Why I Applied for a New Credit Card Despite Already Owning 6!?

The latest card I applied for in August is the HSBC Revolution Card.

Initially I just applied for the card as I am a new customer who will be eligible for SGD 200.00 cashback during the promotion period.  However, after applying, I realize this card has many more advantages and perks above and beyond this cash-back!

1)    No Annual Fees

Anyone who has own a credit card will know how troublesome it is to deal with annual fee waivers.  For some credit cards, they do not allow annual fee waivers if the annual spending did not exceed certain amount.  Hence, without annual fees for lifetime (provided their policies do not change) is definitely a good perk!

2)    Earn Miles While You Spend

All along, I am not one who look at mile points.  This is because for the past 30 odd years, travelling is not a priority in my life.  However, as I aged, my perspective changed and started to think that travelling may be something that I need to do while I am still able to accomplish, and I should live a life that is more balanced (Insert Link).  As such, travelling rose in priorities in my life, and thus, miles points would be an added advantage for me in my upcoming travelling itinerary.  Nope, I am not indulging in luxury travels, instead, I hope to give myself about 4 short trips each year, and the budget for each trip will be maxed at SGD 600.00 (latest edit: I decided to up the budget to a maximum of SGD 750.00 per trip to enjoy a tad more!).  Therefore, any miles point that can be used be redeemed for air tickets will help me save more more my future trips.  Yup, I won't feel too guilty here, as based on a poll on Seedly done in September, based on 148 votes, SGD 2K to 3K annual travelling expenses is acceptable to the majority.

3)    Bonus Miles on Large Variety of Expenditure

For many credit cards, many conditions need to be fulfilled before we are eligible for cashback, or eligible for the bonus points.  Some of these conditions are minimum spending and a narrow selection of merchants.  However for HSBC Revolution Card, spending at a large number of merchants will allow me to qualify for the bonus miles!  Based on my personal lifestyle and spending habits, below are some of my favourite merchants that allow me to earn the bonus 4 miles per dollar when transactions are done via contactless payments:

For the full list of merchants, do read this article written by Milelion!

4)    Points are Valid for 37 Months

This is beneficial for me as my usual monthly expenses are not too high.  This allows me to accumulate the points for 3 years without having to worry about the expiry of the points.  Therefore, I can reap the advantages without the stress of committing unnecessary expenditures just to try to meet the required mile points, which defeats the whole purpose of this benefit.

5)    HSBC Cards has Many Dining Perks Locally

HSBC credit cards have many dining promotions here.  Frequently I will find dining offers like 1-for-1 buffet and other discounts offered by HSBC cards.  Being a foodie, this is definitely a big draw for me to get hold of a HSBC card!

Personally I think this is a good card to own, and with it, I can cancel some of my existing credit cards like UOB One card (and OCBC Plus card which has been terminated, and not getting the replacement OCBC 360 card).  All in all, I am a satisfied customer of HSBC Revolution Card after a one month trial, and the SGD 200.00 rebate will be used to offset my next flight to Bali!  At the meantime, I may want to consolidate my spending to certain credit cards to maximize the benefits as much as I can, and hopefully all these can complement my goals.  Barista FIRE, here I come...!