Lately, there have been several changes to the miles earn rates across a number of credit cards. Either that, the merchant categories may have been restricted, or the spend cap for bonus miles may have been reduced. In all, these changes to the terms and conditions have led to miles chasers to find some way to work around them. Here are a few examples:
DBS Woman’s World Card
The DBS Woman’s World Card is one of the more popular miles cards in Singapore. For the longest time, the card could earn you 4 mpd for up to S$2,000 in eligible online spending. However, from 1 Mar 2024, this spend cap was reduced to S$1,500. Assuming you max out this card for an entire year, this means that you would be earning 24,000 fewer miles per year. This would be a bummer, but thankfully other cards such as the Citi Rewards card can still give you 4 mpd for up to S$1,000 of eligible spend in a statement month, when paired with the Amaze card.
OCBC Rewards Card (formerly Titanium Rewards Card)
Back in Nov 2023, OCBC had significantly changed its T&Cs for the Rewards Card. It used to cap the bonus miles one could earn on an annual basis, but this has since changed to a monthly cap instead. Hence, the total number of bonus miles (48,000 to be exact) one can earn annual still remains the same, but this is capped to a maximum of 4,000 per calendar month. This means that you cannot rely on this card for big ticket spending any longer.
That being said, OCBC has launched a new campaign for the OCBC Rewards Card. From now until 30 Jun 2024, cardholders can earn 6 mpd at all spend at department stores, duty free stores, and Watsons. This is capped at S$1,000 of eligible spend per month. So, you win some and you lose some.
HSBC Revolution Card
This card was a versatile one, where you could earn 4 mpd across a number of merchant categories, including travel, shopping, dining, transport, and supermarkets. From 1 May 2024, HSBC will remove several spending categories from this list, namely supermarkets (MCC 5411), miscellaneous food stores (MCC 5499), and fast food (MCC 5814). The workaround for this would of course be the UOB Preferred Platinum Visa that earns you 4 mpd for all mobile contactless transactions, assuming you don’t already max out that card. Another possibility is the Citi Rewards Card paired with Amaze (except travel related spend), that also earns you 4 mpd for all eligible spend.
UOB Lady’s Solitaire Card
Until 31 Mar 2024, you could earn up to 6 mpd for selected merchant categories when spending with the UOB Lady Solitaire Card capped at S$3,000 of eligible spend per calendar month. However, the cap has since been reduced to S$2,000 with effect from 1 Apr 2024 (this is no April Fool’s joke). Additionally, the 6 mpd earn rate has been reduced to 4 mpd effective on the same date. Assuming you’ve been maxing out this card to earn miles, the changes to the T&Cs would mean you earning a whopping 120,000 fewer miles per year, owing to the double whammy here.
Conclusion
So here you go. The changes to the T&Cs of the aforementioned cards have dealt miles chasers a significant blow. That being said, one way to circumvent these changes is to have a multi card strategy. Having a suite of credit cards to cater to various payment methods, merchant categories and spending caps to maximise your miles earning rate is a useful strategy to have. It also allows you to take part in ad-hoc credit card promotions that are launched from time to time. Overall, these latest changes can only put a small dent in a serious miles chaser’s credit card strategy.