitude 5 mpd for online travel and FCY spend, UOB PRVI Miles 5 mpd for overseas dining and shopping)
• You’re using CardUp or Citi PayAll, which aren’t eligible for bonuses with specialised spending cards

In these situations, it’s a simple matter of picking the highest-earning general spending card there is. 

What’s the best card to use for CardUp?

Final reminders

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 1-10 mpd on top of your credit card miles. 

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.

What’s the best card to use for Kris+?

Don’t 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.

💰 Points Conversion Fees by Bank
Issuer	Per Conversion	Annual Option
	S$201	N/A
	S$30	N/A
	S$27.252	N/A
	S$27.253	S$43.604
	Free	N/A
	S$27.255	N/A
	S$25	N/A
	S$27.25	N/A
	S$256	S$507
1. Waived for all Platinum and Centurion Cardholders 2. Waived for Citi ULTIMA Cardholders 3. Waived for DBS Insignia Cardholders 4. Automatic conversions in blocks of 500 DBS points (1,000 miles) each quarter. Additional ad-hoc redemptions can be done for free 5. Waived for Maybank Visa Infinite and Maybank World Mastercard Cardholders 6. Waived for UOB Reserve, UOB Visa Infinite Metal, UOB Visa Infinite and UOB Privilege Banking Cardholders 7. 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 each

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 Preferred Platinum Visa, 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. 

What are orphan miles, and how do you avoid them?

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, non-pooling credit card points with larger minimum conversion blocks are more likely to result in orphan miles.

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 a whitelist card like the Citi Rewards or UOB Preferred Platinum Visa, or even a general spending card instead.

Quality vs quantity of points

Finally, a reminder that not all credit card points are made equal. They differ in terms of:

• Expiry
• Minimum conversion
• Pooling
• Transfer partners
• Transfer fees
• Transfer speed

In other words, two cards could offer 4 mpd, but one card’s 4 mpd might be more valuable than the other. I personally consider AMEX Membership Rewards points, Citi Miles/ThankYou points and HSBC points to be the three most valuable rewards currencies in Singapore.

Because of this, I’d be more inclined to max out the online bonus cap on my Citi Rewards Card first, before switching over to my DBS Woman’s World Card. It’s also another argument in favour of keeping the HSBC Revolution, in spite of its many nerfs. 

Conclusion

I’ll be using a total of 10 credit cards in 2025, but I want to emphasise again that most people won’t require nearly as many. A simple four card combo of the Citi Rewards, DBS Woman’s World Card, UOB Preferred Platinum Visa and UOB Visa Signature will be enough for a miles game newbie to earn 4 mpd on most transactions. 

The other cards come in when you have very specific use cases (e.g. Maybank Horizon for overseas donations or big ticket spend), or if you want to take advantage of “beyond 4 mpd” opportunities (e.g. UOB Lady’s Card + Lady’s Savings Account, OCBC Rewards for heymax vouchers, DBS yuu for yuu merchants). That would be, in the words of Nigel Tufnel, going to eleven, and while it’s always fun, it won’t be for everyone.

Card strategies shouldn’t be static; there will be nerfs and buffs in 2025, and when that happens we’ll need to reshuffle our deck accordingly. I plan to keep this article updated at least once a quarter, so be on the lookout for that!