Introduction: General vs Specialized Spending Cards
There are two main types of miles cards available:
1. General Spending Cards: Earn a flat rate of ~1.x mile per dollar (mpd) on all transactions. Does not have a monthly spend cap, thus making it easy to use without tracking.
2. Specialized Spending Cards: Earn 4-6 mpd on specific spending categories. Will always come with a monthly cap.
Considering the substantial earning potential of specialized spending cards, opting for the lower earn rates of general spending cards seems like a missed opportunity. In other words, a person who regularly uses cards that offer 4-6 miles per dollar will gather enough miles for a free flight much quicker than someone who only uses a card offering 1.2 miles per dollar.
Example:
A one-way Business Saver flight from Singapore to Frankfurt requires 103,500 miles.
With a 4 mpd card: 103,500 ÷ 4 ÷ 12 = ~$2,100 of qualifying spend per month.
With a 1.3 mpd card: 103,500 ÷ 1.3 ÷ 12 = ~$6,600 of qualifying spend per month.
Your Goal: Maximize the use of specialized spending cards wherever possible and you can reach your travel objectives more quickly and effectively.
Leveraging on your new-to-bank status to get sign up bonus miles.
Leveraging your new-to-bank (NTB) status is a strategic way to maximize sign-up bonus miles, as this status is a precious and often one-time opportunity. The cards that offer NTB bonuses are typically general spending cards, which may not be as rewarding as specialized cards tailored for specific categories like dining, travel, or groceries. However, these general cards often come with attractive sign-up bonuses that are easier to achieve with everyday spending. To make the most of this, it’s wise to apply for these NTB cards first, meet the minimum spending requirements to secure the bonus miles, and then move on to applying for specialized spending cards. This two-step approach allows you to accumulate miles efficiently—first by capitalizing on the NTB bonuses and then by optimizing your spending with category-specific cards for even greater rewards.
[Feb-2025 NTB offers]
UOB PRVI Miles Cards: Earn a welcome bonus of 46,000 miles by spending a minimum of S$2,000 per month for 2 months and paying the annual fee. [Offer expires 28 Feb 25]
DBS Vantage Card: Enjoy a welcome bonus of 60,000 miles with a minimum spend of S$4,000 within 30 days. [Offer expires 28 Feb 25]
HSBC Revolution Card: Receive S$199 Cash via PayNow + S$251 eCapitaVoucher. [Offer expires 31 Mar 25]
AMEX KrisFlyer Credit Card: Get 22,900 bonus miles with a minimum spend of S$1,000 within 30 days. [Offer expires 16 Feb 25]
Citi PremierMiles Card: New-to-bank customers can earn 30,000 miles by spending S$800 within the first 2 months. [Offer expires 28 Feb 25]
These limited-time offers present an excellent opportunity to boost your miles balance quickly, especially if you’re a new-to-bank customer. Since these welcome bonuses are tied to specific spending requirements and deadlines, it’s important to plan your applications strategically. Start with cards that align with your regular spending habits or have lower minimum spend thresholds, ensuring you can comfortably meet the requirements. Don’t miss out—these offers are time-sensitive and can significantly accelerate your journey toward your next business class flight!
Leveraging on your new-to-card status to get even more sign up bonus miles.
Once you’ve exhausted your new-to-bank (NTB) opportunities, the next step is to leverage your new-to-card (NTC) status to continue earning attractive sign-up bonuses. Many banks offer welcome rewards not just for new customers but also for existing customers applying for a card they don’t currently hold. This means you can still unlock bonus miles or points by adding new cards to your portfolio, even if you’ve already tapped into your NTB benefits.
[Feb-2025 NTC offers]
HSBC TravelOne Card: Receive 24,000 bonus miles by spending at least S$800 in the first 1-2 months. The annual fee of S$196.20 applies. [Offer expires 31 Mar 25]
Citi Prestige Card: Receieve 50,000 miles welcome bonus with min. spend of S$2,000 [Expires 28 Feb 25]
DBS Vantage Card: New-to-bank/existing customers will enjoy 60,000/40,000 bonus miles when they apply for a DBS Vantage Card, pay the S$599.50 annual fee and spend S$4,000 within 30 days of approval. [Expires 28 Feb 25]
Apply for Specialised Spending Cards
Now that you’ve taken advantage of the lucrative welcome bonuses, it’s time to level up your miles strategy by applying for specialized cards. These cards are designed to reward you heavily in specific spending categories, such as dining, travel, groceries, or online shopping, making them ideal for maximizing miles on your everyday expenses. By using specialized cards, you can optimize every dollar spent and accelerate your miles accumulation. This approach ensures you’re not only capitalizing on one-time bonuses but also building a sustainable, long-term strategy to earn miles faster and smarter.
Here are some of the cards that I would start with:
A special shoutout goes to UOB Bank, which should be your first stop when building a miles strategy. UOB stands out with its unique points pooling feature, allowing you to consolidate points earned across multiple cards into a single account. This helps you avoid the frustration of orphan points—small amounts of points scattered across different cards that are often too insignificant to redeem and may eventually expire. With UOB, points earned on their cards typically have a 5-year validity, giving you ample time to accumulate and redeem them. Additionally, UOB offers four excellent specialized cards that cover a wide range of spending categories, making them more than sufficient for most people’s needs. Whether it’s dining, travel, online shopping, or groceries, UOB’s card lineup ensures you’re well-equipped to maximize your miles. For most people, the convenience of points pooling and the flexibility of their card offerings make UOB a no-brainer to start with.
Check out my dedicated post 2025 Beginner’s Guide: The Best 4-6 mpd Credit Cards in Singapore to know all about Specialised Spending Cards in Singapore.
Advanced Strategies to Supercharge Your Miles Strategy
First, don’t overlook Kris+, an easy way to earn 9 miles per dollar (mpd) when you pay via the app at their partner merchants. Food and beverage (F&B) outlets are the simplest way to leverage this, as many restaurants and cafes are part of the Kris+ network. To maximize your earnings, pair Kris+ with cards like the UOB KrisFlyer Credit Card or DBS Woman’s World Mastercard, which already offer high miles accrual. Kris+ partners with plenty of Chinese resturants, so don't miss out the opportunity to "pay first" for your next family dinner!
Next, consider using CardUp to pay for large expenses like income tax, insurance premiums, or rent. By using my promo code, you’ll get 1 time $30 off your admin fee, equivalent of "free miles" on $1154 worth of (income tax, or anything really) bills.
Finally, consider the DBS yuu Card, which provides an attractive 10mpd at yuu partner merchants. However, this card can be challenging to use due to the minimum spend requirement of S$600 per calendar month, which is also the cap. This means spending more than S$600 will not earn you additional bonus miles. I've managed this by spending S$600 each month at the Singtel Self-Service Kiosk to pay my entire family's Singtel bill. Check out the nearest singtel kiosk over here.
If you’ve found my work helpful or valuable, I’d be incredibly grateful if you’d consider supporting me by buying me a coffee! ☕ Your support will keep me motivated and fuels more great content.
Comments