[binand]

Originally Posted by warrioraks

I had a similar thought process at one point of time. But now I am a convert. Especially since I got my Diners Black card.

I already have an HDFC Bank Diners Black card. Yet another one I got lifetime free. Till now I hadn't even bothered to check what benefits there were, but since you mentioned it I took a quick look. Among the golf courses and lifestyle brands and concierge services there is "10X rewards points on Bigbasket" that I can try out right now.

Edit: Spoke too soon, the offer has expired.

[warrioraks]

Originally Posted by binand

there is "10X rewards points on Bigbasket" that I can try out right now.

Share the link please. I am not aware of big basket 10x thing.

[Fordlover88]

Is reward point to cash redemption instantaneous & can it be adjusted against balance statement? Suppose i have due worth 20k & have reward points 5000. Can i pay 15k & adjust the remaining 5k from reward points(1 point= 1 Rs.)?

[m8002?]

Originally Posted by Fordlover88

Is reward point to cash redemption instantaneous & can it be adjusted against balance statement? Suppose i have due worth 20k & have reward points 5000. Can i pay 15k & adjust the remaining 5k from reward points(1 point= 1 Rs.)?

Long gone are the times when 1 point equalled 1 Re. Now its mostly 30-40p per point for the mainstream cards, especially for cash redemption. There might be some special cards which still offers 1 Re for evey point.
In fact, many cards have increased the consumption for getting 1 point. What used to be 1 point for every 100 Rs spent is now 1 Pt for every 150-200 Rs spent.

The way to get additional points is during the promotions like 5/10 times rewards points or by using co-branded cards.

[kavensri]

Even I have HDFC DB CC and ICICI Amazon Pay CC. And I found one thing today while browsing through the smartbuy portal, which I thought of sharing it here.
I realized that, if I generate Amazon Pay Gift Card and use it for making any purchase from Amazon through this generated Amazon Pay money, then the effective cashback (converted as Amazon Pay gift card) will be 16.67% (1 reward point = 0.5 re) instead of using ICICI Amazon Pay CC, which gives us maximum cashback of 5%.

[Everlearner]

Originally Posted by Fordlover88

Is reward point to cash redemption instantaneous & can it be adjusted against balance statement? Suppose i have due worth 20k & have reward points 5000. Can i pay 15k & adjust the remaining 5k from reward points(1 point= 1 Rs.)?

Yes, you can submit request to encash your reward points and pay only the balance amount. Be careful that you submit the request well before your payment due date so that the cash credit in your account happens before the due date. Like mentioned above, the value of each point is rarely Re.1 for each point. From my experience, convert to cash usually provides the lowest value per reward point.

[binand]

Originally Posted by Fordlover88

Is reward point to cash redemption instantaneous & can it be adjusted against balance statement?

One other thing to remember is that the minimum due has to be a payment transaction (ie, you have to pay it). It can't be covered using a reward encashment, a refund, a cashback or any such.

[Fordlover88]

Originally Posted by m8002?

Long gone are the times when 1 point equalled 1 Re. Now its mostly 30-40p per point for the mainstream cards, especially for cash redemption. There might be some special cards which still offers 1 Re for evey point.
In fact, many cards have increased the consumption for getting 1 point. What used to be 1 point for every 100 Rs spent is now 1 Pt for every 150-200 Rs spent.

The way to get additional points is during the promotions like 5/10 times rewards points or by using co-branded cards.

I have HDFC millenia card whose reward points conversion ratio is 1:1 for cash redemption.

Originally Posted by Everlearner

Yes, you can submit request to encash your reward points and pay only the balance amount. Be careful that you submit the request well before your payment due date so that the cash credit in your account happens before the due date. Like mentioned above, the value of each point is rarely Re.1 for each point. From my experience, convert to cash usually provides the lowest value per reward point.

I have HDFC millenia card whose reward points to cash redemption ratio is 1:1. But somehow the same points are fetching me goods whose values are very low. In my case 4592 points corresponds to Rs. 4592 but i am getting GV's worth 2k with these points. I have recently upgraded from regalia first card. May be it has something to do with that

Originally Posted by binand

One other thing to remember is that the minimum due has to be a payment transaction (ie, you have to pay it). It can't be covered using a reward encashment, a refund, a cashback or any such.

Yes that i will do.

[logicalidiot]

Nice to see this thread active. It's been only 2 years since I began my career and I'm trying to build my credit worth to get access to the premium cards. The rewards generated through the credit cards are worth it if you use the CC wisely. I have a habit of paying my credit card due even before the bill cycle is generated. You might find it stupid because I'm not using the interest free period, but for me it works better as I don't get overburdened with debt at the end of the cycle. If you don't keep track of your spendings, you'll end up spending more with CCs.

Just saw the below video sometime back posted by Nas Daily on Instagram of a guy who has 12 Million worth of CC points. Felt to apt to share here for the ongoing discussion.

https://www.instagram.com/tv/COsX9LF...d=ybntn2ga5pwn

Originally Posted by kavensri

I realized that, if I generate Amazon Pay Gift Card and use it for making any purchase from Amazon through this generated Amazon Pay money, then the effective cashback (converted as Amazon Pay gift card) will be 16.67% (1 reward point = 0.5 re) instead of using ICICI Amazon Pay CC, which gives us maximum cashback of 5%.

Not sure how you are earning 16.67% reward. Keen to know, how exactly do you generate the Amazon Pay Gift Card?

[nbhar24]

I currently own credit cards from HDFC and SCB, viz Infinia and Ultimate respectively.

Both of them offer 1:1 reward conversion, however SCB has a vast variety of catalogue full of reward options.

Additionally, SCB Ultimate credit card is easy to get either as an upgrade to existing card or direct sales if you qualify. Whereas, HDFC Infinia credit card is normally offered through invitations only or limited upgrades.

I personally feel SCB Ultimate is the best value for money with annual charges of Rs5000 refunded as vouchers of your choice.

[kavensri]

Originally Posted by logicalidiot

Not sure how you are earning 16.67% reward. Keen to know, how exactly do you generate the Amazon Pay Gift Card?

Use this link, https://www.gyftr.com/hdfcsmartbuy/amazon-gift-vouchers, to generate Amazon Gift Card using your HDFC CC.
For example, if you generate gift card for Rs3000, you would get reward points of 1000 (100x10). Then you can convert these reward points back to Amazon Gift Card, using this link https://offers.smartbuy.hdfcbank.com/, of worth Rs500 (1 point = Re 0.5).

[deovrat]

Originally Posted by tejas08

Have accumulated enough points on DCB / Infinia and converted to Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer Miles for Business Class return tickets to anywhere in South East Asia. Europe too is possible but Europe has a huge surcharge and taxes on business class redemption. So will be looking at a different strategy for Europe.

I am looking at the same for a while and looks like Swiss/LH has way more award availability but the highest surcharges. Then comes Turkish, followed by Egypt Air. Ranked as per availability of awards as well as declining surcharges.

[Yieldway17]

I used to be into credit card rewards and manufactured spending like a decade back. It used to be worthwhile. But most manufactured spending ways and loopholes are clamped down or limited now. It’s all primarily travel and hotel rewards driven by actual high spends now which I’m not really interested in.

I downgraded to no annual fee cards with modest rewards for my modest spending which I use for redeeming Amazon GCs and I’m content. It’s hard for me now to keep plugged in to all the redemption offers and spending minimums etc.

[Lobogris]

Originally Posted by binand

Discounts and gift vouchers require you to spend more money, right? Reward points - usually 30-35p/point, and 1 point/Rs. 100 spent or something like that? Only cashback seems a genuine benefit but that too, iirc, is often tied to CC EMI schemes?

How do you arrive at 15-17% reward rate? I took a look here: https://www.hdfcbank.com/personal/pa...ia-credit-card - how are you calculating the reward? For me, it always works out that to get Rs. 100 reward, I have to spend about Rs. 500 more on things that I don't actually need (wanton consumerism which I detest).

Despite tall claims by people, the reward rate on Infinia is just around Rs 1 per Rs100 spent. That is the cash redemption rate and when all is said and done, that is the real maximum rate the bank is providing. If they were willing to give away money on vouchers, flights and hotels, they could also give it to you as cash credit. Of course people would argue that HDFC can negotiate bulk discounts on vouchers. If amazon is willing to provide a max 5% cashback on their own Amazon ICICI card, why would they offer a higher amount to HDFC? First you have to pay Rs 12,000 per year for the card. That negates a lot of earnings right there despite the 10k reward point credit provided for the annual fee. The flights and hotels booked at the purported 33% discount are capped at 70% reward point usage and there is a fee of up to Rs 800. So if you book a flight for say 8k, you are already paying a 10% surcharge. In addition, the flights and hotels are generally much more expensive on that portal. That is where the 33% is adjusted. Coming to the claim of using Amazon vouchers and getting a 16% return, this is capped at max Rs 5000 in the vouchers per month leading to a maximum savings of Rs 750. this would barely cover your annual fee in a year. This is also due to a loophole as the actual officially stated discount for these vouchers is only around 5% which is the same as on the Amazon Pay ICICI card. This loophole is likely to be plugged soon as often the option to purchase the Amazon vouchers disappears. All in all, it is not a bad card. It just isn't as great as it is hyped to be. With judicious usage, one can save perhaps 2 tp 3% per year on certain spends.

[Aroy]

The big cashback/discounts on most cards is for airline booking and hotels. Some time for big sale. Otherwise if you look carefully the rate for day-to-day expenses is rarely more than 5%.

With lock down in effect and both air travel and hotel spends down in dump, there is no justification in paying big money (annual fees), unless the cashback is more than the annual fee.

That is where Amazon Pay card shines. No annual fee and between 5% and 2% cash back on your purchase. The catch
. You get most cashback as prime member (999 annual fee). You get maximum cashback on amazon purchase.
. Most of the other purchases and bill will get you 1% or 2%

If you make purchases and bills of 20K per month then you are a gainer even after paying prime fees.