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16 Best Credit Cards For Big-Ticket Items

Denise Bay

Denise Bay

Last updated 01 January, 2024

The best credit card for big purchases should not have any rewards earning cap. Maximise your returns on big purchases with the credit cards below.

Best Credit Cards For Big-Ticket Items On SingSaver

Cashback: Citi Cash Back+ Card | UOB Absolute Cashback Card | Standard Chartered Simply Cash Card | CIMB World Mastercard

Miles: Citi PremierMiles Card | DBS Altitude Visa Card | DBS Altitude AMEX Card | UOB PRVI Miles AMEX Card | UOB PRVI Miles Mastercard Card | UOB PRVI Miles Visa Card | KrisFlyer UOB Card

Rewards: AMEX Platinum Card | Standard Chartered Visa Infinite Credit Card

Have a brand new house to furnish or an upcoming wedding to pay for? Fret not. The best credit cards for big purchases in Singapore can help stretch every dollar you spend. 

With rising costs of living in the backdrop, it is only logical that you do all you can to make your money work harder for you, even when we’re talking about spending money. 

In this article, we share tips and tricks on how you can maximise credit card rewards on big purchases and how to use credit cards wisely

We’ve also rounded up the best cashback credit cards, the best miles credit cards and the best rewards credit cards for big purchases for your perusal. You’re welcome! 

Table of contents


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🎉SingSaver's March Madness Grand Lucky Draw🎉: Get up to 3x chances to win a pair of Round Trip Business Class plane tickets to Tokyo (worth S$13,144) when you successfully apply for participating products. Promo runs from 6 Mar 2024, 5pm, to 31 Mar 2024. T&Cs apply.

Click here to check out our past Lucky Draw winners!


How to maximise credit card rewards on big purchases? 

Apart from deciding whether you’d like to earn cashback, air miles or rewards points on your big-ticket items, your credit card of choice mustn’t restrict you when it comes to earning those rewards. 

This means picking credit cards without an earning cap. 

In case you didn’t already know, some credit cards offer fantastic rewards rates, but they come with caps on how much rewards you can actually earn. A good example would be HSBC Revolution Credit Card

HSBC-Revolution-New

This rewards card lets you earn 10X rewards points (i.e. 4 mpd) — which is awesome — but only on the first S$1,000 eligible spend in a month. All subsequent spending exceeding that amount will be reverted to its base earn rate of 1x rewards points or 0.4 mpd.

MM_BLOGARTICLE_800x250@2x (1)

🎉SingSaver's March Madness Grand Lucky Draw🎉: Get 2x chances to win a pair of Round Trip Business Class plane tickets to Tokyo (worth S$13,144) when you successfully apply for an HSBC Credit Card. Promo runs from 6 Mar 2024, 5pm, to 31 Mar 2024. T&Cs apply.

HSBC_CC_18 MAR_BLOGARTICLE_800x250

SingSaver's Exclusive Offer: Enjoy the following rewards when you sign up for an HSBC Revolution Card:

Receive a Dyson Supersonic™ hair dryer (worth S$699) or Nintendo Switch OLED (worth S$549) or an Apple iPad 9th 10.2" WiFi 64GB (worth S$508.30) or S$350 eCapitaVoucher upon activating and spending min. S$500 by the end of the following calendar month from the card account opening date. Valid till 31 March 2024. T&Cs apply.


Best credit cards for big-ticket purchases in Singapore

Best cashback credit cards 

Cashback credit card Flat rate cashback rate

Citi Cash Back+CITI_CASHBACK+_MASTER-1

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1.6% unlimited cashback

⭐ Read our full Citi Cash Back+ Credit Card review here.

UOB Absolute Cashback Carduob-absolute-cardface

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1.7% unlimited cashback

⭐ Read our full UOB Absolute Cashback Credit Card review here.

American Express True Cashbackamex-true-cashback

Apply Now

1.5% unlimited cashback

⭐ Read our full AMEX True Cashback Credit Card review here.

Standard Chartered Simply CashSCB_SIMPLYCASH-1

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1.5% unlimited cashback

⭐ Read our full Standard Chartered Simply Cash Credit Card review here.

CIMB World MastercardCIMB-WORLD-MASTERCARD_2019-LR-1024x674

Apply Now

 

2% unlimited cashback on:
- Luxury Goods
- Taxi and Automobile
- Movies and Digital Entertainment
- Wine & Dine and Online Food Delivery with min. spend of S$1,000 within statement month

Otherwise, get 1% unlimited cashback instead

1% unlimited cashback on all other spend with min. spend of S$500 within statement month

⭐ Read our full CIMB World Mastercard review here.

The CIMB World Mastercard is a great choice if luxury goods and dining are a mainstay in your monthly to-buy list. There’s no limit to how much cashback you can earn, but take note of the minimum spend requirement! 

The other four credit cards mentioned above are straightforward and fuss-free, with no cap and no minimum spend to boot.

If you prefer something that offers cashback on everything including insurance premiums, school fees, medical bills, utilities, mobile wallet top-ups (i.e. commonly excluded transactions), consider the UOB Absolute Cashback Card or the American Express True Cashback

Related to this topic:
Credit Card Comparison: UOB Absolute vs Citi Cash Back+ vs SCB Unlimited
Best Credit Cards for S$600 Monthly Spend
Best Credit Cards To Use For Wedding Expenses

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Best miles credit cards 

Miles credit card
Miles earn rate
CITI_PREMIERMILES_MASTER (1)
- 1.2 mpd on local spend
 
- 2 mpd on overseas spend
 
- Up to 7 mpd on Agoda hotel transactions
 
- 10 mpd on Kaligo hotel transactions
 
- No cap on Citi Miles earned
 
- Citi Miles never expire
 
⭐ Read our full Citi PremierMiles Credit Card review here.
DBS-Altitude-Visa_LF-2019-2026-1024x686-2
 
DBS-Altitude-Amex-_may-15-1024x668-1
- 1.3 mpd on local spend
 
- 2.2 mpd on overseas spend
 
- 6 mpd on Expedia flight and hotel transactions
 
- 10 mpd on Kaligo hotel transactions
 
- No cap on DBS Points earned
 
- DBS Points never expire
 
⭐ Read our full DBS Altitude Credit Card review here.
uob-prvi-amex-resized-3
 
UOB_PRVI_MASTERCARD
 
uob-prvi-resized-e1548402137533-2
- 1.4 mpd on local spend
 
- 2.4 mpd on overseas spend
 
- 6 mpd on major airlines and hotel worldwide with Agoda, Expedia and UOB Travel 
 
⭐ Read our full UOB PRVI Miles Credit Card review here.
KrisFlyerUOBCreditCard
- 1.2 mpd on all spend 
 
- 3 mpd on Singapore Airlines, Scoot and KrisShop purchases
 
- 3 mpd on dining, food delivery, online shopping and travel, and transport spend (with min. S$800 annual spend on Singapore Airlines Group)
 
⭐ Read our full UOB KrisFlyer Credit Card review here.
AmericanExpressKrisFlyerCreditCard-Mar-21-2022-10-04-09-85-AM
- 1.1 mpd on all local spend
 
- 2 mpd on Singapore Airlines and KrisShop spend
 
- 2 mpd on overseas spend in June and December
 
- 3 mpd on Grab, capped at S$200 per month 
 
OCBC_90N_MASTERCARD_UPDATED
OCBC_90N_VISA-1
- 1.2 mpd on local spend
 
- 2.1 mpd on overseas spend
 
- Up to 7 mpd on Agoda accommodation bookings in foreign currency
 
- Up to 6 mpd on Agoda accommodation bookings in local currency
 
- No cap on miles earned
 
- 90°N Miles never expire
 
⭐ Read our full OCBC 90°N Credit Card review here.
OCBC-Voyage-Credit-Card
- 1.3 mpd on local spend
 
- 2.2 mpd on overseas spend

You certainly have many options when it comes to picking an air miles credit card that lets you earn unlimited miles. 

All of the shortlisted air miles credit cards above have their pros and cons; so choose one according to your spending habits. 

Want some inspiration to get started? I use the UOB KrisFlyer Credit Card, DBS Altitude Visa and Citi PremierMiles for my own miles accumulation journey. 

Related to this topic:
Best Credit Card Combinations for Post-Covid Travel
Best Credit Cards For Booking Flights And Hotels

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Best rewards credit cards 

Best rewards credit cards Rewards earn rate

Citi PrestigeCitiPrestige-2

- 3.25 ThankYou Points per S$1 spent locally (i.e. 1.3 mpd)

- 5 ThankYou Points per S$1 spent overseas (i.e. 2 mpd)

- Exclusive Cit relationship bonus of up to 30% extra ThankYou Points 

American Express Platinum Credit Cardplatinum-credit-card.png-3-1024x649

Apply Now

- 2 Membership Rewards Points per S$1.60 spent (1.1 miles)

- 10 Membership Rewards Points per S$1.60 at Platinum 10Xcelerator Partners (i.e. 5.5 miles)

Standard Chartered Visa Infinite Credit Cardscb-visa-infinite-card

Apply Now

- 3.5 Rewards Points per S$1 spent locally (i.e. 1.4 mpd)

- 7.5 Rewards Points per S$1 spent overseas (i.e. 3 mpd)

Note: Min. S$2,000 eligible spend in a statement cycle required, otherwise all spend will only earn 2.5 Rewards Points per S$1 spent (1 mpd)

See also: 5 Metal Credit Cards to Apply For in Singapore

While there are many solid rewards credit cards on the market that I enjoy using and recommend, most of them limit the number of bonus rewards points you can earn monthly. 

For those who are new to the world of credit cards, the abovementioned Citi Prestige and Standard Chartered Visa Infinite Credit Card belong to the premium credit cards camp that requires their cardmembers to earn a certain amount of annual income and pay their respective hefty annual fee. Their travel and lifestyle perks are truly fantastic, though! 

As for American Express Platinum Credit Card, this credit card is targeted at foodies as well as discerning consumers who appreciate and enjoy platinum-level lifestyle perks year-round.

Related to this topic: 
Premium Credit Cards: Which Gives High Income Earners The Best Value?
Best Premium Credit Cards In Singapore
Metal Credit Cards With The Best Perks


Use credit cards wisely 

Credit cards are good financial tools if you know how to use them wisely and responsibly

They can help make your money go further, even when it comes to big ticket items and purchases like luxury bags, designer clothes, bespoke jewellery, the ultimate luxurious vacations, home furnishings and appliances (these really add up quickly and easily), fancy wine and dine, etc. 

Pro tip: Pay all your credit card bills in full before their due dates to make your rewards count!

Looking for the best credit cards to complement your spending patterns and expenditure in 2024? Check out our Ultimate Credit Card Guide that covers all things credit cards in Singapore – from choosing between a cashback, miles, or rewards credit card to planning your credit card strategy.

 

While Denise has a thing for travel, K-dramas, 0% sugar bbt (with boba!), Japanese cuisine and flat white, her curious nature means all sorts of random tabs are open on her phone 24/7. She doesn’t like to pay full price for anything, too.

FINANCIAL TIP:

Use a personal loan to consolidate your outstanding debt at a lower interest rate!

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