The MileLion’s 2024 Credit Card Strategy - The MileLion (2024)

2024 hasn’t even reached the halfway point yet, but we’ve already seen nerfs to miles game favourites like the DBS Woman’s World Card, HSBC Revolution, UOB Lady’s Solitaire Card and Citi PayAll. That’s not to mention non-miles nerfs like theHSBC Everyday Global Account and UOB Absolute Cashback Card!

This means it’s time for an update to The MileLion’s 2024 Credit Card Strategy, so it remains an up-to-date resource to forward to your friends, family and Tinder dates (and if the last two are one and the same, I really don’t need to know about it).

💳 2024 Credit Card Strategy

Contactless Payments Online Transactions Dining Groceries Foreign Currency Shopping Petrol Public Transport General Spending Bill Payments

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. Likewise, for shopping I’ve omitted the OCBC Rewards Card which offers 4 mpd.

That’s because OCBC and 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 my 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.

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.

Overall strategy

Broadly speaking, there’s two types of miles cards out there:

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 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!

Should you bother to get a general spending card?

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

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!

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

For both cards, take care when dealing with UOB$ merchants such as Bread Talk, Cold Storage, Giant, Guardian and Starbucks.At UOB$ merchants:

• you’ll earn 3.6 mpd with the UOB Visa Signature
• you’ll earn no miles with the UOB PPV

For why this is the case, refer to this post. There are some workarounds, but it might be better to avoid the issue altogether by using other cards here.

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 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, 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)

This is capped at S$1,000 for the Citi Rewards, and a now-reduced S$1,500 for the DBS WWMC.

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

• Deliveroo, GrabFood or Foodpanda
• Grab or gojek rides
• 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

Dining: HSBC Revolution, UOB Lady’s Cards and KrisFlyer UOB

Card	Earn Rate	Remarks
UOB Lady’s Card Apply	4 mpd	Max S$1K per c. month. Must choose Dining as bonus category Review
UOB Lady’s Solitaire Apply	4 mpd	Max S$2K per c. month. Must choose Dining as bonus category Review
HSBC Revolution Apply	4 mpd	Max S$1K per c. month. Must be online or contactless Review
KrisFlyer UOB Credit Card Apply	3 mpd	No cap. Min. S$800 on SIA Group transactions in a m. year Review

Dining is no doubt a major expense category for many people, and there’s several cards you can use here.

It’s a choicebetween the UOB Lady’s Cards (where Dining must be selected as one of your bonus categories) or the HSBC Revolution for a capped 4 mpd, or the KrisFlyer UOB Credit Card for an uncapped 3 mpd, provided you spend at least S$800 on SIA Group transactions (Singapore Airlines, Scoot, KrisShop) in a membership year.

But there’s another factor to consider: MCC coverage. As it turns out, all these cards define dining differently.

🍽️ Dining Card MCC Coverage
	HSBC Revo	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	4 mpd	3 mpd
Monthly Cap	S$1K	S$1K/2K	No cap

Each of these involve trade-offs:

• HSBC Revolution offers the widest dining MCC coverage (though crucially, it’s missing fast food after its 1 May nerf), but has a monthly 4 mpd cap of S$1,000
• UOB Lady’s Cards have a slightly more restrictive dining MCC coverage, but have monthly 4 mpd caps of up to S$2,000, and you can add an extra 2 mpd by depositing S$10,000 into a UOB Lady’s Savings Account
• KrisFlyer UOB Credit Card has the narrowest dining MCC coverage, 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 AMEX Apply	18% rebate	Min. spend & cap of S$600 per c. month
DBS yuu Visa Apply
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 is the only category where I’d seriously consider a non-miles card.

That’s because the DBS yuu Card offers 26 yuu Points per S$1 (the equivalent of an 18% cash rebate) at Cold Storage and Giant (plus other yuu merchants). You’d have to value a mile at more than 4.5 cents each to prefer 4 mpd over that. This upsized earn rate was originally supposed to lapse on 29 February 2024, but is now evergreen. I know where I’m buying my diapers and milk powder from!

But if you’re shopping at Sheng Siong, NTUC, or other supermarket chains, you canconsider theUOB Lady’s Cards (with Family selected as the bonus category)for 4 mpd.

Sadly, the HSBC Revolution is no longer an option for supermarkets, following its 1 May nerf.

Foreign Currency (FCY): Amaze, UOB Visa Signature or Maybank Horizon

Card	Earn Rate	Remarks
Amaze + Citi Rewards Apply	4 mpd	Max $1K per s. month Review
UOB Visa Signature Apply	4 mpd	S$1-2K per s. month on FCY spending Review
Maybank Horizon Visa Signature Apply	3.2 mpd^	Min. S$800 per c. month, no cap Review
^Limited-time upsize for May and June 2024; after which 2.8 mpd

Amaze rates may be creeping upwards, but at the end of the day it’s still a superior option to using bank credit cards and their 3.25% FCY fees (don’t forget that Amaze offers a cash rebate of up to 0.5% through InstaPoints as well).

The question then becomes which credit card you pair it with, and my default option is the Citi Rewards Cardfor 4 mpd. There’s other cards you can consider too, depending on MCC.

If you don’t want to use Amaze, consider the UOB Visa Signature. This earns 4 mpd on overseas spending, 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.

But what if you’re spending big and need something without a cap?The Maybank Horizon Visa Signature is your best bet in that case. Provided you spend at least S$800 per calendar month (in either local or FCY transactions), you’ll earn an uncapped 3.2 mpd on FCY spending.

Even better, this bonus also applies to commonly-excluded categories like donations, education, hospitals and utilities- so long as they’re in foreign currency.

Card	Earn Rate	Remarks
Citi Rewards Apply	4 mpd	Max S$1K per s. month Review
HSBC Revolution Apply	4 mpd	Max S$1K per c. month. Must be contactless Review
Amaze + KF UOB Credit Card Apply	3 mpd	Min. S$800 on SIA Group transactions in a m. year Review

For online or offline shopping at department stores, or fashion, jewelry and clothes outlets, you can choose from the Citi Rewards (4 mpd), HSBC Revolution (4 mpd) or Amaze + KrisFlyer UOB Credit Card (3 mpd).

Earn rates aside, the main difference here is caps. Both the Citi Rewards and HSBC Revolution are capped at S$1,000 per month, while the Amaze + KrisFlyer UOB combination is uncapped, provided you spend at leastS$800 on SIA Group transactions in a membership year.

Why do you need to add the Amaze? Because the KrisFlyer UOB Credit Card’s 3 mpd rate is only for online shopping, and Amaze turns 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
Citi Rewards	5311, 5611, 5621, 5631, 5641, 5651, 5655, 5661, 5691, 5699, 5948
HSBC Revolution	4816, 5045, 5262, 5309, 5310, 5311, 5331, 5399, 5611, 5621, 5631, 5641, 5651, 5655, 5661, 5691, 5699, 5732 to 5735, 5912, 5942, 5944 to 5949, 5964 to 5970, 5992, 5999
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)

Petrol: UOB Lady’s Cards, UOB Visa Signature

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
UOB Visa Signature Apply	4 mpd*	S$1K-2K on petrol + contactless per s. month Review
*Excludes SPC transactions

Although I feel the best card for petrol is the one that gives the biggest discount, if you’re just looking at miles then it’s a toss up among the UOB Lady’s Cards or UOB Visa Signature.

UOB Lady’s Cardholders will earn 4 mpd on petrol, provided they select Transport as their quarterly bonus category.

UOB Visa Signature Cardholders will earn 4 mpd, provided they spend at least S$1,000 on local contactless payments and/or petrol in a given statement month.

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

Public transport won’t be a huge component of your monthly expenditure, but it’s still a category worth optimising.

The UOB Lady’s Card and UOB Lady’s Solitaire Card will earn 4 mpd, provided Transport is chosen as the quarterly bonus category. Alternatively, use the KrisFlyer UOB Credit Card for 3 mpd, subject to a minimum S$800 spend on SIA Group transactions in a membership year.

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
AMEX HighFlyer Card Apply	1.8 mpd	Only available to SME owners Review
UOB PRVI Miles Card Apply	1.4 mpd (local) 2.4 mpd (overseas)	S$5 blocks may reduce effective mpd on smaller trxns Review

If 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.

The main drawback is that it limits you to converting a maximum of 150,000 KrisFlyer miles per calendar year (30,000 miles to five accounts), but you probably won’t be putting that much on a general spending card in the first place.

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 90°N 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 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).

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.

S$5 for new Kris+ Users

Get S$5 (in the form of 750 KrisPay miles) when you sign-up with codeW644363and 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+?

Some ongoing Kris+ deals you should know about include (all the figures below arebeforeadding miles from credit cards):

• 3 mpd at Esso and 12% upfront discount, valid till 31 May 2024
• 10 mpd at selected restaurants with Feast to Fly, valid till 30 June 2024

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 PayAlllet you earn miles.

Should you pay the admin fee? It all boils down tohow 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.

As an aside, if you’re looking to earn miles while paying 2024’s income taxes, do refer to the detailed guide below for all the options.

2024 Edition: Earning credit card miles on IRAS income tax

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
	S$201	N/A
	S$30	N/A
	S$27.252	N/A
	S$27.25	S$43.603
	N/A	S$43.604
	S$27.255	N/A
	S$25	N/A
	S$27.25	N/A
	S$256	S$507
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. Covers all HSBC cards you may have, even though HSBC points don’t pool. HSBC will eliminate this option from 28 May 2024 and waive all conversion fees till 31 January 2025 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

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.

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, the larger a card’s minimum conversion block, the more likely you are to end up with 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 your general spending card instead.

Conclusion

If you told me I could have five cards and no more, my top picks would be:

1. UOB Preferred Platinum Visa (for all mobile payments in-store)
2. Citi Rewards (for all online transactions, as well as in-store transaction paired with Amaze)
3. DBS Woman’s World Card (for all online transactions)
4. UOB Lady’s Solitaire (with Travel and Dining as my two bonus categories)
5. KrisFlyer UOB Credit Card(to mop up anything beyond my 4 mpd caps)

And of course there’s Amaze too, the glue which holds much of this together.Keep in mind, that’s the combination that best suitsmyspending 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.

Any other cards that are featuring in your 2024 game plan?