PNB and Philippine Airlines have finally heard me (or just realized from competition) that their co-branded credit cards were lackluster compared to cards of similar level in the market.
I was recently at BDO's Travel Sale and was applying for the new American Express explorer card wondered if PAL's credit cards were still the same as they were in the booth in front of me. I checked them out online and to my surprise, they have finally given their cards a little more of something to be desired.
I've made a chart on top showing the difference from before and everything seems to be the same except for the earning rate for the cards, which are in my opinion the most important for me when I look for travel credit cards because that's how you can fly for free faster.
The Platinum and Now Mastercards got a ₱7 improvement to their spend-to-mile ratio while the World Mastercard got a huge ₱17 improvement for those with a TBR of less than ₱100M. Also added to the World Mastercard was a better earn rate for PAL transactions of ₱30 per Mabuhay Mile, which were not even present before.
Could still be better
While other travel cards out there are still better, at least these new earn rates are somewhat enticing and a far cry from before (seriously ₱100M, in this economy?!). You no longer need to be a hundred millionaire to travel faster as ₱38 spend per mile is pretty decent nowadays.
With that being said, it can still be a lot better. A multiplier for PAL transactions would make so much sense since it is the airline's co-branded credit card after all. An earning rate of ₱20 spend per mile for transactions would be the sweet spot for me. I mean how much are we even actually going to spend on PAL flights anyways right?
The second thing they could add is extra checked-in baggage of 5 or 10 kilos for the World Mastercard. I get it, airlines make a ton of money on these checked baggage charges and is an essential part of the business, but it wouldn't hurt too much to give your most loyal card member some extra baggage allowance.
Lastly, only 1 lounge access is given to the World Mastercard holders per year. As a travel credit card that is supposed to be premium, it's honestly disappointing. Other cards of the level and type would have 4 or more passes a year. The fact that the Platinum version of the card has none is also quite shocking.
Bottomline
Although it wasn't a total refresh, kudos to PNB and PAL for improving their credit cards. With the pandemic and everything I'm sure it wasn't easy making changes like this as it will ultimately affect their bottom line but they pulled through and listened to the needs of us travel consumers.
In the past, I would have never considered getting any of their cards because the earn rate was just so bad compared to other cards like the EastWest Singapore Airlines World Mastercard and the UnionBank Miles+ Visa Platinum.
Now I would actually maybe consider applying for the PNB-PAL Mabuhay Miles World Mastercard later in the year if I decide to maximize flying with PAL.
For now, I'm still an airline free agent and book wherever I can find the best deals.
Oh, they also added a Caltex fuel rebate of 3% if that's important to you.
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