UOB Preferred Visa - 3 card strategy

 

I had previously written about how I was late to the Miles game since realistically, it was better to think about reaching Financial Independence first before thinking about optimising spending on credit cards. 

I have since moved from 1 credit card to 3 credit cards and I'm sharing my strategy. I'm sure there are many other miles "experts" out there with more cards and more optimal strategies so I'm not saying this is the 'best'. Please DYODD as usual.

Stage 1: 1 card strategy: 1 x 4Mpd card with highest spending cap.

So I spent most of my life with one credit card, the UOB Visa Signature (Privilege Banking version with permanent fee waiver) which gives a capped 4mpd. 

The "downside" was:

(1) "lost miles" when you bust the cap 

(2) non-qualifying categories (online shopping did not qualify for 4mpd)

Stage 2: 2 card strategy: Add a card with uncapped 3Mpd for SQ air tickets and 2.4Mpd for additional categories

This led to a lot of 'wasted potential miles' every time I bought SQ air tickets (especially when buying multiple tickets for family holidays)

So my next card was the UOB Krisflyer Credit Card for SQ tickets. Scoot tickets also give 3Mpd but again, less than a year after getting the card, Scoot introduced a 2.x% credit card surcharge. If a mile is worth 2 cents, do the maths to see if 2.x% is worth it.

Also, this card gave 2.4Mpd uncapped (nerfed from 3Mpd less than 6 months after I got the card!) for online shopping at Amazon and Lazada (but NOT redmart and NTUC Fairprice). Good for expensive Amazon purchases like laptops.

Stage 3: 3 card strategy: Add a card that gives 4Mpd (capped) for additional categories like online spending that includes Redmart / NTUC Fairprice

Before getting a 3rd card, I was concerned about waiver criteria. Does the waiver criteria get more difficult the more cards you get? Fortunately, UOB has published their waiver criteria and for multiple cards, it depends on total spend across all cards and the waiver criteria doesn't change whether you have 2 or 3 or 4 cards.

BuyafterCrash: UOB Credit Card Waiver Criteria

Since I meet the waiver criteria, I have applied for the UOB Preferred Visa, which is a 4Mpd with a $500 cap for google pay contactless and a separate $500 cap for online shopping including NTUC Fairprice and Redmart.

Summary 

UOB Visa Signature: Main card for contactless payments and overseas forex spend.

UOB Krisflyer: Main card for SQ air tickets and Kris+ payments. Secondary card for online shopping if UOB Preferred $500 spending cap reached.

UOB Preferred Visa: Main card for online shopping. Secondary card for contactless payments if Visa Signature cap reached.

In practice, its pretty simple. When I am at a physical location, UOB Visa Signature is the card I use unless there is a specific Kris+ bonus offer that gives >4Mpd (and even if I "forget" to use Kris+, a regular 4Mpd is totally fine with me). Not easy to bust the $1.2k contactless spending cap.

Online shopping, UOB Preferred Visa details will be auto-stored as default, just need to press buy. I should not bust $500 of online shopping so nothing to think about. In special months when I am buying a laptop or expensive tech, I'll just have to remember to use UOB Krisflyer with no spending cap.