Getting Started, Step 3: Using The Right Cards For Your Spending

Before you continue reading, please be sure that you have read Step 2: Credit card sign-up bonuses.

Now that you have racked up the awesome sign-up bonuses, let’s talk about the ones that should stay in your wallet.

The goal is to receive at least 4 miles for every dollar (4 mpd) that you are spending. To do this, use the right card for each spending category.

As this is a beginner’s guide, I recommend starting out with just one credit card.

Must-Have credit cards

I see these 4 cards (two debit and two credit) as the absolute best cards in Singapore, to improve your travel experiences.

Earn miles rapidly with the accelerated earn rate of 4 miles per dollar on a wide range of spending categories including online shopping, dining, groceries, flights, hotels, in-person shopping and withdraw cash overseas for free at an exchange rate that is usually better than those from money changers!

Only 1 of these cards come with an annual fee (waived for the first year, ask for a waiver every year after that), making this group of cards perfect for beginners.

Amaze

Minimize foreign transaction fees, turn offline transactions online

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🎁 Sign-up bonus

+ Card Summary

More information on the

Amaze Mastercard

Suitesmile rating:

✍️ Short summary
Amaze is a Debit Card that does not require topping up of an e-wallet to enjoy its key benefits:

Turn offline transactions online (great for credit cards that have better earn rates for online spending)
Lower foreign currency fee (~2% instead of 3.25% on more credit cards)

❗️ Warning: This card charges a 1% fee (min. 50 cents) on card-linked SGD transactions. Because of the min. fee, cardholders will pay a higher percentage in fee for transactions under $50. So, when using this card for SGD spending of $50 and above, with an earn rate of 4 mpd, is like buying miles for 0.25 cents each (view calculations).

There are currently 6 good cards to pair with Amaze:

Citi Rewards: Turn offline transactions online to earn 4 mpd on in-person spending like dining, groceries, general shopping and fuel. Plus, save ~1% on foreign currency fees.
Maybank XL Rewards: Save ~1% on foreign currency fees on SGD bonus categories (e.g. flights, hotels, dining, shopping (in-person & online), food deliveries, entertainment etc.) while earning 4 mpd.
OCBC Rewards: Save ~1% on foreign currency fees on online/offline shopping (e.g. clothing/shoes, toys, duty free, luggage etc.) while earning 4 mpd.
Maybank XL Cashback: Save ~1% on foreign currency fees on SGD bonus categories (e.g. flights, hotels, dining, shopping (in-person & online), food deliveries, entertainment etc.) while earning 5% cashback.
Maybank Family & Friends: Turn offline transactions online to get 8% cashback on in-person shopping at merchant categories like departmental stores, clothings, shoes, duty free and luggages. Plus, save ~1% on foreign currency fees.
Citi Cash Back: Save ~1% on foreign currency fees while receiving 6-8% cashback on petrol, groceries and dining.

Key points to note about the Amaze card:

Link up to 5 Mastercards in the Instarem mobile app
Choose 1 of those cards before your next Amaze transaction
All Amaze transactions will be charged in SGD, directly to the linked card
All Amaze transactions will be seen as online transactions by the linked card
All Amaze transactions will retain the actual Merchant Category Code (MCC) and will be seen by the linked card
UOB, DBS/POSB and DCS cards do not award miles/points for Amaze transactions
Avoid Dynamic Currency Conversion (DCC) fees (if any)
Amazes foreign currency spread currently stands at around 2%, resulting in an FX loss (fee + spread) that is about 1% lower than Singapore credit cards
When Amaze is linked to a card, all SGD spending will incur a 1% fee (min. 50 cents). Because of the min. fee, it is recommended to use this card only for SGD transactions above $50. Refunds and pre-authorisations are also liable for this fee.

🔗 Great cards that can be linked to Amaze
Citi Rewards (4 mpd)
Maybank XL Rewards (4 mpd)
OCBC Rewards (4 mpd)
Maybank XL Cashback (5% cashback)
Maybank Family & Friends (8% cashback)
Citi Cash Back (6/8% cashback)

💸 Annual fee
No annual fee, ever

💼 Income requirement
No income requirement

🤑 Foreign currency fee
No foreign currency fee. However, Amaze’s foreign exchange spread currently stands at around 2% more than the Mastercard rate. This is about 1% lower than the ~3.25% fee that most credit cards charge.

⏰ Points expiry
1 year from transaction

💯 Conversion ratio
2,000 InstaPoints = $20

📜 Terms & conditions

Citi Rewards

4 mpd on online spending

Apply

🎁 Sign-up bonus

+ Card Summary

More information on the

Citi Rewards Mastercard

Suitesmile rating:

✍️ Short summary

This card gives you a strong earn rate of 4 miles per dollar on online spending, up to $1,000 per statement month, with no minimum spending requirement. This covers a wide range of spending categories like online shopping, ride-hailing, food delivery and even phone/internet bills.

Cardholders can also earn 4 mpd on in-person shopping at stores that sell shoes and bags and clothes as their main business activity.

Take note that cardholders will only earn 0.4 mpd on travel-related categories (e.g. flights and hotels) and spending above $1,000 per statement month.

Having many transfer partners and up to 5-year expiry term gives you fantastic flexibility. However, take note that your points’ expiry term starts from the date the card is opened (i.e. not from the transaction date).

Pro tip: Link this card to the Amaze card to also earn 4 mpd on in-person spending like dining, groceries and shopping. This pairing turns all your offline transactions “online” (to earn 4 mpd) and lowers your foreign currency charges. But take note that SGD transactions through Amaze will incur a 1% fee (min. 50 cents).

📄 Read our complete review of the Citi Rewards Card.

💸 Annual fee
$196.20
(First year waived)

💼 Income requirement
$30,000/year

🤑 Foreign currency fee
3.25%
(Lower this fee by linking this card to Amaze)

⏰ Points expiry
Every 5 years from card opening date (+3 months grace period)

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

💯 Transfer ratio
2.5 points = 1 mile

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

💲 Transfer fee
$27.25 per transfer

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

❓ How/When points are credited
Earn 1 base point per dollar spent, plus 9 bonus points for online spending (equivalent to 4 mpd in total). Base and bonus points are credited immediately when the transaction is posted.

📜 Terms & conditions

HSBC Revolution

4 mpd on online shopping

Apply

🎁 Sign-up bonus

+ Card Summary

More information on the

HSBC Revolution Visa Card

Suitesmile rating:

✍️ Short summary
This card gives you a strong earn rate of 4 miles per dollar on selected online spending categories up to $1,000 per calendar month, with no minimum spending requirement. The key spending categories are Online Shopping and Ride-Hailing.

All non-eligible transactions and spendings beyond $1,000 per calendar month cardholders will only earn 0.4 mpd.

This is a good fuss-free card that offers a great earn rate on online spending, without any annual fee to worry about, and free points conversions.

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.

Not into Miles or travel-hacking? Redeem your points for 2.5% cashback instead, on the aforementioned spending categories.

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.

View our complete review of the HSBC Revolution Card.

💸 Annual fee
No annual fee, ever

💼 Income requirement
$30,000/year

🤑 Foreign currency fee
3.25%

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

🫱‍🫲 Transfer partners
Asia Miles, Infinity MileageLands, Executive 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
Earn 1 base point per dollar spent, plus 9 bonus points for eligible online spending (equivalent to 4 mpd in total). Base points are credited immediately when the transaction is posted, while bonus points are credited by the end of the following calendar month.

📜 Terms & conditions

Trust Link

No FX fees, free overseas ATM withdrawals

Apply

🎁 Sign up bonus

+ Card Summary

More information on the

Trust Link Visa Card

Suitesmile rating:

✍️ Short summary
This card gives you great foreign exchange rates and unlimited free overseas ATM cash withdrawals with no cap; and it does not come with an annual fee!

To avoid interest charges on ATM cash withdrawals, follow these easy steps:

Apply for the Trust Link card with code V1WB7T8A
Apply for a Trust Savings Account through the Trust app (instant approval). There is no minimum balance, monthly fee or lock-in period to worry about!
Deposit money into your Savings Account
Pair your Trust Link card with your Savings Account before any ATM withdrawals. Withdrawn cash amount will be automatically deducted from your Savings Account

As an added benefit, money in the Trust Savings Account earns 0.75% interest p.a. (up to S$800,000) with no strings attached. Account holders can earn a further 0.4% if they make at least 5 transactions (min. $30 each) on the card each month.

The Trust Link card comes with other unappealing benefits like 0.22% cashback on general spending and 0.5% cashback on FairPrice Group spending.

Because of the poor earn rates, I recommend using this card only for overseas ATM withdrawals.

💸 Annual fee
No annual fee, ever

💼 Income requirement
$30,000/year

🤑 Foreign currency fee
No foreign currency fee

📜 Terms & conditions

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Credit Card Management spreadsheet

I have created a Google Spreadsheet to help you keep track of some important information of your credit cards and also to calculate the value of miles and points that you are holding.

Click here to save a copy of the Credit Card Management spreadsheet for your own use.