cowfart
Senior Member
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- Jan 26, 2007
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This is quite misleading. Neither of these links on ML actually answers his question.
- The first link argues that miles can be extremely valuable (something we already know, also something which he seems to understand), the question that is really being asked is: are the miles are worth buying at that given price?
- The second link is completely outdated (Jun 2015) since a few cashback cards have now rolled out with require no minimum spend.
Despite being an intense mileage collector myself, I can still think of a small number of situations (albeit opportunities which do seem to be rapidly drying up) where cashback cards beat miles cards, the most obvious recently deceased being the SCB Singpost combo.
You can't apply a blanket rule of which is better - you must DIY and compare the best possible mileage card (i.e. highest mpd) and the best possible cashback card (i.e. highest % rebate) for that purchase category of whatever you are buying, and calculate your returns for each of them. You may derive the opportunity cost of each mile for that particular purchase from there.
It's not difficult to buy miles through indirect methods if you're alert, sometimes as 1.2-1.4 cents apiece (e.g. obscure magazine subscriptions); therefore it follows from the foregoing that any miles earned incurring the opportunity cost of over 1.5 cents cashback is not worth earning.
Mileage valuation concerns aside, small spenders often have the problem of orphaned points, or points which take years to accumulate before reaching a meaningful amount (not to mention expiry rules). In the interim, the holder is bearing a significant risk of devaluation. To paraphrase a known personality, the Central Bank of KrisFlyer does have an inflationary rate which gives many 3rd world countries a good run for their money...
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) , cashback does provide flexibility for families with kids. If you want to go holidays with kids - you got to count earning miles for kids too. That takes extra double effort comparatively.
