Rewards VS Cashback

I am currently holding onto AMEX Rewards card.

I'm wondering if I should get the UOB Absolute (so I can use it to top up GrabPay)

or continue with AMEX Rewards card.

I find that the rewards aren't attractive, and I don't use the rewards frequently; hence I find that card useless... Other than it's being AMEX

But if I were to use GrabPay Card for my main card I'm facing a risk of hitting the maximum amount (SGD 30,000). Because 2021, I hit the max amount around July and for the remaining months, I could only use my Debit Card as that's the only card. Basically, I have GrabPay, but it doesn't allow me to do anything with it.

lastly, should I go for cashback or rewards (miles come under the category of rewards/rewards is more flexible than miles.)

Please advise. Thank you!

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Macy Si Ling

20 Jul 2022

Why not just have both? See which is more rewarding for which purchases and request for waiver every year.

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thefrugalstudent

20 Jul 2022

Founder at thefrugalstudent.com

If you hit the $30k spending in 7 months, it means your monthly spending is quite high - about $4k/month?

In that case, you can consider using multiple high cashback cards that offer 5% and higher cashback like DBS Live Fresh, OCBC FRANK, UOB EVOL, Citi Cashback. They all have minimum spending of $500-$800, but you'll get better cashback, though they are capped at $20-$25 per category. With your level of spending, you should easily be able to hit the cashback cap on multiple cards.

Then, you can simply put the balance on GrabPay + UOB Absolute.

It might be more of a hassle to have multiple cards, but if you want to maximise your rewards with high spending, that's the way to go.

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