Cashback vs. Miles: Which One Should We Go For in Singapore?

For those of us adulting in Singapore, we want something in return when we spend on credit cards. That “something” is typically either air miles–like KrisFlyer miles that we can redeem for Singapore Airlines flights—or cashback, where the bank gives you back a certain percentage of your monthly spend in cash.

There are so, so many different credit card options in Singapore that it’s enough to give you paralysis by analysis. 

In other words, trying to figure out which cards to get can sometimes feel like you’re working out an equation to do with abstract algebra. 

But what if it didn’t actually have to be that difficult to understand? Before you even delve into the world of credit cards here, you’ve got to understand what each one (cashback or miles) offers you. 

But here’s why I think miles trumps cashback when it comes to your credit cards rewards.

Me trying to figure out the credit card scene in Singapore

 

Not exactly “free” flights but pretty close

Before we dive in, I wanted to address a big misconception about air miles that some people assume your flight is completely free. 

While the airfare is free, you still have to pay applicable airport taxes for your departure and arrival destinations. That’s nitpicking, though. You still get a massive whack off the actual cost of getting a flight by redeeming your air miles.

With cashback, you get that headline percentage—which the bank is promoting—back in cash for whatever amount you’re spending. Effectively, it does what it says on the tin; you get cash given back to you in your credit card account.

 

The BIG issue with cashback

My biggest issue with the cashback scene in Singapore is that too many of these cards (well actually basically 99% of them) have cashback caps for your spending every month.

For example, the UOB One Card has a headline rate of cashback up to 10% but that’s exactly what it is—“up to”. That phrase, as we know, rarely means you actually receive that amount.

Lo’ and behold, you get 3.33% cashback on all retail spend but you only get the extra 5-6.67% cashback (to take it up to 10%) if you spend $1,000-2,000 per month (for three consecutive months) at a very narrow list of 12 specific merchants—including McDonald’s, GrabFood, Grab, Cold Storage etc.

Good luck trying work out your actual cashback rate from that. Although you may end up spending a fair deal at these places, to really reach that 10% cashback rate is going to be super hard.

And even if you wanted to just stick to the basic 3.33% cashback rate, you’d still be capped at $200 cashback per quarter—which works out to just under $67 per month. Not exactly great.

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ALSO READ: UOB One Card—MoneySmart Review

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Sure, there are one or two cashback cards out there that can earn 1.6% to 2% cashback (without having onerous caps or even no cap at all) but that’s not reason enough to go the cashback route.

 

Why the miles route for credit cards is the way to go

Alright, now that we’ve established that cashback involves way too much maths for our liking, why should you focus on air miles?

First and foremost, the amount of credit cards out there catering to air miles accumulation is far in excess of cashback. Ergo, you’ve got more choices straight off the bat. Because of that increased choice, there’s more competition among banks fighting for their credit cards to be in your wallet.

Breaking it down further, though, requires you to look at the cost of a revenue ticket on Singapore Airlines, using their frequent flyer programme (KrisFlyer) as an example.

 

Doing the maths on miles

Let’s just take a look at a redemption ticket to somewhere popular—Tokyo (Haneda) airport. If you were to travel economy in mid-November 2024, your redemption ticket would cost 54,000 miles + $101 in taxes. Effectively, you’re getting your return flight to Japan for $100.

But if you want to put a monetary value on your miles, you need to work out how much the actual ticket costs. For a return flight during those same dates, if you bought it with cash, you’d be shelling out $1,551 (including taxes).

Ok, so you’ve saved yourself $1,450 using 54,000 KrisFlyer miles. In a world of 4 miles per dollar (mpd) credit cards in Singapore—which is basically what we should aim to be earning every time we use a miles credit card—you can figure out how much you had to spend to redeem what you did.

Just divide 54,000 by 4mpd and you get $13,500. So, by spending $13,500 on your air miles, you’ve nabbed yourself virtually a free flight to Japan. What’s the equivalent “cashback” rate on that spend? It’s simple—it’s $1,450/$13,500. That gives you 10.7% in terms of your equivalent cashback earned and (unlike actual cashback) that rate is so achievable!

I’ve used that Economy class example as a foundation but the cashback value would be even higher if you redeemed on Business class or even First/Suites class on Singapore Airlines. Of course, those premium cabin redemptions require a lot more planning (and redeeming early!) but pretty much all of us in Singapore travel at some point in the year. 

Being able to save money on flights for yourself and your family is a huge advantage and—while the immediate gratification may not be there in terms of the cashback effect—the long-term accretive value becomes more obvious the longer you’re on the miles path.

 

Miles cards don’t limit you

Finally, with regards to earning miles; yes there will be some caps in terms of being able to earn 4mpd but they’re much more generous and you can access these across cards without having to jump through a million hoops like you do with cashback.

Some of the 4mpd cards can have monthly spending caps—where anything above that amount earns just 0.4mpd—of up to $2,000. Generally, they range from $1,000-2,000 per month and that’s plenty to help you get your miles fix if you have several credit cards.

The additional problem with having multiple cashback cards is that you might also have to meet those minimum spend requirements to earn the cashback. That minimum spend, in order to earn 4mpd, is something most air miles cards don’t have.

Overall, it’s clear (at least to me!) that air miles is the way to go if you’re looking for a long-term credit card strategy that’s both sustainable and saves you money over the long term.