Cashback vs Rewards Cards: What Reddit Users Actually Prefer

Someone posts: "Should I get cashback or rewards card for my first credit card?"

The thread explodes to 47 comments in three hours.

Half the people say cashback is king. The other half swear by rewards points. A few argue about airline miles. Someone mentions their BPI card. Another person flexes their accumulated PAL Mabuhay Miles.

The original poster is now more confused than before they asked.

Most Filipino beginners who pick rewards cards end up wishing they started with cashback instead.

Not because rewards are bad. Because rewards require homework most people don't want to do.

The Thing Nobody Admits About Rewards

Rewards cards sound amazing when you're applying.

"Earn 5x points on dining!" "Convert to airline miles!" "Redeem for gadgets!"

Then you get the card and reality hits.

You earn 2,000 points over three months. You check the redemption catalog. A ₱500 gift certificate costs 5,000 points. A domestic flight redemption needs 15,000 points minimum. Your points expire in two years.

You do the math. At your current spending rate, you'll barely hit one meaningful redemption per year.

Meanwhile your friend with a cashback card got ₱600 credited to their statement automatically. No catalog. No conversion. No expiry drama.

This is the gap between how rewards cards are marketed versus how they actually work for average Filipinos.

If you are new to rewards completely, start here: Credit Card Rewards & Miles in the Philippines

Why Cashback Wins for Most Filipinos

Scan through r/PHCreditCards threads asking "cashback or rewards?" and you'll see the same pattern.

People who prefer cashback usually say some version of: "1 peso back is 1 peso. Points can be devalued anytime."

And they're right.

Cashback is transparent

When your statement says "Cashback rebate: ₱350," you know exactly what you got. No mental math. No checking if the redemption rate changed. No wondering if you should save points for a better deal later.

Anna uses a UnionBank Cashback card. Every month, her statement shows exactly how much she earned. Groceries at SM gave her ₱180 back. Meralco bill gave her ₱50. Online shopping gave her ₱120.

Total: ₱350 automatically credited.

She doesn't think about it. She doesn't track it in a spreadsheet. The money just appears.

Cashback feels more real

There's a psychological difference between "I saved ₱350" and "I earned 3,500 points worth approximately ₱350 if I redeem correctly."

One feels like getting money back. The other feels like homework with extra steps.

Mark has a rewards card that gives him points on dining. Every time he eats out, he thinks "I'm earning points!" Then he checks his balance: 8,247 points. He has no idea if that's good or bad. He doesn't know what 8,247 points can actually buy him without opening the app and browsing the catalog.

He has an officemate with a cashback card. She knows she's gotten ₱2,400 back this year. It's clean and simple.

Cashback works for everyday spending

Most Filipino credit card spending isn't exotic. It's groceries, bills, gas, online shopping, dining.

Cashback cards from banks like UnionBank, BPI, EastWest, and HSBC offer 2–8% back on exactly these categories. For normal spending patterns, that translates to real money every month without complexity.

Carlos spends around ₱35,000 monthly on his card. Mostly groceries (₱12,000), bills (₱8,000), gas (₱7,000), and random purchases (₱8,000).

His cashback card gives him:

6% on groceries = ₱720
2% on bills = ₱160
3% on gas = ₱210
1% on everything else = ₱80

Total monthly cashback: ₱1,170

Annual cashback: ₱14,040

No points conversion or redemption catalogs. It's just ₱14,040 back.

The catch: cashback caps

The main limitation cashback users mention on Reddit is caps.

Most Philippine cashback cards cap rebates at around ₱500–₱1,000 per month or ₱10,000–₱15,000 per year. Once you hit the cap, additional spending earns nothing.

For heavy spenders (₱100,000+ monthly), this ceiling becomes real. You max out cashback benefits by March and get zero rewards for the rest of the year.

But for beginners spending ₱20,000–₱50,000 monthly, the caps rarely matter.

Why Rewards Cards Tempt People

If cashback is so simple and effective, why do rewards cards exist?

Because for certain people in certain situations, rewards can deliver significantly more value.

Big redemptions for travel

The most vocal rewards advocates on r/PHCreditCards are usually frequent travelers.

They tell stories about redeeming 50,000 points for business class flights worth ₱80,000. Or using miles to book international trips at a fraction of retail price. Or getting airport lounge access that saves them ₱2,000 per visit.

Sofia travels for work about eight times a year. She puts everything possible on her rewards card that converts to airline miles. Over 12 months, she accumulated enough miles to book a Hong Kong round trip that would have cost ₱35,000.

Her annual spending on the card: ₱480,000

Her cashback equivalent (at 2%): ₱9,600

Her actual redemption value: ₱35,000

For her specific situation, rewards crushed cashback.

But here's what the success stories often skip: Sofia tracks everything in a spreadsheet, monitors airline promos, knows exactly how many miles she needs for different routes, and pays her balance in full every month without fail.

That's work. Not everyone wants to do that work.

Multipliers on specific categories

Rewards cards often offer 2x to 5x points on categories like dining, online shopping, or international spending.

If you naturally spend heavily in bonus categories and understand the redemption math, rewards can beat flat cashback.

Miguel loves eating out. He spends around ₱15,000 monthly on restaurants. His rewards card gives him 5x points on dining.

₱15,000 × 5 points per ₱30 = 2,500 points monthly = 30,000 points annually

If each point is worth ₱0.50 in his preferred redemptions, that's ₱15,000 in value from dining alone. A 2% cashback card would give him only ₱3,600.

But notice what had to be true for this to work:

He naturally spends ₱15,000 on dining anyway (not forcing it)
He understands the redemption math
He has redemption options he actually wants
He pays in full every month (no interest eating the value)

The devaluation problem

The thing cashback advocates constantly bring up: points get devalued.

Banks change redemption charts whenever they want. Last year's 10,000-point flight might cost 15,000 points this year. Your carefully accumulated points just lost 33% of their value overnight.

Cashback doesn't have this problem. ₱1 is always ₱1.

Reddit is full of frustrated stories about people who saved points for two years planning a specific redemption, only to find the bank changed the rates and they now need thousands more points.

What Reddit Actually Prefers (The Data)

When r/PHCreditCards users are forced to choose one type, patterns emerge clearly.

Everyday users pick cashback

Most threads where beginners or average spenders share their preference, cashback wins.

Common explanations:

"Cash is flexible, points are not"
"I don't want homework, I just want my groceries cheaper"
"Banks keep devaluing points, I'm tired of it"
"Cashback is real money immediately"

The cashback preference is strongest among:

First-time cardholders
People spending ₱20,000–₱50,000 monthly
Users who value simplicity over optimization
Anyone burned by point devaluations before

Travel-focused users pick rewards

The rewards advocates are usually:

Frequent travelers (work or leisure)
Premium card holders
People who enjoy optimization as a hobby
High spenders (₱100,000+ monthly)

They treat miles accumulation like a strategy game. They know which cards transfer to which airlines. They track sweet spots and promo periods. They get genuine satisfaction from "winning" the redemption game.

But even in rewards-positive threads, users warn beginners: "Don't start with rewards unless you'll actually use them. Cashback is safer."

The honest middle ground

Some experienced users on Reddit admit they use both: cashback for everyday spending, rewards for specific categories or travel.

Liza has two cards. Her primary card is cashback for groceries, bills, and general spending. Her secondary card is a rewards card she only uses for international purchases and flights because those categories offer meaningful multipliers.

She's not trying to optimize everything. She's using the right tool for each job.

But she also says: "I didn't do this until year three. My first two years were cashback only because I needed to learn the basics first."

When Rewards Start Making Sense

Rewards aren't wrong for everyone. They're wrong for beginners who aren't ready for the complexity.

Rewards make sense when:

Your spending is consistent and high enough. If you're putting ₱60,000+ monthly on cards and paying in full, you'll accumulate points quickly enough to hit meaningful redemptions regularly.
You actually travel or want things points can buy. If you fly twice a year minimum or genuinely want the gadgets/vouchers in redemption catalogs, rewards have clear purpose.
You're willing to do the homework. Understanding point values, tracking redemption rates, monitoring promos, planning ahead — if this sounds fun rather than tedious, rewards might suit you.
You've mastered paying in full. If you're carrying balances month to month, interest charges will obliterate any rewards value. Rewards are for people who've already locked in the "pay in full every month" discipline.

Until all four of those are true? Cashback is almost always the better choice.

What Beginners Get Wrong About Rewards

The biggest mistakes Reddit users admit about starting with rewards too early:

Chasing rewards before chasing discipline

Rico got a rewards card as his first card because "5x points on dining sounded amazing." He started eating out more often to maximize points. He hit ₱25,000 in dining spending monthly, up from his previous ₱12,000.

Six months later, he realized he'd spent an extra ₱78,000 on restaurants just to earn maybe ₱3,000 worth of rewards value.

The rewards card didn't save him money. It cost him ₱75,000.

Sound familiar? Read: Why Chasing Rewards Can Quietly Make You Spend More

Overestimating redemption value

Banks market rewards with the highest possible value scenario. "Points worth up to ₱1 each!" But that's only if you redeem for specific premium options most people don't actually want.

Most realistic redemptions give you ₱0.30–₱0.50 per point. That changes the math significantly.

Letting points expire

Cashback gets credited automatically. Points require action.

Multiple Reddit users admit they've lost thousands of points because they forgot to redeem before expiry. That's money vanishing because of inaction.

Not reading the fine print

Rewards cards have more rules than cashback cards. Spending minimums. Category caps. Redemption blackout dates. Transfer fees. Expiry clauses.

Beginners who skip reading terms often discover restrictions that make their points less valuable than expected.

The Framework: Start Simple, Optimize Later

Here's the progression that works for most Filipinos based on Reddit experiences:

Year 1: Get a simple cashback card or flat-rate points card. Learn to pay in full every month. Build discipline. Enjoy automatic rebates without complexity.

Year 2: Evaluate your actual spending patterns. Now that you have 12 months of data, you know where your money actually goes. If you're naturally heavy in bonus categories (dining, travel, online), consider a rewards card for those categories only.

Year 3+: Add strategic complexity if it makes sense. Once you've mastered basics, you can explore multiple cards, category optimization, and points/miles strategies. But only if you want to and it genuinely adds value.

Most people never need to go past Year 1.

Elena has used the same cashback card for four years. She's earned around ₱58,000 in total rebates. She's never tracked a point, never checked a redemption catalog, never worried about expiry dates.

She's happy. The system works for her.

Her officemate who juggles three rewards cards and maintains a spreadsheet? Also happy, but admits "most people don't want to do what I do."

Both are valid. But one is clearly easier for beginners.

Final Thoughts: Simple Beats Optimal

The cashback versus rewards debate assumes you need to pick the absolute optimal strategy.

You don't.

You need to pick the strategy you'll actually stick with long-term without stress.

For most Filipino beginners, that's cashback. It's transparent, automatic, and impossible to mess up as long as you pay in full.

Rewards can deliver higher value in specific situations, but they require homework, discipline, and usually higher spending levels to be worthwhile.

Start simple. Master the basics. If you eventually want to optimize further and rewards make sense for your lifestyle, you can always add complexity later.

But don't start with complexity just because it sounds better on paper.

₱500 in cashback you actually receive beats 5,000 points you'll never redeem.

Want to understand rewards better first? Read: Credit Card Rewards & Miles in the Philippines