While I have never been an advocate for a cashback card, it does make sense for some consumers (especially when you have no interest in using miles for Business Class and First Class travel) - using your miles for an Economy class ticket is just heart-wrenching and honestly, you maybe better off with a cashback card. The OCBC 365 Credit Card has always been a strong contender and it brings about some new revisions this month. On the whole, it looks like it has gotten better but there are some caveats that you should take note of.

Mileslife is a great way to supercharge the accrual of miles especially when bonuses are in place - there is currently the opportunity to earn up to 8 miles per dollar (on top of credit card spend) at selected restaurants. This means to say that if you are using the UOB Preferred Platinum Visa credit card, you can essentially earn up to 12 miles per dollar on dining which is crazy if you think about it! Apart from spending, users are able to accrue miles by simply completing a few simple tasks.

In case you have been asleep for the last week or so, the unification of the Marriott Rewards, The Ritz-Carlton Rewards as well as the Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG) programmes has happened over the weekend (and is continuing to do so right now). Members logging in to their Marriott Rewards account should now be given the option to 'combine your accounts' - doing so will allow you to pool all those elite nights, points and bookings together.

After a series of Business Class flights on Emirates, I have finally achieved MVP Gold status on the Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan program. I have previously written about how crediting flights to the right program makes a world of difference - on my Business Class flights from Singapore to New York, I would have gotten only a one-way Economy Class flight from Singapore to Perth if I had credited it to Emirates Skywards. However, since I chose to credit it to my the Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan account, I had almost enough miles for a return-flight (somewhat even though a short detour is required) to Tokyo in Business Class.

The Citi Rewards Card is one of my recommended credit cards to hold in Singapore - up until last month, this credit card was offering a massive 8 miles per dollar on all Apple Pay transactions! Now that the promotion has ended, cardholders are still able to earn up to 10X Rewards (4 miles per dollar) when shopping for clothes, bags or shoes or at department stores or online shopping websites at eligible merchants. As you already know, the 10X Rewards is capped at maximum of 120,000 Rewards points per card anniversary year - this is about to change on 04 October 2018.

There has been some speculation for a while now but Singapore Airlines has just officially launched a new digital wallet and allows you to turn your precious KrisFlyer miles into instant purchases. KrisFlyer members are now able to convert their KrisFlyer miles into KrisPay miles to use them on everyday expenses like petrol, food, gadgets or phone bills just to name a few.

Anyone who has read The Straits Times today must have seen Bank of China's full-page ad for the brand new BOC Elite Miles World Mastercard that offers up to 5 miles and 2 miles per dollar for foreign and local currency transactions respectively. Now before you get exceedingly excited, do note that these earn rates are promotional and they will only last until 31 December 2018 (your card must also be approved by 15 December 2018). Following the promotional period, the regular earn rates for this card revert to 3 miles and 1.5 miles per dollar for eligible foreign and local currency transactions respectively.

Even though I have lost my Hilton Honors Diamond status this year, I noticed that my upcoming stays in two Hilton properties - the Hilton Singapore and the Hilton Auckland - have both been pre-upgraded. Even though I was a Diamond member for the past two years, I have never been proactively-upgraded in the system prior to arrival (perhaps I have just been really unlucky?) so it is comforting to see that properties are now starting to do it. I am not sure whether this is a global initiative but having to ask for an upgrade as an elite member annoys me (especially as a Platinum Elite in the Marriott Rewards program).