I've just met the 1M mark...finally!
...In credit limit that is.
I'm stoked nevertheless. Imagine the purchasing power the cards bring! At the very opposite end of the spectrum, imagine the huge bounty scammers / identity thieves could draw from all these. I had a first hand experience on this one. But that comes later. For now, marvel at my imaginary, pretentious wealth!
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| Yes. That sheet is made of gold drawn out the earth using 69 virgin blood |
That's 5 cards with a total credit limit of exactly PhP 1, 281, 000. The individual credit limit ranges from 100k to the highest 438k. I know right? What's up with the obsession with the very same instruments that once ruined my life.
By this time, I'm done talking about the demons within it's confines. Nowadays, I consider the demons just like that. Confined, dormant, docile. And I plan to make it stay that way.
Citibank Premiermiles used to be a personal favorite. For a good reason. It has one of the lowest conversion rate - if not the lowest - at PhP30 to 1 mile to several airline mileage programs including both PAL and Cebu Pacific. The converted miles can be transferred to your mileage account to be used readily in booking a flight. Mileage programs in other cards are not so transparent. For example, 3 earned "miles" need to be converted to 1 actual airline mile. This is the very reason why Citi easily becomes my personal favorite. It has no pretensions. Recently, I noticed you don't actually need to "transfer" your miles to your own mileage program because Citi itself has its own flight booking facility. And when I checked a sample required mileage, it seems it's at par with booking from an actual airline. Kudos to Citi on this one! Serious mad respect.
BPI Skymiles is also a Mileage program card for Delta Airlines. This is a bit redundant, I know, since Premiermiles can be exchanged for Skymiles, again, with a better conversion rate. But BPI is BPI. Every now and then, there are mundane treats and offers and occasional Credit-to-Cash offers which has the one of the lowest rate in the market. The last time I availed, I got a 0.59% monthly rate. It was a necessary debt and I was sincerely relieved I had a line of credit I can readily tap at the lowest possible rate. In comparison, Citi gave me a 0.69% rate.
Chinabank was there because it was a "free-for-life" card. Part of the small print is to spend at least 10k per year. I thought, I can live with that. I was thinking, if others card go bonkers, I would have still this card to use (Bonkers in this context meant CC agents would not waive my annual fee). I have already reached the 10k requirement so this card has been unused for at least 3 months.
BDO Amex Cashback helped me save a few pesos from my groceries and dining out. The card offers a cashback of 1% for local and 2% overseas purchases. This is somewhat significant comparing with the Citibank Cashback at a basic rate of 0.2% (groceries rebate can reach 6% but you have to spend 10k elsewhere first so meh..). As a promo, I even got a 5% on "all-purchases" on my first month. And it was AWESOME. Unfortunately, there are limited merchants in the country accepting Amex.
The new Cashback card from Security Bank has fast becoming a personal favorite. It has a tiered rate that significantly overshadows what BDO and Citi has to offer - 5% for groceries, 4% on gas, 3% on utilities, 2% on dining and 1% on shopping. I mean c'mon! Those on the higher tiers are practically necessities. Significant cashback on necessities is pretty epic AWESOMENESS. I was impressed how dining and shopping were assigned to the lowest tiers. I think this was not the case a few years back.
The last card on the list is from HSBC. It was my first core Platinum Visa card. But I guess Platinum are pretty much useless these days (i.e. Platinum is the new Gold they say). I got this card for no reasonable reason (hah!). Subconsciously, maybe I wanted the card to complete the collection and to reach the million mark. You see, I had this persistent plan of using cards to get a car. But that persistent thought has somehow left me (as of the moment). Originally, I wanted a PNB Mabuhay Miles card. But the PNB guys gave me a normal Gold Visa instead like , what the hell! Also, HSBC Visa Platinum has a promo for a free roundtrip HongKong flight. But after a few considerations (the small-print involved maintaining the card for at least 18 months with an annual fee of 5000), I am now reluctant to cash in on that promo. But we'll see.
So you see, credit cards are not made the same. Each has its own perks and individual quirks. This individual perks made me maximize what the card has to offer. I don't mean to justify why I got so many cards with such a huge credit limit. I just wanted to have a collection which I can conveniently pull out when the situation needs it. I can honestly say I've become responsible that the banks probably see through. And I plan to stay that way forever.
Now remember I said Citi Premiermiles used to be a favorite (but gradually losing its special place in my heart). I will be writing about that another time. For now I sleep.
Citibank Premiermiles used to be a personal favorite. For a good reason. It has one of the lowest conversion rate - if not the lowest - at PhP30 to 1 mile to several airline mileage programs including both PAL and Cebu Pacific. The converted miles can be transferred to your mileage account to be used readily in booking a flight. Mileage programs in other cards are not so transparent. For example, 3 earned "miles" need to be converted to 1 actual airline mile. This is the very reason why Citi easily becomes my personal favorite. It has no pretensions. Recently, I noticed you don't actually need to "transfer" your miles to your own mileage program because Citi itself has its own flight booking facility. And when I checked a sample required mileage, it seems it's at par with booking from an actual airline. Kudos to Citi on this one! Serious mad respect.
BPI Skymiles is also a Mileage program card for Delta Airlines. This is a bit redundant, I know, since Premiermiles can be exchanged for Skymiles, again, with a better conversion rate. But BPI is BPI. Every now and then, there are mundane treats and offers and occasional Credit-to-Cash offers which has the one of the lowest rate in the market. The last time I availed, I got a 0.59% monthly rate. It was a necessary debt and I was sincerely relieved I had a line of credit I can readily tap at the lowest possible rate. In comparison, Citi gave me a 0.69% rate.
Chinabank was there because it was a "free-for-life" card. Part of the small print is to spend at least 10k per year. I thought, I can live with that. I was thinking, if others card go bonkers, I would have still this card to use (Bonkers in this context meant CC agents would not waive my annual fee). I have already reached the 10k requirement so this card has been unused for at least 3 months.
BDO Amex Cashback helped me save a few pesos from my groceries and dining out. The card offers a cashback of 1% for local and 2% overseas purchases. This is somewhat significant comparing with the Citibank Cashback at a basic rate of 0.2% (groceries rebate can reach 6% but you have to spend 10k elsewhere first so meh..). As a promo, I even got a 5% on "all-purchases" on my first month. And it was AWESOME. Unfortunately, there are limited merchants in the country accepting Amex.
The new Cashback card from Security Bank has fast becoming a personal favorite. It has a tiered rate that significantly overshadows what BDO and Citi has to offer - 5% for groceries, 4% on gas, 3% on utilities, 2% on dining and 1% on shopping. I mean c'mon! Those on the higher tiers are practically necessities. Significant cashback on necessities is pretty epic AWESOMENESS. I was impressed how dining and shopping were assigned to the lowest tiers. I think this was not the case a few years back.
The last card on the list is from HSBC. It was my first core Platinum Visa card. But I guess Platinum are pretty much useless these days (i.e. Platinum is the new Gold they say). I got this card for no reasonable reason (hah!). Subconsciously, maybe I wanted the card to complete the collection and to reach the million mark. You see, I had this persistent plan of using cards to get a car. But that persistent thought has somehow left me (as of the moment). Originally, I wanted a PNB Mabuhay Miles card. But the PNB guys gave me a normal Gold Visa instead like , what the hell! Also, HSBC Visa Platinum has a promo for a free roundtrip HongKong flight. But after a few considerations (the small-print involved maintaining the card for at least 18 months with an annual fee of 5000), I am now reluctant to cash in on that promo. But we'll see.
So you see, credit cards are not made the same. Each has its own perks and individual quirks. This individual perks made me maximize what the card has to offer. I don't mean to justify why I got so many cards with such a huge credit limit. I just wanted to have a collection which I can conveniently pull out when the situation needs it. I can honestly say I've become responsible that the banks probably see through. And I plan to stay that way forever.
Now remember I said Citi Premiermiles used to be a favorite (but gradually losing its special place in my heart). I will be writing about that another time. For now I sleep.
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