Another year has passed by so quickly, and we’re now heading into the new year. As a New Year tradition, we’ll want to take stock of the credit cards that we have and modify our strategy according to the changes that are happening next year.
Again, a lot has changed in the world of miles and points this year. Unfortunately, we’ve seen a lot more devaluations and nerfing of perks this year as compared to improvements. Most notably, we’ve seen the gradual demise of the HSBC Revolution Card this year which used to be our most used credit card.
On a more personal note, we’ve just gotten married and our travel and spending patterns will likely change next year.
For spending, we’ll be putting down a significant amount of money for our home renovation and furniture. We’ll want to maximise the miles and points earned on this, but it’ll be much harder to do so compared to when we were planning for our wedding.
Regarding travel, we’ll still be taking a lot of trips next year. In fact, we’ve already booked flight tickets as far out as June! However, due to the home renovation, we’ll be taking shorter trips to nearby countries as we might have to head back home in a pinch to check on the renovation progress.
Change in the Structure of Article
We’ve also decided to change the way we present our credit card strategy this year. Given that we use different credit cards in different situations, we want to present our use cases better so that it’s easier to understand the different nuances of each card usage.
Do keep in mind that the list of cards in each spending category is not exhaustive. There can be many more cards that fit in the category, but these are just a few of the cards that we think are the best for each category.
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Previous Editions
We publish our strategy at the start of every year. Check out our past versions here to see what has changed over the years.
Before signing up for any cards, make sure to check out the latest credit card sign-up bonuses to ensure that you’re maximising any potential rewards.
Travel
We spend a significant amount of our money on the Travel category. This typically includes transactions at Hotels, Airlines and Car Rentals.
| Card | Mpd | Monthly Limit | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
 UOB Lady’s UOB Lady’s Solitaire Apply | 4 | S$1,000 S$2,000 | Must select the Travel category |
 DBS Woman’s World Mastercard Apply | 4 | S$1,500 | Online only. Points expire in 1 year. |
 UOB KrisFlyer Apply | 3 | Must spend S$800 on SIA Group in a membership year | |
 Citi Premiermiles Apply | 7.2 | Agoda / Expedia. Book through dedicated link | |
 UOB PRVI Miles Apply | 6.6 | Agoda / Expedia. Book through dedicated link |
Our main workhorse here is the UOB Lady’s Card. With the Solitaire version, we can get a higher monthly spending limit which is very useful, especially for larger purchases. By pairing with the UOB Lady’s Savings Account, we can earn 6 mpd on our travel purchases.
We used to use the HSBC Revolution Card for airline ticket purchases. However, starting in January 2025, it will no longer award 4 mpd in this category.
Dining and Restaurants
The second largest spending category for us is dining out in restaurants. This is, therefore, one of the other categories that we actively maximise our spending on.
| Card | Mpd | Monthly Limit | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
UOB Lady’s UOB Lady’s Solitaire Apply | 4 | S$1,000 S$2,000 | Must select the Dining category |
 UOB Preferred Platinum Apply | 4 | S$1,100 | Must be contactless |
  Instarem Amaze + Citi Rewards Apply | 4 | S$1,000 |
Online Shopping
These days, whenever we buy anything, we often buy it online due to the convenience and frequently discounted prices (cue 11.11, 12.12). Therefore, this makes up our next largest spending category after travel and dining out.
This is a fairly broad category, but we are defining shopping as common retailers like Shopee and Lazada. However, most of the cards listed before work with online transactions in general.
| Card | Mpd | Monthly Limit | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
Citi Rewards Apply | 4 | S$1,000 | |
DBS Woman’s World Mastercard Apply | 4 | S$1,500 | Points expire in 1 year |
 HSBC Revolution Apply | 4 | S$1,000 | |
UOB KrisFlyer Apply | 3 | Must spend S$800 on SIA Group in a membership year |
This is a fairly easy category to maximise as many cards offer bonus points on online spending.
Ride Sharing and Taxi
The use of ride-sharing services like Grab, Gojek, Ryde and Tada has become a lot more common recently. We’ve heard of people who only travel around the island using ride-sharing services. Therefore, this can be a significant spending category for many.
| Card | Mpd | Monthly Limit | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
UOB Lady’s UOB Lady’s Solitaire Apply | 4 | S$2,000 | Must select Transport as a category |
Citi Rewards Apply | 4 | S$1,000 | |
HSBC Revolution Card Apply | 4 | S$1,000 | |
DBS Woman’s World Mastercard Apply | 4 | S$1,500 | |
UOB KrisFlyer Card Apply | 3 | Must spend S$800 on SIA Group in a membership year |
Public Transport
Public transport is not a significant spending category for most of us. Given that public transport is kept affordable in Singapore, we don’t typically spend more than S$100 a month in this category.
With that said, since we’re spending the money, we might as well get some points and miles out of it.
| Card | Mpd | Monthly Limit | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
UOB Lady’s UOB Lady’s Solitaire Apply | 4 | S$2,000 | Must select Transport as a category |
UOB KrisFlyer Apply | 3 | Must spend S$800 on SIA Group in a membership year | |
UOB PRVI Miles Apply | 1.4 | ||
 DBS Altitude Card Apply | 1.3 |
Due to the low per-transaction spending on transport, there are concerns about the S$5 rounding policy that many credit cards subscribe to.
Visa Cards: Transactions are posted daily. For UOB Cards*, $UNI points from SimplyGo are accumulated monthly and posted on the 7th of each month. DBS has a point-rounding policy that assures you’ll get DBS points even if you spend less than S$5.
MasterCard: Every 5 days or S$15 accumulated whichever is earlier*.
We don’t overly optimise on this category and simply use a general spending card like the DBS Altitude Card or UOB PRVI Miles Card that pools points with other credit cards.
Contactless Payments
With the widespread adoption of contactless payments in Singapore, contactless payments act as a catch-all for almost all in-person transactions. When we’re purchasing something that does not fall neatly into the specialised categories above, we’ll fall back to using cards that are good with contactless payments.
| Card | Mpd | Monthly Limit | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
UOB Preferred Platinum Apply | 4 | S$1,100 | Must use mobile payment options like Apple Pay, Google Pay, Samsung Pay. Do not tap the physical card. |
 UOB Visa Signature Apply | 4 | S$2,000 | Min S$1,000 contactless |
Before 2024, we actively used the HSBC Revolution Card for this category. Unfortunately, the card has since removed contactless payments as its bonus category. We are now left with a handful of options from UOB.
Overseas and Foreign Currency
We spend a significant amount of time outside of Singapore, and therefore a lot of our purchases are made in foreign currency.
As overseas spending is so diverse, there can be a potential for overlap between the bonus categories and the foreign currency category. As much as possible, if the purchase falls into any of the above categories such as Travel or Dining, we’ll use the cards in those categories. If not, we’ll fall back to these cards here.
Most credit cards charge a foreign transaction fee in addition to a spread on the currency exchange charged by the payment network. This fee typically ranges from 3 to 4% of the transaction value.
| Card | Mpd | Monthly Limit | Foreign Transaction Fee | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
UOB Visa Signature Apply | 4 | S$2,000 | 3.25% | Min S$1,000 contactless |
Instarem Amaze + Citi Rewards Apply | 4 | S$1,000 | ~2% | No foreign transaction fee, but higher spread of ~2% |
UOB PRVI Miles Apply | 3 (regional countries) 2.4 (others) | 3.25% | ||
 HSBC Travel One Apply | 2.4 | 3.25% | ||
DBS Altitude Card Apply | 2.2 | 3.25% | ||
 Trust Cashback Credit Card iOS | Android Code: 7F1X2SN1 | 1% Cashback | 0% | No fees |
A newcomer this year to this category is the Trust Cashback Credit Card. Even though it’s a cashback card, it stands out with its 0% foreign transaction fee feature. With 1% cashback on all spending, you’ll come out ahead of most credit cards with hefty foreign transaction fees. Use code 7F1X2SN1 during signup for a scratch card to win up to S$1,000.
Airport Lounges
One of the biggest benefits of credit cards recently has been their access to airport lounges. Although lounges can differ in quality, they are a huge upgrade to our travels, especially when we’re travelling in economy.
| Card | Visit Per Year | Lounge Program | Annual Fee | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Amex Platinum Charge Card Apply | Unlimited + 1 guest | Centurion Lounge, Delta Sky Club Lounges, Plaza Premium Lounges, Priority Pass | S$1,744 | |
 Citi Prestige Apply | Unlimited + 1 guest | Priority Pass | S$545 | |
 HSBC Visa Infinite | Unlimited | Lounge Key | Supplementary card holders get their own LoungeKey. Application paused. | |
 UOB Visa Infinite Metal Apply | Unlimited + 1 guest | DragonPass | S$654 | |
HSBC Travel One Apply | 4 | DragonPass | S$196.20 | |
UOB PRVI Miles Apply | 4 | Priority Pass | S$261.60* | No complimentary guests. |
Citi Premiermiles Apply | 2 | Priority Pass | S$196.20* | |
DBS Altitude Card Apply | 2 | Priority Pass | S$196.20* | |
 Standard Chartered Journey Card Apply | 2 | Priority Pass | S$196.20 |
There are too many credit cards that offer limited lounge access in Singapore. Ultimately, you should only get the card setup that fits your travel patterns the best.
If you’re a road warrior who travels a lot with a large group of family or friends, it might be worth checking out premium credit cards such as the Amex Platinum Charge Card or the Citi Prestige.
On the other hand, if you travel a couple of times each year, it might otherwise be better to stack up your lounge pass visits with a couple of standard credit cards like the UOB PRVI Miles. A key point here is to look for cards with waivable annual fees.
Summary
As mentioned above, going into 2025, our spending habits will change significantly compared to 2024. On a day-to-day basis, we’ll likely still be spending on these same categories. Given that we no longer have a hotel banquet to pay for, our spending on the Travel category will also decrease for the year.
Instead, for our upcoming renovation, we’ll likely be using a combination of payment services like CardUp or Citi PayAll for the main renovations and specialized cards for furniture shopping. This will not yield us as many points as we did in 2024, but still be a significant portion of our upcoming trips.
If you have already stacked up a sizable amount of miles, read here to find out how you can redeem them for Singapore Airlines’s Business Class flights.
