The right piece of plastic gets you more for your dollar, offers great deals on dining, and chalks up air miles super fast. Here are the 10 best cards you need to have in your wallet.
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This card gives you 10 per cent cash rebates on a wide range of health, beauty and medical services when you spend $500 or more in a month. That encompasses spending on spas, doctors, dentists, chiropractors, hairdressers and more – a greater variety than most cards have to offer. What’s more, these benefits aren’t only applicable in Singapore.
You get rebates in Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand too. Plus, the card offers 10 per cent cash rebates on air tickets and hotel stays. Get ready to pamper yourself thoroughly.
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Whether it’s the latest widescreen TV for Dad from Best Denki, supplements from Unity pharmacy for Mum or Lego sets for the kids from Toys “R” Us, you’ll get 5 per cent cash rebates when you spend at least $500 within a month.
The card covers your family needs with 5 per cent rebates on hospital bills, online purchases, supermarket buys and your first four top-ups using Nets Flashpay Auto. It also gives a 1 per cent cash rebate on telco bills, and an additional 2 per cent cash rebate on other buys when you charge $200 or more to your supplementary card.
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Hands down, the best card for foodies. Under the Love Dining by Platinum programme, get 50 per cent off when you dine with one guest at participating eateries, including The Clan Restaurant, Lawry’s The Prime Rib and The Song of India. Enjoy discounts of 20 to 35 per cent if you bring more than one guest, or 15 per cent if you dine on your own.
The discounts extend to partner hotels like Raffles Hotel, W Singapore Sentosa Cove and The St Regis, with up to 50 per cent off your dining bills. And expect exclusive perks like invitations to Michelin-starred guest chef dinners.
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This card makes retail therapy in your PJs even better than it already is. Get 7 per cent cashback, capped at $60 a month, on all your online shopping with this card – as long as you spend at least $600 a month. There are shipping perks too: 20 per cent off shipping fees with Vpost (valid until Sept 30, 2017), 10 per cent off Singpost Speedpost Priority courier service, and insurance coverage of up to US$250 – in case your packages get lost.
And because nobody likes buyer’s regret, a unique characteristic of this card is that if you buy an item only to find it sold at a lower price on another online platform, you’ll get a 50 per cent refund on the difference. The only caveat: the price difference has to be at least $50; the maximum refund is $250.
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The Citi Rewards Card really stretches your dollar during big shopping sprees. Get 10 Rewards points for every $1 spent locally or overseas on retail (stuff like shoes, bags, and clothes) – more than any other card. After chalking up those points, redeem them for shopping vouchers and cash rebates instantly by presenting your card at more than 900 participating merchants islandwide, including department stores such as Isetan and Tangs; fashion and lifestyle brands like Lancome, Zara, Calvin Klein and Balenciaga; and malls.
Even better, your Rewards points can also be used to redeem flight tickets, hotel stays and car rentals. Plus, when you sign up for the card, you’ll get welcome discount vouchers for selected retailers like Hipvan, True Religion and Zalora.
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The savings for drivers add up with this card, which promises discounts of up to 20.8 per cent at Shell, and 24 per cent at SPC stations. It also offers generous instant Smart$ rebates of 7 per cent at Shell stations.
Get up to 5 per cent cash rebates on all other spending, provided you spend more than $2,000 each month for three consecutive months, capped at $300 each quarter. Otherwise, you still get 3.33 per cent cashback with a minimum of $500 spent a month.
To top it off, you receive up to 10 per cent additional Smart$ rebates at more than 400 participating merchants like City Tours, Epicentre and World of Sports.
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If you’re a frequent traveller, you’ll love this card because its TREATS Points system helps you rack up air miles fast. Earn up to 3.2 air miles (8X TREATS Points) for every dollar spent locally on dining, petrol, taxi expenditure and
hotel bookings via agoda.com/horizon, as well as 2 air miles (5X TREATS Points) per dollar spent on travel-related spending.
Enjoy complimentary access to selected VIP airport lounges across Asia with an easily achieved minimum spend. Charge your travel fares in full to your card and complimentary travel insurance coverage of up to $1,000,000 will be thrown in.
We also like that this card is pretty flexible – if you don’t want to convert your points into air miles, you can exchange them for entertainment, shopping and dining vouchers, cash credits or even home and lifestyle products.
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Greener pastures literally await you with this card’s golf privileges. Skip that pricey golf club membership, and enjoy complimentary green fees at Sembawang Country Club, Raffles Country Club, Orchid Country Club and Keppel Club, as well as 75 other golf clubs around the world, as long as you spend $1,000 or more within the month.
Your guests also get 10 per cent on walk-in rates. At certain golf clubs, like The Els Club Desaru Coast – Ocean Course and The Els Club Teluk Datai – Rainforest Course in Malaysia, the fourth person in your party plays free.
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This card’s a jack of all trades – especially for the single girl who’s got lots to do throughout the day. Get 5 per cent cashback at Sheng Siong supermarket outlets when you’re grocery shopping, 3 per cent at Watsons when you’re picking up essentials, 14 per cent on food deliveries using Ubereats and up to 9 per cent on dining out – for the days when you don’t feel like cooking for one, and 1 per cent on recurring utility and telco bills.
You also get discounts of up to 20.1 per cent off petrol at SPC petrol stations. On all other spending, you get 0.3 per cent cashback too. The best part? No minimum spend required. Plus, this doubles as an ATM and EZ-link card.
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Perfect for the needs of a bigger household. This card lets you earn 8 per cent cash rebates (the highest rate among all cards) at supermarkets like Cold Storage, Market Place, Jasons, and Giant as well as at all Guardian outlets, when you charge a minimum of $800 a month to the card. Even if you can’t hit that amount, a $400 receipt will get you a 3 per cent cash rebate.
Other perks include getting 10 per cent off more than 4,000 house-brand products at Cold Storage, Giant and Guardian, rebates of up to 3 per cent for selected recurring bills from telcos and Prudential insurance, and on all contactless transactions, including those done with Apple Pay, Visa Paywave and Nets Flashpay. You’ll be saving big on your daily spending in no time.
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This story was originally published in the August 2017 issue of Her World magazine.