Reviewing My Credit Card Usage For 2022
We’ve reached the end of 2022 so let me do a year-end review of how I used my credit cards this year!
Before that though, let’s take a look back on the year we had.
I swear, it’s another understatement when I say the year hasn’t exactly been easy for us. Aside from the various mutations of covid, the Russian-Ukraine war that started early this year has tremendously affected economies world-wide. From basic commodities to power and oil generation, the on-going feud continues to be a burden to many. Near the middle of the year, the Philippines also had it’s election and the results were disappointing to say the least. In the last few days, China also started grappling with a devastating outbreak of covid, possibly affecting millions per day.
These are just some of the factors that contributed to a higher inflation and cost of goods; consequently affecting the majority’s purchasing power, not to mention the devaluation of various banks’ credit card rewards system.
2022 is a downer of a year isn’t it? But since it’s going to be a new year soon, let’s try to be positive (just not covid-positive). Anyway, let’s move on to the numbers.
Accumulated 89,000 airline miles
Compared to last year, the airline miles I earned this year was considerably less. For one, I was still paying for an SMDC condo via credit card in 2021. It would be great if Ayala Land starts supporting this mode of payment for their properties too. If I’m not mistaken, I also started getting charged fees when using Citi’s PayAll so that’s another reason for this.
Aside from the lower expenditures, I also redeemed 59,300 KrisFlyer miles to book a room at Conrad Hotel for a family event, which unfortunately, was unnecessary. KrisFlyer notified me of the expiry of some of my miles and since I didn’t want them to go to waste, I decided to redeem them. Except, KrisFlyer is actually offering to extend expiring miles until June 2023 by 6 months! Sayang naman!
Earned PHP 32,052.95 in cashback and got PHP 7,200.00 worth of vouchers
The cashback I got were from BDO’s promos while the vouchers were from CITI’s and EWB’s promos. Of all the banks, I think BDO and CITI are the most generous when it comes to promotions. That said, we’ll have to see how UBP fills in the shoes left by CITI.
Although not as much as the banks mentioned above, EWB also has a number of promos specially during double digit (1.1, 2.2, etc.) sales. They also have raffle-entry promos but the minimum spend requirements are quite high compared to Citi’s.
Extended Elite Gold-Tier Membership in KrisFlyer
Last but not the least, special thanks to KrisFlyer (Singapore Airlines) for extending membership tiers for another year! Unfortunately, I will still have to somehow convince my parents to allow me to fly abroad.
And that’s it for my 2022 credit card in the numbers! Aside from the ones accounted above, I actually have a few more vouchers than I haven’t used and a promo that started this December 2022 that spills over to next year. For those, I think I’ll just count them for 2023.
Anything Interesting For 2023?
There’s a lot be honest. First, BSP’s review of credit card charges in January. Depending on the results, we might get better rewards and promos or we would be keeping the status quo. This will also affect banking stocks so I’m definitely monitoring news regarding this.
Next, we have the (possibly) new American Express Explorer credit card, a replacement for their Cathay Pacific co-branded cards. The card’s webpage was actually leaked 2 months ago but was taken down after a few days. Initial details of the card (PHP40.00/MR, PHP 4,000.00 annual fee, 2,000 bonus MR for PHP 600,000.00 annual spend) seem promising but unless it’s official, nothing’s really final. I’ll make sure to write a blog post when it’s out though.
And that’s it! Here’s the Quirky Yuppie wishing everyone a better new year ahead!
