Cashback vs Miles Cards - Why I'm on Team Cashback

Hello guys!

For those of you who didn’t manage to get tickets to the live event earlier, you can watch the full video here!

I hope I’ve convinced you guys about the merits of being of Team Cashback 😛

You can tune into the video to hear both sides of the argument (I didn’t get to present all my pointers yet, but will do so in a subsequent writeup) and decide for yourself whether the miles or cashback strategy will be best for you.

At the end of the day, the choice between miles vs. cashback cards really comes down to an individual’s lifestyle profile and preferences (especially how much a personal values premium air travel). If you’re a frequent business traveller like Aaron (The MileLion), it’ll be quite silly for you to be playing the cashback game. But for mere mortals like the rest of us who don’t get the privilege of travelling or dining with clients (and claiming back from our company) that often, then cashback might be a better option.

For someone who’s content with flying economy (like my husband and I), then cashback cards truly offer us better value and control in redeeming the flights that we want PLUS with leftover cash to spare…which can then fund our holiday discretionary expenses.

Don’t forget about restrictions imposed on miles redemption either:
– Miles are subject to devaluation at a rate faster than inflation
– You can’t earn interest on your miles, unlike cashback
– You’ll often find yourself on the waitlist for flight redemptions
– You’ll need to have that flexibility in your travel dates because you don’t have control

Sure, cash is subjected to inflation too, but if you invest that cash right, you’ll be able to keep up or even earn more than what it costs you in inflation.

Most importantly, with the competition among airlines and increased budget travel options, cash can go a much longer way than miles in this regard.

I’m not saying adopting a miles strategy is bad. I’m saying it depends on your lifestyle and preference. In my case, a 100% miles strategy doesn’t work for me, and I get much more value being on Team Cashback (cash back on my credit card + extra interest on my high-yield savings account!).

And you know what? Although Aaron and I are on opposite camps when it comes to this topic, that doesn’t mean both strategies are exclusive! You can even adopt the best of both strategies – cashback PLUS miles. I’ll talk more about this in a later post.

There’s a few cards and tools I recommended during the session and I know it can get quite complicated, so don’t worry, I’ll be sharing that spreadsheet soon! I’m currently finalizing some details and promotions with the various companies and will be releasing the
2018 Cash Maximising Tools (The Ultimate Guidebook to Cashback in Singapore) in a few weeks, so stay tuned!

#notsponsored