Which Credit Cards are In My Wallet? – 2023

RCBC revamped their Visa Infinite credit card last year while BDO introduced their American Express Explorer credit card early 2023. Did these two cards make it to my line-up? Find out below! 

2023 seems to be turning into quite a transitional year. Globally, covid cases have gone down, allowing countries to open up further; with some even easing their visa requirements in order to encourage travel. Despite this, a few countries’ economy continues to struggle with inflation and are at risk of recession, partly due to the war between Russia and Ukraine.

Unfortunately, things aren’t any better locally. Lots of issues haunt the current government all the while geo-political tension in the area is rising. Natural disasters have also been occurring such as Mt. Mayon and Taal’s “eruption”. People also have to endure the effects of climate change, specifically of El Nino and typhoons. Everything seems wobbly these days with no clear direction of where we are headed, really. 

Somber mood aside, life has to move on so let’s get to the credit card updates. Because, hey! Credit card points/miles, promos, and discounts is life! A lot of my cards were actually renewed this year. I’ve also gotten two new cards, one of which has become part of my main card, replacing BDO’s American Express Platinum credit card. The other card, I’m still considering how to integrate into my usage after accomplishing the welcome bonus offer. 2023 is also the year when Union Bank’s acquisition of Citibank should be nearing completion so I’m looking forward to the changes that would happen to those cards as well.

Anyway, here is my credit card line-up for 2023 so far.

Currently Active and Frequently Used

1.BDO’s Diners Club Premiere

Spend-to-Miles Ratio: PHP 30.00/mile, PHP 15.00/mile for dining transactions

Annual Fee: PHP 4,500.00

Lounge Access: Diners Club Lounges (2 free visits per membership year)

Airlines Partners: Asia Miles

Comments: There hasn’t been any changes to the Diners Club Premiere credit card since last year. In fact, it remains as one of the cards with the best spend-to-miles ratio, although acceptance can still be quite a problem. Get past that though, this card is a powerhouse for earning Asia Miles. Couple that with BDO’s promos and you’re in for a treat. It also helps that my branch’s account officer can help with the annual fee reversal in case the customer service representative isn’t willing.

Conclusion: Will be using the card for dining transactions and during BDO promos

2. BDO’s American Express Explorer

Spend-to-Miles Ratio: PHP 40.00/mile

Annual Fee: PHP 4,000.00

Lounge Access: Marhaba Lounge in NAIA Terminals 1 (available from July 1 to Dec 31, 2023) and 3 and RED BY DUFRY

Airlines Partners: 6 Frequent Flyer Program Partners (Mabuhay Miles, Cathay Pacific, KrisFlyer Miles, Delta Skymiles, Royal Orchid Plus, Enrich) plus 2 Frequent Guest Program Partners (Marriot Bonvoy, Hilton Honors)

Comments: The latest addition to my miles-earning credit cards. The spend-to-miles ratio may not be as good as other credit cards but it’s one of the few that offers redemption to multiple airline and hotel partners. Card holders also get to enjoy automatic annual fee reversal and 2,000 bonus miles whenever you reach the required spend amounts of PHP 450,000.00 and PHP 600,000.00 respectively. 

Despite being a travel credit card, a lot of complaints were raised on the lack of free lounge access. Although there’s complimentary Gold membership to RED BY DUFRY, you still need to pay for the access itself. To address this, BDO recently (around June, I think) introduced free lounge access to NAIA Terminals 1 and 3’s Marhaba Lounge.

Overall, it’s a pretty good card with a sleek design. Acceptance has also become wider since it now works on some Maya and Metrobank POS terminals.

Conclusion: Will be using the card for transactions that I have no multipliers of and during BDO promos

3. EastWest Bank’s KrisFlyer World Mastercard

Spend-to-Miles Ratio: PHP 36.00/mile, PHP 12.00/mile on select spends

Annual Fee: PHP 5,000.00

Lounge Access: Mastercard Airport Experiences provided by LoungeKey (4 free visits per calendar year)

Airlines Partner: KrisFlyer (Singapore Airlines) and their partner airlines (Star Alliance)

Comments: Still the best credit card for earning KrisFlyer miles. Thanks to this card, I was able to reach KrisFlyer Elite Gold status 2 years ago. This year, I was also able to match the frequent flyer status to Shangri-la Circle Jade membership through the Infinite Journeys partnership program.

The only downside to this card is the automatic crediting and KrisFlyer mile’s 3-year validity. Starting June of this year, I will have miles expiring every month so I have to redeem them somehow. Worst case scenario, I’d have to extend the miles instead.

Conclusion: Will be using for online transactions whenever there are no promos with BDO

Still Active But Not Used as Much

1. BDO’s American Express Platinum

Spend-to-Miles Ratio: PHP 45.00/MR (Membership Reward, also equivalent to an airline mile or hotel point)

Annual Fee: PHP 5,000.00

Lounge Access: Marhaba Lounge in NAIA Terminals 1 (available from July 1 to Dec 31, 2023) and 3

Airlines Partners: 6 Frequent Flyer Program Partners (Mabuhay Miles, Cathay Pacific, KrisFlyer Miles, Delta Skymiles, Royal Orchid Plus, Enrich) plus 2 Frequent Guest Program Partners (Marriot Bonvoy, Hilton Honors)

Comments: Because of the lower spend-to-miles ratio of the Explorer credit card, I’ve decided to prioritize using that one over this. I also have quite a few reasons as to why I’m keeping this card active. First, I still have MR points on this card since I have yet to decide what to redeem them for. Next, I have an on-going cash-it-easy transaction and closing the account with incur pre-termination fees. Lastly, BDO offers conditional waivers so the annual fee has never been a problem.

Conclusion: Will use the card to achieve annual fee reversal and during BDO promos (on card-level and not account-level promos)

2. Citibank’s PremierMiles Visa Signature

Spend-to-Miles Ratio: PHP 48.00/mile

Annual Fee: PHP 5,000.00

Lounge Access: DragonPass (2 free visits per membership year)

Airlines Partner: Cathay Pacific, Emirates Skywards, Etihad Guest, Eva Air Infinity Mileagelands, Qantas Frequent Flyer, Qatar Airways Privilege Club, Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer, Turkish Airlines Miles & Smiles

Comments: This card was pending cancellation but UnionBank/Citibank waived the annual fee instead of proceeding with my request to close the account. Because of this, I decided to keep the card a little longer; and thankfully I did.

A few days ago (early July I guess), I found out that Citi PayAll went back to having 0 transaction fees, at least for my account. With this, I was back to paying rental fees while earning miles.

Conclusion: Will continue to use for Citi PayAll transactions and to see how UnionBank transitions this card to their own

3. Citibank’s Prestige Visa Infinite

Spend-to-Miles Ratio: PHP 17.00 – 18.00/mile for bonus category transactions (shopping and dining)

Annual Fee: PHP 12,000.00

Lounge Access: Priority Pass

Airlines Partner: Cathay Pacific, Emirates Skywards, Etihad Guest, Eva Air Infinity Mileagelands, Qantas Frequent Flyer, Qatar Airways Privilege Club, Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer, Turkish Airlines Miles & Smiles

Comments: This card actually has the best spend-to-miles ratio for dining and shopping transactions, if you can find the right merchants with the appropriate Merchant Category Codes. Unfortunately, their website or app does not show the needed information so it can be quite tricky to maximize earning. If not for the constant promos with BDO, I would have used this card for most of my transactions.

Honestly, I’m still not sure what to do with this card. I’ll have to see when the annual fee gets charged this September.

Conclusion: Will see how UnionBank transitions this card to their own

Cancelled

1. BPI Visa Signature

Reasons for cancellation:

• Lowest credit limit, no credit limit increase since card approval. This one isn’t really a big deal but it still hurts not to get any CLI over the course of a few years. Parang walang tiwala si BPI sa akin habang yung ibang banks increase lang nang increase.
• Poor card quality. The card I got for renewal had a scratched off/faded V right above the Visa logo on the front. Quality of the adhesive they used on the activation instructions sticker was also bad. I did file a formal complaint over this with BPI and they offered to replace it pero hindi ba sila nag quality check/control? Hindi kasi talaga maganda maka-experience ng ganito given how this is supposed to be the best of BPI.
• Bad spend-to-miles ratio. At PHP 50.00/mile, I have other cards that are better. Although at some point it was at PHP 25.00/mile, the promo was on and off and there were no prior notice to the changes too. Naka-state sa terms and conditions naman nila na changes can be made without prior notice pero ano ba naman yung customer experience? Ibang banks maayos naman na nakakapag-notify. Why can’t BPI?
• Not a lot of promos. Even if there was any, the spend requirements for cashback/rebate promos are much higher than BDO’s. 

And that’s it for my credit card line-up. Personally, I think I already have too many cards at the moment. If not for the annual fee reversals and the cash-it-easy transaction, I would have cancelled a few of them (BDO AmEx Platinum, BPI Visa Signature, Citi PremierMiles). 

Note: I still have to work on adding RCBC Visa Infinite so do visit this page again!