A little late but late is sometimes better than never! 2022 was a tough year for me and many of us with high inflation, skyrocketing gas prices, and now insane onion prices!! All the more we should maximize using our credit cards to earn points and miles so we can continue to travel this coming 2023 and beyond.
Last year I went through a roller coaster and ended up closing one of my credit cards, applied for a new card, and even made a product change to a different card.
Canceled credit card
I've had to let go of one of my OG credit cards that first got me into points and my miles, my Citi PremierMiles credit card. It was bittersweet since I loved the card before the devaluations and the Citi mobile app is so seamless! But I had to let it go since I barely used the card at all as they've cut out Philippine Airlines and Cebu Pacific as a transfer partner as well as a sub-par spend to miles ratio at ₱50 is to one actual airline mile.
The only airline I would maybe transfer miles to was Singapore Airlines but that wouldn't make any sense since I already have the EastWest Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer World Mastercard.
Middle of last year I got hit with the annual fee and I couldn't waive it since I barely used my card and I had to make the practical decision to cancel my Citi credit card.
As of writing, I have 5 credit cards and I find this to be kind of the sweet spot as having more than 5 credit cards might be too overwhelming or a hassle to keep up with. Unless a really good sign-up bonus comes up I'll probably stick to 5 to maybe 6 active credit cards at a time.
Here are my 5 credit cards for 2023 and how I'll use them:
Main credit card
EastWest Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer World Mastercard
The best card I've ever owned so far and what I use for everything from Jollibee, groceries, shopping, and especially online and everything travel related since there is a 3x multiplier giving you 1 KrisFlyer mile for every ₱12 spend.
It is also my overseas card and anything that isn't in Philippine Peso as it has the lowest foreign currency exchange rate among all my cards at 1.70%
Spend to Point: ₱36
Spend to Mile: ₱36
Multiplier: Travel and Online
Ratio: 3
STM with Multiplier: ₱12
FOREX: 1.70%
Lounge Access: Marhaba and PAGGS
Transfer Partner: KrisFlyer
Note: The EastWest mobile app is still trash.
Back up local credit card
UnionBank Miles+ Visa Platinum
This credit card was a product change from the very troublesome Cebu Pacific credit card from UnionBank that I used to have. I gained almost no value from that card as they are still working out some kinks connecting the cards to Go Rewards so I'm glad I made the product change.
This is going to be my secondary credit card as it has a decent multiplier for travel and online spending with a really seamless mobile app that I absolutely love.
Spend to Point: ₱25
Spend to Mile: ₱50
Multiplier: Travel and Online
Ratio: 1.5
STM with Multiplier: ₱25
FOREX: 2.00%
Lounge Access: LoungeKey
Transfer Partner: Mabuhay Miles
Mabuhay Miles is the only transfer partner as of writing so I'd typically use this card sometimes when I need to earn Mabuhay Miles over KrisFlyer.
Local travel card
Metrobank Travel Platinum Visa
This is the newest addition to my wallet and got it in late December right before the new year. The only reason I got this card was that there was a nice sign-up bonus with a low minimum spend requirement for the bonus.
Spend to Point: ₱20
Spend to Mile: ₱50
Multiplier: Travel
Ratio: 3
STM with Multiplier: ₱17
FOREX: 2.50%+
Lounge Access: Priority Pass
Transfer Partners: Mabuhay Miles, KrisFlyer, and Asia Miles
Will only be using this card for local travel spending to maximize the multiplier and as it has a higher forex rate compared to other cards.
Back up international card
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BPI Visa Signature
This card stays as my backup card for my international trips and for foreign spending because of its low FOREX. Sadly this card doesn't have any multiplier and only has Mabuhay Miles as a transfer partner.
Spend to Point: ₱10
Spend to Mile: ₱50
Multiplier: -
Ratio: -
STM with Multiplier: -
FOREX: 1.85%
Lounge Access: PAGGS
Transfer Partner: Mabuhay Miles
This is BPI's most premium card and I think they could do a bit better or at least have a dedicated travel credit card like most major banks here have. Ever since they discontinued their Delta credit card they haven't had a pure travel credit card in their portfolio.
Emergency credit card
BDO Platinum Mastercard
Not much to say here except that I only use this card for extreme emergencies.
Spend to Point: ₱1000
Spend to Mile: -
Multiplier: -
Ratio: -
STM with Multiplier: -
FOREX: 2.50%
Lounge Access: Priority Pass
Transfer Partner: -
Future cards
So far I only have 1 credit card in mind and that is the new American Express Explorer credit card by BDO. It was launched a couple of weeks ago and I only found out about it because my friend was at the BDO Travel Sale and applications were being offered there. So when the BDO Travel Sale arrived in Cebu I quickly dropped by and applied.
Welcome offer is 5,000 membership rewards points after ₱50,000 spent. Every ₱40 spend earns you 1 reward point equivalent to one air mile with 6 airline transfer partners. Sadly no multiplier but is ₱10 better than most of the cards that give me 1 mile for every ₱50 spend.
I might consider the PNB-PAL World Mastercard since they have made earning Mabuhay Miles slightly better than before but with my current lineup of cards, it's unnecessary at the moment.
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