Best Credit Cards for Public Transport (Miles vs Cashback)

Suitesmile rating:

✍️ Short summary
This card gives you a strong earn rate of 4 miles per dollar on the following spending categories:

1. Mobile Contactless (e.g. groceries, public transport, dining, shopping, hotels, overseas)
2. Online (e.g. online shopping, food delivery, ticketing)

No minimum spend is required to earn 4 mpd on both categories, but this bonus earn rate is capped at S$600 worth of spending per category, per calendar month (max. total of S$1,200).

The Mobile Contactless category covers a wide range of spending categories, while the Online Spending category is MCC-sensitive.

Take note that cardholders will only earn 0.4 mpd on other categories and spending above the monthly bonus cap.

Before converting UOB UNI$ to miles for the first time, you’d need to enrol in the UOB Rewards Frequent Flyer Conversion programme. It’s best to do this early to avoid delays on your future miles conversions.

“Mobile Contactless” refers to Google Pay, Apple Pay, Samsung Pay and Fitbit Pay. Cardholders will not earn 4 mpd by using the physical card.

---

💸 Annual fee
S$196.20
(First year waived, request waiver every year after that)

💼 Income requirement
S$30,000/year (S’porean/PR aged 55 and below),
S$15,000/year (S’porean/PR aged 56 and above),
S$40,000/year (Foreigner)

🤑 Foreign currency fee
3.25%

⏰ Miles expiry
2 years from transaction

🫱‍🫲 Transfer partners
KrisFlyer and Asia Miles

💯 Transfer ratio
1 UNI$ = 2 miles

🧮 Transfer block
5,000 UNI$ (10,000 miles)

💲Transfer fee
S$27 per transfer

🤗 Points pooling
UNI$ from this card can be combined with those from other UOB cards and transferred out together at once.

❓How/When points are credited
Earn 1 base UNI$ per S$5 spent, plus 9 bonus UNI$ for eligible online and mobile contactless transactions (equivalent to 4 mpd in total). Base and bonus points are credited immediately when the transaction is posted.

📜 Terms & conditions

Suitesmile rating:

✍️ Short summary
This card, which is also available to men, gives you a great earn rate of 4 miles per dollar on 1 pre-selected bonus category, up to S$1,000 per calendar month. No minimum spending is required.

Cardholders will only earn 0.4 mpd on other categories and spending above S$1,000 per calendar month.

Cardholders can choose/change a preferred bonus category every quarter.

The 7 bonus categories available are:

1. Beauty & Wellness (e.g. cosmetic stores, hair salons, spas)
2. Fashion (e.g. clothing, shoes stores)
3. Dining (e.g. restaurants, food delivery)
4. Family (e.g. supermarkets, children clothing stores)
5. Travel (e.g. flights, hotels, duty-free stores)
6. Transport (e.g. public transport, taxi, petrol)
7. Entertainment (e.g. bars, night clubs, cinemas)

Cardholders may check existing selected bonus category by calling UOB.

There are 3 main versions of the UOB Lady’s Card (UOB Lady’s Card, UOB Lady’s Solitaire Card, UOB Lady’s Solitaire Metal Card). Each UOB customer can only hold one at a time.

Before converting UOB UNI$ to miles for the first time, you’d need to enrol in the UOB Rewards Frequent Flyer Conversion programme. It’s best to do this early to avoid delays on your future miles conversions.

---

💸 Annual fee
S$196.20
(First year waived, request waiver every year after that)

💼 Income requirement
S$30,000/year (S’porean/PR aged 55 and below),
S$15,000/year (S’porean/PR aged 56 and above),
S$40,000/year (Foreigner)

🤑 Foreign currency fee
3.25%

⏰ Miles expiry
2 years from transaction

🫱‍🫲 Transfer partners
KrisFlyer and Asia Miles

💯 Transfer ratio
1 UNI$ = 2 miles

🧮 Transfer block
5,000 UNI$ (10,000 miles)

💲Transfer fee
S$27 per transfer

🤗 Points pooling
UNI$ from this card can be combined with those from other UOB cards and transferred out together at once.

❓How/When points are credited
Earn 1 base UNI$ per S$5 spent, plus 9 bonus UNI$ for eligible transactions on the bonus category (equivalent to 4 mpd in total). Base and bonus points are credited immediately when the transaction is posted.

📜 Terms & conditions

📜 Chosen Category MCCs and FAQs

Suitesmile rating:

✍️ Short summary
This card, which is also available to men, gives you a great earn rate of 4 miles per dollar on 2 pre-selected bonus categories, up to S$750 per calendar month each (total S$1,500). No minimum spending is required.

Cardholders will only earn 0.4 mpd on other categories and spendings above the bonus limit.

Cardholders can choose/change a preferred bonus categories every quarter.

The 7 bonus categories available are:

1. Beauty & Wellness (e.g. cosmetic stores, hair salons, spas)
2. Fashion (e.g. clothing, shoes stores)
3. Dining (e.g. restaurants, food delivery)
4. Family (e.g. supermarkets, children clothing stores)
5. Travel (e.g. flights, hotels, duty-free stores)
6. Transport (e.g. public transport, taxi, petrol)
7. Entertainment (e.g. bars, night clubs, cinemas)

Cardholders may check existing selected bonus category by calling UOB.

There are 3 main versions of this card (UOB Lady’s Card, UOB Lady’s Solitaire Card, UOB Lady’s Solitaire Metal Card). Each UOB customer can only hold one at a time.

Before converting UOB UNI$ to miles for the first time, you’d need to enrol in the UOB Rewards Frequent Flyer Conversion programme. It’s best to do this early to avoid delays on your future miles conversions.

---

💸 Annual fee
S$414.20
(First year waived, request waiver every year after that)

💼 Income requirement
S$120,000/year

🤑 Foreign currency fee
3.25%

⏰ Miles expiry
2 years from transaction

🫱‍🫲 Transfer partners
KrisFlyer and Asia Miles

💯 Transfer ratio
1 UNI$ = 2 miles

🧮 Transfer block
5,000 UNI$ (10,000 miles)

💲Transfer fee
S$27 per transfer

🤗 Points pooling
UNI$ from this card can be combined with those from other UOB cards and transferred out together at once.

❓How/When points are credited
Earn 1 base UNI$ per S$5 spent, plus 9 bonus UNI$ for eligible transactions on the bonus category (equivalent to 4 mpd in total). Base and bonus points are credited immediately when the transaction is posted.

📜 Terms & conditions

📜 Chosen Category MCCs and FAQs

Suitesmile rating:

✍️ Short summary
This card gives you a strong earn rate of 4 miles per dollar on two categories:

1. Overseas (incl. online in foreign currencies)
2. Local Contactless (e.g. PayWave, Google Pay, Apple Pay), SimplyGo (bus/mrt), Fuel (excl. SPC, Shell)

To receive the bonus earn rate, a minimum spending of S$1,000 per statement month is required on that particular category, with a category cap of S$1,200 in the same period. You may also enjoy the bonus earn rate on just 1 category in any statement period.

These categories offers broad coverage on spendings like shopping (in-person and online), foreign currency (in-person and online), dining, groceries, flights, hotels, food delivery and ride-hailing.

However, the huge catch is the minimum spending amount that has to be met on that particular bonus category (not general card spend like other cards). For example, if you want to earn 4 mpd on foreign currency spending, you have to spend at least S$1,000 per statement month on foreign currencies.

All other spending earn just 0.4 mpd (uncapped).

Before converting UOB UNI$ to miles for the first time, you’d need to enrol in the UOB Rewards Frequent Flyer Conversion programme. It’s best to do this early to avoid delays on your future miles conversions.

---

💸 Annual fee
S$218
(First year waived, request waiver every year after that)

💼 Income requirement
S$30,000/year (S’porean/PR aged 55 and below),
S$15,000/year (S’porean/PR aged 56 and above),
S$40,000/year (Foreigner)

🤑 Foreign currency fee
3.25%

⏰ Miles expiry
2 years from transaction

🫱‍🫲 Transfer partners
KrisFlyer and Asia Miles

💯 Transfer ratio
1 UNI$ = 2 miles

🧮 Transfer block
5,000 UNI$ (10,000 miles)

💲Transfer fee
S$27 per transfer

🤗 Points pooling
UNI$ from this card can be combined with those from other UOB cards and transferred out together at once.

❓How/When points are credited
Earn 1 base UNI$ per S$5 spent, plus 9 bonus UNI$ for eligible online and contactless transactions (equivalent to 4 mpd in total). Base and bonus points are credited immediately when the transaction is posted.

📜 Terms & conditions

Suitesmile rating:

✍️ Short summary
This card gives you an uncapped earn rate of 1.2 miles per dollar on SGD spending and 2.4 miles per dollar on foreign currency spending.

This is a great backup card, if you have exhausted all your specialized cards with better earn rates.

Having many transfer partners gives you fantastic flexibility. However, this card has a poor transfer ratio to KrisFlyer, a great frequent flyer program for travels to regions like Australia, New Zealand, Mainland China, India and Istanbul.

Cardholders are also entitled to 4 free airport lounge visits (via DragonPass) per calendar year. For example, if you apply for the card in March 2023, you will get 4 free visits for the current year, plus 4 more free visits from 1 January the following year.

Cardholders also get complimentary access to the ENTERTAINER with HSBC app, where there are over a thousand 1-for-1 deals on dining, entertainment and hotels.

---

💸 Annual fee
S$196.20
(Get 30k points (12k miles) when you pay the annual fee from the 2nd year onwards. Get first-year waiver, if you don’t want the sign-up bonus.)

💼 Income requirement
S’porean/PR: S$30,000 – S$65,000
Foreigner: S$65,000

🤑 Foreign currency fee
3.25%

🛋️ Airport lounge access
4 free visits per calendar year
(via DragonPass)

⏰ Points expiry
3 years from transaction
(37 months to be exact)

🫱‍🫲 Transfer partners
Asia Miles, Infinity MileageLands, BA Club and more!

💯 Transfer ratio
2.5 points = 1 mile

🧮 Transfer block
25,000 points
(10,000 miles)

💲Transfer fee
Free

🤗 Points pooling
Points from this card can be combined with those from other HSBC cards and transferred out together at once.

❓How/When points are credited
Base points are credited immediately when the transaction is posted.

📜 Terms & conditions

Suitesmile rating:

✍️ Short summary
This card gives you an earn rate of 1.3 miles per dollar on SGD spending, and 2.2 miles per dollar on foreign currency transactions.

There are 2 variants of the DBS Altitude Card (Visa and AMEX). Both offer similar earn rates and benefits but only the Visa version comes with 2 free airport lounge visits per card membership year.

Miles earned on this card do not expire.

---

💸 Annual fee
S$196.20
(First year waived, always request for a waiver after that)
Note: Annual fee payments come with 10,000 miles (not worth it)

💼 Income requirement
S$30,000/year (S’porean/PR aged 55 and below),
S$15,000/year (S’porean/PR aged 56 and above),
S$45,000/year (Foreigner)

🤑 Foreign currency fee
AMEX: 3%
Visa: 3.25%

🛋️ Airport lounge access
2 free lounge visits per card membership year
(Visa version only, via Priority Pass)

⏰ Points expiry
Points earned from this card do not expire

🫱‍🫲 Transfer partners
KrisFlyer, Asia Miles, Qantas Frequent Flyer

💯 Transfer ratio
1 point = 2 miles

🧮 Transfer block
5,000 points (10,000 miles)

💲Transfer fee
S$27.25 per transfer

🤗 Points pooling
Points from this card can be combined with those from other DBS cards and transferred out together at once.

❓How/When points are credited
Base points are credited immediately when the transaction is posted.

📜 Terms & conditions

Suitesmile rating:

✍️ Short summary
This card gives you an uncapped 3 mpd earn rate on Singapore Airlines, Scoot, KrisShop, Kris+ and Pelago.

Cardholders can also receive an uncapped 2.4 mpd earn rate (1.2 base + 1.2 bonus) on everyday spending categories like dining, online shopping, online food delivery, ride-hailing and public transport, as well as travel spending made on selected websites like airbnb.com, booking.com and expedia.com. To receive the 1.2 mpd bonus, cardholders have to spend at least S$1,000 on Singapore Airlines, Scoot, Pelago or KrisShop collectively in a card membership year.

All other transactions earn 1.2 mpd, including foreign currency spending which comes with 3.25% in fees (very poor!).

On top of that, cardholders can also get priority check-in and boarding, free standard seat selection and one-time booking flexibility waiver on Scoot bookings made through flyscoot.com/KrisFlyerUOB.

While this card makes all the right headlines, cardholders should know that bonus miles (1.2 mpd) are only credited within 2 months, after the end of the card membership year. This can be a dealbreaker for many who do not want to wait up to 14 months to receive the bonus miles! The delayed miles crediting can also force you into paying the annual fee (instead of cancelling the card), if a waiver is not granted.

Another obvious point to note is that the miles earned on this card can only be transferred to KrisFlyer, albeit with no transfer fee.

Flexibility is very important in the Miles Game and unfortunately, this card offers very little of that. I recommend maximizing the limits of other 4 mpd cards first, before using this one.

---

💸 Annual fee
S$196.20
(First year waived, get 10,000 miles with subsequent annual fee payments but not worth it; always request waiver)

💼 Income requirement
S$30,000/year (S’porean/PR aged 55 and below),
S$15,000/year (S’porean/PR aged 56 and above),
S$40,000/year (Foreigner)

🤑 Foreign currency fee
3.25%

⏰ Miles expiry
3 years from the time they are credited into KrisFlyer account.

🫱‍🫲 Transfer partner
KrisFlyer only

🧮 Transfer block
N/A

💲 Transfer fee
No transfer fee

🤗 Miles/Points pooling
Miles earned from this card cannot be combined with those from other UOB cards and can only be transferred out separately.

❓ How/When miles are credited
Earn 6 base miles per S$5 dollar spent, plus 6 bonus miles for eligible transactions (equivalent to 2.4 mpd in total). Base miles are credited into your KrisFlyer account at the end of each calendar month; bonus miles up to 2 months after the end of card membership year (up to 14 months).

📜 Terms & conditions

Suitesmile rating:

✍️ Short summary
This card can be highly rewarding, but it requires a lot of tracking work on your part and can be very time-consuming.

Earn up to 3.33% cashback on almost everything, including online shopping, in-person shopping, dining, groceries, ride-hailing, food delivery, utilities and even phone/internet bills.

Why “up to” 3.33%? Upon meeting certain conditions, cardholders get a fixed cashback amount of S$60, S$100 or S$200 at the end of each quarter.

How to receive up to 3.33% cashback:

• MANDATORY: Make at least 10 transactions per statement month
• Get S$60 cashback when you spend at least S$600 per month, for 3 consecutive statement months in a qualifying quarter
• Get S$100 cashback when you spend at least S$1,000 per month, for 3 consecutive statement months in a qualifying quarter
• Get S$200 cashback when you spend at least S$2,000 per month, for 3 consecutive statement months in a qualifying quarter

In other words, you will only receive exactly 3.33% cashback when you spend exactly S$600, S$1,000 or S$2,000 for 3 consecutive months in a qualifying quarter. For example, a cardholder who spends S$1,800/month in that same period, would fall under the S$1,000 band and be rewarded with just S$100 cashback (equivalent to 1.85%).

Cardholders who meet the conditions for up to 3.33% cashback described above can earn up to 6.67% additional cashback (total up to 10% cashback) at selected merchants like Grab, Shopee, Giant, Cold Storage and SimplyGo. This additional cashback is capped at S$120 per statement month.

---

💸 Annual fee
S$196.20
(First year waived, request waiver every year after that)

💼 Income requirement
S$30,000/year (S’porean/PR aged 55 and below),
S$15,000/year (S’porean/PR aged 56 and above),
S$40,000/year (Foreigner)

🤑 Foreign currency fee
3.25%

❓ When cashback is credited
Receive your cashback in the card by the following statement date after the completion of your qualifying quarter.

📜 Terms & conditions

Suitesmile rating:

✍️ Short summary
Cardholders can earn 6% or 8% cashback on their 5 chosen categories via two cashback tiers.

Tier 1 (6% cashback): Spend at least S$800 per calendar month. Cashback is capped at S$20 per category (S$333 worth of spending).

Tier 2 (up to 8% cashback): Spend at least S$1,600 per calendar month. Cashback is capped at S$30 per category (S$375 worth of spending). However, take note that the Groceries category will still only earn 6% cashback on up to S$500 worth of spending.

Cardholders can choose 5 bonus categories (via Maybank’s TREATS SG app) from a list of 10:

1. Automotive (default)
2. Dining & Food Delivery (default)
3. Kids & Pets (default)
4. Online Shopping (default)
5. Telco & Streaming (default)
6. Beauty & Wellness
7. Commute
8. Entertainment
9. Groceries
10. Sports & Sports Apparels

Additional Bonus Category
Cardholders can also earn 6% or 8% cashback on eligible purchases made in Malaysian Ringgit or Indonesian Rupiah, but not if they fall under the cardholder’s chosen spending categories. If a transaction overlaps with the chosen categories and exceeds the cashback cap, only the amount spent beyond that limit will qualify for this additional category. Cashback earned in this category is also capped at S$20 and S$30 per calendar month for Tier 1 and Tier 2 respectively.

Get just 0.22% cashback if you fail to meet the minimum spending requirement and for other spending categories.

---

💸 Annual fee
S$196.20
(First 3 years waived)

💼 Income requirement
S$30,000/year (S’porean/PR),
S$45,000/year (Malaysian),
S$60,000/year (Foreigner)

🤑 Foreign currency fee
3.25%

❓When cashback is credited
Cashback amount is credited into the card at the end of the statement month.

📜 Terms & conditions

Suitesmile rating:

✍️ Short summary
This card gives you 5% cashback on Online (except travel-related), Groceries, Ride-hailing and Public Transport spending upon meeting the minimum spend of S$500 per statement month.

Cashback is capped at S$600 per card membership year. This annual limit gives you the opportunity to get 5% cashback on S$12,000 worth of eligible spending, making this card fantastic for large purchases!

Get just 0.3% cashback for all other spending categories.

---

💸 Annual fee
S$196.20
(First 2 years waived)

💼 Income requirement
S’porean/PR: S$30,000/year,
Foreigner: S$42,000/year

🤑 Foreign currency fee
3.25%

❓How cashback is credited
Cash rebates are credited in the form of SMRT$. Cardholders are required to redeem them via SMS (min. S$10).

📜 Terms & conditions

Suitesmile rating:

✍️ Short summary
This card gives you unlimited 1.7% cashback on almost everything.

Earn just 0.3% cashback on certain spending categories like Healthcare, School Fees, Utilities and GrabPay e-wallet top-ups.

As compared to Visa and Mastercard, it can be harder to find merchants that accept AMEX cards outside the United States.

---

💸 Annual fee
S$196.20
(First year waived, request waiver every year after that)

💼 Income requirement
S$30,000/year (S’porean/PR aged 55 and below),
S$15,000/year (S’porean/PR aged 56 and above),
S$40,000/year (Foreigner)

🤑 Foreign currency fee
3.25%

❓How/When cashback is credited
Cashback amount is credited into the card by the end of the following statement month.

📜 Terms & conditions

Suitesmile rating:

✍️ Short summary

This card gives you uncapped 1.6% cashback on almost everything, with no minimum spending requirement.

The low earn rate is somewhat acceptable for local spending, especially for those who wants a fuss-free card. However, this is not a good card to use for foreign currency spending, which comes with a 3.25% FX fee. Consider using better cashback credit cards.

Cardholders can also earn 0.3% cashback on certain spending categories like Education and Medical.

---

💸 Annual fee
S$130.80
(First 2 years waived)

💼 Income requirement
S$30,000/year (S’porean/PR),
S$45,000/year (Malaysian),
S$60,000/year (Foreigner)

🤑 Foreign currency fee
3.25%

❓How/When cashback is credited
Cashback amount is credited into the card at the end of the following month, after the spending is posted in the card account.

📜 Terms & conditions

Suitesmile rating:

✍️ Short summary
This card gives you 1.5% cashback on almost everything, with no minimum spending required. Cardholders can receive an additional 1% cashback when they spend at least S$2,000 in a calendar month. Monthly cashback amount is capped at S$70 (S$2,800 worth of spending).

Cardholders also get complimentary access to the ENTERTAINER with HSBC app, where there are over a thousand 1-for-1 deals on dining, entertainment and hotels.

---

💸 Annual fee
S$196.20
(First year waived)

💼 Income requirement
S’porean/PR: S$30,000 – S$65,000
Foreigner: S$65,000

🤑 Foreign currency fee
3.25%

❓How/When cashback is credited
Cashback amount is credited into the card at the end of next calendar month.

📜 Terms & conditions