Are cashback cards really better than travel cards...?

❝ Cashback is still better since you get the same amount of money back, which is usually the same amount for a plane ticket! ❞

Quite common misconception, dahil mukhang narrowed down ang comparison to only Economy booking, which of course is not always the case.

What I always say…

You will feel the value of miles redemption when booking Business Class and above.

How? Read further below.

❝ You need to spend way too much before you can actually get a free flight, whereas with cashback, you get it almost instantly after your statement, etc. ❞

Well, fair. But I personally see traveling as something that you don’t do right away anyway. You need to plan it. At kung sakaling, need mo mag-book ng flight all of a sudden, lets say tomorrow, or upcoming week, it might be more economical na mag-redeem than booking in cash.

Contents#

• Assumptions
• Booking with Qatar
• Qatar Taxes
• Singapore Comparison
• Singapore Taxes
• Cathay Pacific
• Other Possible Perks
• Impulse Bookings (in 3 days, next week, next month)

Disclaimer: I don’t always travel business. I even take low cost airlines if it feels more economical to do so..

I don’t understand, better to have example!#

Klar! Let’s assume the following:

• Travel card, that earns fixed 1 frequent flyer (FF) mile every Php 50 spend, uncapped
• Cashback card, which gives you fixed 1% anywhere, uncapped
• 1 USD = 60 PHP (will be used later)
• 1 HKD = 8 PHP (will be used later)

⚠️ Do not confuse 1 mile with 1 point. It may not be equivalent at all!↗️
⚠️ There are banks that offer even Php 30 to 1 mile. But 50 is relatively common for travel cards, so we’ll stick to it
⚠️ Yes there are banks that offer more than 1% cashback. But we’re sticking to those that does not have cap and categorisation (e.g. Online Transactions or International Transaction, etc.)

Lowest fares & points available as of writing 19-Nov-2025 via Qatar Airways
Departing 1-Sep-2026, Manila
Returning 30-Sep-2026, Frankfurt

Sample Redemption:

For simplicity, no mixed cabins ❌

So using the assumption above for cashback, which is 1%, with these amounts, you will earn
✅ 40K; and
✅ 80K
respectively.

Here is the price when booked in cash:

⚠️ Note: Of course this is not always the case. May possibility na makukuha ang cash price na cheaper, or even discounts if may promo. But let’s not factor it in. Bonus miles or redemption discounts will also not be factored in anyway

Cashback barely made it to the cheapest economy cash price!

(4M total transaction: 40K Cashback vs 80K Miles)

But taxes are already included in the cash price, and not in the award flight!#

Fair! So let’s add the taxes in the points redemption.

ℹ️ I used the cash booking because I currently do not have enough Avios for redemption. Pero parehas lang yan.

A whooping 16K PHP 💸

And, there’s still Avios redemption fee which is I think roughly 200 USD. Using the assumed exchange rate, then that’s additional 12K PHP.

How much would you need to spend now for points redemption? 4M + 28K.

If you use cashback, you will get Php 40.2K. Still short for the cheapest economy! ❌

But that’s Frankfurt! Waaaay too far!#

Fair point! Nearer… Singapore! Kris Flyer is pretty common FFP redemption anyway.

ℹ️ Screenshot shows only one-way. But miles required for return is the same, so basically just X2

So with 1% Cashback, for those spend, you will earn:
✅ 13K
✅ 27.5K
✅ 36K
✅ 25K
✅ 46K
✅ 57.5K
respectively.

Now comparing to cash amount:

With the assumed rate, cheapest economy would be 18K PHP and for business 54K PHP

You need to spend 1.8M to get the cheapest economy ticket for free! ❌ (vs. 1.3M for redemption)

But taxes right? Good thing is that its relatively cheap if Singapore is the destination

Only 66 USD (or 4K PHP)! I used the highest class (Business Access) to take the total taxes.

I’d say this 4K is relatively minimal with the “required spend” above, so I will not include some calculation anymore.

Want more? Now to Hongkong…#

Asia Miles (Cathay Pacific) is also one of the most common available FFP, along with Kris Flyer (Singapore Airlines) and Mabuhay Miles (Philippine Airlines). So might as well use it as comparison.

ℹ️ I had to select a different date because September redemption is unfortunately not yet available.

⚠️ Premium economy has been excluded since it is not available for the departure, and we avoid mixed cabins for simplicity.

Taxes right? Economy is (in HKD) 583, and for business 653.

Using the assumption 1HKD = 8PHP, we have 4.6K and 5.2K respectively.

So with cashback, using the Spend Needed, that’s 7K and 16K respectively.

Now cash value:

Not enough to redeem economy when cashback is used for 700K spend.

How about Mabuhay Miles (Philippine Airlines)?#

Unfortunately I have not tried PAL (Philippine Airlines) yet. But I guess it will be relatively the same. Limiting factor for me why I have not tried Mabuhay Miles:

• You need to have enough points before you can check if redemption is available
• You are limited to PAL’s destinations since its not a member of any alliance

First point should be ok - One can leave their Mabuhay Miles in their account until needed. But I personally do not want that because I might not be able to use it for the next 12-24 months.

🤷‍♂️

Ok, the worth is high if it is Business (and above) Class, but is it worth it if it is only 4 (or less) hours flight?#

Well, up to your preference, of course. But Business class offers more comfort like:

• Larger Leg Room
• Lie-flat Seats (sometimes)
• Dedicated Menu
• Personalised Service (kind of)
• (usually) low toilet-to-person ratio*
• Dedicated Lounge Access **
• Amenity Kit ***

* since there are relatively fewer business class seats compared to economy, and there’s usually a toilet in the business class area which usually cabin crew prohibits economy class to use. Therefore, shorter wait time (especially for bigger planes like 777 and 380)
** can only be accessed with airline’s status or specific booking class. Mostly not offered as complimentary access with credit cards
*** varies per route, sometimes not available

I would personally try to pool my points to redeem business class and above if I’m flying long haul (at least 7 hours). But I still use it for short flights (like my recent KUL-SIN-MNL in December)

When you feel the impulse (or emergency) and you wanted to book for next week or month#

So how does it (cashback) par, if its an urgent booking?

ℹ️ Reference date is 19-Nov-2025, return is always end of the current month, destination is Frankfurt (Qatar), Singapore (Singapore), Hongkong (Cathay), all roundtrip
Yes, the comparison is relatively unfair. But its actually unfair for both sides because holidays. And redemption sometimes has blackout dates too, which is typically during holidays.

As you can see, it might still potentially be cheaper if its award booking, in contrast to cash booking. Good thing about miles redemption is predictability - its relatively fixed, so you already expect how much you’ll need even if the booking is spontaneous.

When is 1 point not equivalent to 1 FFP mile?#

Unionbank for example says 1 UB Mile for 30 PHP spend. And I do not think it is false advertising. They clearly mentioned its 1 UB Mile.

Website:

During redemption:

Or RCBC

which has one of the most complicated rewards structure I’ve seen so far

RCBC Credit Airmiles is not the actual miles earned or you’d be expecting, but the Mileage Point.

Summary#

So are cashbacks really better than travel cards? Not really.

Qatar Airways#

Singapore Airlines#

Cathay Pacific#

Note: taxes were not included in above table for redemption. But for reference, it could be as high as 30K PHP (Qatar), and as low as 4K PHP (Singapore)

It definitely depends on your lifestyle.

• If you’re into travel, then definitely travel cards are better in most cases.
• If not yet into travel, but wanted to be in the future, then same as above.
• If you’re into travel, but would prefer to use the money on your destination, then it may not be ideal for you.

Of course may limitation din ang award tickets. It may not be available on your desired date. So you need to be really flexible when doing so. But if you plan ahead, it should almost always be ok.

And the running assumption is 50 PHP = 1 mile. There are banks that offer uncomplicated and uncapped 30 PHP = 1 mile, which would effectively (almost) halve the spend required for 1 award booking.

And let’s be fair: there are also cashback cards that can offer as high as 8.88%, but those are capped per month, then reduced to a (usually) less than 1% afterwards.